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Baby very under weight

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Dear Parents,

Need help regarding my second boy. He just turned one but is only about 7.3 kgs. He is very under weight for his age and most strangers who see him think he is only 6-mths old.

I think the reason is because since ever since he was born premature at 36 weeks, he cannot sleep through out the night, waking up every 2 to 4 hours. We trired everything that we know, changing milk bottles, formulae, having air-cond, no air-cond, fan, changing the mattress but still, is 2 am, then at 6 am. This is made worse by sometimes when he wakes up at night, he refuses to drink milk and wants water only.

He also cannot sleep more than 4-hours even during the day at the Babysitter.

We normally take him to see 2 paeds and both agree that he is very underweight but just ask us to be patient and feed him more.

It has come to a point that as I parent, I feel that I will be negilient if I don't do something more. Hence, I would like to send my son for some 'medical test'. Google shows a couple of reasons from 'Lead Poisoning' though this is unlikely as my older boy who will be 3 is normal and we live in the same house.

As a comparison, my older boy was close to 10kg when he turned one.

Sleep Apnea a condition whereby the body cannot go into deep sleep but this normally does not affect babies. I have finally pushed my paed that I want to do some test and the paed needs to consult some of her medical colleagues will revert back to me after Raya.

Appreciate any recommendation of good paeds in KL/Sgor area or any parents have experience to share.

Many thanks and happy holidays.

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U really do not need to worry if yr baby eats well and being active. My girl is 21 mths and she onli weight 8kg. Her weight is 2.4kg when she was born. Sometimes weight also can be genetically. I am a petite size mom and my hub is not tall as well. My paed told me that my daughter size is like mine and ask us not to worry. Infact she loves eating.....

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dear savanah, many thanks for sharing your personal experiences. My second son is active, when I come back from work, he will crawl to me and call me but as parents, we are responsible for our children's fate and future. Of course, God also comes into the picture but I just want to be sure that I have done all that I am suppose to.

Managed to contact another paed at Ampang Puteri and will be visiting him tomorow (yep Saturday before Raya cos he is still open) for consultation.

My son likes to eat other things except Milk.

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dear savanah, many thanks for sharing your personal experiences. My second son is active, when I come back from work, he will crawl to me and call me but as parents, we are responsible for our children's fate and future. Of course, God also comes into the picture but I just want to be sure that I have done all that I am suppose to.

Managed to contact another paed at Ampang Puteri and will be visiting him tomorow (yep Saturday before Raya cos he is still open) for consultation.

My son likes to eat other things except Milk.

please share with me ur experience wif ur new paed, tq

both my children consider skinny type but i'm not worry, cos i noe my eldest is due to my lack of information for sttn when he was 3mo so now he is 27mo is too late to do anything already, he will ask for milk in the middle of the night, to ensure/encourage sttn please start early by no feeding after midnight, if u worry will be hungry, make sure ur last feed u burp n feed more so can encourage sttn.

erm......btw why do u think there's something wrong wif ur 2nd child due to underweight? is ur 2nd child sick often? my 2nd child was born 35weeks n birth weight was 2.65kg but now at 8mo people still commented look like 4mo, my dr did say underweight but is alright if still willing to drink milk but my child still refusing solid at the moment so that might be the cause of underweight

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Took my 2nd boy to another paed at Ampang Puteri, Dr Christopher Lim for a second opinion and check up. The physical check-up, i.e. the head size, length and others was normal and still within the range but for weight, he is at the bottom 25%. Had to do a blood test just to make sure everything is okay and just got the word that the blood test is also normal.

Was advised to boost up his calorie intake and nutrients such as protein and iron. For protein, I am adding Myotein Powder which you can get at the pahrmacy. Its basically a protein powder that even adults can take, the difference is only the quantum. For iron, I am giving him some Iron supplements that the paed recommended. The paed also recommended addiing oil into his diet which my wife is not to keen so we wlll go slow with that. Also advised to give more protein food such as Fish, Chicken and higher nutrient milk such a Pediasure. Howwver, my 2nd boy does not like pediasure too much. Have to mix witht hs normal milk, else he will reject the pediasure milk.

My concern is that the weight issue will also affect other developmental issues . Although my 2nd son is already one, he only looks like he is much younger. Also, he is not talking enough for a 1-year old so my immediate concern is to boost up his weight which will help in other growth areas. We only have a limited window of opportunity for the "Growing up Period". Hence, we have to maximise it.

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Took my 2nd boy to another paed at Ampang Puteri, Dr Christopher Lim for a second opinion and check up. The physical check-up, i.e. the head size, length and others was normal and still within the range but for weight, he is at the bottom 25%. Had to do a blood test just to make sure everything is okay and just got the word that the blood test is also normal.

