The dreaded 1 year check up.

913 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Katie T, Sep 21, 2010

Kmama2

Discussion Starter · Sep 16, 2010

Ds will be 1 on Oct 10th. I am dreading the check up as I think he is going to be below the charts on both weight and height. He hasn't seen the doc since 6months... Our ped is great.. she is crunchy... pro breastfeeding etc but at 6 months he was less than 5%... at 9 months based on my own calculation he is 2nd and 3rd %.... at 6 months she said he would be failure to thrive based on his weight and height expect that to be failure to thrive they need to be behind on milestones and he wasn't.
I am not sure on his weight as I have to sit him on the scale... ( I guess I could try standing him as he can stand for a min or 2 now) and everytime he moves the scale shows a diff number. I think he is around 17 lbs. His height is at 27 inches or just under it.
He was 7 lbs 9 oz at birth ( 39 weeks + 4 days) and 19.5 inches. I think they are supposed to grow about 10 inches the first year. He obviously hasn't. Developmentally he is absolutely on track or ahead. He army crawled at 5.5 months, regular crawled at 7 months, he stands, can take a step or 2. Says mama, dada, bye bye. He is VERY active. He is a climber. He isn't super interested in nursing. He has better things to do. Its been this way for a while. He nurses about 6 times a day. I just night weaned him ( I am 11 weeks pregnant) at this point I still have a decent milk supply - I think. He poops everyday at least once and pees PLENTY. His hair and nails grow normally and I have to cut them both all the time. He has growth fat and somewhat chubby thighs and cheeks.
He eats maybe 50% solids. I do put butter and olive oil on everything he eats. He eats full fat yogurt, cheese ( lots of cheese) occassionally salmon or eggs. He eats meat.
My dd was also small and in the less than 10% for a while ( not off the charts though) but she was even 18 lbs and 29 inches at a year.
My family is very thin ( but not short) Im 5'6 and Dh's family is not thin but very short ( he is 5'7). His mom and sister are barely 5 feet tall.
My gut tells me he is fine but I can't stop worrying because he is so short and small.... and everyone seems surprised when I tell them he is almost a year. He fits in his 6-9 month pants from last winter/spring.. and if it wasn't for his cloth diaper butt he could probably fit into 3-6 month stuff...
http://tmvigneau.blogspot.com/2010/0...l-climber.html
Pic of him...
advice? Been there done that mama's?? I guess I just need to know that others had babies (especially boys that were that small)

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boobs4milk

· #2 · Sep 16, 2010

awww, hugs! my oldest was 15lbs 14 oz at one. she was my biggest at birth, 7.1lbs and she was my smallest at 1. now, she's 6'2" and 185lbs of basketball star. she was also very active as a baby. she started walking @ about 9.5 months.

if your dh is short and his family is short and you have very thin people in your family, it stands to reason that your kids have a good chance of being short. the charts are not accurate measures of things like genetics and they aren't good measures of individuals. they are also geared towards babies who are formula fed.

dd3 was never above 5% on anything on those charts and she's doing great! she's one of the smartest kids i've ever seen, all bias aside. millie didn't start on the charts, but has been on them since she was a little over a month old and is still about 45% on the height and 40% on weight. she has the same parents (me tall and medium build, dad tall and very thin), but they are both so different in their body makeup. their faces are a give away that they are sisters, but natalie is thin and petite and millie is tall and thicker.

s you know he's doing ok. listen to your mommy instinct!

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AKislandgirl

· #3 · Sep 16, 2010

my DD is also a little peanut. At her 18 month check up she was 18 pounds, 11 ounces. She has not been on the chart since she was about 6 months old (She was probably 5% then) but has been steadily gaining and growing. We have monitored her weight for a bit. Our Dr said she really just wanted to see her continue on her own curve. So no major drops. That is what I'd be looking for.

We add lots of fats to her food too. Full fat yogurt, coconut oil, coconut milk (canned), flax oil, etc... We also discovered several months ago that she is allergic to gluten. I'm wondering if we will see some increased weight gain now that she is off of it.

He looks great! And cute as can be! Just keep an eye on his own little curve and trust your instincts.

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belltree

· #4 · Sep 16, 2010

My little guy would fit your description - they are even the same age. We just had our last checkup and our doc just said don't worry - they eventually will grow and it is not uncommon for kids to fall out of their growth curves for a couple months when they start being more active and mobile but their eating habbits haven't caught up yet.

As long as your child is happy, meets milestones there is no need to worry.

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Mama Khi

· #5 · Sep 16, 2010

I was worried about DD's wbv, too. I put it off until she was 14 months, but really I worried for nothing. She was 17.5 pounds and 29 inches tall. (She was 6 pounds and 7 oz at birth.). The dr wasn't concerned because DD is ahead in her milestones. She is a little climber, too. Actually, it is good to read about these other small, healthy babies!

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texaspeach

· #6 · Sep 17, 2010

we just had ds's 12m wbv. he is little by the charts 21# and 28.25" tall (and I think the nurse was being generous with that). that's the 20th and 5th %tiles on the cdc charts. he was 9lb 8oz and 19" at birth. he hadn't gained weight since 10 months, which is common as they become more active. he's meeting milestones and is healthy so we aren't worried.

I am very short, under 5 ft tall, so that's where ds gets it. our ped is very much a watch the baby not the scale kind of guy and was reassuring.

btw, be sure you are measuring his height laying down. they still lose an inch or two if you measure standing up at this age. to get a weight estimate at home, I get on the scale holding ds, then weigh myself and find the difference.

