Getting To Know Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome For A Baby

Failure To Thrive is a stoppage in normal physical development which can lead to delays in the normal developmental process and normal maturation.

Failure To Thrive is a description of a condition given to babies who are consistently less than the normal weight for their age or who do not gain weight. There may be many reasons for this. Many reasons for this involve social and environmental elements which interact to keep the child from having the nutrition the child needs. Often, medical issues prevent a child from growing normally. Another important contributing factor is the infant's own intolerances and sensitivities.

If There Are Socio-Environmental Based Problems For The Condition

Many social and environmental elements can be responsible for Failure To Thrive. Parental abuse or neglect, parental mental health difficulties, and dysfunctional family situations in which regular, nutritious meals are not provided, may all depress a child's appetite and food intake. The amount of money a family makes available for food and the nutritional value of the food they provide also affects normal development. Also, inadequate food intake may reflect poor parenting and stimulation from the environment.

When the situation is not based in medical issues, it is called Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome. In the past, Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome was thought to be caused by abusive parenting. But there are recent articles which have shown a growing belief that poor parenting may not be a common basis of the condition.

If The Issues Of The Difficulty Are Medical Disorders

Sometimes Failure To Thrive Syndrome is caused by a medical problem in the child. This is occasionally called Organic Failure to Thrive. The problem can be as minor as difficulty drinking, chewing, or swallowing (as a child might have with a cleft lip or cleft palate). Medical issues, such as acid reflux, esophagus narrowing, or intestinal malabsorption, may also affect a child's ability to retain, absorb, or process food. Infection, tumor, metabolic or hormonal disorders (such as cystic fibrosis or diabetes), cardiac problems, kidney disease, genetic disorders, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are other medical reasons for Failure To Thrive.

When The Issues Are Based In Responses To 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 things in the environment which the child's body thinks are toxic.

This response to this "toxic attack" could involve shutting down the child's normal developmental process as a temporary protective tactic until the "toxic attack" goes away. And, 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 without stopping. This means that the child's own defenses suspends the child's normal developmental process indefinitely, because of the child's intolerances and sensitivities.

Diagnosis For The Causes In Medical Disorders And Socio-Environmental Issues

Doctors diagnose Failure To Thrive when a child's weight or physical development is much lower than what it should be when compared with past measurements or standard age-height-weight charts. If the physical development is adequate, the child may be small for his or her age but still growing normally.

To find out why a child may be failing to thrive normally, doctors ask the parents specific questions about feeding, bowel habits, social, emotional, and financial stability of the family, which might affect the child's access to nutrition, and illnesses that the child has had or that run in the family. The doctor examines the child, looking for signals which could explain the child's delay in development. The doctor makes decisions about blood and urine tests and x-rays based on this evaluation. More examinations are performed only if the doctor suspects an underlying disease.

Determining The Child's Intolerances

There are some available diets ( for instance: GFCF 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 development and growth, these diets are not quite right and not specifically designed for them.

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

Treatment and Prognosis For The Causes In Medical Disorders And Socio-Environmental Issues

The medical disorders and social and environmental causes 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 child's nutritional processing or nutritional access.

Treatment intervention depends on the cause of the problem. If a medical difficulty is found, specific interventions are performed. Otherwise, treatment depends on how far below normal the child's weight is. Mild to moderate Failure To Thrive is treated with high-calorie nutritious feedings provided on a regular schedule. Parents could be counseled about family interactions that are damaging to the child and about social and financial resources available for their family. Severe Failure To Thrive Syndrome is treated in the hospital where social workers, nutritionists, 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 feeding.

Treatment For When The Causes Of The Failure To Thrive Syndrome Are In Intolerances

The interventions for the intolerances and sensitivities approach is to determine which things in the environment the child is responding to and eliminates those from the child's environment. When the child is no longer reacting to those, the normal developmental process kicks in and growth can proceed normally. With this approach, food is absorbed appropriately and development starts to catch up. 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 social and environmental approach assumes that something is wrong in the child's social environment in such a way that nourishment is not available or is not accepted by the child.

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

The intolerances and sensitivities approach for Non Organic Failure To Thrive in babies assumes that the child is having defensive reactions to environmental factors and these defensive reactions are shutting down the normal growth and developmental process.