Question: We are in the process of adopting a five month old baby from an orphanage in India. Both her head circumfeence and her weight are below 5th percentile. We don`t have the information if she was a pre term baby. Her weight has increased from 4lbs at birth to 7lbs at 5 months. We don`t have any data on . . .

Answer:

It is wonderful that you are considering opening your home to this child. I truly cannot tell you if she will be a healthy, normal child as she grows older. I can say that on a World Health Organization (WHO) growth chart for girls, her birthweight was very low. The fact that her head circum . . .

Ask an Expert: Mary Gottesman PhD, RN, CPNP, FAAN, Newborn and Infant Care View full article

Constipation in a 3 month old

Question: My grandson hasn`t had a BM in 5 days. He is breastfed, and was told this in normal. However, he isn`t gaining weight. We tried prune juice, apple juice, kero syrup with water. He pooped alittle, now 5 more days has passed. He was taken to the doctor, and he said my grandson my have an enlarge muscl . . .

Answer: Thank you for visiting NetWellness. On this site, NetWellness experts try to answer general questions about health. Only a health professional performing a thorough clinical exam is able to evaluate your symptoms.

Ask an Expert: NetWellness Staff ., Newborn and Infant Care View full article

Respiratory Distress

Question: We have a 2 day old newborn, just released home today, she had problems with her lungs developing before birth and now that we are home she continually "snorts" and sneezes. Her breathing has slightly gotten faster since we have been home. Suctioning with the bulb syringe does not seem to . . .

Answer: This must be a very worrisome time for you! With such a new baby with early problems in lung development, it would be safest to call her doctor now and make an appointment to be seen today. If you baby’s color is blue in the face and mouth or on her chest and tummy, she should be taken to the neares . . .

Ask an Expert: Mary Gottesman PhD, RN, CPNP, FAAN, Newborn and Infant Care View full article

Baby`s head small still at 27 weeks

Question: baby`s Head growing but still on the lower centile than ac and fl at 27 weeks measurements are 237.2mm. do you think this will be a problem

Answer: Unfortunately I am not familiar with some of the abbreviations used in your question, specifically, ac and fl. In general, the size of the head, small, large, etc., is only part of what we look at. We want to know if the head is growing at a rate proportional to the rest of the body. There are excep . . .

Ask an Expert: Sarah Sauntry RN, MS, CPNP-PC, Newborn and Infant Care View full article