Failure to Thrive Management

1. See Also
   1. Delayed Growth
   2. Failure to Thrive
   3. Failure to Thrive Causes
   4. Failure to Thrive Diagnosis
   5. Failure to Thrive Red Flags
   6. Failure to Thrive Evaluation
2. Management: Calories required for catch-up
   1. Children with FTT require 150% of RDA of calories
   2. Schedule: Replacement calories needed per day
      1. Kg based on expected weight
      2. Age 2-4 weeks: 120 KCal/kg/day
      3. Age 1-2 months: 115 KCal/kg/day
      4. Age 2-3 months: 105 KCal/kg/day
      5. Age 3-6 months: 95 KCal/kg/day
      6. Age 6 months to 5 years: 90 KCal/kg/day
   3. Formula: Replacement calories needed per day
      1. KCals/kg = (120 kcal/kg x (Normal kg)) / (current kg)
3. Management: Dietary
   1. Dietician consultation
   2. General
      1. Stop solids less in calories/ounce than formula, milk
      2. Limit fruit juice to <8 ounces per day
      3. Consider Nutritional Supplement
      4. Take daily multivitamin
   3. Breast-fed infants
      1. See Breast Feeding Technique
      2. See Breast Feeding Problems for the Infant
      3. See Breast Feeding Problems for the Mother
      4. Obtain Lactation consultation
   4. Bottle fed infants
      1. See Infant Feeding
      2. Use 22 calorie per ounce formula (and prepare as energy dense formula with less water)
   5. Toddlers and younger children
      1. Add rice cereal, cheese, and peanut butter to foods to increase calorie intake
   6. Older children
      1. Add gravies, sauces, butter to foods to increase calorie intake
4. Management: Behavioral
   1. Involve parents actively in evaluation and management
      1. Helps with frustration and guilt of Failure to Thrive
   2. Restore adequate caretaking
   3. Modify maladaptive learned feeding responses
      1. Behavioral and Family Treatment
   4. Address interactional difficulties with parents
   5. Consider Psychiatric and Social Services
   6. Developmental Stimulation
      1. Community infant-stimulation programs
5. Monitoring
   1. Close, weekly pediatric follow-up
   2. Hospitalization indicated in severe or refractory cases
6. References
   1. Bauchner in Behrman (2000) Nelson Pediatrics, p. 120-1
   2. Krugman (2003) Am Fam Physician 68(5)?879-886
   3. Maggioni (1995) Pediatr Clin North Am 42(4):791-810