Stressing over size…
My babies are healthy, they’re hitting every milestone… Many way ahead of schedule. But they’re small. Ainsley in particular. Harlowe is long and lean… But Ainsley is just small. All around. I know I’m small… but this fact is no longer providing me much comfort.
We changed doctors after our 12 month appointment due to Harlowe’s lead poisoning and poor handling – so we don’t have anything to base our new doctor’s 18 month appointment and lack of alarm with. New doctor wouldn’t have even mentioned their sizes with us had I not mentioned the drop in percentiles… She didn’t tell us to make any real changes… Just to keep trying new foods and that toddlers are hard.
Both girls are growing proportionately but both are small. Both dropped weight percentiles. Harlowe not by much and actually gained in height but Ainsley substantially by almost 3 weight percentiles. And when she was already at a low percentile… this really scares me. I quickly checked the WHO (for breastfeed babies) chart and she is in a much healthier place there but that still doesn’t explain the drop from the other chart?
They were good eaters up until recently. Now they will have good meals and bad ones. They will eat tons at one moment and very little the next. Normally it balances out to about 1 really substantial meal a day and 2 other much smaller meals…. Along with a few snacks. Harlowe weaned recently – which is maybe why I’m so panicky about this stagnant weight being partly my fault. Harlowe doesn’t drink much milk… but does like other dairy forms.
I researched a lot… and felt like this is a pivotal moment and we should be a little more concerned than just checking in at the 18 month appointment? So I called the doctor and scheduled a weight check for a month from now.
What would you do… Am I over reacting. Have others experienced similar? Any other very small mama’s out there (I’m 5’1) with super small toddlers. Maybe I’m just panicking for no reason. Maybe I’m just self-conscious that we played with twin 9 month olds last night that are much bigger than my girls… but also formula fed. I don’t know but could really use some of your wise words…
My beautiful babies:
We are right there with you.
I had a meltdown last night over similar things. I sat down at the dining room table away from my screaming, hungry toddler who had eaten a slice of apple and a rice cake all day and wrote a post about it on the Facebook page of our local BWI group. And apparently the children of these other crunchy moms ate even less than Bunny does at his age. Our pediatrician doesn’t seem concerned and I’m going to try my damnedest not to be either.
He did eventually eat something last night. I left a bowl with three fish sticks in bite size pieces on his table. While I was doing dishes, he watched TV and ate 7 of the 9 pieces. And he must not be too hungry. He’s still sleeping through the night.
The Bean has always been a little bean, now, at 22 months, I don’t worry about it (though I did before, especially in the early days).
Each child is different and as long as they’re following an overall growth curve and developing appropriately otherwise it’s probably not a reason for concern. That said, it’s probably good to keep an eye on and make sure they ARE following a growth curve and not continuing to drop percentile-wise (I would tend to think some fluctuation is okay).
Our Bean also became a much pickier eater as he aged. We continue to offer him a variety, but make sure there’s plenty of what he likes, even if that means he eats a banana every day.
We’ve got a small one over here, too, and one that drops percentiles like it’s going out of style. It is not something to worry too much over — if anything, my impression from a lot of reading and talking to my dad (a pediatrician) is that many doctors should probably worry less, not more, about healthy kids in low percentiles.
The most helpful single thing I have read (from the CDC, I think, in their own discussion about why it is better to use the WHO charts than the CDC ones under 24 months) is the reminder that growth charts are tools, not diagnoses. A doctor whose use of growth charts allows her to see that a given kid has dropped somewhat in percentiles is supposed to take that piece of information into consideration when evaluating the health of the child, not turn that into its own problem. So a small, healthy kid who is developing appropriately is not a cause for medical concern. A kid who suddenly stops growing and seems to have some other set of problems should get looked at more closely.
The other thing I try to keep in mind is that these percentile differences generally represent very small actual amounts of weight, and our kids certainly vary as the grow — it’s not a linear progression, you know? So some fluctuation is utterly normal, even if it looks scarier at the far end of the chart than it might in the middle.
I swear I would be less neurotic about all this if my brain could hang onto the distinction between percentiles and percentages and stop thinking we need to be in the 90s to get an A….
Bird has always been slight and low on the weight charts. i do think it has something to do with being breastfed (and now a picky eater). my pediatrician has always been unconcerned – like the other posters said, as long as their overall health is good, i think they are okay. and judging by those smiles and round cheeks, they look healthy to me! 😉
G has always been small too (even though she more than tripled her birth weight in the first year) and she only gained 3oz betewen 9 months and a year (and dropped percentiles). Our pediatrician seemed concerned about this which annoyed us because we think she’s normal – just small. She still breastfeeds constantly and eats an ok amount of solids (though, admittedly, it’s not a huge amount). But I agree with Bionic that the percentile drop needs to be examined in a larger context of health. Your girls look incredibly healthy! By definition some kids have to be in the 3rd or 12th or whichever percentile. I know it’s stressful though. Even though we were annoyed at the ped’s office, we’ve since been letting worry creep in. How can you not worry?
Also, we just met a 7 month old who is 4 pounds heavier and much larger than G. I think that can be really unsettling!
I hope other people’s experiences ease your mind a bit. Buggie started out tiny then got HUGE and is now about average. But I totally agree with folks that if they’re developing well, that’s the more important part. Whatever they lack in size they sure make up for in cuteness!
I echo the other mamas. Your girls look healthy and happy and as long as they are following some curve of their own, I wouldn’t worry. They will back off the food for a bit then the next thing you know they don’t stop eating, then back to not eating much at all. I have a really small 8 year old. Shes short and is in the 15% for her weight. Her sister who is 5 is nearly the same size. I shrug some of it off to I am above average in height and their father is below average. They eat all day, they have access to healthy food whenever they want it, Brooke is just small.
Our daughter (also breastfed) has steadily gotten lower in the percentile a since she started moving. Our Dr isn’t worried, either, and she continually reassures us that she is fine for an active, breastfed kid. She eats a lot some days, less on others, and is constantly on the move. So, another momma with a lean machine on the go!
I’ve never seen your girls as super tiny. they look healthy! and they are happy. eating is a challenge as they become toddlers. cindy lou dropped over two pounds recently due to an illness. two pounds seems insignificant until you realize she was only about 25 pounds to begin with. i know it is hard not to stress but if the doctor isn’t worried and they are hitting all the milestones try to relax. and give them a little ice cream now and then 🙂 I don’t think they will complain much.