Small for Age

Hey,
My Son was a premie (3lbs 4oz) and grew slowly but never quite made it on the charts and then when he started crawling he was on the go constantly and stopped gaining weight at all for several months. We had him on a high calorie diet but other than that I didn't worry about it too much becuase other than the wieght he was so healthy. And now that he is 2 he is growing like a weed and finially catching up. So I'd recomend watching it and doing what you can to get as many calories in as possible and then not stressing about it. It will sort itself out with time.

I would say you have nothing to worry about! I think she will just be a petite child. We are all different and as long as she is eating I wouldn't worry, talk to the doc and see how it goes.

I agree with most everyone else. Don't worry if she seems to be doing fine in all other respects. All of my children were average weight at birth, became total chunks by about 3 months (my son hit 18 pounds around 4 months--little sumo!), gained a little more slowly until the 6-month mark, and then basically stayed at nearly the same weight until they were over a year old. However, they are all very tall and good-sized for their ages now. No detrimental effects from staying the same weight for a while. If you are concerned because she had a low birth-weight to start with, or is low on the percentile-ranking, just try offering small bits of food more often throughout the day. However, I wouldn't sweat it too bad.

Petite healthy child, dont worry. She's helping the growth chart stay "balanced" when the majority of kids are tipping the scales on the wrong end. My 6yo son is just over 30 lbs. We finally turned his car seat around at 15 months old even though he wasn't exactly 20 lbs yet. (He and I were much happier for it!)

When she's older, you'll be SO glad you're not having to haul out a kicking screaming 40 lb toddler! It's also very nice to be able to wear the same size for a whole year instead of moving up to a larger size every 4 months.

Only need to be concerned when her growth stops completely and regresses, ie, if she loses weight for no unexplained reason (ie, if she got the flu and lost weight one week, that's explainable, just be helping her gain it back when she's healthy again. UN-explained weight loss (or complete lack of growth) is what you need to be concerned about. There will be times that she wont gain any weight, but as you mentioned she is growing in inches, not pounds, and is hitting all the developmental milestones and staying active, alert, and engaged in her environment, so she's just fine!

Also, she may just be a petite baby, but once she's past the toddler (or early grades, or puberty, whatever) she might catch up to her peers. Were you/her dad (or anyone in the family) small or a late bloomer? Both my husband and I are so of course our son would not be a big baby either. My son will very likely be "underweight" into his 20's (Dad and I graduated high school barely over 100 lbs each - and the car seat we have holds up to 100 lbs, imagine that!)

My son was the same way. When he was a year old he was anly 15 or 17 lbs. His doctor was always concerned but he is just fine. he eats well, he is healthy and in great shape. heloves to play and I really believe that is why he was always underweight. He is now 3 and about average. A friend of mine had her daughter two months before me and he daughter was the same way. her doctor was always worried but she has always been active and in good health too. Sometimes you just need to go on what you see with your child. If you see your child is in good health and playing and eating well and doing what she should be doing I wouldn't worry about it. Especially if she is growing like you say. I have a 7 month old now who is very tall but his weight is very low. I am not worried though because he is so happy and in great health. Just take what the doc says with a grain of salt and go by your instincts (at least for this instance).

I was really glad to read this. My son is 20 months now and has just reached 20 lbs. He was 7 lbs 7 oz when he was born and grew fine untill he was about 9 months old. He was abou 15 lbs. He need to get to 20 lbs for and unrelated surgery and just wouldn't gain any wait no mater waht we did and finally had to have the surgery anyway. On the curved growth charts the pediatrition gives you, he has falen off the chart. We were told that as long as he continues to grow in hight, he'll be fne. Everyone else tels me not to worry. He eats godd and is really active, he doesn't stop unless he is asleep like you daughter. I know I didn't give you any advise, but it helps to know there is someone else with the same issue. Thanks!
C.

Hi!

I would not worry too much if she is meeting all of her developmental milestones.

