Wasn't it Janelle that said she didn't have enough milk? Meri provided supplemental feedings to Maddie--obviously not enough milk either! Were they starving her? I find this very disturbing. Was she not given formula to supplement?? Was Maddie not held and cuddled enough? Failure to thrive is something you see in Chinese or Romanian orphanages where babies are rarely given human contact or regions where people are starving.
shareThat stood out to me too. At the 3rd day visit, my pediatrician was worried that my eldest was underweight and a little jaundiced, and put us on a feeding schedule. At the one month visit my baby had gained all the needed weight and then some. Was Maddie not under a doctor's care? How did she make it to 6 months faring so poorly? That's 4 or 5 doctor scheduled pediatrician visits to catch and fix that.
shareYes it is disturbing- and we have seen other kids in this family not get proper medical attention promptly. Janelle is so odd and detached it surprises me she breast fed. It's good that Meri tried to help but the baby should have been closely followed by a physician or dietitian.
shareSo we're supposed to believe that if Maddie weighed 8 pounds at birth, she weighed less than 8 pounds at 6 months old? That doesn't seem possible.
shareYes it is disturbing- and we have seen other kids in this family not get proper medical attention promptly. Janelle is so odd and detached it surprises me she breast fed. It's good that Meri tried to help but the baby should have been closely followed by a physician or dietitian.
Yes, they do seem slow to take their kids to the doctor -- Truly is a case in point. They said the kid was lethargic and running a fever for weeks -- and most of the parents went out of town I think. After she had been sick for a long time she was finally taken to the pediatrician who admitted her to the hospital.
Another poster said they were paranoid of medical care because of the attention it might draw to their polygamy ---but how could you let a child suffer?
Maddie seems pretty normal -- she is fortunate she didn't get brain damage from being under fed.
Sounds like they weren't taking her to be seen by a pediatrician due to paranoia maybe. Im not surprised though because Janelle is very detached if you ask me. I don't even know why she wanted to have kids, just to make Kody happy? She isn't very hands on. But failure to thrive isn't just an overseas issue, it happens right here. When I taught Kindergarten there was a little girl who was smaller than the rest, emotionally, academically, linguistically, developmentally behind her peers. Her family was poor too and she was barely in school. I suspected strongly she was a failure to thrive case. As far as the show, I even suspected Truly as a failure to thrive child. She looked so sickly up until the last two years. She was skinny, bald, sickly looking, she seemed behind.
shareFailure to thrive does indeed happen in the US, although you are right, much more in other less fortunate countries. It is a complex disorder with many possible causes, such as food allergies and or sensitivities , GI disorders and reflux, nursing difficulties, various organic medical conditions like heart defects, blood diseases, etc.
One thing to note, and I'm not pointing any "stinky fingers of blame", is that children born to mothers suffering from depression increase a baby's chance of FTT.
Consistent, quality, pediatric medical care can prevent or lessen issues of FTT because they are identified and dealt with promptly.
A great deal of vital brain development in infants occurs in the first months of life and up to age three, and a baby's brain normally doubles in size in the first year. One of the many reasons why failure to thrive is a very serious concern.
I work in a level 3 nicu and we occasionally see FTT, but usually with comorbit health issues. These little ones almost always are fed by a nasogastric tube.
I wonder if it was a tongue tie or lip tie? That's often the cause of newborn babies not gaining enough weight. It's an easy fix, but not if they're avoiding the doctor. :\
Dexter: I would give everything to feel nothing again.
That could be. It's possible she wasn't latching on properly. My daughter was born "tongue tied" but the problem was solved in a second. The doctor simply clipped under her tongue, it bled for a second and she was fine.
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Be kinder than necessary. J.M. Barrie
Look, this can happen very easily, especially during the first month. I am european and we have free healthcare (very free, in fact, in eastern Europe - not to flaunt it, ahem, but I wanted to make clear this didn´t happen because it wasn´t possible financially to take my child to the pediatrician), and this exact thing happened to me with my first child (well, she wasn´t bellow birthweight at 6 months, that seems a bit exaggerated).
