My toddler has stopped gaining weight. :(

[crunchy_mommy]

I keep almost posting this & then deciding I'm overly concerned about nothing, but I just need some feedback/BTDT's about this... We have an appointment in a couple weeks with his doc so I guess I'm trying to mentally prepare whether to either red flag it or defend it, you know?? Doc was a little concerned 6mos ago with his slowed growth, and I don't want to put DS through unnecessary procedures but of course I want to make sure he's healthy!

So he started out small & gained great (but remained small) for his first year or so. He tripled his birthweight by ~1yr & he gained another 1-2 lbs from 12-18mos, but now he's 2 and he hasn't gained ANY weight in the last 6months (not an ounce!!!)

He has grown in height a little... about 5" since he turned 1 (3-4" of that from 12-18mos)... he started out short and DH & I are short so that doesn't surprise me.

So really, he has practically stopped growing since 18mos. He's not off the charts, just on the very very small side of them (and plummeting). He could easily pass for a 12-month-old, size-wise, and he's lost most of his baby fat.

I know growth slows down some now, but is it normal for it to altogether STOP?

He is still nursing (20003023482 times a day) and his eating is incredibly erratic. Some days he will get up to 30% of his calories from food, but many days he'll only take a couple bites here & there. We have added more fat/calories to his food but the only result is that DH & I are now both fatter than we were last year! He's not incredibly active, mostly due to his shyness/anxiety, and is still carried most of the time. Beyond feeding/sleep/growth, his development is on-track or ahead.

Thoughts?

[dejagerw]

It could be nothing, but it could be a food sensitivity or even something like celiac disease. Either way, I think it would be worth checking out.  But I'd definitely say keep nursing (no matter what your doctor says). I don't know how your Dr. is, but I know some are quick to jump on the "you need to stop nursing and feed your kid more solids" bandwagon. I don't consider that to be good advice. But maybe the doctor can help pinpoint why he's not gaining. Good luck!!

[Nicole730]

I'm thinking DS weighs a bit more than your DS, but here's his numbers:

12 months - 22lbs

18 months - 25lbs

24 months - 26lbs

2.5 years - 26lbs

2.75 years - 29lbs

I think he's grown about an inch since he turned 2 in April, but I don't have official measurements.

I was quite concerned because he was "stuck" at 26lbs forever.  And not nursing since 14 months.  He has always been not a big eater (unless it's crackers, which I try not to do).  I'd say in the past few months he actually eats at least one "meal" a day that's more than just a few bites.

In your situation, I probably would be concerned, but moreso if I noticed he wasn't reaching any new milestones.  If he is learning, happy, and healthy, I might wait it out a little longer.  (Our health insurance is not good though, so I avoid trips to the Dr)

[AllyRae]

Being on the bottom of the charts is fine.  My DD is 23 lbs at 25 months old (she looks like a healthy 2 year old though...certainly she does not look like a 1 year old at all.  She's petite, but is a decent height and is just lean).  She's at the very bottom of the chart.  BUT, she has *always* been at the bottom of the chart and consistently grows on her curve (which fluctuates between 3-10th percentile depending if she ate breakfast before her doctor's appointment to get weighed. :lol: )

Plummeting off the curve is NOT fine.  My DS was very small for his age...still is (at 7 years old, he is 43 lbs).  When he was a baby, he went from the 25th percentile to the 3rd at one point.  He had something that needed to be addressed...he was no  longer growing on his curve.  We addressed the issue, and he continued to grow, albiet at the 5-10th percentile, but it's been fairly consistent since we addressed the issue.

So, I would for sure get it checked out. Someone needs to be at the bottom of the chart.  BUT drastic changes in the growth curve always need to be addressed.

[Friday13th]

DS1 started off tiny, 6.14 and got chubby.  He was 19lbs (but short) at 1, a little under 22lbs at 18 months and then pretty much stalled out.  I swear he stayed at 22lbs until a few months ago, right before his third birthday.  He was 28lbs and 36 inches at his 3 year check up.  The doctor didn't even bat an eye.  He grew pretty through 18 months and then seemed to reach the spot where they grow in big spurts rather than slow and steady. 

