He was 20 1/2 inches @ birth. He fell off his growth chart, but developmentally he's fine, and all the intial tests came back clean (x-rays, bloodwork, scans of head and abdomen)
Has anyone else heard of a baby this size at 1 year? (about 18 lbs, little less than 27 inches)
I'm just so worried!!
2007-12-20 09:47:39 · 10 answers · asked by chloeL 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
just to add: yes the doctor was very worried because he fell off his growth chart so badly. He was a lot lighter but I've recently been able to get some more pounds on him - he has reflux.
I'm just worried since his height isn't even near the growth charts. I'm 5' 5" but my husband is over 6'.
Just wondered if anyone else has had a healthy baby this short. The growth charts really freak me out.
2007-12-20 10:31:32 · update #1
Your son and his story is pretty similar to my daughter (hers is a little bit more about weight). She'll be 1 year at the end of the month and she is just over 17 lbs and about 28-29 inches. She fell off the growth charts as well around 3 - 4 months and was gaining very slowly between 3 - 6 months. She did pick it up again after that. My doctor did have mild concern, but only asked us to come in for an additional check. Are you breastfeeding or formula? Make sure the doctor is using the right type of chart, as it does make a difference.
In the case of my daughter, I know genetics is playing a large role. My mom had recorded my growth as a baby. I was only very slightly larger than my daughter and would have been under the chart as well. I am 5'3" (and my husband is 6'3"). Some babies are just meant to be small, and not all babies follow a standard growth curve. Overall growth and development needs to be considered. As long as he is happy, otherwise healthy, gaining appropriately and proportionately, meeting developmental milestones, then there is nothing wrong. I know it is hard not to worry, but you would know if there was something wrong.
Don't spend too much time worrying over the growth charts. By themselves, they don't really mean much of anything and we can get too caught up in the numbers and quantifying growth. Although he's low/under the chart, his weight and height do correspond proportionately and how tall he is now doesn't have that much to do with how tall he will end up.
2007-12-20 12:40:59 · answer #1 · answered by josi 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh wow, get him an audition for the Wizard of Oz! All joking aside, don't worry. If he's healthy, that's what's important. My son was a tall boy (31" at a year), while my nephew was barely 27" tall. In fact, he's 20 months old and barely fits into 12 - 18 months. But he's a healthy, happy, and beautiful child.
Hey, I was a "vertically challenged" kid, too. Throughout my entire childhood, I was barely on the growth charts, and my mother worried constantly. However, I shot up once I hit puberty; I grew a foot in a year. I'm now 5'6", which isn't bad for a woman (the average American woman is 5'4").
One of two things will happen - he'll either shoot up in height, or he won't. There are worse things than being short. Just be grateful you're dealing with short stature and not something else like autism or cancer. I'm certainly not trying to sound insensitive. I'm just trying to drive home the point that as long as he's happy and healthy, he's going to be fine.
2007-12-20 10:04:51 · answer #2 · answered by SoBox 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My daughter was 19 lbs. at 12 months, and my niece didn't even hit the bottom of the growth charts in height or weight. If he's healthy and developing normally, he's probably just small.
2007-12-20 10:02:04 · answer #3 · answered by daa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's 2'3" tall and that seems fine for a 12 month old.
Our just 2yr old daughter is around 3' (although we haven't measured her lately) and weighs around 22lbs.
Is his doctor at all worried? If not, your son obviously did a lot of growing before he was born, and is just "marking time" at the moment. I don't suppose he's much shorter or taller than any of the children you socialise with. I wouldn't worry so much, children grow in fits and starts and most of it when they sleep! As long as he's eating healthily and taking sufficient milk or formula for his age, then he'll be fine. Watch out for "growing pains" though, as if he grows in a huge jump at any time, his joints will ache and he'll not be able to tell you. A spoonful of paracetamol will take the edge off for him.
Edit: Because you baby started off larger/longer than average, you would expect him to grow slower than most babies and tend toward average size. Just as it your baby had started off smaller than average, you would expect the baby to catch up a bit. The bonus of this for you and for him, is that in the crucial first year, instead of spending all his energy growing his body, he will have spent that energy making sure that all his body's systems work as well as they can and he will have spent a lot of time building brain. This means that overall, he has a good chance of excelling both academically and on the sports field.
Your doctor, if only taking into account the growth chart, will of course be concerned. But he has to look at the whole picture as only looking at one part is going to skew his analysis. How experienced with babies is the doctor - its not his first specialty is it? Because if you look at the whole picture, your son may very well have an extremely bright future - my husband says you should be saving for University NOW.
2007-12-20 09:57:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I already replied this. What surpassed off to the 1st version of your query? As I pronounced, your toddler is massive for his age, yet no longer 'obese.' i'd brush aside the advice your healthcare expert gave, which you particular in an answer to a diverse query, to diminish beforehand on his formulation and supply babyfood as a replace. Neither rice cereal nor end result/vegetables have the foodstuff he needs to strengthen and thrive, and that they are rather lacking in the fat he needs for innovations progression. (FWIW, my daughter became into continuously very petite -- she did no longer hit 22 pounds till after her 2nd birthday. yet she has 2 cousins who have been extensive (one breastfed, one formulation fed) -- the two broke 20 pounds by ability of three months or so. the two are actually little ones. One continues to be slightly on the heavy component (her father and mom are the two heavy), the different is tall and slender. enable your new child to devour approriate meals whilst HE expresses the %. this would coach him to envision and know his own starvation alerts, and make it much less possibly that he will finally end up obese as he receives older.
2016-10-09 00:24:09 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the test are clean and he is healthy in general I wouldn't stress. Our youngest was tested because she grew to quickly. She is 6ft, has been since 12yrs old, and her older brother (2 1/2 yrs older) was usually shorter until he shot up to 6'2" his freshman yr. Keep an eye on it but don't worry.
2007-12-20 10:04:20 · answer #6 · answered by mommeof3 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You shouldn't be worried, sometimes infants' bodies grow slowly and then all of a sudden have a growth spurt. Don't worry.
Good Luck
2007-12-20 09:57:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
anwer these quick questions before panicing. How tall are you ? How tall is the father ? 27 inches sounds about right. Ask your mother or anyone else who had and raised kids
2007-12-20 09:58:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
He's fine, just a little short! Enjoy him!!!
2007-12-20 09:52:37 · answer #9 · answered by Cali Girl 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I just saw a thing on premordial dwarves...you might want to check that out...
2007-12-20 09:50:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