Slow weight gain in a nearly 4 year old since birth

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Has anyone’s little ones had slow weight gain literally since birth? We have been under dietician before who discharged us when he got upto the 6th centile however he is 4 next month and weighs 29lbs …I am starting to worry that there could be something medically wrong that is impacting his weight

I make that 13 kg, putting him around the 2nd centile, although it's difficult because the growth charts do something odd at age 4. How is he for height? My daughter has held at 50th centile for height and 2nd centile for weight since she was about 2 years old (she was 25th centile for weight but dropped). She's been tested for coeliac disease a couple of times, both negative. She just has a really tiny appetite and eats slowly so feels full after only a few mouthfuls. She was also quite restricted with her eating but that is finally improving she 10. The advice from dieticians was calorie dense food eg cheese, oils, custard, ice cream. The paediatrician is happy as she has kept to the 2nd centile and isn't ever tired or unwell in any other way. Buying clothes is a nightmare. Club swimming seems to have increased her appetite - I worried it might burn even more calories but it's made her stronger and fitter with no change to the growth curve. I think for your little boy I'd ask the GP to weigh him and check the curve officially, and refer on to paediatrics/dietician again.

At 4.5 my heavier child weighed less than 15kg (so 33lb), because i fretted about carseats on holiday.
His weight was never a concern - and his brother has always been lighter at similar stages.

I realise there is something more underlying with your concerns, but just to point out there is very little weight gain needed to get him into the healthy bracket - DS2 has sat pretty firmly on the 25th centile from very young. DS1 hovers close to 9th.

I try to tell myself it’s just him and it’s not anything worth constantly worrying over but then I think my anxiety kicks in and I start thinking ‘what if we’re missing something’ I’ve obviously read up a lot online regarding what causes slow weight gain and things such as heart conditions, growth hormone deficiency comes up and then I start to panic

Yes we had a gp appointment recently and he was 13.2kg . His height is ok around 100cm so still on the smaller side but height has never been an issue brought up. He also has a small appetite too and often has a few mouthfuls then might come back 15 minutes later and have a few more but like your daughter his diet is restricted as there is so many things he doesn’t like or won’t even try but I put that down to his age as my eldest son was the same but will try everything now.

At 4 their BMI is as important as the individual percentiles. That height and weight for a 3y11 month boy puts him in the 3rd percentile so the very bottom of normal range (2nd -91st is normal)

At 4 there is a switch in which chart is used at 4. Which is why there is an offset when you look at the charts at 4.

I would ask for a HV to come out and do height and weight and if he's borderline underweight or underweight ask for dietician/paediatrician referral again.

It might be that this is normal for him but it's also worth investigating to double check and looking at trends in weight too. My daughter is 6 and is friends with a girl who has always been 0.4th percentile for height and weight but she follows these lines exactly and she eats fairly well. My daughter by contrast is on the 9th percentile for weight and 4th for height but is on fortified milkshakes and under paediatrics and dieticians. She has reflux that she hasn't outgrown and has been medicated since 8 weeks old, she has a lot of food allergies so is on a restricted, she is a fussy eater with a low appetite and on and off feeding refusal we are going through a rough patch at the moment and she's borderline for ARFID. At 4 she was 50th percentile for weight and 1st for height giving her a 90th percentile BMI. She is now on the 25th percentile for BMI. Whilst this is still "normal" the fact that she isn't eating and is actively dropping down the percentiles she is about 500kcal as day short of what she needs based on her activities so this is why we are needing interventions at higher weights than her friend.

He pretty much has been like this since he was born. He was born on the 25th and very quickly dropped to the 0.4th and we managed to get him to just below the 9th but obviously he was just a baby then so only on milk, he’s never been a big eater and is a very active little boy so I think the weight gain has slowed again. I hope it is just him.

My nephew is like this, 6 years old and looks like a tiny wee 3 year old. He's just been started on growth hormones.

People constantly comment on how articulate he is for a wee one, it frustrates the hell out of db and sil.