Adjustments may be made with the formula and eliminate the failure to thrive problem. For a breastfed baby, the plan can be more difficult and because breastfeeding is often under fire from the health care field, you may be pressured into giving formula. Because breastmilk amounts are difficult to verify, a physician may think that giving formula will solve the problem. If you are certain of how often your baby's diapers need changing and how often you nurse, you can confidently stand your ground. Other issues may contribute to failure to thrive unrelated to feeding methods.
Some babies can develop failure to thrive because they have an underlying medical problem.
A feeding difficulty may go undiagnosed and the mother may have no idea it even exists. Most likely these would be related to insufficient time nursing or drinking from a bottle due to a medical condition in the mouth. Intestinal disorders could also lead to failure to thrive if the baby is not digesting the milk properly. Failure to thrive could also develop in multiples like twins or triplets. Just because they are more difficult to care for and feed they can have growth problems that other babies might not have.