She was a very calm baby, slept 12 hrs. during the night s I didn´t wake her up to feed her. She was very calm also during the day - as a consequence, the milk production was slowing down the whole 6 months without me noticing. At her 6-months checkup she weighed around the same as 2,5 months before.
Remedy was simple - for a few weeks I had to wake her up during the night to feed, so as to kickstart the milk production.
It´s not that extraordinary to have this happen...
I don't think they wouldn't have taken her to a pediatrician because of financial reasons, but other reasons to do with their family. But during the ceremony Kody said she was 8 months old! I don't know if that was a mistake, but wow. And when my son was born 3 years ago, we were going to the doctor every couple of months because of shots, so it was easier to keep track of his weight. He had a problem with jaundice and gaining weight in the very beginning, but that was fixed after a couple of weeks.
Dexter: I would give everything to feel nothing again.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends at least nine checkups during the first three years. Well baby exams are recommended at 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 9 months, 12 months, 18 months and 24 months. Obviously more frequently if any problems exist.
The Brown's were paranoid about anyone finding out about their lifestyle and because of that they may have not followed the well baby exam protocol
Well we have twice as many check-ups in the first 6 months and the same thing still happened to me.
Yes, the Browns are loons but I just don´t think it´s right to immediately accuse of them of being negligent parents. By that point they´d already have other 3 or 4 thriving children, so they probably knew how to take care of them.
I think because many viewers noticed Truly becoming floppy and dehydrated right before their eyes before the Brown's identified it as a problem perhaps gives the idea that prompt medical care is not a priority. Also they themselves said how cautious they were about not letting people see their lifestyle. Just seeing Janelle's thought process about making decisions ( or not making them) doesn't help. I'm sure they love their kids, and doubt they neglected them, but, they do not always seem to have much common sense.
shareNo, considering they allowed a child to get to newborn weight at duc months, and thought having another mother breast feed was a solution, it doesn't seem they were too knowledgable on his to care for a baby. If your doctor allowed your baby to get they small without serious medical attention, I would be looking for a new pediatrician. Yes babies lose weight, and this isn't a ding of negligence, but that much either weight loss or lack of growth isn't something that just happens. It takes time, and early signs should have sent them to the doctor, but then again I. These are people who let their daughter get so dehydrated her kidneys started *beep* diwn. Yes, it is norms, with a flu, but that is why you make kids drink a lot of fluids. If they can't keep them down you go to a doctor. You don't let it get as bad as it was. Heck even the young kids knew something was wrong,
shareYes this seemed odd to me too. As a mother with depression,I just never let it affect how I cared for my child. Which I know someone mentioned something to the effect of babies born to mother's with depression can sometimes have a greater instance of Failure To Thrive. And as someone else asked, was she not cuddled enough also?
And I'm sorry, no matter how anti-formula you may be, if your child is not growing properly on breast milk alone, and you are not supplementing with formula to help, or not seeing a pediatrician who specializes in such issues, you are in fact being a negligent parent. I don't care if they were paranoid about their living situation being found out and didn't take her to the doctor as they should've, that's terrible.
I'm not painting myself as an expert by an means, but if your baby is being supplemented properly, and seeing a doctor properly, there's no excuse for that. It doesn't "just happen". There are many factors that go into it, yes. But unless your baby has a rare condition in which they simply can NOT gain weight, (which they didn't mention, and if she did she would still have it), you are not caring properly for the baby. Barring a rare disorder as I just said, a baby on breast milk, formula, and seeing a doctor regularly doesn't just NOT gain weight. A baby doesn't just have "failure to thrive" for absolutely no reason at all.
I completely agree! The photo they showed of her as a baby when they were describing her looked HORRIBLE! She looked so skinny and unhealthy I wanted to cry.
My youngest son was born by Csection and his Dr was concerned about his weight and slight jaundice- he made us bring him into the clinic EVERY DAY for the first month to check that he was eating enough and gaining weight and that his jaundice was getting better. I had that kid latched on to me 24/7 and still supplemented with formula throughout the day. By 2 months he was chubby and healthy.
What I saw on the show last week was child neglect.
~Oh look... a room full of men that have NO idea how to satisfy a woman.~