Poor weight gain in babies, also called failure to thrive, can be a difficult condition to diagnose according to KeepKidsHealthy.com. Part of the reason for this difficulty lies in the variety of medical conditions that can lead to its occurrence. In general, if your baby fails to gain weight for three months in a row, does not double his birth weight by four months of age or triple it by his first birthday, KidsHealth.org recommends further investigation into what is causing your baby's poor weight gain.
Internal Medical Conditions
In general, internal medical conditions increase the body's need for calories that if not provided, result in poor to no weight gain. As KidsHealth.org notes, if your baby suffers from a condition such as cystic fibrosis, chronic liver disease or celiac disease, it may appear he is eating enough, but in reality, his body is not absorbing food nutrients. Other internal medical conditions that can result in poor weight gain include inflammatory bowel disease and juvenile diabetes, according to KeepKidsHealthy.org.
Medical conditions that lead to vomiting and diarrhea, such as allergies, an intestinal obstruction or infection or a brain tumor can cause poor weight gain through calorie loss or refusing to eat.
Physical Abnormalities
Physical abnormalities can make it difficult or painful for your baby to eat, resulting in insufficient calorie intake. One such condition, called gastroesophageal reflux, is common in babies under three months of age. According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, most babies outgrow this condition on their own. GER occurs when a muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter, which opens to allow food to pass into the stomach, remains open. This permits partially digested food and stomach acid to come back up through the esophagus and results in spitting up, or vomiting.
In addition to GER, a congenital deformity such as a cleft lip or palate, dysphagia, a condition that makes swallowing difficult and neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy can result in your baby eating less or refusing all food.
Social Factors
KidsHealth.org notes certain factors called social factors that can contribute to poor weight gain in your baby. Social factors relate to situations rather than medical conditions or illness and usually result from actions or inactions by parents. These factors include purposely feeding less than the recommended calorie requirement out of fear the baby will get fat, household distractions or lack of interest in the baby that leads to underfeeding and an economic situation that prevents purchasing enough food to meet nutritional requirements.
If you are breastfeeding, social factors such as stress or nervousness can lead to poor milk production or difficulty in hindmilk letdown. According to BabyCenter.com, when you breastfeed a baby, the first few suckles contain foremilk, or milk already in the breast. Hindmilk, which contains more calories, is milk that enters the breast when the hormone oxytocin stimulates the letdown reflex. Chronic stress can stop the letdown reflex and if this goes on long enough, it can cause failure to thrive.
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