My Son Is Not Growing nor Developing....

Have you had him tested for Celiac disease? My oldest daughter started showing signs of this disease at 9 months. For 2 years we did tests trying to figure out what was wrong. She was very skinny, no muscle tone, lots of problems. Sorry you're going throught this. I know how awful it is feeling that something is wrong but not knowing what.

Sweetheart I'm sorry- I know it is difficult to see your loved one ill. You know what's amazing about doctors? They will do invasive radiactive tests like Cats/Mri's/bone scans, etc, but won't do simple blood tests!!!!
I have a sick daughter and that is what they did to her. I am making them do blood work now. The key to getting your way with the doctors is you need to get informed. that means lots of reading about all the possiblities of what is going on. Go to Wrongdiagnosis.com and type in 'failure to thrive'. There will be a very LONG list- but you will need to go through them, and understand what each one is, so you can help pinpoint the problem. doctors are so fruggn useless.

Have they done testing for heavy metal toxicity?

Have they done testing for parasites?

have they done blood panels on his minerals: calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, etc?

Is he being treated for GERD or any reflux? these meds will cause nutritional discrepanies, failure to grow. h pylori, a stomach bacteria, can cause Gerd

Are they giving him supplements? Iron is a heavy metal that can cause disease. Bacteria MUST have iron /folic acid to feed/reproduce- No one should be giving Iron unless he has had an iron test showing clear deficiency.

Has he been tested for celiacs? it can cause failure to thrive/grow. Also Asthma. Gluten intolerance can come from a fungal or bacterial infection. Celiacs has the same protien chain as candida fungus.

Bacterial infection is listed on my medical notes for failure to thrive.

Also on my failure to thrive notes: (have them do these tests!)
L cartinine deficiency.
Fumerase deficiency
Cobalamin deficiency- (phsycomotor regression after 6th month, to severe hypotonia by 12th month)
choline deficiency
Mangesium deficiency
zinc deficiency

These are listed under floppy baby: (arms flop back when you pick him up, head floppy, etc)
hypothyroidism
Gullian barr infection,
Meningitis
poliomyelitis
vaccines
b12 deficiency
botulism ( should be suspected in any child under 6 months that has weak feeding with a poor cry)

Raw virgin Coconut oil is needed. give- 1 tea 3 x a day in the mouth.
It kills fungal colonies, supports the thyroid, is rich in medium chain triglycerides.
Mangesium is highly recommended for cases of Asthma. You can get babycalm online. If that gives him loose stool, give a smaller dose, or do magnesium oil on the skin- which will soak in transdermally.

Again check out wrongdiagnosis.com

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K.,

I'm so sorry to hear your son is not well. I would say first you should be persistent with taking him to specialists to find the answers to his health problems. As for the therapists - slow progress is still progress and since he's already receiving help this early he will likely soon meet developmental milestones. What do the docs say about his weight/height? Was he a preemie? My son is almost two and isn't quite 25 pounds, up until he was about eighteen months he was in the fifth percentile on the growth chart. He is slowly creeping up more towards the 30th percentile and is totally normal in every other way - he's just a little guy.

I know it's tough, but I urge you to focus on the things about your child you can actually do something about and avoid too many comparisons to other kids.

Good Luck!

K., I am so sorry that you and your son are going through this. Still, I know you are desperate, as I would be, but you are asking the wrong people. This is a medical issue. No one here can help you only offer you compassion and a shoulder to lean on. Seek out the best doctors available and go with their advice. Do you have a Children's Hospital nearby? Hang in there and blessing to you and your son.

No real advice, just wanted to encourage you that the PT, speech and OT will help him immensely. Good for you for getting him all the services he needs. Give it time.

Ask your EI service coordinator about a specialist. Very often they won't just share the info b/c of liability issues, but if you ask, they may know someone. I would also contact your nearest children's hospital and ask to speak with a social worker. Explain the situation and see what they recommend- they may provider referrals or have you bring him in for a thorough evaluation.

I'd ask: Have your doctors given up? Are they the best in your area? Do they recommend a second opinion from a specialist that you haven't done yet? I don't know if you're in a small or big town.

If, for example, you were in the Dallas metroplex and have checked with the best of the best, then my next stop would be the nearest Mayo clinic (Florida, Arizone, Minnisota). Hope they're on your insurance (but they're not THE only good game in town.) They are known for diagnosing things that local specialists can't diagnose.

They will let you send them CD's of tests and summary reports so they can kind of pre-determine if they think they can help or if you've tried some test locally. Check out their website. It has lots of info on diseases and contact information. No one charges for phone calls. Some doctors are chattier than others. If you go, they put a team around you, test anything that they feel needs testing, and team together to get a finding. People usually go home in 3-5 days based on the number of tests that need to be done. They might have a connection to reduced cost hotels or even guest rooms that are seriously discounted.

Best of luck. My husband's friend's son had asthma as a kid and had real health issues -- but i don't think they were that bad. He's now a police detective because he was such a great cop. Just thought I'd throw that in there for good measure.

