2 year old weighs 22 1/2 lbs. in his clothes...

oh mama. i totally understand. ds1 was 18lbs. on his 2nd birthday, and now at 4 he's only 30. dh and i were both in the 5th percentile and he is as healthy as can be. he's constantly running around and extremely active. i say your best bet is to go with your gut. if you feel like there's something wrong, go with that. or if you feel that everything is fine and the docs are over-reacting, go with that. your gut will tell you a lot.

maybe documenting the foods and amounts he eats will appease the docs. or you could just run the tests to put yourself at ease. also, how is his head circumfrence? has that always been normal?

anyhow, i just wanted to tell you that it is possible to be just small.

My boys have both been small! My 2 and a half year old is about 25 pounds. The doctor was really concerned as well. We documented what he eats in a day , which is more than me most days! The doctor first made a comment about why he is so slim (because we dont feed him junk food) and sent us for a bunch of tests to rule out cystic fibrosis and some other things... wouldnt send us to an allergist because he is " too young".....I am beyond irritated with doctors at this point! I remember asking with my first son too.... " what am I supposed to do... force feed him?"
I think that those weight charts are just off... Some kids are genetically just smaller. I dont believe that kids all grow at the same rate either. As long as you know that your little one is getting a balanced diet I wouldnt worry. I remember pushing avocados on my first guy trying to fatten him up .(it never happened! they burn it too fast! we can hardly keep up with groceries in this house) Heres a samle of what my skinny little guy eats in a day
Yesterday he ate (breakfast)about one cup of gluten free multigrain hot cereal with organic milk. One peice of toast with nut butter and hommade preserves, one egg... Lunch... cornchips and hommade hummus filled with nutritional yeast, braggs, nettles, dulse powder, tahini, and essential omegas and a bunch of raw carrots, red pepper and zuchinni..... dinner... half of a large chicken breast on top of greens, half of a cup of black beans, 1/4 of an avocado, and half of a mango. late snack of a bar I made from dates and ground nuts. I think he had some orange juice too because we have a cold. Added to that a multivitamin and extra vitamin C

That sounds like an awful lot of dairy to me. Is there any way to cut back and see if he starts eating more of a variety? Honestly, I would suspect a dairy allergy in a kid who eats that much dairy in place of more nutritious things, like veggies.

My 2.5 year old, at 2, still nursed about 4 times a day, ate maybe 1-2 servings of cheese a day, but drank no cow's milk (just started that recently. He refused cow's milk until we started getting local, grassfed, unhomogenized, barely pasteurized milk. And even now, he only has 2 servings a day, cheese rarely.) I think he weighed 26 or 27lbs at his 2 year check up. He also eats a lot of fruit, but he will also eat veggies, especially broccoli. He still won't eat more than a bite or 2 of beans, but he'll eat meats, which we have 2-3 times per week. My now 6 year old was the opposite, he wouldn't touch meat, but loved beans. We were actually vegan for about a year when he was a todder b/c of this. lol. I was a single mom then so it was just the 2 of us.

Jake (2 yo) only has 1-3 servings of cow's milk a day, and I doubt he'd even do that if he wasn't copying his older brother, who begs for cow's milk all the time. Him, I have had to limit dairy since I started giving it to him. He was allergic when he was a baby, but testing when he was 2 showed he had outgrown it. He still reacted to dairy, but it was subtle, more of an intolerance than a true allergy. It would make him cough and caused constipation and diarrhea. Not bad enough that I realized it was the dairy for a while. Now, he seems to be lactose intolerant, but it doesn't seem to do much else to him. But he loves it and would liveon it if I let him. But I personally feel that dairy is an extra. Like a treat, I guess. DEFINITELY not necessary for good nutrition (maybe even bad for your health!) I think the only reason it's one of the major food groups in nutrition isb/c of the dairy industry's lobbying and their money in the government's pockets.

I would suspect too much dairy in place of high iron foods, like beans and greens, can cause anemia. Or just eating foods you are allergic to.

I used to be anemic all the time. I am allergic to milk and eggs, but they were never bad enough that I avoided them. After each pregnancy, my allergies have gotten worse, especially egg. I can't even eat a cookie made w/ egg anymore. I can handle a little dairy now and then. But since Liam has so many alergies, and he is so sensitive to them, I have been completely free of his allergens for months now. THis is the first time in my life where I actually feel great! I have lots of energy, but good energy (I was diagnosed w/ ADD and I have been great since I cut out Liam's allergens--esp wheat!), my ADD seems to be mostly gone. I had my iron checked last month adn it was in the middle of normal! Not even slightly low! Soemthing to think about.

thank you all for your help. I feel like he is just small like I am and ironically now looking over the "percentile charts" for girls he doesn't seem abnormal at all. I think it is just when you look at the boy charts. He looks absolutely healthy, shows no signs of allergies, says atleast 300 words and is starting to talk in sentences, can stand on one foot, etc.... all showing that developmentally and physically he is doing great. It is just so frustrating to be told that there is something wrong. We now have an appt. at the Feeding Center at Children's where they want to observe him eating a meal at 9 a.m. I feel like they are setting us up to fail because that isn't a normal meal time for him. I could get him to snack then but I feel like they are going to be judging us on how he eats at that time. I need to call them on Monday and get a clear understanding of what all is going to happen in the appt. before we agree to it. He saw our midwife and naturalpath the whole first year of his life and since we have moved to NY this has been the first time going the mainstream doc route. He isn't a big eater but I can tell him he has to eat 5 more bites and he will especially with an incentive like going for a walk or reading a story...... It is good to know there are other petite kids out there too and to be reassured that some of us are just always on the small side. He did grow 2 inches since Oct. and has always been on the tall side. Okay I must sleep but thank you all and I welcome any and all advice. Jesica

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I agree! After a child is weaned he should not have that much dairy.

http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/MILK.HTM

http://www.mercola.com/2000/feb/27/no_milk.htm

http://www.milkmyths.org.uk/health/index.php#q11

I would not go to the dr appt. I think some kids are just small & doctors have trouble admitting that small does not = unhealthy. I am 32 years old & still only weigh 98 pounds, at the most... I was 5 pounds at birth- always small- always healthy. Don't go looking for trouble!