At three and a half week old, the baby is not gaining weight but is feeding every hour and seems very hungry. He is irritable and makes a sound as if he is straining most of the time. At birth, his blood sugar was high due to the giving of dextrose to the mother during the C-section delivery. Mom’s blood sugar was very low so the doctor was trying to bring it up since she was going into shock during the delivery. As a result, the baby’s blood sugar went up. On discharge from the hospital, he was given clean health, but I am now concerned about his behavior over the past one and a half weeks.

I think you typed that the baby is 3.5 weeks old. Questions to be answered include how and what he is being fed (breast milk/nursing/pumping/bottle of formula/how it is prepared and how long it takes to complete the feed) as well as the stool and urinary patterns. Is there weight loss or is he just not gaining? Is the baby alert and happy or irritable? Are there any skin rashes or other physical signs?

The infant needs to be assessed by a qualified pediatric healthcare provider very soon for a complete assessment and exam! While neonatal diabetes does exist, it is extremely uncommon and would be manifested by much urination and I would expect the baby to look ill. I would not anticipate that the mother’s need for a dextrose infusion would be impacting the infant at this time. Her need of a GLUCOSE infusion would not bring to mind a diabetes issue in her or the infant.

DS