Should I be concerned about how slim DD (9months) is?

[pastabest]

I'm not (too) concerned, but so many people have commented on it now that I'm worried I SHOULD be concerned.

The final straw has been a relative who has two children of her own and is a very well qualified childcare provider, so presumably she has a good gauge of what is 'normal'. She has asked me twice now if DD has been 'checked' because of how small she is.

I haven't had her weighed since September because the weigh in days have coincided with KIT days at work but last time she was weighed she was following the 50th centile line exactly.

She is just into 9-12 month clothes so is fine height wise but she is very very slim. She does look noticeably different to the other babies her age at playgroup etc who are normal pudgy looking babies.

She has a good appetite and is still having 28oz of formula a day as well as 3 good meals (she eats about probably half of what I do and I have got a huge good appetite!) and snacks through the day.

The main thing I have been putting it down to is that she never stops moving. She was crawling at 5 months and walking by 8.5 months. At 9.5 months she now just now runs everywhere. This morning I've had to stop her climbing the curtains and she made an escape attempt outside in just a nappy. She is currently hanging by her fingertips from the fireguard.

But DP is also starting to get a lot of hassle from his family to get her 'checked' (for what I'm not sure ... worms? )

Are some babies just very slim or have I been a bit naive and there may be a problem?

[Sirzy]

I wouldn’t be worried at all as long as she is growing and healthy which is sounds like she is!

[Blahblahblahzeeblah]

I have no proper knowledge but it makes sense to me that an early mover would lose the baby podge sooner.
I'd suggest trying to weigh hee to see if she's following the same.percentile

[pastabest]

Well this is what I mean, I WASNT worrying because as far as I was concerned she is healthy and very active.

But nearly everyone comments on it, so I started to doubt myself.

Thanks both!

[JoandMax]

She sounds fine.

DS2 has always been long and lean, he's technically underweight by the BMI charts but is active, energetic and eats loads! He is now 7.5 years and is either moving or talking every waking second so I put it down to that..... But we do quite a few comments from family about how slim he is but it's just his natural shape.

[Justbookedasummmerholiday]

At 9 months my ds was still in 3-6 clothes and like a skinned rabbit!! Smile and ignore op.

[randomsabreuse]

My 2 year old is slim and lean (legs I'd love to have with visible muscles) and never stops moving. We had some food intolerance issues and the Drs were fine with her build and weight as she is active etc. She's swamped by 2-3 clothes and is usually in what are now Capri length 12-18 trousers. Am slightly dreading potty training as there is no way trousers will stay up without a nappy to bulk things out!

My DH is a slim build and my bone structure is too (ignoring podge) so it's probably not surprising she's narrow.

[ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual]

Have you asked a HV for advice? It sounds fine to me but then again if multiple people are commenting and it sounds as if you respect the opinion of at least one of them, might be worth the question? FWIW, my much younger sister had worms. For years it was a family joke that she couldn’t be filled up

[Jenala]

My 2.5 year old wears 12-18m clothing. He is just under the 9th centile. No one ever really commented he was small, it was me that worried. Whereas my 5 month old is between the 25th and 50th centiles and wears the right size clothing for his age. Everyone says how enormous he is though I really don't think this is the case.

Many babies and toddlers are enormous to me, with oddly chunky heads and loads of rolls of fat on their arms and legs. I think people expect this to be how children should look for some reason. If she's active, healthy and following her centile you really have nothing to worry about. If you want to prove this then get her weighed. You can go to any health clinic at any children's centre, it doesn't have to be your local one if the day is inconvenient.

[lettuceWrap]

I’m going to play devils advocate here and say actually, maybe you should get your dd checked. There are a lot of different conditions that could at the root of a young child losing weight (or not gaining weight which amounts to the same thing, if they continue to grow lengthways, iykwim). A parent seeing the child everyday isn’t necessarily going to see how underweight the child really looks, so it would concern me that multiple people have suggested having her seen by HV/GP.

I do have some personal experience of this with 2 of my DC (who by the way were apparently healthy and growing (but as it turned out, falling through the Height/length centiles, one to under 3rd and one to under 1st). One was much younger than your DD and not walking but the other was extremely active like your DC. Both had (different) issues causing the failure to thrive.
Looking back at at photos now, they both look very underweight (and one looks really ill), but at the time they looked slim-but-normal to me and I resented some of the comments I got from people.

If you get dd checked by the HV/GP they should weigh and measure - you’ll find out if she’s following her previous grown curve, and if not they may advice checking her every couple of months or so, to see what the trend is, or refer for test, or for dietary advice (for example for one of my DC it was all about adding in sufficient fat (olive oil and avacado, fattier meat/fish) as his digestive/gut issues meant he needed small, high calorie meals, particularly given his high activity levels).

No harm in getting her checked, peace of mind for you, but if there is an issue, best that it’s picked up sooner rather than later, as potentially, conditions that interfere with a young child’s ability to absorb nutrients can have lasting effects as their bodies and brains are developing so fast at that age.

[Caterina99]

I agree, no harm in getting her checked out.

My DS is a very tall slim 2 year old and was a very tall slim baby and he walked at 9 months. He followed his curve though just fine.