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shanniesue2

· #7 · Sep 17, 2010

My DS doubled his weight by 5 montsh and then fell off his own chart. He continued meeting his milestones at or ahead of schedule. good nail growth and energy. Just stopped gaining weight.
At 12 months, our family doc wasn't worried and suggested that if we were really concerned we could try pedia sure along with the BFing, but that we probably just had a small baby.

At 17 months we switched docs due to vaxing issue conflicts. The new ped started the exam by asking if we had any concerns (at that point, he had only gained 4 pounds since he was 5 months old... so that, of course, was at the top of my list). Ped did the exam... after listening to his heart said that DS had a heart murmur... sent him for an ultrasound and it turned out that DS was missing 50% of his atrial wall. His heart was working so hard to get blood to his body that his body wasn't getting the nutrients it needed to grow. Heart surgery and a year later, and DS has gained about 6 pounds, but is running at about the 3rd %ile for weight (about 24 pounds)... however, that is better than the .67th %ile that he was at just before his surgery.

Anyway, I think that the concern comes in when they start falling off their own curve like my DS did. I don't necessarily thing that anything is wrong with your DS. He looks really healthy (mine looked emaciated the way his rib cage showed). And I don't think that being little is necessarily failure to thrive (although I'm not a medical doctor... so I'm no expert). But I do think that weight and growth are important indicators (especially if there is a dramatic plateau)... and it's worth looking into.

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crunchy_mommy

· #8 · Sep 17, 2010

He looks fine to me, it sounds like he is just small! My DS was 19.5" at birth too & only just over 27" at a year, but he's grown another 3-4" in the last 6 mos. DS wasn't very low weight (I think 21-22lbs at a year) but I wouldn't have been surprised if he was, seeing as his height was barely on the charts (maybe off the charts) -- don't laught but I thought he was going to end up being a "little person" (sorry I'm not sure what the PC term is) because he was so short, and I was worried he lacked growth hormones or something. When he started crawling & then walking there was a period of time where he was just off the charts but he recouped and now is in the 25% range for both height and weight -- well I think, we don't follow the charts very closely but I think that's what he was. Honestly I don't worry much about the charts if they look & act healthy -- and your DS looks healthy to me!

Oh and my DS is 19mos now but everyone thinks he is just under a year because he's so tiny (despite being on the charts now)... but ironically all our BF'ing friends think he's huge because their BF babies are so much skinnier... it's weird lol!! OHHH which reminds me, make sure your pedi is using the charts for breastfed babies NOT the standard (formula-fed) charts!

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ryan'smom

· #9 · Sep 17, 2010

My 13 month ds was 17.6 lbs and 29" at his 12 month appointment. My non crunchy doc said "we'll keep an eye on him" and said I could bring him in for monthly weight checks "if I want". I haven't been weighing him because I do not want to obsess about his weight. I already have random people making me paranoid about his size. When I'm grocery shopping or running errands people are always commenting on "oh, he's tiny" or "he's so petite", etc. Of course, after hearing this ALL.THE.TIME. I start feeling there might be something wrong, even though he is meeting milestones, nurses well, and is a pretty content babe. I will admit that I can't wait for a growth spurt

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IngaAnne

· #10 · Sep 18, 2010

My son turned one June 1st. He was wearing shorts ranging from 3-6m to 12m over the summer. At his 12m checkup, he was under 28" tall and didn't grow in height between his 9 and 12m visits, which made him fall off his curve. However, he was gaining weight (he's a pudgy guy). At the 15m checkup, he was up to 30" and back on his curve. Our doctor has not been concerned, as long as he is growing and not straying off his curve for too long. My husband and I are both 5'6" and his family is really short, so it's likely our son is just small. It does make me worry when people are constantly assuming he is several months younger than he is, but I just have to let those comments go and remind myself he is developing normally and growing steadily, even if he's shorter than his peers.

Your son looks really healthy. It seems very likely his small size is genetics. Try not to worry too much about the doctor, in the unlikely event something really is wrong, she is there to help.

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Kmama2

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 19, 2010

Thank you all for your responses. Its nice to hear that others had babies
( boys even under 28 inches at 1 year) I do measure him lying down so I believe its accurate. I weighed him standing up on our scale and it said 17 lbs even. I think people's responses are part of my problem. Everyone comments on how tiny he is. ahh We will see what the doc says in a few weeks. I just wish he wasn't short and weighed little. And yeah I am hoping for a growth spurt soon.

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Katie T

· #12 · Sep 21, 2010

Hugs, All of my kids are tiny. DD2 for example was 17lbs at 15 months and now at 2yrs 3months she is 23lbs and 32inches tall. She was 7lbs 11oz and 20 inches at birth.

Is he your first? I ask because I was given the most grief with my first and then they knew this was normal for my kids (and I was tiny as well) so now they don't worry.

My 4yo is 34lbs and 40inches tall and he was 8lbs 1oz 20 inches. I hope you dr sees that your little one is doing just fine and doesn't give you grief but I am sure all will be fine. Keep us posted on how it goes. (If you haven't already as I didn't read all the posts.

)

I just read through the other posts and found your blog spot and he is adorable for one thing and looks totally healthy. He has fat pads on his cheeks and all that good stuff. I wouldn't worry at all!

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