too small???

[louoftwo]

My 27 month old boy is 22 pounds and 34.5 inches tall. My doctor told me that he was too small and we needed to investigate more. She called it failure to thrive, however he seems to be fine to me. He has lots of energy, is very verbal and is meeting all of his milestones. He was 8lbs at birth 19lbs at 7 months and at 12 months he was 20.4 pounds. Should I be concerned? I definitely don't want to put him through testing. The only other thing I can think to mention is that he has always been a light eater and refused solids until he was 11 months. He eats a varied diet but it varies from day to day. Of course he loves carbs and would eat anything with sugar if he was allowed.

[just_lily]

I am pretty anti-doctor, but I would want to investigate why my child had only gained 1.5lbs in 15 months. Most kids triple their birth weight by their first birthday, and your son hasn't yet at 27 months.

What kind of testing is she talking about? I wouldn't jump on doing anything invasive, but I would probably consent to some bloodwork or that kind of thing.

[mamamillet]

just_lily--most kids do NOT triple their birth weight by the 1st b-day!! But most kids do double the birthweight by 6 months which it soub=nds as if the op's boy did. But I do agree that I would be concerned about only gaining 1.5 lbs in 15 months.

[FreeRangeMama]

My dd was like that. She started out average, but by the end of the first year she was near the bottom of the growth charts. Soon after that she was WAY below average. At nearly 5 she still only weighs 31lbs (as does her 2 year old sister).

I am not worried about her. I occasionally have my moments (I am her mom, it is my job ). But she is full of energy, she LOOKS healthy, her hair and nails grow like crazy (so she is obviously getting lots of nutrients, those things often slow down or stop if a child is failing to thrive), her eyes are sparkly and full of life, and she is otherwise well. She does grow, just very slowly. And I am not large or tall, so she likely just takes after me.

OTOH I DID have a child who suffered from malnutrition. He was a very limited eater and needed feeding therapy to learn to eat different textures. He was still at the midpoint of the growth charts and was a large kid so it took almost a YEAR of me fighting doctors to take me seriously. It wasn't until I refused to leave without a blood test that I finally got help for him.

The difference is a big one. He was pale and lethargic. He had NO energy. He was clearly not thriving at all. Growth charts and averages mean nothing. Judge by the behaviour of your child. It never hurts to be cautious, but IME the difference between a thriving child and a struggling challenge is a big one.

YOU are the one who knows him best. Maybe just bulk up his diet with healthy fats if you are concerned about it. Otherwise you probably can tell if he is thriving or not.

[sunkist33]

My dd is 26 months & 21#. She is gaining weight, but very slowly...but her height is still following the growth curve. If they are not gaining or growing in height, I think it's more of a concern, esp. for diseases like cystic fibrosis.
We opted to a full blood panel. IMO, it's not that hard to have them draw blood and I want to r/o celiac just in case and check her iron & vitamin D levels, etc. This was Friday so I don't have the results yet. I'm pretty sure she's healthy, just tiny. Probably the same for your DS, but if I were you, I'd just want to make sure & blood tests are an easy way to start...
Good luck!
Stacy, mt to tiny Ocean

[TiredX2]

How is DS' fat intake? At that age I would not be concerned with weight gain IF height/head circumfrance & development were all on AND DS was taking in plenty of good fats (bmilk is obviously choice #1, but since he is on the thin side--- whole milk, oils, ...). From what I have always been told, weight is the least indicator of health in kids (weight is an indicator generally only when at least one of the other measures is off as well). He may just be small.

[louoftwo]

His fat intake is not too bad, but all in all he really doesn't eat a whole lot. I'm trying to increase the fats in his diet, ie whole milk, oils, nuts and seeds. I measured his head cir. and it is 48.5 which I believe is somewhere around the 30 percentile. And his height is actually 33 inches. Any ideas on getting him to eat more? My DS is a grazer, eating every 1-2 hours and eating small amounts. Thanks for all the replies!

[SparklingGemini]

My DD is 26lbs & 35" at 33.5 months.

She normal and fine and just slender and petite.

If his eating is minimal, maybe food allergies are at play?

[barefootmama0709]

It sounds kind of like he's just small-my ODS was 33" and 27 lbs for a long time-he very recently grew 3 inches and gained 6 pounds. He is a few months older than your child. I do think you might want to investigate just to be sure that his body is getting enough nutrients and make sure malabsorption isn't a factor.

[leighi123]

My ds is 33months, 24lbs and 33".

I dont worry about it b/c he is healthy, happy and smart - just small.

[ShadowMoon]

DS is 3 and weighs just under 30 lbs. He's a a tall, lean boy that's full of energy, has a great appetite and eats almost anything. Both his father and I are active, thin people as well.

The Dr. expressed some concern when he was younger but dropped it as DS got older and remained healthy and vibrant. Some kiddos are just built smaller than others.

[IAMommy]

I have to ask, because I don't see it mentioned - Are you and your husband small people or do you have many smaller family members?
My DS is tall and skinny, just like his parents. He is 22 mo, 36" tall and 25 lbs. He barely gains weight, which is hard to believe considering how much he eats. He burns it all running around and in heat - he's the hottest kid. I always used to think he had fevers until I got used to it.

