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chinese baby - does size matter?

8 replies

mumofwun · 02/12/2005 22:40

does anyone else find it a bit disconcerting when the hv says your baby is small because you are? my husband and i are both chinese and small built, so i accept that my ds will never be huge.
he has always been breastfed and up until weaning was on the 75th centile! since weaning and starting crawling he has dropped to the 9th centile and is now hardly gaining any weight. the hv always says 'well, you are not huge so he won't be' and 'of course its because he is crawling now' but does he actually have to lose weight before anyone will notice?
don't get me wrong, he is healthy and happy in every other way so i am sure nothing is wrong. but then what is the point of weighing them? maybe i shouldn't bother anymore.
anyone have access to chinese baby growth charts?

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soyabean · 02/12/2005 22:47

Hi mumofwun
I dont have any particular advice but there are lots of friendly Chinese mums and partners of Chinese dads on the 'new thread for Chinese mothers' which you might find interesting.

I'm white and dh is Chinese and quite short in UK terms. Our children were all average-ish for UK growth charts but now the two oldest are quite tall so will be very noticeable when we next visit China.

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mumofwun · 02/12/2005 23:21

thanks soyabean. will check it out

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JabberTheRedNoseReindeer · 03/12/2005 01:24

Well, here in the good ole' US, our insurance doesn't cover the $200 it requires for a "well-baby check". So ds has only had one when he was a year old. I was so unimpressed that I have refused to spend the money since then (he is 2.4) so we have no idea where he stands on the growth charts. But, he is happy and healthy and I've decided it's better that I don't have one more thing to worry about

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yingers74 · 03/12/2005 15:34

Hmmm, I think this is nonsense on your hv part, chinese babies grow too so if he is hardly gaining any weight at all then it should be of some concern!! Honestly size depends on the child as well as other factors not the race! I am chinese and have cousins who are very tall ( i have one who is a six footer) and then some who are diddy(the six footer's brother is only about 5ft 7)!!! And soyabean (hello there) is right, there are a load of us friendly chinese mums and other mums with chinese/se asian partners on the other thread so come join us any time!

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mumofwun · 03/12/2005 21:34

thanks yall. will do

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csa · 05/12/2005 12:57

hi mumofwun, i have a singapore chart if that helps. with ds1, he didn't gain weight at all between 6 and 9 months and it took us a lot of pestering of the gp before he finally agreed to refer us to a paediatrician. it then turned out that he was anaemic! ds2 seems to be showing the same signs. eating loads but not putting on weight at all. so may have to start pestering gp again
not saying that your baby is anaemic just that if you have any concerns, then pester away. my experience is if you don't make it a big deal, the gp just ignores you. rant over
hth and let me know if you want me to look up the weight thing in the singapore chart