K.,

My son is 2 1/2 and is only 24# and has been between 22-24#s since he was 14 months old. I have taken him to lots of specialists- including a GI- and ran LOTS of tests...and their conclusion? Genetics (i.e. that's just my family)...I have 2 half brothers on either side of my family who both measured small (off the charts in length and weight) and were expected to be mid-5 feet tall (my son is expected to be 5'3")....and now at 20 and 17, they are 5'11" and almost 6'0" respectively...the older one did not get a deep voice until he was 16-17 and hit huge growth spurts in high school. So I expect that will be almost exactly what my son does too! And even if he is only 5'3", who cares...I will still love him small or big! (I should add that despite his low weight and height, he looks healthy still...not wasting away by any means! And my 8 month old is looking like he is following the same pattern too!!!) I do still have to take them in every 3-6 months to make sure their curve is not changing too bad, but at least the MDs are leaving me alone now with all the dietary recommendations for him and tons of testing and suspicious looks saying "does she starve him???"-which is nice...FINALLY!

So, I would stop worrying so much on how big he is (especially if you have family members who followed a similar pattern) and worry more about the milestones (my son always hit his okay, but I always told myself that if he stopped hitting them, that was when I would worry more...), but keep in mind that there is a BIG gap between the start and finish of when a child is "supposed" to do something, so don't fret unless he has passed the older age end and resist the urge to compare your son to others....he may just be a late bloomer and content to get around on his belly than to learn something new...and kudos to you for getting him in to PT/OT and doing what you need to do. Keep with it! And good luck! i hope answers come soon to you!

S.

I'm assuming you've already been to an ENT and everything is fine in that department? If his tonsils and/or adenoids are too large, then he may not be getting a full night's rest, thus not releasing growth hormone adequately. My son is 16 months and about 19 lbs, not walking, not talking. Our ENT said it might be worth removing the adenoids (plus tubes in his ears) but we aren't sure that will take care of all of his issues. Keep us in the loop, we may be going down your same path.

OK I really don't know what's going on, but I have a few suggestions that may be helpful. I have done a ton of research on vaccinations made it my job to find out the truth. I have studied this subject for 4 years and I'm sure I could still learn more. I personally have chosen based on my research to avoid them for my children from this point on. This article by an author that I trust is very insightful good information to have: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/1...
One reason I have chosen to quit vaccines is that I learned that before age 5 to 7 a childs blood brain barrier is not established yet thus any medication taken can go directly into the brain and can cause serious problems I am not saying this is what happened I really have no idea just wanted to share that information. So I am suggesting that if you have not researched vaccines I would strongly suggest you do. I believe in parents being as informed as possible to make the best possible decisions for our families.
Another suggestion that I have would be to get him evaluated by a good chiropractor. Children can get a chiropractic adjustment as early as birth and it is very good for there spine and body. The body receives all of it's messages from the brain through the spine if something is off in the back that could block communication or cause miscommunication. I have had by kids adjusted by a chiropractor many times as preventative medicine. I have also greatly benefited from it. If you decide to do this look around a bit there are different kinds of chiropractic philosophies you'll want to find one that has worked on kids before and is extremely gentle. You could even ask if you could watch them adjust someone so you can see first hand how they do it, and you could ask any questions you may have. If you do go to the chiropractor ask them if they would like a copy of the MRI results.
Two more suggestions One is to have his tonsils checked I know this may seem strange but my son go sick all the time when he was little. We finally found out that his tonsils were HUGE and got them removed I think he got sick once since then and that was 2 years ago.
One more thing allergies. Allergies can affect the brain and body in more ways than people realize. I would get him tested for allergies, preferably by a homeopathic specialist. The methods they use for testing are way less invasive and not painful, also in my case less expensive. I got my little girl tested she had terrible eczema I started her on homeopathic drops and I kid you not the eczema completely cleared in two days. The point to these also is that they build an immunity in the body so you don't have to take allergy meds forever.
I wish you and your son well. I sincerely hope you will find comfort and find the answers you are looking for. I wish your son a complete recovery. I hope this helps

Hi--
I have lots of ideas about what could be going on, but I'm going to cut to the chase and recommend our doctor. He uses a diagnostic technique called Electral dermal screening (go to http://www.healthenergies.com/serviceeds.htm for more info on how it works). When my son was having severe health problems I tried every doc I could find and none could help. Within 15 minutes of going to this doctor he was able to tell me exactly what was wrong and exactly what to do about it. I really believe he saved my son's health. I've referred over 2 dozen people to him and all have had the same experience that I did. He's in Denver, so a little bit of a drive for you, but I really believe it's worth it. He does do alternative medicine--he's a chiropractor and acupuncturist by training and his wife is a pediatric physician's assistant so he has connections with lots of docs. He's even worked in concert with doctor's from National Jewish Hospital. Even if he can't fix the issue I'm sure he can point you in the right direction so you're not guessing anymore.
Alternative Chiropractic
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Tell them J. Parker recommended you to him.

Incidentally, asthma is typically an allergy either to food or environmental factors. This could also be the issue with him not gaining weight and all the sickness he's experienced. Or it could be that and/or something more. This doc can at least get to the root of the problem instead of simply treating symptoms.
If you go, let me know how it turns out.
Good luck!
J.

Haven't read the other responses so maybe I am repeating others but I would have him go off of any gluten (It is in a lot of things) and see how he does (possibly any sugar too for yeast growing in his body). Use Almond flour instead of wheat and you may be amazed at how he perks up. My friends daughter is 15 and had asthma for the past 4-5 yrs and it kept getting worse. They checked to see if she is celiac or gluten intolerant and she has been off of it for 6 months and needs NO asthma medicine nor inhalers. I truly believe there is a link to asthma/lack of health and growth and then the gluten. Look into it.