My daughter was 7lbs. when she was born and weighed 17lbs at one year and only 18lbs at 18 months. She is now 3.5 and she weighs 26lbs.

Our pediatrician was never concerned and he even fudged on the growth chart at one point because he said that if she was below the zero percentile, he would have to do testing and he really didn't feel he needed to. If your daughter were lethargic, inactive, not eating, etc. I am sure that you would want to find out why. But, it sounds like she is healthy and developing normally and I don't see any reason to be concerned.

Our daughter is perfectly healthy and eats like a horse. I really don't know where all of it goes except for the fact that she burns it all off. I was never really big (I wish that were true now-he,he) and so our doctor just felt that it was the natural make-up of her body. Let me know if you have any other questions, I would be more than happy to help!

B.,

Our three year old is also very small. She was 5lbs 9oz at birth and is now only 24lbs at 37mos. At a year, she was 15lbs 15oz. She's also only 35inches. She does have a mild growth hormone deficiency, which we thus far have not treated. Like your daughter, ours is 100% on the go all day long. She has some other health issues such as microcephaly which may be linked to her small stature, but we recently found out that her tonsils are enormous, which usually causes sleep interruption, which could cause growth hormone deficiency. I don't know if any of this helps you. My intention is certainly not to make you worry about any of these things, but we wish we had known about her tonsils a long time ago. Just something to think about, I don't know. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much. They watch Tess closely, but so far, we're doing fine, just small. She has continued to develop appropriately. :)

B.

If your daughter is active and healthy in all other respects, don't sweat it. My daughter was over 8lbs when she was born, but she pretty much fell off the charts when she was around a year old. Different pediatricians will tell you different things, but I stuck with the pediatrician who told me not to worry about it. My girl is 4 now, petite to be sure, but sharp as a tack and energetic as anything. It may be suggested to you that you give your daughter Pediasure. Before you decide to do that, read the label and decide if you think it's wise for your daughter to drink it. Also, if she's not a big eater, (my daughter isn't), ask your pediatrician about good quality children's vitamins. I started my daughter on some liquid Schiff vitamins when she was around 1, and just slipped them in her watered down juice.

Take Care,

A.

My son was 5 pounds, 2 ounces at birth and ever since then has been small for his age in weight - always below the graph on those darn growth charts that doctors pay so much attention to. It doesn't help that he's also a very picky eater... The main thing is that he's hit his milestones thus far and is very active and continues to grow both in weight and height but at his speed. He's is now 2 years old but still low in weight at only 22 pounds but is growing in height.

In the beginning our doctor wanted us to go see a specialist to help him gain weight but we never did - I didn't feel comfortable putting a tab of butter into his food to bump up the calories. I mean height and weight is genetic for the most part - are your parents and your husband's parents small or petite in stature? Both my father and my husband's dad are over 6 feet tall and they both were thin when they were younger so I'm not putting too much emphasis on how much food my son eats in a day otherwise it will drive you crazy. Go with your gut - if you think your daughter is eating, growing and continuing to hit her milestones I wouldn't worry about it. You are your daughters best judge.

I personally wouldn't worry too much. My daughter is 9.5 months and last week weighed 15.8 pounds. She was also small at birth, 5lbs, 8 oz. She is in the 3-5 percentile for her height and weight. If she is eating good and developing properly, I would think she's fine. Every child is different, and I don't think they can be compared to the rest of the children out there. A friend of mine has a little girl who is petite as well. The doctors labeled her as "failure to thrive" because she was no longer on the charts. She is a happy, healthy, little girl who loves to eat and is running all over the place. Hope this eases your thoughts a little. There are others out there will petite children.

B.- you have had a TON of responses and almost everyone agrees...your baby daughter will be just fine. I agree with all of the moms, but since this is your first baby, you should always trust your instincts and make decisions with your doctor regarding her weight. If your doctor feels that there may be some external factor contributing to the poor weight gain, then you may want to do some testing. Since your daughter is only 10 months, I think watching her growth for at least another 5 or 6 months to see more patterns will be helpful before jumping into testing.

