1 Y/o Losing Weight

Hi, my youngest son had the same problem. He was below the chart on weight and down to 3 percent on hieght by the time he was one. We did a lot of tests the endocrinologist was the last of the tests. We found out that he is growth hormone deficient. The tests to find that diagnosis were not that bad it was a pretty quick diagnosis. He has now been on the growth hormone shots for 3 years and is growing great and is now up to the 10th percent for his weight which was a huge jump from the negative he was at for so long. If you have any questions please feel free to ask we have been through it. Hope that helps a little bit
E.

I'm really don't have any great advise besides try Olive Oil instead of Butter. You don't want to fill his little body with bad things, and Olive Oil is a great fat. I would say go with your gut, your his sweet Momma and you know your son better than anyone. Good Luck and I hope your son continues to bloom and grow.

Sounds like from what you wrote that he started to lose weight about the time he started eating more table type foods and became more active. If it was just the weight drop and he was still growing in Height I would not be as concerned. Because that would indicate that he is just burning the calories that he was taking in and needs more calories. My son also was losing weight and not growing in height we went through almost a year of test before we found out that he has celiac. It was not diagnosed with the first endoscope because we did not have a family history of it. We later had another endoscope and blood test that confirmed the celiac diagnosis , I must say that this was seventeen years ago and the gluten free diet was not as popular as it is today. My son is still a skinny kid and eats like you can not believe but is now almost 6 ft tall. I would have him go through the test. There is also a test for high metabolism to see if that is the only problem my son had that test also. Good luck and hopefully you will find out the answer to your sons lack of growing. It does take time and can be very frustrating for you. But lack of nutrition being absorbed by the body will affect all body systems including brain development. Once again good luck.

Are you and/or his father small framed or were you really small as kids? If so, it could just be genetics. My husband is about average height and has a high metabolism and can eat like a horse without gaining weight. Unfortunately I don't have the same metabolism, but I'm pretty tall for a woman. Our 4 y.o. son has his daddy's metabolism and my height. Since about two, he's been slow to gain weight, but he's been getting taller and taller the whole time.

Even if it seems like he's just taking after you, I would probably still want to take him to the endocrinologist just in case. I'm not familiar with all the tests they'll need, but maybe they can be spread out a little to make it easier on your son.

just have some simple tests done.. first a blood test... and talk to the dr. you go to.. see what they think... you never know.. it could be something small ... good luck...

Metabolism wouldn't cause his lack of growth height-wise. Listen to your doctor and take him to the endocrinologist for a professional evaluation. Good luck!

Seeing the endocrinologist is not a bad idea, they are not going to run any tests that you don't want them to unless it is necessary. They will gather health history, how he eats etc....was he a small baby to start, did he grow fast or slow, how your family sizes up, are you and your spouse smaller or bigger....and so on and so forth. He/she will talk about the different tests available and you will both find what is best for your child. The important thing is making sure he is healthy and that there is nothing wrong.

I freaked out when I took my child in for what I thought was a small tummy ache and they said oh we will just draw some blood and call you if there is anything wrong....well they called said my dd needed an endoscopy...I freaked out again but said well if this is the only way to find out what is wrong then wouldn't I feel like an a** if it was something really bad and I didn't do it. Well long story short she turned up positive for Celiac Disease and has had it for several years (she is 6 now) that is why she constantly has tummy aches and bone pain etc.

So now I look at this way...If I wouldn't have had the scope done because I didn't think she needed it and we continued to just tell her she will grow out of it like the other Dr's we saw said...eventually she would have become very very sick...so I think the Dr. really did know best. Because there are some out there who don't take the time to find out what is really wrong.. Cherish that pedi you have, that's a good thing to have.

Best of luck and just always remember to do what is best for the child..not whether he should get poked or prodded. I am so glad I did, otherwise we still wouldn't know.

This sounds like my grandson. It turned out he has a wheat allergy. Thankfully he does not have celliac disease. Once the wheat was eliminated, he began gaining weight.

His sister quite breastfeeding cold turkey on her own at 10 months. She began to lose weight after that. She did not eat and drink enough and ended up in the hospital due to dehydration. So far she does not seem to be allergic to wheat. My daughter is pushing pediasure, butter and the like. Slowly but surely she is gaining weight again.

Hang in there. Ethan went to an endocrinologist. He has not done any testing yet. Doc is tracking him every 6 months. So far he is growing; he just won't be a giant. His parents are not too tall or large either. Be patient.