[lisavark]

This is a bit off topic, but on the subject of getting him to eat more, do you have a toddler-sized table for him? That did wonders for my nibbling DD. We got a beautiful Amish-made toddler table with four chairs, but you can get an inexpensive one from Ikea. Usually now DD and I sit together at the table for meals when DH is at work, and for dinner she chooses whether she wants to sit at her table or ours. Anyway, she eats a lot more now that she has her own space for it.

She also started eating a TON more when she started Montessori preschool two days a week. All of a sudden eating became her absolute favorite thing. Up until then she had always been WAY more interested in breastmilk than food (and she was almost two when she started). I think being away from me for a few hours at a time made her realize that food could actually satisfy hunger. Breastmilk wasn't really enough to satisfy her at that point anymore, so that really improved her weight gain when she finally got interested in food.

[babynatasha]

Glad to hear about another small, healthy, active child!

My DD is 31mths old and 23lbs, can't remember height but it proportional. My doctors office had us coming in every 6wks for weight checks, then when she wasn't gaining a lot, would make me feel really bad but offer no helpful suggestions. The last time I was there they said she might have failure to thrive. After that I called their office and told them to refer me to someone who could help me, seeing as all they could do was weigh her and make me feel badly. 3wks ago we went to a nutritionist and she said it was definately not failure to thrive. She is bright eyed, alert, meets milestones, talks, plays, is inquisitive, basically all healthy things. The nutritionist said if she is really energetic (which she is), she maybe burning through calories fast. Although she did suggest we test her for Celiacs Disease, just to rule it out. We plan to do this, as my DH's half brother has it. My husband and I are also small people 5'5" & 130lbs and 5'6" and 145lbs. I think it would probably be out of character for us to have a 80-100% kid!

[louoftwo]

Thanks for your encouraging words, I really appreciate them. My husband and I are normal size people, so I don't think it is genetics. Although I was a small child as well.

I do have a small table for him to eat at but I think it decreases food intake because he gets easily distracted and is running off. I keep snacks there most of the time so if he is hungry he can have something. I would like to increase his vegetable consumption, but no matter what I try he refuses most all veggies. Any ideas for getting more veggies into him?

[sunkist33]

An idea for veggies that he might like is Dr. Praeger's pancakes~ they come in spinach, broccoli, and sweet potato. I fry them in olive oil (so you're getting some good fat in there, too) and my daughters love them
Also, dips. I find my kids will eat more veggies if I serve them with dips. So carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers sticks, red pepper strips, etc., served with blue cheese dressing, hummus, or Tzatziki sauce. An added bonus is a the fat from the dip helps you absorb the nutrients in the veggies
Stacy

[jacobsmommy]

I have a DS who is 28mo and about 26lbs. He is 35in height. He is a very light eater and extremely picky with certain textures. He hasn't really put on any weight in the last 8-9months but has grown some in height. My husband is small guy so I know some of it is that, but I am really concerned about him. Dont know if I need to be. He is happy, smart and meeting all his milestones. I have an appt to see an occupational therapist to see if we can get him eating more things. He recently stopped nursing and dropped 1lb. I think its because he isnt replacing those lost calories with food. Does that sound right?

I wanted to know what is considered malnourished? Ive never had a blood panel done on him, but we had his iron checked and it was fine. When he was under a yr old he would get hives from dairy but that is gone now. He doesnt drink any kind of milk (gags) and because he is picky its hard to get fattening things in him.

I am concerned just like other mammas. His Dr. is just keeping an eye on him right now. I don't mean to hijack this post but I can relate.

[ellairiesmom]

DD1 is 31 months, 23 lbs & 33" tall. She was a bigger baby-9 lbs 7 oz, but after about 12 mos, started to make the move to the lower end of "the charts". Now of course she is at the very low end. We are both on the shorter end & DHs family tends to be thinner while my family tends to be heavier. Maybe she got lucky & got more of his genes in that area.

We have a somewhat mainstream pediatrician that is open to non mainstream parents & ideas. He has never been concerned since she has always shown some sort of growth between visits & has met all the milestones.

I wouldn't be afraid to check bloodwork-while it may seem invasive or horrible-it takes a few moments & can rule out anything major.

Some kids are just smaller than others.

[biophdmom]

My dd is 28 months, 24 lbs (with a fully belly ) and about 33 inches, i think. She has gained about 4 lbs since she was 18 months old. She is healthy, pinkcheeked and definitely full of energy!!! Oh, and she eats and eats and eats and eats and eats

I expressed concerns at her 2 yo checkup and our ped said he rarely worries about a kid being too skinny (unless there are obvious developmental issues, which she does not have).

If you feel concerned, I'd go with a pp experience and see a nutritionist. I think they will be much better suited to give you advice. GL!!

[Friday13th]

Another tiny toddler here, DS is 27 months maybe 24lbs and 33-ish inches. He eats, a wide variety of food and pretty good amount, he's just really active and genetically predisposed to be little. He was also only 6.14 at birth so he's always been pretty small. He was 19lbs at a year so he's still gaining weight but the amount usually slows down significantly in the second year.