Underweight 10.5 Mo Old

Anytime there is an abnormality with the heart function, it needs to be thoroughly evaluated by the experts as soon as possible. Lots of people have heart murmurs but don't assume anything until the doctor checks it out. Might be serious and need ongoing care or could be nothing at all. Growth charts are a valuable resource because it shows where a child is in relation to all the others at that age/ height and weight. Good Luck!

I would take him and have it checked out but don't start panicking to early. My daughter has a heart murmur we took her to a pediatric cardiologist (by recommendation of the pedi) and it turned out to be an innocent murmur. She too is very small for her size, she was born 8lbs and 14oz but slowly lost weight as an infant and never found her spot on the growth chart. She dropped of the chart and has been off most of her life, she is now 4 years old and only weights 27lbs (which put her in 3% for her weight, finally back on the chart =). My husband and I are both overweight so it seemed really odd that we would have such a little petite girl, but apparently genetics are only a small factor in your growth! We have been seeing a pediatric endocrinologist since she was 1 year old (again by recommendation of her pedi) and everything is absolutely fine. So there maybe nothing wrong at all with your son he could just be small and that is fine, but I would still recommend seeing the doctors just for your peace of mind and his health incase something is wrong.

I had a heart murmur when I was born - so did all my sisters, but it went away. Mine has not returned. Generally if he looks and acts healthy, he probably is. The growth charts are also a bit skewed from kids who are overfed and underactive. Good luck!

I thought a general rule of thumb was babies double their birth weight by month five and triple it roughly by their 1st birthday. I'd say your son is doing fine. My son was 9 lb 1.5 oz at birth, 18 lb at 5 months and 25 lb at 1 yr and he was fine even if he didn't quite triple his birth weight. (I'm 5'5", my husband is 6'1". Our dr says our son has the potential to reach 6'4".) I think being a big boy meant he had to get a bit stronger to lift his weight - he walked at 14 months. Babies come in all sizes, and they have growth spurts all the time. As they get to walking stage, they gain weight more slowly since they burn the calories so quickly.

My 2 yr old daughter has been off the chart since she was born (5 lib 9oz at birth) in both weight and height; and the first 2 weeks she went down to 5lb 4 oz. Right now she's 2 and only weights 22 pounds. Also, she has been a little slow to talk. But she is very active and she started to talk a lot in the last 30 days. Until now, her pediatrician has not been concerned; she says that she's petite as I'm. And regarding her speech; I'm not surprised because my other 2 children were even more slow to talk and once they started use their voices, no one can keep them quite.

I think that there is nothing wrong with your son but of course it doesn't hurt to do the test his doctor recommends.

Best wishes,

L.

sounds like a normal but small baby.. my duaghter weighed 17 pounds at one year.. and then she fell off the growth chart at 15 months when she only weighed 18 pounds.. she is normal but small.

at 4 she weighs 30 pounds so she is back on the growth dchart. (at (9%)

some people are small. some people are large if he eats and sleeps and is not constantly sick he is probably fine.

Since he eats all the time, that would seem to be a good sign. Still a good idea to check out the things with his pediatrician. Do you have a fast metabolism? What's your heighth? My baby was born a month early at 5lbs 10 oz and he's always been in the 51% for weight and 91% for heighth (my husband it tall and lean). He eats all the time so I feel like he just has a fast metabolism like my husband. Especially since you say your child is active. So as long as his appetite is healthy and you've had him checked out it should all be fine.

Sounds like a healthy little guy to me :) My son has a heart murmur, though I cannot comment about height and weight as he is a twin and they were born at 30 weeks (3.3 lbs, and 3.7 lbs). I am sure a growth spurt will happen soon as he is eating well and I am guessing that he is sleeping well (?).
:)

I think that it is a good idea to have his heart murmur checked out. I had one as a child and needed to have surgery to correct it. A lot of heart murmurs will correct themselves, but best to stay on top of it.

You did not say how tall you guys are. My 2nd grand daughter is not on the growth charts, but her parents are not tall and her Dad's mother is not even 5' tall. Genetics do come into play somewhat. What you can do as a parent is make sure that he is getting all the nutrients that he needs to grow. It is difficult for us to get all of these from our foods because they are not as nutrient dense as they use to be. I would start giving him a good multi-vitamin and possible add some soy protein as well. Since he is still breastfeeding you need to look at getting on a good vitamin plan as well. This way you can ensure that he is getting all that he needs to grow.

Our family uses Shaklee vitamins and I have seen the difference it has made in our lives. My son has had lots of ear infections and now we are keeping those at bay with natural nutritional vitamins instead of treating it with antibiotics. If you would like to know more you can email me or you can go to www.provenpurepotent.com.