Was advised to boost up his calorie intake and nutrients such as protein and iron. For protein, I am adding Myotein Powder which you can get at the pahrmacy. Its basically a protein powder that even adults can take, the difference is only the quantum. For iron, I am giving him some Iron supplements that the paed recommended. The paed also recommended addiing oil into his diet which my wife is not to keen so we wlll go slow with that. Also advised to give more protein food such as Fish, Chicken and higher nutrient milk such a Pediasure. Howwver, my 2nd boy does not like pediasure too much. Have to mix witht hs normal milk, else he will reject the pediasure milk.

My concern is that the weight issue will also affect other developmental issues . Although my 2nd son is already one, he only looks like he is much younger. Also, he is not talking enough for a 1-year old so my immediate concern is to boost up his weight which will help in other growth areas. We only have a limited window of opportunity for the "Growing up Period". Hence, we have to maximise it.

is there increase in ur son's weight? hope everything right on track for him. for the oil part maybe can try giving 'virgin coconut oil'? i heard is great, u can look it up online, its not the normal cooking oil, can drink it neat n if i remember correctly it oso contain probiotic, my children r not taking cos they don like it

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Took my 2nd boy to another paed at Ampang Puteri, Dr Christopher Lim for a second opinion and check up. The physical check-up, i.e. the head size, length and others was normal and still within the range but for weight, he is at the bottom 25%. Had to do a blood test just to make sure everything is okay and just got the word that the blood test is also normal.

Was advised to boost up his calorie intake and nutrients such as protein and iron. For protein, I am adding Myotein Powder which you can get at the pahrmacy. Its basically a protein powder that even adults can take, the difference is only the quantum. For iron, I am giving him some Iron supplements that the paed recommended. The paed also recommended addiing oil into his diet which my wife is not to keen so we wlll go slow with that. Also advised to give more protein food such as Fish, Chicken and higher nutrient milk such a Pediasure. Howwver, my 2nd boy does not like pediasure too much. Have to mix witht hs normal milk, else he will reject the pediasure milk.

My concern is that the weight issue will also affect other developmental issues . Although my 2nd son is already one, he only looks like he is much younger. Also, he is not talking enough for a 1-year old so my immediate concern is to boost up his weight which will help in other growth areas. We only have a limited window of opportunity for the "Growing up Period". Hence, we have to maximise it.

My baby is 10 months old going to be 11 months soon, but his weight is increasing very slowly. He weighs only 7.8 kg now. Although the paed says that this is quite normal as not all babies grow the same way but I'm still very concerned over his weight issue. He is eating well and very active but just cant get him to nap for more than an hour in the day. Am I overly paranoid? Or is this normal?

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Firstly many thanks to all parents for your well wishes and advice. Some updates for my younger boy. He is now 17-mths old and he weights about 9-kgs only. Although his weight has improved since we started the protein and giving him oil, he is still very underweight compared to his peers.

We have taken him for various tests, from a MRI Scan to Chromosome testing which thankfully was negative. However, the doctors have diagnosed him as having Neurofibromatosis or in short “NF”.

The most common symptoms of NF are patches of ‘coffee’ colored birth marks or also known as “café-au-lait” and if a person has more than 5, then it is likely the person has NF. Coincidentally, I also have these birthmarks; I never knew its implications and it was only recently that I was told that I was also suffering from NF although I was okay during my childhood and adulthood.

90% of the time, NF is harmless but in severe cases, it can cause ‘failure to thrive’ and possibly some learning impairment issues. There is no cure and we are told just to observe and spend more time talking and interacting with him and to ensure that he is well fed and to increase his intake of solid food.

My younger son’s diet has improved in the last 2-mths (>1.5 kgs) and he is also sleeping longer during the day but he is still not sleeping throughout the night which is essential for this growth. But, I am praying that his condition will improve as time goes by.

So parents, please take note of what the ‘café-au-lait’ birthmarks can mean.

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My baby is 10 months old going to be 11 months soon, but his weight is increasing very slowly. He weighs only 7.8 kg now. Although the paed says that this is quite normal as not all babies grow the same way but I'm still very concerned over his weight issue. He is eating well and very active but just cant get him to nap for more than an hour in the day. Am I overly paranoid? Or is this normal?

Most babies are suppose to double their birth weight by 6-mths and Triple their birth weight by 12-mths

My younger boy did not fall into this category, unfortunately.

So, this would depend on your son's birth weight. What was his birth weight?

You can introduce oil into his diet, either add into his milk or give it direct like what I do. It helps to increase the weight. However, most important is good sleep.

But always trust your instincts, as parents, we always know best. If you are in doubt, talk more to your specialist and if you need to, go and seek second opinion.

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