Anyone have a skinny baby?

[eilonwy]

My ds is 10 months old, and weighs just about 17.5 pounds. I knew that he was small, because his 3-6 month size clothing still fits him (as long as it doesn't have sleeves or legs ). I wasn't worried about this until last week at his well baby check-up. His dr. wanted to know why ds had fallen off his growth curve. At birth, he was textbook average, 20", 7.5 pounds. He stayed on the 50th curve for a bit, then dropped to the 40th, then 25th, and now he's only 5th percentile for weight. (He is 28" tall, which is either 20th or 25th percentile for hieght; I can't remember which).
When the doctor asked me if he was a picky eater, I said I didn't think so; ds loves to eat and is still nursing a lot. I sort of laughed it off and pointed out that not only was he gaining weight, he's healthy, happy, more than fine developmentally, and he's got an average sized head circumference (50th percentile). His father was a small toddler even though he weighed 8 lbs 6 oz at birth; I was also a small toddler and weighed 7 lbs 10 oz.
After I got home, though, I started to worry about it and to think about the differences (namely that dh & I were both on formula by this age and ds is not).
I will not wean my son at this age, but I find myself wondering.. is he really fine? Sometimes I'm sure it's paranoia but other times all I can think about is how much ds is eating. I'm worried that I'm going to try to force-feed him cereal or something trying to get him to gain weight. It's not that I want to, but what if he really isn't growing enough? I know the answers, but I need reassurance. Does anyone else have a baby who started out average sized and then just slipped off their growth curve without something being wrong?

[Firemom]

My dd was 8 lb 6 oz at birth and was 17 lbs at one year. She went from 85% to 20% by 9 months. this is according to a formula feeding chart.

She gained every month even tho it was a small amount. She was healthy and hitting all her milestones.

She is now almost 7 years old and is a thin 50 pounder and healthy as a horse

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

my ds was (and still is thin) ask yourself, is baby active?

[Qtopia]

my babe is skinny!

At almost 13 mos, DS is 19 lbs or thereabouts and 28 1/4". Started out "average" 7 lbs, 4 oz, 20" but by 4 mos had dropped to 3-5%ile in height and weight and 50%ile head circumference, where he has stayed in spite of nursing like a fiend and eating solids out the ying yang since we started him early on solids (5mos). This boy can EAT! and he's still a bean pole. LOL I wish I had his metabolism *sigh*

Anyway, don't worry mama. If he is meeting milestones, happy, looks good, all the things you said, he is so so so so FINE and just tell the doc to lump it. Oh, and enjoy the fact that unlike so many other mamas out there, you won't have to buy your baby new clothes every 3 mos!!

[VenalAnatomica]

My daughter was 9 lbs at birth

She will be one on thursday and MAYBE weighs 19 lbs.
She's tall, too...

She is very active, intelligent, happy, nurses lots, eats avocado like there's no tomorrow....

I'm sure your babe is just fine.

those charts weren't made with bf babies in mind.

<3

[MamaTT]

ME TOO!!

My ds is almost 13 mo, and is only 18 lbs.

He was born at 6lbs, 2 oz, but gained rapidly in the first four months. ( If memory serves me he was 12 lbs or so?) Then I got preggo and had to start supplementing (I use an SNS). He nurses several times a day still, and eats a lot (at a hungry meal recently he put away a whole hotdog, a waffle some mashed peas and part of a banana).

He has yet to walk but crawls so fast! I think he just has an active metabolism!
I have often worried about his weight, so I know how you feel! But he is healthy and happy, and I have run into quite a few moms, online, w/ kids like him, so I don't really let it bug me too much, I just make sure he keeps snacking!

[kama'aina mama]

I'm not certain when the big decline happened with my babe. It was earlier than that. She was 8 lbs 8 oz at birth but before long she was down around the 5% or lower. Good with all her 'milestones' healthy, etc... so I refuse to worry. She is three now. Still quite petite, but fine. Her father is 6' and weighs about 160... until recently I was pretty slender too. Certainly was skinny all my youth.

[juicylucy]

Eilonwy, your son sounds alot like mine. He was 6lbs 11 at birth, and wasn't quite 16 pounds at a year. That put him WAY off the weight charts, where he is still is (21 lbs at aged 28months). He has had a load of tests done as the doctors were convinced something was wrong, but he is fine. Before I gave up on doctors, I was told to wean him, hold him less (: ) and forcefeed him formula, all in an effort to getg him to gain weight (I refused!). My husband was also a small baby like yours, and is now 6 feet tall and 200 lbs. The doctors refused to take that into consideration.

My advice is to follow youjr instincts. I knew Gabe was ok, just small. He was always very bright and alert, and showed no signs of malnutrition. I know how upsetting this must be for you- I've been there, and often wondered if I was a terrible mparent for refusing to give my baby formula, but I am so happy I went with my gut feeling now- Gabe is still BFing and is gaining weight slowly but surely. I am no expert, but I would say bas long as he is gaining weight, even if very slowly, rather than losing, he is doing ok.