K. Voigtsberger
www.wholeheartbirth.com

It feels so wierd to be the Mom in the grocery store rejecting products for having too few calories doesn't it. I have a daughter that is also very small for her age. We are so proud because she just hit the 1st percentile for the first time since she was six months old. Not gaining height is an issue much more so than not gaining weight. Lack of gain in height is a red flag. He may just be constitutionally small, but you want to make sure he is getting what he needs. I do question the first stop being the endochronologist thought?? That's one visit we never made. We were first referred to a pediatric nutritionist and an allergist and when that failed to show any results a gastroenterologist. He should be tested for fat in his stool, celiac, and a variety of other things that can indicate a problem. Also testing for cystic fibrosis is necessary if one of you may be a carrier - not necessary if you were tested while pregnant. Most of my daughter testing occured between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2. She was a tough cookie, never cried for blood draws and loves going to the Doctor now at 3. She's still small, drinks pediasure to up her calories, but she is very healthy.

p.s.Feeding throughout the day often actually decreases the calories your child eats. You really want to stick with three meals and two to three snacks, always leaving two hours in between so that he feels really hungry. A nutritionist can help you better monitor what he eats to maximize what he takes in.

I know putting your child through tests that may end up not giving you answers seems like a hard decision. But, you'll be kicking yourself if something comes up 6 months or a year from now, that you could have been treating earlier if only you'd known. I'd say, err on the side of safety. If the tests come up with nothing wrong, then at least you'll have peace of mind.

We have been down this road with our younger daughter. We're a family of giants (yes, really, DH and I are 6' tall+ and our 7-year old is 4'8", if that tells you anything). Our little one is LITTLE. Like, the size of a small-ish 3 year old, but she's turning 5 this month. She was normal sized when she was born, and pretty normal up until about 6 months, and then at her 9 and 12 month visits, she slid down to the 15% for height and 25% for weight. We thought this was pretty weird. Pedi said to wait it out, maybe she'd hit a growth spurt. So... we waited until she turned 4. Surprise, still tiny. So we went in and had a million tests run at Children's Hospital. They came back completely normal. No problems with this kid at all. She's just little. Of course, after having been stuck with a needle for about 20 different tests, she is TERRIFIED of going to the doctor now. We pull into the parking lot and she starts shaking and her eyes fill with tears. It's awful.

So in my opinion, if your baby has rosy cheeks, is alert, happy and is hitting all the developmental milestones, I'd put off the tests. Not every child is going to be in the 95% (because... if they were, it would be the 50%, right? =) Some kids are above average height and weight, and some are below average. Now, if your doctor sees other issues besides height and weight (for instance, your baby has big dark circles under the eyes, or throws up every day, or whatever), then get some testing done. But if there are no other problems, don't worry about it. No need to make your baby hate going to to the doctor if you can avoid it!

I would think if the dr suggested it it's worth a try. At least you could rule it out. I know my Dr's office doesn't recommend anything unless they feel it is necessary. As for losing weight ..that's pretty common in active babies especially when they have started walking. Since he is in the 1st percentile I would go ahead and do it. Is being small common in your family?

My first child fell below the 1% mark weight-wise, but never lost weight and continued to gain height. He also hit milestones early, so there were no developmental concerns. He went through blood tests, saw a gastroenterologist, tested for cystic fibrosis (even though no other indicators besides low weight). No problems, and now he's a healthy, skinny 5 year old. There's a difference between not gaining weight and actually losing weight, and I would be concerned about not gaining height. At minimum, I would get a blood test and see a nutritionist. It's possible his body is not processing certain foods correctly, causing a nutritional deficit. Also, have you kept a food journal to monitor how much food he's actually eating over a 3-day period? My son ate a variety of foods, but he never ate very much because he preferred to run around and play. He has sensory processing disorder and is sensory seeking, so the drive to get sensory input actually overrode the signal to eat more. Once he ate just enough to take the edge off of hunger, he was off and running again. I highly encourage you to see the nutritionist, because that is the person that will most likely pick up on other potential non-medical issues. And just to resassure you, most pediatric specialists won't start with an invasive procedure because they hate to put kids through unecessary testing too. The initial step should just be talking to you to assess if tests are necessary. My biggest piece of advice though would be to trust your instinct. You know your child the best, and you do have the ability to sense when something is just not right and to know when everything is ok despite other's concerns.