My first born is 23 months right now and is only 22 pounds. She fell off her growth curve and was so small she was completely off the charts at 9 months when she started eating more finger foods. The doctor just watched her for a few months because she was active, playing, happy, sleeping well etc... After she turned a year, she was starting to bounce around on her own special growth curve that was off the charts- her weight would go up and then down and she was getting sick more frequently. At that point we started to investigate possible causes for her poor weight gain. Over the course of 6 months we had blood drawn to test for Celiac Disease, we took her to an allergist to look for food allergies, we had an upper endoscopy done, and she has seen an immunologist. ALL of the tests came back normal and as of right now she is a perfectly healthy 2 year old who is just petite and a ridiculously picky eater.

Even though I was stressed at the time, looking back on everything now I can say that I am happy we had all the testing done. It really put my mind at ease to find out that there is nothing medically wrong with her. I have since relaxed A LOT about her weight and I simply enjoy the fact that she can wear cloths for a long time, she is easy to carry around and she is so mobile, active, and limber. Most of the moms that responded said, "don't worry...this is normal...she is petite" however, as a first time mom I was worried and I wanted to make sure she was fine. So, trust your instincts, and trust your doctor. They are only going to suggest testing if they see some kind of pattern that indicates that something else could be going on. Otherwise, most will just want to observe your daughters growth and during that time you can just relish the fact that your have a small baby who is easy to carry around :)

I wouldnt worry at all. My son was born the end of January and he was 5.10 he got down to 5 even and he is now almost 9 months and only weighs 14 pounds. My daughter was the same way. Some babies are just smaller than others. My ped. was worried about my sons weight too what matters most is the rate at which they are growing. My son had an ear infection and lost a pound within 4 days, wierd stuff happens with babies sometimes. I wouldnt worry about it, as long as your baby is eating!

My son was 20 lbs at 4 months and I (nor his Pediatrician) notice he did not gain any weight for another 19 months. He was very active and ate table food. He would not eat baby food. I had him checked for parasites since his stools were constantly loose. No parasites, so the next step was a blood test and skin test for allergies. Seems he was allergic to alot of foods and his refusal to eat baby food was due to his allergy to wheat, beef, pork, peanuts, carrots, peas, beans, milk. Alot of baby foods are preserved with some form of wheat. Everything may be okay, but when we found out he what he was allergic to and removed it from his diet along with providing a multi-vitamin, he begain to grow again. He is now in kindergarden and out of the non thriving catagory.

I have had similiar issues with BOTH of my daughters. I have four children two boys and two girls. Ages ranging from 12years to 16 months.With my boys there were no issues at all. My girls both were very small. My youngest daughter sounds alot like your daughter in the fact see was picky about eating baby food. When we changed her to "real" solid food her diet picked up however she still stayed small. At here 1 year check up she weighted a whole 16 pounds. She still only weights 18 pounds now. I am NOT a small lady myself. I am 5'6" at 140lbs. We went thru the "change her diet for two weeks and come back to the office for a weight check" process. They had us add extra formula powder to her bottles to add calories and stop breastfeeding altogether. The only thing it did was get her fuller faster. She didn't eat any more and some times less because it was packed with extra calories. She to was always happy and when she was hunger ate. She didn't miss any meals! She did gain weight those two weeks but, just enough to satisfy the doctors on her ability to gain weight. I didn't continue the every two week check-ups because I as a mother knew there were no other signs of concern. She is just petite. Unlike her mother! :) So with the long story aside. Go with your motherly instincts. If there are no other signs of concern try not let it bother you so and let the doctors do what they do. They typically all mean well and want the best for our children. They know the medical side and you know your child. She is probably just fine! Good luck and enjoy your precious gift!

