Should I be worried that DS doesn't grow?

[JackThayer]

DS is 2 in March. He eats like an absolute machine and breast feeds in the morning. It is not easy to have your baby weighed where I live as the library is faraway and only open certain days.
He is still in size 12-18 month clothes and has been since before his first birthday. He is also really short compared to his peers and strangers always comment on him walking/talking thinking that he is younger than he is? I've always thought it was cute him being so dinky but now I'm worried he's unwell and I've missed it!

Are you and/or his dad quite short?

Has he always been small or was he more average as a baby and has just not grown for ages?

If he used to be average but seems to have stopped growing then yes I think I might have chat to GP or HV. It may just be he’s saving up for a big growth spurt but no harm in flagging and see what they say.

Where is he according to the growth centiles? Is he tracking where he originally started, or is he dropping?

Test for coeliac disease
Measure properly at gp height then again in 6 months to see growth rate

Could just be dinky, but I’d give the HV or GP a call to check all is ok.

Ds was 5 weeks early and still in 3-6 clothes at1yo.. He was 6 before he caught up.

Believe it or not, they start differentiating sizes for boys and girls even at this age - with boys clothes being bigger. The irony of this is that boys are often smaller.

You can weigh him yourself and plot his weight on the chart. If his percentile is largely in line with what it's always been and if he's weight/height then all good. if not, it's worth getting a chat with a GP.

If he's not changed clothing size for over a year at this age, I'd try to get him properly weighed and measured and the numbers plotted in his red book. Then you can see if he's dropped centiles and go from there.

I’d see the GP who can tell you what’s going on. And yes if he’s not growing it needs to be looked at

Check with your health visitor team before making the trek - they don't measure height here, so if it's the same at yours it's probably better to go to the GP.

I have just packed up my daughters 12-18 month clothes away and she is 3.5!

My daughter has always been small - in 0-3 month clothes until 5 and a bit months. She tracted the 25th percentile for length until 1 but between 1 and 2 she dropped to the 1st percentile whilst staying on the 25th for weight. We are under the paediatrician for reflux so get her weighed and measured every 3-6 months. They are happy with her height as she is now following that line quite happily. She was in 9-12 month clothes for a year, 12-18month clothes for about 18 months! She saves us lots of money! She outgrows clothes based on height rather than weight.

I would get in touch with the GP or HV to get them weighed and measured and start the monitoring process and see if they have moved to a new line or they continuing to drop.

This. I hadn't known anything about it and my daughter was the same. She's now diagnosed this week at the age of almost 18.

Most kids hit a growth spurt right around 24 months. I noticed mine always appears to "fall behind" right before a growth spurt and then she is fine. I would wait for his 24 month growth spurt to kick in first and then check in on him.

Prob worth getting this checked if he really isn't growing. Growth hormone deficiency can cause this but is rare and often comes with distinct facial features. It is fully treatable

www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-we-treat/growth-hormone-deficiency/

Are they gaining weight? Or has their weight been stagnant too?

When you say their height has stalled is it exactly the same?

The Healthcare professionals care about percentile changes. You need to plot height and weight, what percentile they are in and if it’s changed. If it’s within the same percentile they will just ask you to monitor.

If the parents are small you will likely have a small child.

Some medical conditions such as coeliac can cause height issues. I would gather height / weight / percentile info as the doctors will need this then speak to the GP