Failure To Thrive is a hold-up in physical growth and weight gain that might lead to delays in the normal development and normal maturation.

Failure To Thrive Syndrome is a diagnosis given to infants who are consistently less than the normal weight for their age or who do not show weight gain. There are many reasons for this. Many reasons for this involve environmental and social factors that work together to keep the child from having access to the nutrition the child needs. Sometimes, medical disorders prevent a baby from growing normally. Another important cause is the infant’s own sensitivities.

If There Are Environmental And Social Issues For The Failure To Thrive

Many environmental and social elements can be responsible for Failure To Thrive. Parental neglect or abuse, parental emotional health issues, and disordered family conditions in which regular, nutritious meals are not provided, may all block a child’s appetite and food intake. The amount of money a family makes to spend on food and the nutritional value of the food they provide also affects development. Inadequate intake of food may be a symptom of poor parenting and environmental stimulation.

When the problems are not based in medical issues, this condition is called Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome. In the recent past, Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome was thought to be caused by abusive parenting. But there are recent studies which have indicated a growing recognition that poor parenting may be an uncommon root of the condition.

If The Causes Of The Failure To Thrive Are Medical Problems

Sometimes Failure To Thrive Syndrome is caused by a medical problem in the baby. This is sometimes called Organic Failure to Thrive. The difficulty can be as simple as difficulty drinking, chewing, or swallowing (as a child might have with a cleft lip or cleft palate). Other medical disorders, such as acid reflux, narrowing of the esophagus, or poor intestinal absorption, may also affect a child’s ability to obtain nutrition from food. Infections, tumors, hormonal or metabolic disorders (such as cystic fibrosis or diabetes), cardiac problems, kidney disease, genetic disorders, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are other physical reasons for Failure To Thrive.

If The Causes Are Based In Reactions To Sensitivities and Intolerances

Often an infant’s or a baby’s Non Organic Failure To Thrive is caused by the infant’s body responding to normal things in the environment as if those normal things were toxic. This is a sensitivity to some environmental factors which the child’s body thinks are toxic.

This response to this “toxic attack” could involve shutting down the baby’s normal developmental process as a temporary conservation tactic until the “attack” stops. But, because these things in the environment are not toxic to others, the family and the medical professionals do not know to eliminate these “toxic” things from the child’s environment. In this case this temporary protective defensive reaction continues indefinitely. This means that the infant’s own defenses blocks the baby’s normal developmental process indefinitely, because of the child’s intolerances.

Diagnosis For The Roots In Medical Problems And Environmental And Social Issues

Doctors diagnose Failure To Thrive when a child’s weight or rate of growth is well below what it should be when compared with former measurements or standard height-weight charts. If the physical development is adequate, the infant may be small but still growing appropriately.

To find out why a infant may be failing to thrive , medical practitioners ask parents specific questions about feeding, bowel habits, social, emotional, and financial stability of the family, which might affect the baby’s access to food, and illnesses that the child has had or that run in the family. The medical practitioner examines the baby, looking for signals that may explain the infant’s delay in development. The medical practitioner makes decisions about blood and urine tests and x-rays based on this initial evaluation. Additional testing is performed only if the doctor believes there is an underlying disease.

Finding The Child’s Sensitivities and Intolerances

There are some available diets ( for instance: Gluten Free and Feingold diets) which attempt to address these intolerance and sensitivity issues. These diets function well for those children who are intolerant of the things which are specifically restricted by these programs. But, for the majority of Non Orhanic Failure To Thrive children whose intolerances and sensitivities are affecting their growth and development, these diets are incomplete and not specifically designed for them.

It is best to have a specialist, who knows how to perform this specific test for sensitivity and intolerance, work with your Non Organic Failure To Thrive child to determine your child’s precise list of intolerances. Those who perform this kind of testing can include chiropractors, some nutritionists, and other wellness practitioners trained for this type of evaluation.

Treatment and Prognosis For The Causes In Medical Disorders And Environmental And Social Causes

The medical difficulties and socio-environmental roots approach assumes there is something wrong with the child’s body or the child’s social environment. These treatments are focused on a problem in the infant’s nutritional processing or access.

Treatment depends on the root of the problem. If a medical problem is found, specific interventions are performed. Otherwise, treatment depends on how far below normal the infant’s weight is. Mild to moderate Failure To Thrive is treated with nutritious high-calorie feedings provided on a regular schedule. Parents may be counseled about family interactions that are dangerous for the child and about social and financial resources available to them. More severe Failure To Thrive Syndrome is treated in the hospital where nutritionists, social workers, feeding specialists, psychiatrists, and other specialists work together to determine the most likely causes of the child’s Failure To Thrive and the best approach to recovery.

Treatment For When The Issues Of The Failure To Thrive Syndrome Are In Sensitivities

The interventions for the sensitivities and intolerances approach is to determine which environmental factors the baby is responding to and eliminates those factors from the infant’s environment. When the baby is no longer reacting to those, the normal developmental process kicks in and growth can proceed normally. With this approach, nourishment is absorbed appropriately and development and growth gets back on track. There are specialists in Non Organic Failure To Thrive syndrome who can determine your child’s intolerances and sensitivities and coach you in getting your child back on track.

Summary

The socio-environmental approach assumes that something is wrong in the infant’s social environment in such a way that nourishment is not available or is not accepted by the infant.

The medical difficulties approach for Organic Failure To Thrive infants and children assumes that nourishment is not being processed and absorbed by the baby because of some medical problem.

The sensitivities and intolerances approach for Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome assumes that the baby is having responses to environmental factors and these defensive responses are shutting down the normal development and growth process.

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