I say don't worry. If she is developing fine and is healthy, she is OK. My daughter is also a petite child, she was 5lbs 8oz when she was born. She is now 18 months old and barely 20 lbs. I went through the same thing...getting her weight checked almost every month after her regular check ups. She is also a happy, healthy little girl! She eats well too. I think they will just be petite cuties!!

Dont' worry mama!! I told myself the only time i will worry is if it starts effecting her health.

As long as she is eating and she is healthy and happy I wouldn't worry about it. My daughter only weighted 15lbs 4oz at her year check up. She is now two and just hit the 20lb mark. She is just a petite little girl. I would only be concerned if she wasn't eating good and if she seemed to be unhealthy and not active. Some children are just small. My daughter goes a million miles a minute and is as happy as can be, and even if I wanted to I couldn't make her eat any more. She eats when she is hungry. I hope this helps.

Hi B. ~

My son was 6lbs7oz at birth. Tiny but active at 6 months he weighed 9lbs at a year he weighed 18lbs. Now at almost 4 we vary between 27lbs & 30lbs. My pediatrican & I constantly battle about his weight. He's ahead developmentally & has always met his achievments. I now keep a journal of what he eats on a day to day basis & give approximation of how much just to show that he eats ALL the time - he just doesn't gain weight. You might try just jotting down what she eats & maybe her activities she does doing the day.

Good Luck!

K.

I have a friend who had this same problem. When her son was born he only weighed about 4lbs.8oz. and then when he was about 10 months old his doctor wanted him to start coming in for weight checks because he only weighed 15 pounds. He is now 2 1/2 and he is still very slim and very healthy. It sounds to me like your daughter is going to be petite as long as she eats well and seems healthy I wouldn't worry about her.

B.,
Your daughter is just fine. Children should triple their birthweight by age one. Since she was under 5 lbs at birth she should be around 15 lbs at one year. Don't stress over this as long as she is eating and growing. My daughter was 5lbs 1 oz at birth and she was 15 lbs at one year. Her pediatrician said the the guide is as I quoted above tripling the birth weight. My daughter started kindergarten in size 3T. Yes she was petite until she hit puberty at age 11. She then caught up to other kids her age. Enjoy your little girl.
J.

I think it has all been said and I agree. We didn't think Syd would ever get to 20 pounds much less the 30 she finally made after her 3rd b-day. Always tall, very active, never much of a big eater--just thin. I hope she never has to battle being over weight, my niece has been very heavy since she was little and it much more difficult than being a skinny minny. Take a deep breath and relax, your love is great nourishment for her too (in a different way of course).

M.

My son was 6'9 when he was born i weighed that when I was born, now my son is almost 4 in a few weeks he will be, his upper half is like his dad, but his bottom half is like me, he is pretty petite on that side. When my son had his adnoids and tonsils were taken out, they said that he weighed the size of a two year old, but he eats alot when he is at home. I am not sure how good he eats at daycare. Yesterday when we were in the store about to leave he was all im hungry like he was starving, he usually eats dinner there, but I dont think he did last night. So dont extremely worry to much if shes healthy and doing her milestones.

I don't think you should take it personally, the doctor has your daughter's best interest at heart. Maybe she needs to be on a higher calorie formula or make sure she is getting enough calories one way or another. Here is a link to a percentile calculator - http://www.babycenter.com/baby-child-growth-percentile-ca... when I put in your daughter's stats it showed that she was less than fifth percentile. I think that should be concerning to you. I don't think that she is more active than the typical 10-month old - and even if she was she wouldn't be burning all her calories. My son was 23 lbs. at 10 months old, he WAS chunky though - and he is now 15 months old and still 23 lbs. LOL. Have you tried to give her healthy high calorie foods like cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc.?

Probably a petite and active one! I have 2 of those. My 2yr old was 6lbs 0oz at birth and just under 17lbs at her 1 year check-up. She is also very active, doesn't know the difference between the trampoline and the hard floor, so much jumping!