[crunchy_mommy]

Hmm. Our doc is pretty supportive of BF overall but he did seem shocked at our 18mo visit that DS was still getting at least 90% of his calories from BM (but he is also *my* doc so he knows about my health issues, maybe that was his concern rather than DS, I don't know). I guess what I'm afraid of is, I have a friend who sees the same doc & he really pushed her to cut down on feedings (not wean, just cut back to X times a day) due to lack of weight gain. I don't think it's smart to cut down DS's nursing like that & would only want to pursue other options. But I am terrified of him going for any tests because when he had his 1yo bloodwork they butchered him... and he is petrified of any kind of exam. So part of me hopes we can just fly under the radar & DS will resume gaining weight on his own, but the other half thinks this might be worth investigating.

I have played around with food intolerances a bit due to his sleep & clinginess etc. but haven't gotten anywhere. We are vegan so he doesn't eat eggs or dairy, and we don't eat much soy, and I did a corn-free/soy-free/GF trial with him but didn't see any difference in anything but I am still not entirely convinced because I swear his worst nights of sleep frequently coincide with a lot of corn (but not consistently). I am GF so most of our diet is as well, and he's been 100% GF for a few weeks now because I do suspect it affects his mood, but it's hard to confirm because he's just so erratic. So I guess if it's an allergy thing, it's way more complicated than simply a few top allergens. And obviously his weight might be affected by something unseen/otherwise nonreactive. *sigh*

According to the WHO charts weight-by-age, if I'm reading correctly (squinting & converting to kg!) he was hovering around the 50% from birth - 18mos, and now is around the 10-15%. As far as height, he was 15% at birth, way below 0% at 1yr, and around 5% now (1-2yrs was taken standing though). I know his head has grown a ton because none of his beloved hats fit anymore (they used to be too big!) I think he is still gaining milestones but it's hard to tell. At 18mos he was very... advanced I guess... and had been for a long time... so I don't really know how to evaluate him now. He has thousands of words & uses sentences, but has since before 18mos. He has been able to walk, run, climb, throw, kick, etc. for a very long time, though he can't jump. He has good fine motor skills, but has for a while. I don't feel like he's as 'ahead' as he was at 18mos, but I also don't think there's anything specific he 'should' be doing (except jumping) that he's not, KWIM? The only real changes I've seen in the past ~6mos are decreased clinginess (YAY!), fewer tantrums... perhaps slightly better comprehension & more complex self-awareness & expression... I guess those sort of count as milestones??? (This was way easier to evaluate when the milestones were concrete things like sitting, walking, talking!!)

Anyway... I guess I'm curious what kinds of medical issues would cause a sudden drop in percentiles? Besides allergies... Oh also... We did introduce table food well before a year but he really didn't eat more than a bite or two once every few days until about 14mos... and we pushed an increase in solids (for my sanity) around 18mos... so I wonder if this is all just because he isn't EBF anymore???

[ellemenope]

Okay, do you interpret his nursing 2000 times a day as him being hungry?  Is it possible that he your BM is on the skim end of the spectrum for some reason? (You did mention some health problems with you.)  Is it possible that he is always hungry, and because of habit, pickyness, or feeding issues, he only wants to nurse, BUT your BM is not rich enough in calories?  It fills his tummy, satisfies his pangs of hunger, but is just not enough?  It only keeps him full enough to not have to turn to solids, only full enough to go about an hour between nursing.

I have a picky eater and small toddler.  But, I have never had to deal with nursing issues.  Your situation sounds off with me.  It sounds like he should really be eating more table food at this age.  I also feel like in our case, because we did not have nursing to fall back on, we really had to address dd's feeding issues.  Yeah, it was hellish for her parents.  But, it really had to be for her to make any advancements in eating.  It has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.  It is every meal, every day.  I am constantly balancing calories and nutrition.  I am forever going crazy with my stubborn fickle child and making sure she has no idea how much stress I am under with regards to her eating.

His weight alone would not have me too worried.  I am living with another example of a child who can go months and months without growing and then gain 2 pounds overnight.  (And, yes, we weigh her a lot.)  She is now almost 25 pounds at 31 months.  She was 21 pounds around her second birthday.  19 pounds at 12 months.

I really hope you can figure this all out.  ((Hugs))

[CrunchyChristianMama]

If you do a quick search through the toddler forum, I have a post about my DD being small at 18 months and me worrying about it.  Turns out she has Celiac disease.  Since we took out all gluten and eliminated cross-contamination (that was huge for her) she has gained about a pound a month and started eating a ton more food.  She was a toddler who only wanted to nurse, didn't want much for solids, etc.  Also, I have seen this with a lot of Celiac kids, her hair was thin and stringy. 

