4 year old boy small for age

[macmacaroon]

Any tips on boosting self esteem for child small in size who is now saying "I don't like being small" ; "small is bad". Probably generated by comments by others who say he's small (because he is).

Sorry I don't have any helpful comments. My DS is always commented on how "tiny" he is, he is 16 months and he is really small in comparison to others. It worries me greatly about how he will be treated as he gets older and in school.
I am only tiny at 4'10 but being small as a girl is not so bad as growing up as being small as a boy.

I hope your DS realises good things come in small packages, but I fear this is not much comfort when his height is being highlighted as a negative to him.

Good luck

I have a very small 7 year old. He's fit and healthy but small and skinny. People comment on it all the time and I/he is regularly asked whether he and DS2 (2 and a bit years younger) are twins. When he was younger I took him to the GP who referred to the hospital to check for underlying issues. They said he had a normal amount of growth hormone and was healthy and meeting his developmental milestones so he would be who he will be, not to worry.

I've always told him being small isn't a bad thing, its a different thing. In the same way being tall, bald, spotty, wearing glasses, having an accent or a physical disability is different, not bad. He's got to an age where he now mentions his height but he's not negative about it as its just who he is. By nature he's a very resilient, confident child.

I think how you discuss it with him and whether you appear anxious about it makes a huge difference to how he sees it and how he manages others often bloody rude comments though. Keep it bright and breezy but brief when discussing it while reassuring him that he's bloody perfect as he is all the way....

Watching as in exactly the same position with my 4 year old. Doesn’t help that my nearly 2 year old dd is tall for her age.

Also my ds goes to school with giant children and my ds is quiet. I constantly worry about him being lost in a group.

Watching for the same reason! My 4 year old is the oldest in his F1 class but the smallest. He still fits into his 2-3 yo trousers. I actually have an appt on Monday to broach this with the GP because unlike Sausage's son, he is quite behind with some of his physical milestones (doing well in other areas)- he still can't jump and has a very toddlerish gait! I hope we get referred on as well so it can be investigated.

Make sure they test for coeliac disease that can stunt growth and also impact physically as child is malnourished.

My DS was referred to paediatrician when he was 1yo as he dropped weight when he had a bad virus. He is now under care of endocrinologist who speacialises in growth. He's been tested for underlying issues and they've all come back negative. Indicators are his growth hormone is fine but they can't do the proper test for that until he's older as it's a very invasive testing process (being hooked up to a drip for several hours for a number of days). However atm the conclusion is there's nothing wrong with them. They measure his growth velocity ie checking whether the rate of his growth stays the same. In other words if he's growing along his centile they are happy. He also sees a paediatric dietician who has prescribed some heavy duty vitamins (seravit) which is difficult to administer as it's a powder which doesn't dissolve well but we persevere with that. The endocrinologist is keeping him under review until he stops
Growing (sees him once a year) as she's surprised his not taller given mine and DH's 5'1 and 5 10. People say they most ridiculous insensitive things like when he started reception "how old is he? I notice he's a lot shorter than everyone else" etc I feel like saying F@@K OFF as a) it's a stupid question and b) why is it always commented on. To the person who said it's harder for boys to be small. I agree and that is why I worry so much. Working on his self esteem is what we do but when he comes home saying "I don't like small. Small is bad" it hurts. Anyway, trying to find solutions to help him deal with it, so any strategies would be a great help.

I had a tiny DS, in 18-24 month clothes going into school, I thought I wouldn't find any uniform for him.

The comments were constant and very irritating like I had never noticed his size . I admit by the time he got to school I cut off any comments especially around him.

Luckily it didn't seem to affect him much, but I did make it clear comments were uncalled for.

Oldraver - how did you make clear comments were uncalled for?