I don't know if this helps at all, but I have a friend who has 5 children and all but one had the same issue you describe. I think they started having the children drink whole milk and had them eat things high in calories but they are all fine, strong, physically active and beautiful children. It sounds like everything else is great so I hope your outcome is the same as hers.

I wouldn't worry too much. Both my children have always been off the charts in height and 50th percentile in weight. They are now very active very healthy teenagers.

My 4 kids have ALL stopped gaining weight at 9 mo. and then pick up after the 12 mo. mark. The Drs. all seem to wig out, but it is what is normal for our kids.
It is obvious she is growing and healthy and there is probably no need to worry.

If all her eating habbits are healthy and she doesn't seem to have any developmental delays, then she is probably fine.

I was a really tiny child and in fact I am still pretty petite and when I was a child they thought all kinds of things were wrong with me. It turns out that God just wanted me to be small.

So, she is probably fine and I bet your doctor will confirm that.

B.,

My sister had the same issue with her little girl. She has twins, but one was/is smaller than the other. The peds were worried, and my sister was still having to go to the gastro because she wasn't gaining weight. Then we took her to NAET (Allergy Ellimination Treatment) which is natural and non-invasive. My niece was never on the growth chart until doing this, and now she is finally in the 5th percentile! Check out www.naet.com for more about it.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to know more.
Good luck!
L.

B. - Our daughter is 18 months and only weighs 17 lbs. She is 31 inches tall. She too has a healthy appetite, is very active and is developmentally on cue. The only thing we just found out is that she has recently become anemic which we are correcting with an iron supplement.
So, don't worry about your little one!!! Some babies are just tiny, and if she is healthy otherwise, consider yourself blessed!!!
J.

my grandson is a preemie. he was only 3 lbs at birth and 14 inches long. he is 16 months old and weighs 16 lbs. he too eats all day long and runs and runs all day. he is healthy, working on potty training has a good vocabulary and smart as a whip. i know with being a preemie the doctor has wanted him to "catch up" but his mommy and daddy are small too so im not worried about him. he has never been sick and is active and healthy so why worry. if he was obese it would be hard to withold food from him. so be thankful that she is healthy.

Hi B.-
As long as she continues to get a clean bill of health, she is just tiny at this time. All children do not follow the chart the Dr.s use. My son was 19 inches, 7+ pounds at birth, then, for the first few years, his growth curve was always below the curve on the chart. He was a healthy, happy baby also, and his development was normal. He is now a 6'0" 160-pound young man who is still beautiful and healthy. In school, he was classified as 'gifted', although it bored him silly. You never know how they're going to turn out. Give thanks for normalcy, happiness, and health and don't worry. She will be whatever she will be, and it will be perfect :-) S.

There is nothing wrong with your child doctors can get you paranoid sometimes. You know your child better than anyone else, doctor or not!! (here are my 2c)If she is eating and doing everything she should be doing for her age then she is just petite. My daughter is 15 months now and barely weighs 18lbs. She has ALWAYS been at the bottom or below the chart line for children and average child. She was 16lbs from around 9-10 until about a month ago. when she was 4-5 months old she was only like 8-9 lbs and we so worried about her that they told me to stop breastfeeding and give her formula to gain weight which she didn't do rapidly or anything. I switched doctors and they just told me I never should have stopped breastfeeding and that nothing is wrong with her. She will just be small and there is nothing wrong with that. There are a few short people on my husbands side of the family 5'4 and 5'2 men and women. I'm 5'8, my mom is 5'9 and my grandmother was 5'10( she is in her 80s now!LOL).

My daughter was never really into baby food like your child and loves to eat what we are eating. She is just starting to get her first tooth, but has been eating our food since about 10 months. She is very petite like your daughter and does everything she is suppose to do for example run, grasping, balance stuff, starting words.

I guess what I'm saying is as long as she is happy and is eating well, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. I hope this gives you piece of mind.

Sincerely,

N. M

Mother of a 4 year old boy and a 15 month girl.