Even if you've gone GF for him for a few weeks, if he has Celiac and you aren't eliminating cross-contamination, you may not see much for results.

[Peony]

There is no such thing as skim breastmilk so I'd throw that one out the window. While some women do have higher fat milk, it is the volume that matters, and this toddler is certainly getting volume! Besides, the more frequently a child nurses, the emptier the breast and the higher the fat content. The nursing so frequently and not consuming a ton of food could be connected OR  the child is living off of breastmilk for another reason. Allergies perhaps. Children often have built-up protective mechanisms so it isn't unheard of for a child not to consume much food when the food is actually harming them. The smallness could be related to all this, or he is just a tiny child. I's suggest doing allergy testing, there is either a problem or there isn't one. If there is one then that is something you can work on, may help with the weight gain. Or there isn't any allergies going on and there isn't any real problem, just a child who isn't really into food yet and is going to be small. 

My most intense nurser was DD1 who wasn't eating a lot of food at age 2 and did end up having allergies. I don't know about her weight gain because we didn't do doc visits back then and I never popped her on our home scale. She is average height, very slim though, 50 lbs at age 8 still. My other two children have gained minimal weight between 6/9 months and age 2, we are talking about maybe a lb or two during that entire time, sometimes a year would go by with nothing happening. DS was almost 9 lbs at birth and today is 22 lbs at 22months, so he has never even tripled his birthweight. 

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by ellemenope 

Okay, do you interpret his nursing 2000 times a day as him being hungry?  Is it possible that he your BM is on the skim end of the spectrum for some reason? (You did mention some health problems with you.)  Is it possible that he is always hungry, and because of habit, pickyness, or feeding issues, he only wants to nurse, BUT your BM is not rich enough in calories?  It fills his tummy, satisfies his pangs of hunger, but is just not enough?  It only keeps him full enough to not have to turn to solids, only full enough to go about an hour between nursing.

I have a picky eater and small toddler.  But, I have never had to deal with nursing issues.  Your situation sounds off with me.  It sounds like he should really be eating more table food at this age. [...]

I've thought about the 'skim milk' thing (even though I've read it's supposedly not possible) because ever since birth, he has nursed way way more frequently than any other newborn I've seen or heard of. But at the same time, he grew great for the first ~12+ months, and was basically EBF during that time. So I'm thinking that's not it, but I do wonder if he metabolizes milk/food differently or something. I'm not really sure if he's hungry every time he nurses... he is such an anxious little guy that I suspect often he just needs the comfort, but I'm really not 100% on that... but either way, it's difficult to limit nursing too much when he really seems to *need* it (not just WANT it).

I do think he should be eating more food by now... Especially because he's NOT picky... he will eat anything and he's only tried 2 things ever that he didn't like. He just doesn't eat much in terms of quantity, even of his favorite foods... I can't figure it out.

Originally Posted by CrunchyChristianMama 

If you do a quick search through the toddler forum, I have a post about my DD being small at 18 months and me worrying about it.  Turns out she has Celiac disease.  Since we took out all gluten and eliminated cross-contamination (that was huge for her) she has gained about a pound a month and started eating a ton more food.  She was a toddler who only wanted to nurse, didn't want much for solids, etc.  Also, I have seen this with a lot of Celiac kids, her hair was thin and stringy. 

Even if you've gone GF for him for a few weeks, if he has Celiac and you aren't eliminating cross-contamination, you may not see much for results.

I keep coming back to that... I actually suspect *I* have Celiac's but for various reasons never confirmed it. But our house is almost completely GF (DH sometimes gets a loaf of bread but is careful not to contaminate PB etc. with it)... But DS was eating gluten in small amounts over the last 6 months (except for 1 GF trial), it's only this month that we've totally eliminated it for him again, so it could still have something to do with his weight....

Originally Posted by Peony 

Allergies perhaps. Children often have built-up protective mechanisms so it isn't unheard of for a child not to consume much food when the food is actually harming them. The smallness could be related to all this, or he is just a tiny child. I's suggest doing allergy testing, there is either a problem or there isn't one. If there is one then that is something you can work on, may help with the weight gain. Or there isn't any allergies going on and there isn't any real problem, just a child who isn't really into food yet and is going to be small. 

So I guess allergy (and Celiac) testing might be a good step to take...

It is good to hear that other kids have plateaued for a while & then resumed growing normally... if he didn't have any other weird issues, I don't think I'd be too worried, after hearing your stories!