child under 0.4th centile for weight, what can cause this?

Question

hiya my wee boy got weighed toda at baby clinic, he is 22 months old,and weighs 20 lbs, this is below 0.4th on the centile chart and the health visitor seemed really concerned and wants to discuss it further with me. he is a really good eater though so any ideas to what ould be wrong??

his height is 83cm, 25th centile

he was normal birth wieght though, 8lb 6oz

Answer 1

He sounds terribly light for his age, he must be incredibly thin. The health visitor is right to be concerned - the child is failing to thrive. If he is a good eater, then the possibility of a medical reason for this must be investigated.

Answer 2

the same thing is happening with my daughter she is almost 18 months old and weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches tall. She was actually not even on the chart for weight it was so low. My doctor had me give her iron drops. They did a blood test for anemia. My doctor was concerned but my daughter is not losing weight she is just gaining it very slowly. She used to eat alot too. She could eat 2 sloppy joes at a time and the side dishes with it. I think she must have been going through a spurt because she does not eat like that anymore. My doctor has just let her be now and she is just fine. My other daughter who is 4 is also very tiny she is only 30 pounds and about 35 inches tall. The doctors have never been concerned about her. I also think when your kids are active all day and if the have a high metabolism they may not gain as fast. Both my girls and small and healthy. If you are worried they could do some blood test though. Good luck and I hope this helps.

Answer 3

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RE:
child under 0.4th centile for weight, what can cause this?
hiya my wee boy got weighed toda at baby clinic, he is 22 months old,and weighs 20 lbs, this is below 0.4th on the centile chart and the health visitor seemed really concerned and wants to discuss it further with me. he is a really good eater though so any ideas to what ould be wrong??

Answer 4

He must be really active. I wouldn't be very concerned unless he has other heath issues caused by low weight. Kids at this age are just moving around so much, they don't gain much weight. I used to take care of a boy whose weight was 19 lbs at 18 months, his doctor was really concerned, but he is 3 years now and is on 35th centile for weight. Try to give him more whole milk, possibly some cheese or tofu, baby smoothies...

Answer 5

Maybe nothing,
My son is just like that - he's in 90th percentile for height and at 3 years old weighed only 25 pounds ( with all his clothes on). He has some food allergies so he doesn't get milk or anything dairy, which may be part of the problem. But he is also very high energy. They checked him over for any medical issues and did some blood work, but couldn't find any medical reason.
So then, they had me write up a food diary for him to make sure we were feeding him (which was sort of a laugh because the kid eats about 6 meals a day!) They put him on a multivitamin to make sure he was getting everything he should. They have finally resigned themselves to the fact that he is just very slim.
Good Luck with your little one.

Answer 6

My son had a problem gaining weight too but we caught it at 7 1/2months. His weight was below the 5th percentile while his height was in the 75th. His was a result of a milk protein allergy. It cause problems with the intestines and their ability to absorb food and nutrients. Milk protein allergy and lactose intollerant are usually the two most common, but there are a variety of other causes. You definately need to find out what the problem is or if he has one because this is such an important time of growth for children. My suggestion is to research "failure to thrive" on the internet before your next visit, write down any possible symptoms your son could have, and discuss it with the doctor. He is on soy milk now and eats cheese and some dairy products. He is above the 15th percentile in weight and we tried to put him back on milk, but he started vomitting, so he's back on soy until age 2.

Answer 7

I would not worry about it too much if he is a good eater, it could be that he is just a little chap. What centile is his height in.
My Health visitor told me that my children were overweight as they were both in the 98th centile for their weight, but they were also over the edge of the chart for their height so the were perfectly in proportion.

As long as he is a happy, healthy, little boy who has a good appetite ignore her. I think these officials spend to much time and attention worrying about charts and graphs and don't look at the full picture.

Answer 8

failure to thrive can be from food allergies. Allergies dont always present with the classic symptoms such as hives. I know from experience, as I was an environmental illness child. Allergies can cause weight loss, and even weight gain in some people. I would suggest trying him on a very basic rice diet and possibly even cutting out dairy and substituting soy toddler formula instead to see if it were to help then slowly reintroduce foods to see what the culprit is. I suggest a book by a Dr. Rapp called "Is this my child"

Answer 9

If he has always been on the 0.4th since birth then he is progressing along it but if he was on a higher centile and has come down then you ought to have a chat with your health visitor. She will probably just go over his diet with you. If she's at all concerned she will refer your boy to a paediatrician to check him over. Good luck.

Answer 10

My children have always been on the lower percentile also. I don't think there is too much to worry about. If you can see his ribs and it looks like he isn't doing well, there is a concern. I went to WIC one time and the lady said that if my daughter didn't gain weight she would be concerend, then she turned around and DHS and told them that I was neglecting her. If kids seem healthy, it just means that they have a fast metabolism and more than likely just don't gain weight too fast. I have never been concerend when they told that I needed to feed my children more. I say keep your baby healthy no worries.

Answer 11

my daughter (who just turned 4 and weighs only 30 lbs) stopped gaining weight shortly after her 1st birthday. she kept getting taller though......by the time she was 2 she was in the 10th percentile for weight and 90 for height....the doctor sent her for massive amounts of bloodwork to see if i was actually feeding herand all the nutrients in her blood were good levels.......the only conclusion they have been able to come up with is she has a super fast metabolism. just let things take their course and let the doctors tell you what to do, they will give you different things to try more than likely to get the weight up and maybe do some tests.......if everything is ok and he still isnt gaining they will more than likely just tell you to wait and see.....and they will monitor the weight and make sure he doesnt lose weight of course.