My son is 21 months old and is only a size 12mths, and less than 5% weight for his age. Is this normal?

Question

My nephew is 6 mths younger that my son and is passing clothes down to my son. His, this year, summer clothes are the same size pants as last year 3-6 mths. I just want to know if this is normal.

Answer 1

My son is that exact same way. He is around the 5% for his weight and he is around the 70% for his height. His daddy is very tall and skinny, I am short and skinny so the doctors arent worried about his weight at all because he's just taking after daddy. I do have to buy him belts though because I have yet to find a pair of pants that fit around his tiny waist.

Answer 2

It's not necessarily the norm, but it's okay. My daughter was the same way. She was wearing 2T at the age of 4. Now she's seven and wears a 4 or 5, depending on the brand, and I have to get the adjustable waist pants to make them small enough for her. Pediatricians look at where the kids track on their little growth chart. My daughter was always at or slightly below the 5th percentile. As long as there is no drastic changes, like he suddenly gains weight, or he suddenly falls way below the 5th percentile, he's fine.

Answer 3

Now days there are ALOT of overweight kids. So, don't compare to much to others. I had the same problem. As long as you know your son is healthy and his eating habits are consistent I wouldn't worry.My son is 5 and has always been skinnier and shorter than kids his age. I was always worried about it too but, our pediatrician was very assuring because he has progressed well. He's 10% in both height and weight and has always been.

Answer 4

So long as he's not malnourished or starving, yes. I stand 4'11" as an adult, I was a SMALL child! When I was starting school, people commented to my mother how well her 2 year old spoken, walked and ran. When I was 7 people FINALLY starting asking "are you excited to start school soon?", when I was 13 one of my teachers use to follow me between classes when he could as he was afraid I'd get crushed. In high school, my vice-principle found desks from elementary and junior high schools for me and put one in each of my classes.

So long as the doc says he's healthy, don't worry about it. Not everyone is the same.

Answer 5

First let me say Congrats on your new arrival.
As you know everybody is different some babies be small while others are big. I'm not sure what ou feed your child, but if you're still giving him baby food that's where you're going wrong feed him table food; even though you will have to take a little more time to take the meat off the bone,but your baby will get full and fat not to mention he won't be still hungry.

Answer 6

As long as he's growing normally for him (his growth curve has been the same and didn't drastically drop) and as long as his doctor isn't concerned it's probably fine.

Kids come in all different shapes and sizes. My 2 1/2 yo nephew weighs 12# more than my 4yo, but she's 6" taller. my youngest floats in the 12th percentile, always has, no one is concerned, she's just petite. :-)

Answer 7

My daughter is 29months but the size of 18months, weighing only 10kg. My son who is now 13 months weighs 10.5kg. As for my daughter's case, the doctor accessed her as underweight which we were guided in her diet, and she is perfectly healthy & normal in development. I suppose you might like to check out with your doctor for assessment of his weight and development skills. =)

Answer 8

Well, you said he's 5% weight for his age..so you answered your own question. It's normal for 5% of babies to be that small.

Answer 9

normal? well it seems he is below normal. best bet is to check with your pediatrician. 21 month old in 12 month clothes is really small.

Answer 10

every child grows and develops differently. if its a concern to you consult your doctor. i know a little boy that is 7 and is an inch taller than my 3 year old. he is also scronnyer than her and he is healthy.