Very tiny 15 month old

[AlCookie]

My 15 month old son weighs just 19 pounds and is only 28.5 inches tall. He has hardly grown at all since he was 9 months old. Still fits in most of his 6-9 month clothes.

I am sure there are other tiny ones out there. Did any of you go in for investigations? Any probable causes like growth hormone deficiency ( i read it normally has no other symptoms besides slow or no growth), iron deficiency (read this can interfere with effective absorption of nutrients and hence contribute to slow growth)

My doctor n my family members are not concerned because he is a very happy n active baby. He eats well though....like most toddlers he has his good days n bad days.

I feel very disturbed because i spend my entire day trying to feed him healthy foods 5-6 times (meals n snacks) and in return i see no growth! This does not seem to bother the doctor or my family. But i am a wreck!

Me n my husband are surely not tall people, but i m sure even kids with short parents at least continue to grow !!!

I want him to get tested for iron and maybe get a bone age x ray. Maybe everything IS normal - having a test will put my mind to rest and i will accept it as genetics. But unfortunately this is not important to anyone else except me.

Its 1.40 AM n i m awake n typing this message - i m spoiling my health worrying about this but no one else cares.

Please share any experiences you guys have where slow growth may have been the only symptom but with an underlying cause. I want to have some experiences to quote to my family n help pester my doc. ( i have posted this earlier on mumsnet too...but i m back again)

[Moknicker]

Hi
My DD is the same. She is on the 2nd centile growth chart and has languished there since about a year. Im 5.4 and DH is 5.7 so while not tall, not really short either. She dropped centiles substantially in the first year.

I did get her tested when she was 2 but everything came back fine. She was not tested for GH deficiency as I was told there would be other problems. In any event, I am not happy to give her GH as I am not sure about the side effects of that.

I do worry about it but have accepted that there is probably very little I can do. As long as she is developing normally and happy in every other way, I have to learn to hide my feelings when people comment on how small she is. Oh - and Im saving my Jimmy Choos for her for when she grows up. :)

Ive just looked up your DS on the growth charts and he seems to be below the smallest centile graph so worth getting it checked.

DD is now 34 inches at 4 years.

[AlCookie]

Hmmm....i just want to get him tested. Its getting on my nerves now. He has been 'small' forever now n about time we investigate a little.

I m looking to hear sole experiences where being small was associated to some underlying condition (maybe not serious...n i hope not serious for any little one out there )

My point is...hoping everything is normal is surely the way to go. But if there is an indication that something 'could be' wrong, then why ignore it. If something is wrong then its better now than later. But i just come across as a paranoid mum to friends family j doctors. I hate that - its MY son so i m the who will worry about him :-(

[doublecakeplease]

Was he small born? DS is 17 months and around about the same weight etc. He was under a consultant and we thought he'd be signed off at his 1 year appointment but he's going again at 18 months because of his size. The appointment is next month - will let you know if they say it's 'normal'.

I understand your worries though x do you have a red book? Is dc following their lines?

[AlCookie]

He was born ok...7 pounds n i dont remember the height but he was at 25th centile at birth. He continued ok 9th for 3-4 months n then 2nd n then below that. Now i think he is around 2nd.

The doctor keeps explaining how these things happen n r normal. The doc says he looks healthy n active n thats important. I agree but somehow i cant convince myself unless i can see a proof (oh boy i m paranoid!!)

[AlCookie]

[ThisIsYourSong]

DT1 is pretty small too. He's 3.7 and wears 12-18 month stuff, but it's pretty big around the waist. I haven't taken him for tests or anything because there is nothing wrong with him, he's just small. I do feel a bit sorry for him as he has two tall brothers (99th & 90th percentile, one his twin!!) so the teasing is going to start at some point.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Agree with the others, get his centiles checked by your HV and get them plotted in your red book, if you do go for investigations this is the first thing they will probably want to see.

It does sound like everything is probably fine but don't think it would be unreasonable to ask for a referral.

[Whitegrenache]

Hi my ds is very small and at aged 18 months was referred by health visitor to paediatrics. I never had any concerns as he was a bf baby and ate lots of food and was developing normally.

He had some very invasive tests for CF, coelics and other issues all which can back clear. He then was prescribed high calorie drinks which made no difference to his height or weight growth so these were stopped.
He then was tested for growth hormone levels which were normal and referred to paediatric endocrinologist who basically told me there was nothing wrong with my son and that he had constitutional short stature which means he will catch up at puberty and if he is delayed at puberty they will give him a shot of testosterone to kick start it! He then discharged him!!

My ds is very small but boy it does not stop him. He is 4 and wears 2 year old clothes and is on bottom centile and I love him!!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Oh and as for the healthy snacks and treats, they do need some fat and sugar you know

[nutterbutsquash]

I have a teeny tiny perfectly formed ds, he also sloped down the centile charts from 50 to 0.4 and has bounced between this and 2nd since then. Got referred to paed due to failure to thrive and was a very fussy eater, has had lots of tests including a developmental one about 2 years ago and all fine, just a short-arse like the rest of us!

[YonicTheHedgehog]

I've got a tiddler at 18lbs at nearly 17 months, me and DH aren't world beaters for size so I'm not worried although the HV did get her boss out to come and have a look at the 12 month check because she had dropped from the 25th at birth to just below the 9th. Definitely have a look at your red book if you've not already, to see what his line looks like.

[mymatemax]

Were you or his Dad like this as babies?
Docs really will try to avoid potentially distressing tests unless there are concerns about his health or development.
If he is in proportion & continues to develop normally then it really sounds like he is just short!
Someone has to be the shortest in the class you know:)

[AlCookie]

I agree matemax :-) if all were 50 centile then there would be no centiles!!!!

Thank u so much all u wonderful ladies. Nothings changed but i still feel a lot better.

I also agree that those tests will be distressing for me n my son. As per his red book, he is between the 2nd n 9th centile for weight n has been there for quite a few months now. His height is what really bothers me...he has been stuck on 72 cms for about 2.5 months now. I hope we have a huge growth spurt round the corner...

[AnathemaDevice]

My DD is tiny too. She was 7lb3oz at birth, and between about 2 months and 2 years was just under the 9th centile. She's had a growth spurt recently, and is almost fitting into 18-24 month old clothes at the age of 2 years 3 months.

There's nothing wrong with her, she's just small. I did think it might be due to her being part Chinese, but so are both my DS's and they're both huge. For example, at 2.3 she's in clothes DS1 was in at 14 months. DS2 is 4 1/2 months old and weighs around 18lbs-the weight she was at 17 months.

[Katnisscupcake]

My DD has just turned 4 and is only 92cm.

She was born 7lb 10oz and was on the 50th centile for height/weight.

She dropped down to 9th by 12 weeks old and now is on the 2nd, again for both height and weight. She is just going into 3-4 year old clothes now.

Maternal family (including me) are all 5'8 - 6'4. But Paternal family range from 5'0 - 5'8 (DH is 5'8) so I guess she's just going to take after DH's side of the family.

Other children are already starting to notice that she's small though and I do worry what will happen when she starts school in September. She's very quiet and shy aswell, so not even small with a big personality. She does seem to be very popular though and is always the one that everyone wants to play with at a party!