Why Won’t My Baby Gain Weight?

Last updated on August 24th, 2023 at 06:33 pm

A MoM asks,

“I have twin boys who are almost 5 months old. They are pretty behind on their growth. They even were put in the hospital for observation. One is a lot smaller than the other and he has gained weight but not as much as he needs to. He only weighs 9.7 lbs (my other weighs 13 lbs). Our pediatrician is telling me that if he continues to lose weight that they will be getting Child Protective Services involved and they will try to get them in temporary foster care. I just want to know if anyone has had one or both twins do this and if you have any advice about what I could do to help him gain weight? I understand people abuse their children but this is not the case, and I don’t want him to be taken from me and then find out there was actually something wrong with him. He is eating 6 oz of formula every 3 hours and he is never fussy, he doesn’t throw up, and he doesn’t have diarrhea. That’s why they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. He’s just not gaining weight. He had a different pediatrician at the hospital and he said he just wanted us to keep doing what we were doing. He’s on a high calorie formula but it doesn’t seem to be helping all that much.“

Here’s what our community had to say…

I’m a pediatrician and would suggest having the child evaluated by a pediatric endocrinologist and a geneticist to see if there are other explanations for the severe failure to thrive. I would also double check that you are mixing the formula properly (I know it sounds obvious, but I’ve seen this done wrong more times than you would think). I’m curious if they both gained weight at the same rate when they were in the hospital for observation.

Write down everything. Write down the dates and schedule, their feeds, their diaper changes, everything. Also write down everything your pediatrician has said and the dates, whether it was that everything was ok and we’ll continue to monitor or if it’s a threat to call CPS. (And any doctor who is threatening to call CPS instead of just calling CPS? How does that help anyone?) And I agree with Gretchen–get a different pediatrician immediately.

I would get a different pediatrician immediately. One who will work harder to help you understand what’s going on with your child

I work for CPS. I am also a twin mom of 14 month olds. My babies are very small. Mine have always been in the 3-5 %. My pediatrician has never been worried because they always stayed in the curve. However we have had to be referred to several specialist due to reflux and that has helped but they are still tiny. It’s not abuse/neglect it’s just the way they are! From a CPS stand point when they are called they do a thorough investigation but they will weigh the doctor’s recommendation so I would look for a second opinion and get in to see some specialists. Keep excellent notes about the feedings. This is all things CPS can look at and see that you are doing everything correctly and you are not neglecting your child. Don’t worry about CPS just focus on your babies. CPS is not out to take everyone’s child. We like to keep children with their families.

Look for a feeding specialist. And new pediatrician. Have you started any solids yet? Might try baby cereal mixed with formula. This can help with weight I have one twin much smaller and wasn’t gaining much weight, but always finished his feedings. The cereal feedings helped, but I would have to wake up for bottle feedings. Need to find out why he is burning calories calories so fast. Mine twin was due to a repository disorder having rapid breathing causing his body to burning more calories and not gaining the weight.

Take him to a pediatric metabolic doctor. I don’t know what state you’re in, but a large children’s hospital should have a metabolic department.

My son is like this. We have him on Neosure and we mix it 28 calories per ounce. Have they done any bloodwork? My son also has hypothyroidism and now that it’s controlled the weight is coming on quite nicely. I hope you find an answer and just keep documenting that you’re working with your doctors to figure out what the problem is.

I would contact a pediatric endocrinologist immediately. A friend had something similar with her son and it turns out his body wasn’t producing cortisol and it really didn’t matter how much he ate, he wasn’t thriving. They put him on meds (diagnosed at age 4.5) and he grew like half an inch and gained five pounds in a month.

Another suggestion here to get another pediatrician immediately. Also, in my experience, know that it’s extremely difficult to remove a child from a home. A low weight of a child with no other indicators of abuse is likely not a reason. Especially when all of your other children are healthy. Keep good records, as others suggested, but your doctor seems to be jumping way, way ahead of himself. Find a new one asap.