PM if u want to chat further, and excuse my typos- I'm on a laptop I'm not used to!

[eilonwy]

Thanks ladies! I knew I was starting to get upset for nothing. . I was always a skinny, small child. Now I'm still short, but very fat. :LOL I didn't put on a lot of weight until I started on birth control, though. DH was a small kid, got a little chubby right before puberty, developed diabetes and got painfully skinny for a while (5'6", about 88 pounds) and is now 5'11" and a fat person.

I was really worried that I might start trying to force feed Eli cereal in an effort to get some weight on him, but I honestly think that's part of my problem with weight (I never learned to stop when I was full as a child). Thanks for the reassurance!

[IdentityCrisisMama]

One more little baby here. Aya is 2 years old and still wears some 6 month old baby clothes. I don't know how much she weighs now but she's small.
I will never worry because my mom predicted Aya's weight curve before she was born. Mom said she would be born on the large side (9lbs.) and then fall of the bottom of the chart, which I'm sure she has done. Apparently, that’s what all my mom’s babies did. I have a sister that is 6’ tall and is a ROCK athlete!
I did get angry with the nurse telling me that there may be something wrong with Aya and that I should push more food. I said, "Wait right there! Don’t start your scare tactics with me without prefacing first that weight gain is largely hereditary and that my child is most likely totally healthy!”. She was sheepish after that.

[Qtopia]

Originally posted by eilonwy
I was really worried that I might start trying to force feed Eli cereal in an effort to get some weight on him, but I honestly think that's part of my problem with weight (I never learned to stop when I was full as a child).

That's why we started solids early, and mama, I SOOOOOO regret it. For about 2 mos (from when DS dropped to the 5%ile at 4 mos until he was 6 mos) I was having some serious issues trusting my mama instincts and caved into the pressure to start (i.e. push) solids at 5 mos. Q did fine-- he didn't gag or have any problems swallowing or any allergic reactions, but nonetheless, I had wanted to wait with solids until AT LEAST 6 mos and I regret caving in to the docs and projecting my own issues with weight onto DS.

So you stay strong!!!!

[thepicklednickel]

You've had a lot of responses to your post but I felt I had to chime in also. My ds is 11 months today and weighed 18 lbs 6 oz. last week at the doctor's office. We were weighing at the doctor's office because at his 9 month check up he weighed 16lb 6 oz, up only 3oz from his 6 month weight. He's been between 50 and 75% for length, and above 50% for head circumference his whole life (and still is). And he's hitting most of his milestones early. And he's CRAWLING like mad and very close to walking so he burns calories. Oh yes, he was a 9lb baby at birth!

I wasn't as worried as I might have been at his 9 month checkup if I didn't have a 4.5 yo dd who did a very similar trend (8lb, 1oz at birth, about 17 lbs at one year) her first year of life. I DID worry that time, but guess what? After settling on the 50%tile for height and 5th%tile for weight during her first year, when she was primarily breastfed, she stayed on that curve during her second year when she weaned, during the next 3 years until right now! And she's still average height, below average weight! And she's a very good eater. So I think genetics play a pretty big part of the equation.

On a side note, has anyone noticed a correlation between babies who don't sleep and babies who are lean? My ds was a good sleeper for his first 4 months, and gained very well. After that, he decided he was missing too much and stopped sleeping, at which time he began to fall off his growth curve. My dd was never a good sleeper and started retracing her growth curve almost immediately. Just a thought.

[Friendlymama]

My daughter weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces at birth.

She's 13.5 months and weighs 19 pounds. She's 31 inches tall. So think STRINGBEAN.

She's very active tho'. She started walking in her 10th month, and her head circumference has always been in the 75th - 90th percentile.

Her ped told me NOT to spend *one second* worrying about her weight.

[nmm2112]

I think babies just all grow at different rates. As long as they seem healthy to the mother there's nothing to worry about. My DS just had his 6mth check up and is 26inches and a whopping 21lbs! You should see the thighs on him. He doesn't look fat - he's just solid. Any he's just starting baby food, until 3wks ago he was an exclusive breastfed baby.

[eilonwy]

Eli is indeed very active. He thinks he can walk now (read: he takes steps and falls down a lot) and he crawls everywhere, constantly. He's a big fan of "crawl-by nursing". :LOL

Today, I noticed that he wasn't asking me for solid foods (he usually crawls to the pantry and says "bananas!" in the morning). I made up some cereal for him and he took two bites before he took off. He didn't want anymore after that the rest of the day. He nursed several times, though. Maybe he's getting another tooth, or maybe the world is just too interesting to take time to eat *and* nurse. I guess I shouldn't be so worried about him being a teeny bean.