tiny kids - is there anything that could (or should) be done?

[ernest]

Ok, ds3 is really little. He's 13 kilos and 93 cm, which is about 28.5 lbs and just 3 foot (and half an inch).

Of my 3 boys, he was the biggest and heaviest at birth. He-s just turned 4 and is still wearing age 2 clothes and still mistaken for a 2 year old.

I have discussed before with doc and they said his size isn't a concern as it's consistent - he has been on the 2nd %ile for a long time.

Looking at his notes he's only gained 2 kilos and 9 cms in nearly 2 years.

I'm going to go back to the doctors next week with him. Is there anything they can realistically do to make him grow (short of putting him on a rack). They tell me not to worry, but turning 4 has really highlighted how teeny he is.

He does get a full and wide range of food, but his appetite is crap and he doesn't eat very much, which I know can't help.

Anyone in this situation also. I don't just want to go along again and get told it's nothing to worry about. He's starting school in September, and he will be the smallest in the entire school, probably by a long way

my dd1 is small, DH was small (tiny in fact) until he hit his teens and by 15 he was 5foot 10 in. He is now 6foot 1in. He will catch up eventually but i know its unfair cause they get teased, its funny now when we're out and wee fat baldy blokes that DH went to school with who now meet his shoulders say "oh theres midget mac" - a nickname they had for him at school.

I was teeny tiny. My 1st day at school my mom had to buy a pinafore dress for a 3 yr old and put a 2 inch hem on it (Obviously I was 5!!). I got teased for all of a weak until I clumped one of the teasers (who then became a best pal!!) My nickname from then on was mighty mouse!! I'm still a littley, and dd2 looks set to follow my tracks whilst dd1 looks set to follow her 6' dad (that is feet not inches isn't it!!?!?) It takes all shapes and sizes to make up a world so trty not to worry too much. Just make sure he's healthy and happy (and if it makes you feel better keep a regular check up with gp - he sounds nice)

Thing is, he is never destined to be BIG, I accept that - but his brothers are both on either 25th or 50th %ile. I can't see him suddenly shooting up. It's different for girls to be small - my mil was only 4'10", I'm only 5'2", but it's really different for boys, and especially when he gets older.

It already affects other kids' behviour towards him - they don't want to play with him and consider him to be baby-ish even tho they'll play with other kids similar age, who look far older cos they're quite a bit taller than him. The kid next door is a year yonger than him and towers above him.

I know people say it takes all shapes and sorts, but I really want to DO something. Does no one actually have an unusually small kid? Can anything be done? Or do I really have to accept him being so so small? feel for my ds.

ernest my dd has noonan syndrome that makes her small. she is 5 and is 98cms and 15 kgs

I know of parents with boys with NS who choose growth hormone as it does seem to be harder for boys being petite.

In dd's class there is a lad in the yr above with achondroplasia (dwarfism) dd was astonished to meet a child smaller than her.
FWIW she does not stick out that much as smaller than the rest and she is very popular.

If he's 2nd centile he's probably within normal ranges for his age. You could ask your GP to refer him to have his bone age measured. Ds was (is) also small, but was outside the normal growth parameters (i.e. more than 10 cms outside his potential adult centile calculated from my and dh's height.) I can explain a bit better if you want but your red book should have the details. In ds case his bone age was delayed by about a year, which basically means his centile should have been caclualted from his bone age rather than actual age so he was around the 25th centile. It is likley that he will hit puberty later than most, but on the positive he will grow for longer than most boys. At school his height doesn't really seem to matter - he is one of theh oldest, so is only just shorter than some of the summer borns, and last week belted the tallest boy in his class on the chin!

*Head teacher's reaction - make him stay in at lunchtime.

My reaction - blimey how did you reach - well done!

Thanks for replies. piffle, how/who worked out that something was wrong. I'm concerned people just say oh, it's ok and not investigate and find out there might be something wrong. His 2 brothers are miles bigger than him, even tho, like I said, he was bigger than them, both length & weight at birth.

ernest - it was me who worked out he was outside his growth parameters. I took calculations to GP who agreed and then referred him.

btw titchy, I'd've thought the same if it was my ds!

how do they measure bone age?

ernest my friends have 3 children the middle who is a girls as it happens is teeny tiny but again like you there is shortness on both sides of the family and she has obviously got the extra short genes. You can probably ask for a 2nd opinion and beg for growth hormone but as you've already said you are short and so is your mil so unfortunately it does just seem that your ds3 has drawn the "short" straw. I'm vertically challenged but with a tall husband and it seems like I'm destined to be towered over, sadly dd2 is on the 98th centile for height yet young in herself and a summer baby she constantly has the problem of people expecting too much of her thinking that she must be 2 years older.

