Does my child have dwarfism?

[crunchy_mommy]

I have no clue where to post this & I kind of feel silly even asking but I don't really know enough about dwarfism to know if there are any medical complications or if it's more about appearance etc. & I know there are different types... Also I don't know what the "PC" term is for it so I am truly sorry if I use the wrong words.

Anyway... I made the mistake of finally looking at a growth chart and DS is way off. I knew he was tiny but he is not even at the 5%, he's quite a bit below it. His cousin who's 6 mos younger than him is already taller than him! At his 1yr appt he was 27" WITH THICK SHOES. DH & I are short (I'm 5'3, he's 5'7) so we of course weren't expecting a tall kiddo but ~26" seems pretty short to me. He is normal weight (22lbs, just below the 50%) and his body is normal proportions but he does have an issue with one side of his chest not matching the other (the nipple is way smaller & he seems to be missing a pectoral muscle and/or fat??? The doctor didn't know what to make of it!)

Thoughts? Does anyone know about dwarfism & what it would look like in a 1-yr-old? Are there any medical concerns with this?

[2xy]

I don't know much about dwarfism, but the thing you said about his chest being uneven and having one smaller nipple made me think of hemihypertrophy. My nephew has this condition.

[crunchy_mommy]

Thanks! I've never heard of that, I think if anything my son has the opposite of that... I will have to do some googling to figure out if there is a condition exactly opposite of hemihypertrophy. His "large" nipple/side is the normal one and the other side appears underdeveloped, as opposed to vice-versa.

[texaspeach]

when I was 3 I was taken to a specialist (a pediatric endocrinologist, they thought I had growth hormone deficiency) because I was so little. I wasn't on the chart at all. I'm normal just small. I'm 4'9" as an adult. there's a chance your ds is just smaller than average.

[crunchy_mommy]

That's what I'm thinking/hoping, I just want to make sure it's not something else I should be concerned about!!

[out#edbyJs]

I completely understand your concern. I have one of those well, short children with very tiny thick feet.
I am 5'7 and my dh is 5'4. My dd is my dh, just a female. She is in 1st grade and just stopped wearing a toddler shoe. She gets mistaken for a child in pre-k regularly.
At her last check-up I expressed my concern to the doc, she did a bone age scan and found that she has bones of a 3 year old.
Since then we have seen an endocrinologist and with some abnormal bloods tests she may have hypothyroidism causing slowed growth. But we need more tests to know for sure.
Even if they can treat her for that she is still only expected to be 5 feet.
So once that is taken care of, I am happy to have my healthy petite little girl.

If you concerned it never hurts to look into it. I did and I have no regrets.

[kl5]

You may also look into Poland's Syndrome for the chest asymmetry. It is a midline defect (there are quite a few threads on mdc about midline defects if you need more information). My brother was born with this (without the webbing of the fingers that sometimes accompanies), and other than feeling somewhat self conscious without a shirt as a teenager, it hasn't affected his life at all.

[crunchy_mommy]

Wow Poland's syndrome sounds exactly like it, minus the webbed fingers!! Thank you! Sounds like it's completely harmless, just cosmetic. I'll have to have his pedi look into Poland's too.

out#edbyJs - I'm hoping to avoid putting DS through any tests unless absolutely necessary, but the possibility of hypothyroidism etc. is a little concerning to me. I guess I may need to give it a little more time though to see if he continues to grow slowly.

[kl5]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Wow Poland's syndrome sounds exactly like it, minus the webbed fingers!! Thank you! Sounds like it's completely harmless, just cosmetic. I'll have to have his pedi look into Poland's too.

It is harmless and nothing to worry about in and of itself. However, midline defects are often associated with a host of allergies/food sensitivities/nutritional deficiencies, etc..., which could also possibly explain his small stature. There is a lot of knowledge and exploration going on in the allergies sub-forum, a lot of which you might not automatically associate with allergies at all. It's worth exploring, even if it can feel a little overwhelming at first. Good luck.

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by kl5

It is harmless and nothing to worry about in and of itself. However, midline defects are often associated with a host of allergies/food sensitivities/nutritional deficiencies, etc..., which could also possibly explain his small stature. There is a lot of knowledge and exploration going on in the allergies sub-forum, a lot of which you might not automatically associate with allergies at all. It's worth exploring, even if it can feel a little overwhelming at first. Good luck.

Thanks for the info! I'll have to head over to the allergies forum... I have lots of other concerns (including his frequent eating & waking, even at age 1 still eating & waking as often as every 20 minutes) and extreme fussiness. Didn't think all of this could be interrelated in some way!

[NamastePlatypus]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Thanks for the info! I'll have to head over to the allergies forum... I have lots of other concerns (including his frequent eating & waking, even at age 1 still eating & waking as often as every 20 minutes) and extreme fussiness. Didn't think all of this could be interrelated in some way!

that is the way my SN ds was, he finally got a gripe on that when he was a little over three, and even at 5 will come on in bed with me and that is fine. It is amazing the info you are about to get here! I was blown away and what I learned that SHOULD be common knowledge in the med. community

[~bookcase~]

we're looking at Russell Silver syndrome for my dd atm - it has a different sides of the body thing to it and slow growth too. wikipedia looked useful for description. hth. off to look at poland's syn too now!

[jeliphish]

Have you asked your pedi about this?