New doctor for sure. Also you need to make sure he is checked for cortisol problems and maybe a new formula. Don’t freak out though. Stay calm and know that you are a good mother and that doctor is a douche!

Get another pediatrician and more tests run. Failure to Thrive (FTT) is a very real and very serious issue in infants. There are many things that can contribute to it, and sometimes no reason is found. This is something that should not be taken lightly and, unless other obvious factors are present, should NOT be immediately treated as child abuse. Talk to someone else TODAY about evaluating your baby.

We had a scary situation with my son at about the same age. Our first doctor scared us and was no help. We loaded up and drove to the ER at the children’s hospital and they had us in with a specialist the next week. Trust your gut and if you think something is wrong find a doctor that will help you.

Find a different pediatrician, get a full work-up done and get a pediatric dietician involved. And also be aware, the pediatrician does not decide CPS removal or foster home placement. I would also make him aware that providing false, inflammatory information to CPS has criminal and civil penalties.

A different pediatrician who has experience with twins! This may sound obvious but it’s not. One who knows about twins would know not to compare them to begin with, they are twins but different people. Hang in there! Everything’s going to be alright!

I know it’s a worst case scenario, but not gaining weight was the first red flag of Cystic Fibrosis in a family member. Find a doctor who will do tests to figure it out.

This must be so scary and compounded by the threat from your doctor. CPS wouldn’t just walk in and take your baby for this, they would investigate IF they were called and IF they found a compelling reason to investigate.

Any pediatrician who jumps to a conclusion like that and is throwing threats around is probably not a good pediatrician.

I agree with getting a new pediatrician. Threatening you is not OK! Also the doctor works for you and your child; don’t let their title and diploma intimidate you or your family. Maybe next visit bring a support person or advocate with you. Ask lots of questions. I would not go back to that doctor though it sounds like he or she has no respect for patient care.

My boys were like this too. And still are. One of them is average weight. The other doesn’t even touch the scale. At 9 years old we could not get him above 40 pounds. And he eats more than my other 3 kids combined. I agree. Switch pediatricians and document everything.

I didn’t have this problem when my boys were that age but I’ll suggest to you what a friend who’s son was not gaining weight properly was told to do; keep a journal. Write down food, amounts, even output such as bowel movement. That way you have written proof. Research adding rice cereal in the formula if you haven’t already. I’m sorry this is happening and I hope things get better and they don’t take your babies. That’s horrible.

Go to a GI specialist. My twins were very small (daughter still 22 pounds at 4 years old) and we saw our GI doc every 4-6 weeks. We used Neosure formula and I know there’s a way to add to make it more calories. When we started solids, I was advised to add olive oil and eat avocado to give more healthy fats. But seriously, ask to see a specialist! We stayed with ours until they were 2 1/2.

First, agreed that you need a new pediatrician or at least a second opinion, possibly from a specialist. Second, my son was really small, as a matter of fact all three of my kids our – 5 years/33lbs, 19 months/23 lbs and 19 months/17 lbs. For my 5 year old they were more concerned as he was born premature and would lose weight and such. Our pediatrician starting having us add this protein powder that we had to order online for him to his formula and when he started on solids, to his food. It was called Duocal.

Just because your pediatrician cannot find anything medically wrong with your son doesn’t mean there isn’t…..he is blaming you for something he can’t discover. Time to find someone who won’t give up on you and your family.

I had this problem. I did find a new pediatrician and the doc immediately referred us to specialists and reasons were found as to why one of my twins wouldn’t gain weight. We see just about every major speciality now and it seems like a lot but she is beginning to slowly thrive. Definitely keeps logs and take pictures and videos. Try to get all your docs within the same hospital group that way they can all see what the others are doing. Really made a big difference for us!!! They don’t have to fax or call for records and it has made the process so much easier. It does get better. I have a 16 pound 15 month old and a 23 pound 15 month old.

Has your baby struggled to gain weight? What worked for your child? Please share your experience in the comments below…

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