Failure to thrive (FTT) is the techincal name used when a baby stops growing, or loses weight, and specifically when they are unwell with it - typical signs would be sunken eyes, crying a lot, dehydration, sunken or depressed fontanelle in a baby under 1 month old, pale / greyish skin, strong urine, sleepy / lethargic and generally an unhappy baby.

In addition to the visible physical signs, it is usually signified by dropping below the third percentile in weight. FTT is most common during a child's first three years, but is of particular concern during the first year of life because it can lead to both motor and cognitive developmental delays.

A baby's failure to thrive can be caused by several factors. It can be because they are sick or not getting enough nourishment, and also in some cases it can happens because a baby is not getting enough close physical and emotional contact.

Failure to thrive can also be caused by:

• Feeling under the weather: babies can lose their appetite, too

• Excessive vomiting or diarrhoea from an illness

• A weak sucking reflex, so that baby doesn't empty the breasts effectively

• Low breastmilk production

• Your baby gets sleepy and falls asleep before they get enough milk

• Either a cleft lip and palate or a tongue tie

The treatment could be a matter of simply breastfeeding your baby more often to increase your milk supply or if the situation is severe and needs immediate remedy, perhaps adding some supplemental feedings of expressed breast milk or infant formula - either by bottle, naso-gastric tube, syringe or cup. Occasionally intestinal problems may be diagnosed, such as an allergy to a certain formula or an intestinal infection. In very rare cases, failure to thrive can lead to a diagnosis of more serious diseases.

If baby is under three months old and is being exclusively breastfed, these signs show that baby is getting enough milk:

• eight or so wet nappies a day

• a number of mustard-coloured poos every day

• when feeding, you can hear sucking and see movement in the jaw

• breasts which feel softer after a feed than they did before

If your baby tends to get sleepy during feeds, try to keep them alert by tickling the feet, removing clothing, blowing on baby's face, engaging in some quiet playtime between feeding at each breast, or sitting baby up to wind them: if your baby doesn't finish feeding on both sides, empty your breast by hand or pump expressing, and store the milk. You need to keep up your milk production.

Take your baby to be weighed once a week if you feel nervous, but make sure that the health visitor always uses the same scale for accuracy. This will help reassure you that your baby is growing and that she's healthy and happy. However, a more useful guide as to baby's happiness is to found in knowing your baby. A hungry baby will cry a lot, and not seem content.

There are a very few women who cannot produce enough milk for their babies, so if you have any concerns at all, speak to your midwife, breastfeeding supporter or health visitor sooner rather than later so they can check the situation, put your mind at rest, or suggest alternative strategies.

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