Low weight gain

Question

My son is 9 months old with low weight gain. When he was born we decided not to do the neonatal testing. For 15 days now, his feces are like mud and have a strong smell. He has 4-5 movements daily. We, the parents, were not tested prior to the pregnancy. Should we worry? Do we need to get tested?

Answer

Dear friend,
You have a 9 months old baby boy with low weight gain. Your child presented this low gain before the presentation of the many bowel movements and the alteration of the composition of its feces.
For 15 days now he has 4-5 bowel movements daily without a history of bronchitis or persistent cough. Personally, I believe that your child has a post infection dysabsorption syndrome, which is the most common cause for the bowel movements, and which is treated with a proper diet.
Only if after the dietary treatment these signs persist, as well as the low weight gain, you need to investigate for rare pathological causes, such as pancreatic insufficiency through tests like the trypsin or fecal elastase test.
Yours friendly,
Dr. Stavros Doudounakis

27.01.2014