I wouldn't worry too much about it right now. It sounds like your son is healthy. The pedi is just taking some precautionary measures, which to me speaks volumes about his/her commitment to the profession and to his/her patients. If he/she finds anything, you can take it from there, but until then enjoy your little bundle of joy.

I know my youngest son stopped showing signs of growth and weight gain for a month or two when he was 9 months old, but then he suddenly hit a growth spurt and caught up.

Do you have the breastfed-baby growth chart? You can find them on this page: http://www.mymammasmilk.com/NursingTips.html

What about you and your husband - what type of babies were you?

He seems healthy - he may just be burning through what he eats. The only thing that stands out for me is the number of times he is nursing. AT 10.5 months, babies still usually nurse 6 to 7 times a day (it might be just for 5 minutes, but they still nurse). My guess is his weight slowed when the nursing dropped off. Am I right?

:)

Don't be scared of the echo itself. It's exactly like the sonogram you had in the middle of your pregnancy, but with a smaller "wand" thing (transducer), and they'll put it on his chest. The jelly is the same, and it may tickle him. My middle son had an echo at about age 4 1/2, because the pedi heard a heart murmur and it was easy for us to check out since my Dad is a heart surgeon. The pedi just heard a slight murmur in my youngest, and again since it's easy for us to get an echo, he'll get one done next time we see my parents (age 3). It's a pretty cool movie of your son's heart in action. If they see something to be worried about, deal with it then. I'm glad to have the evidence that there is nothing structurally wrong with the heart before they start playing heavy duty sports.

I agree with the other moms who say to trust your gut - if you think there is something wrong, don't ignore that. If you think he's fine, weigh that in when you consider tests and how to respond to what the doctor says to you. He's your son, and you are in charge. Do research, get informed, consider advice from various "experts", but make your own decision.

It can't hurt to check out all your angles. My daughter will be 2 in a month and is only 19 lbs. She too fell off the growth charts and is continuing to do so. She also is a great eater and has always met her milestones at or before time. I had a gut feeling that there was still something not right and so pushed the Dr to send us to a few specialtists for second opinions. We found out she doesn have kidney/urine problems which we are now treating and we are being sent to a immunologist in a few weeks. This being said, you know your son better then anyone and if you have that gut feeling that something is not quite right them I would push to get that checked out.

I totally don't want to freak you out here, but do want you to get DS checked out and see if he needs some help. DD had a heart murmur, and at 2 mos old we learned she had an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)--this is a congenital heart defect in which there is a hole between the two atria of the heart. This makes the heart work much less efficiently, and a common side effect is stunted growth. DD was watched carefully for growth issues, but we didn't think she had any, since she was at 30% for height and weight, so well within the bell curve. HOWEVER, the hole continued to grow, as opposed to shrink/close on its own (which is what we hoped for, and what happens most of the time). At 6 mos. old, DD had surgery to close the hole. Within 6 weeks of the surgery, she went from 30% to 80%, and now, at almost 3, she is off the charts huge (in 4T clothes already--not fat at all, super active, but very tall and sturdy!). It turns out that her growth WAS stunted by the heart defect, we just didn't know at the time. Which is all to say--definitely get the echo done, and, if he needs help, it's better to know and get DS the help that he needs. I'll pray that he's just a small kid with high metabolism, but you definitely want to get things checked out. If there does turn out to be a problem, and you want to talk to a mom who's been there, feel free to PM me. GL!

We need to know how heavy he is now? Would a little with answering the question

Thanks

He sounds like he's perfect to me! :)

It's a very good sign he's meeting his milestones. My son was also "off the charts" but so busy & active he was obviously healthy. (He was walking at 9 months, always climbing up the drapes & furniture, & at 10 months he kept climbing out of the crib, so I had to put him in a toddler bed...) I ended up deciding SOMEONE has to hold up the bottom of the curve, we can't all be "average", and he's still underweight but a very active healthy teenager.
Keep going to the doctors to rule out the worst (rule out, remember) but try to remember that those curves are averaged out over so many babies & people usually don't grow in smooth, even lines.
P.S. I also have a heart murmur. I've been told they are as common as freckles (5 or 10 % of the pop). I ran track in school, skiied in slalom races, climbed mountains, still do 10k, and it really doesn't have to mean he is handicapped.

My daughter was always at the bottom of the growth chart but was and still is healthy. If your pediatrician thinks he needs to be checked out then by all means do so.But it may just be that he is small.