You do have my sympathies though, try not to pass your worries on to him though

oh, I won't, he's due to go to the docs for routine development test anyway now he's 4, so I'll bring it up as part of that. I keep telling him he's a big boy now as he also still wants to be babied, carried etc, and as he's so small it's been too easy to just grab him and run. I tell him now I can't carry him anymore. He still needs help getting on the toilet as he's so little, which doesn't help with him growing up

was easier diagnosing my dd as she had many other features of noonan syndrome from birth...
Worth asking for mroe reassurance I think
For sure he cold be a slow burner
Some boys have humungous growth spurts in their teens
Infact my younger brother was a titch at secondary school far smaller than his mates
at 16 he grew and hit 5ft 9 and has stayed at that.
My other brothers is 6ft 2 as was my dad....
My mum is titchy too at only just 5ft (dd projected to perhaps just get to 5ft) yet mum has a couple of sisters (she has 8 in total) who are over 6ft...
variety is normal you never know who you've thrown back to sometimes genetically speaking

The spice of life too

but a 5' dd wouldn't bother me. a 5' or 5'2" ds would uspet me greatly. I honestly forsee a lifetime of problems for men being unualually short. My mil at 4'10" seemed to enjoy her unusual stature, and it still came up in conversation pretty much everyday, even at the age of 59! She dies recently under horrible circs, and even at her funeral the punchline was 'she was short in stature but big in personality' and this will also be the punchline at her memorial service next week. It was her and a huge part of her (self) identity.

But a 5' man is a totally different kettle of fish. He'd struggle to find a girlfriend/wife, be taken seriously both socially and in work etc etc. His height already causes him social problems and he's not even in school yet

I know I'm jumping well ahead of myself and forseeing a doom and gloom situation that may never happen, I guess my pg is making me worry more. i just don't want to not do anything at all, thinking oh well, he'll have a growth spurt when he's 16, then it never happens and the docs say, well, mrs ernest, if you'd acted sooner.....

But thanks, I have made a doctors appointment, tho not till afer Christmas, and I'll really push him to discuss it more. He is a wonderful wonderful (and very, very gorgeous) doctor, shame we'll have to change soon, so I also want to have it looked at while my kids are under such great medical care.

Ernest, we are in the same boat and ds2 is under the supervision of the endocrinologists here now. He will be 5 in Jan and is just into age 3 trousers which are still a bit big on him. You are so right that there are very different societal attitudes to small men and small women which find v distressing. Dh was small at school and did grow later but he had delayed growth due to chemotherapy as a child so I'm not hopeful that ds2 will have a miraculous spurt at 18. His bone age is delayed and they have calculated the perameters within which he should fall based on parental height (he should be between 9th and 50th centiles) and he is below that - fluctuating between the 2nd and 7th. They spend a long time monitoring as there is no harm in delaying treatment (assuming that it's growth hormone that is required) for a few years and once you are into treatment it's a long haul so it's not something to be rushed into.

Hope your mind gets set at rest.

Ernest, it is hard, isn't it. My ds2 is on the 0.4th centile! He is 8½ but looks like a 4-year-old. However, both dh and I are short so we have no hope.............

ElenyaTuesday, are you or have you done any medical investigations, or just accepting his size? Does he have social/school problems becasue of his size. ANd you say you & dh are short - less that 5'2" and 5'6"?

I know my dh has got very poor appetite and his lack of calory intake can't help. I've just heard maybe it's possible to even prescribe appetite stimulants. I don't now, I'm prepared to look at this from every angle, I just want to be sure I've done everything I can to help him develop optimally- That sounds wooden, but ykwim

I think you're right to ask for it to be investigated etc. I think they look at their hand bone structure to determine eventual height/growing potential. I really do not like being 5' as it is inconvenient as much as anything else even my shortest dd is way ahead of me on the centiles.

ernest, ds1 is 2.6, 85cm and 10.6kg. Consistent bottom-centile follower. Paed says all is fine medically. It is undoubtedly genetic as I'm 5'1 and dh is one of those 5'2 men, which, FWIW, he wears incredibly well. He is socially at ease, has no complexes about his height (unless he hides them very well indeed) and a fab wife . He was always one of the sportiest kids and went in for competition athletics at one stage, which no doubt helped is self-confidence. I am pleased that ds1 will have him as a role model.

I have just asked dh. Has he ever felt disadvantaged by his height? No. Does he have a problem with being small? No. He also said it can be an advantage to positively surprise people who might not expect so much of a small person - this certainly stood him in good stead in school/sports.

thanks berolina, for the positive story on a shorter man. I just hear constantly all the pisstakey comments about Tom Cruise for example and 'little man syndrome' tho he is a weirdy freak, but more to do with his behaviour than his stature of course, tho this is what gets picked up on.

Just re read my last para. ha ha, obv, ds has the crap appetite, not dh, who could do with a bit of appetite suppressant if you ask me. He looks more pg than me right now. I reckon it'll take me a few months to overtake his belly.

Last night ds ate half a piece of bread for dinner/tea (we're a northern/southern household so meal names are still a bone of contention).

I went through very poor eating with ds1 but he was 2 at the time, and it lasted about 6-9 months, ds3 is 4 and this has been going on a lot longer and his lack of growth concerns me, as you all can see.

Feel better now I have made the appointment, and having 'spoken' to you all and got some ideas, ie measuring bone age, so I can say posstive things I want them to investigate, not just bleat on ooh isn' he little?

Hi Ernest, just posting on here on the off chance you might see it and reply. Wondering how you got on with your son. I have a one year old who has dropped to the bottom of the charts with his height and have the same concerns as you regarding shorter men having a harder time in life so really just wanting to see how things are going for you guys now!

Are both you and his dad short? It could well just be genetic if there's signifcant short stature in the family and if it is then there'll be very little that can or will be offered especially on the NHS. I think if he's tailing off on the centiles or you would expect him to be taller based on yours and dh's height then push for further investigating but I'd prepare for the quite possible outcome that he's healthy and just short genetically x

Oops just noticed this us a zombue thread ffs 🤣