My child is tiny!!

[Chazzi]

My gorgeous DD is 20 months old, and she is tiny.
She wears 9-12 month clothes still, some with room to grow.
I keep thinking she's grown a little bit but I think I'm kidding myself. I weighed her today and she's like 18lbs and then I checked her height and it's 78cm.

She was born small, between the 2nd and 9th percentile, but me, DH and DS are probably all on the slightly taller side of average so we were not expecting a miniature DD.

She's wonderful, clever, saying loads of words, sociable, moved well etc, just absolutely tiny.

I think the calculator I used online today says she's 1st percentile!

Anyone else have similar?

I’m really surprised you’re not concerned as that sounds very extreme. Has he seen a doctor?

Yes, a couple of times, aged 1 and 2. He was weighed and measured and has been consistently on the 2nd percentile since birth (both height and weight.) He seems to not only have inherited my petite genes but also my husband’s short legs.

One of mine was 0.3 centile for weight while she was young enough to be charted. She was healthy and didn’t drop down the chart, and she met all her milestones early in terms of motor skills and cognitive development so the doctor had no concerns.

She’s 15 now and roughly 25th centile for height and 18th for weight. It’s a pain because it’s hard to find clothes that fit her and aren’t for younger kids, and she’d like to be taller! But she’s healthy and happy.

In your case, because it sounds like she’s dropped down the chart a bit, I would see the GP and just check that there isn’t anything to be concerned about. But I suspect it will just be a matter of keeping an eye on things.

If you are worried, please make an appointment to see yiur GP and ask for a referral to a suitably qualified paediatrician.

I wouldn’t worry if she’s eating well and hasn’t lost weight.

Last summer I accidentally dressed my 4 year old in his brother’s 12-18 month outfit and didn’t notice until bedtime. He’s had a huge growth spurt over winter mind you!

Wow! I’m trying to imagine it as my 6m DS is a chonk! He’s bloody outgrowing things in the matter of days it’s ruining me financially 😂

This was my second dd. Her older sister was tall and lanky. She was Diddy as anything. She wore 9-12 months for a year! She got to about 3 and a half and suddenly stretched loads. She's now 6 and one of the tallest on her year at school.

Hi OP,

I haven't read all the replies, so I apologise. My DD was always BELOW the 0.04th percentile. She was 11 weeks early and weight 980g. She was in newborn clothes at 9mths. When in reception, she wore age 2 uniform from Sainsbury's . The kids used to pick her up and wheel her round in the toy pushchair 🫣.

All genetic testing has come back fine. They did suspect Russel Silver syndrome for a bit but this has since been dropped

She started growth hormone injections at age 4, and now at almost 12, she is on the 25th centile. Still a little dot and I still have genuine shocked faces when people know she's in high school and about to turn 12. But she's not actually the smallest in her year now she's in a big school. She's a feisty little madam. She's bloody fabulous.

Go and see your GP or health visitor. Ask them to track her height and weight. They will refer her if concerned. I'm sure your dad will be just fine. I spent so many hours stressing. If I knew then what i do now, I'd definitely have had a more relaxed few years.

@100PercentFaithful was going to say the same thing. My son was tested as under 1st centile for height - he was coeliac. He also got very ill (including hospital stays) before he got the right diet.

My dd was 9lb at birth and 43 centimetres long. Then she barely grey. By the time she was 9 months she was boarder line underweight . At school in reception her uniform was massive because she was in aged 2 clothes and smallest uniform was age 3.

She's 25 now and 5 foot tall. She can wear age 12 clothing still if she wants. Think she takes after her dad's sister or my gran. I'm 5.6 her sister is 5.8 and her dad's 6.3.

OP, I was a teeny tot. Am only 5ft now. My mum remembers people being very shocked to see me running confidently and climbing slides: I looked and wore clothes for aged 9 months but was 18 months. There were no health problems then or now.

Hey lovely.
my daughter is 17 months, she is 10kg and 76cm.
She is ‘short’, we’re under multiple consultants for various things and nobody has ever said anything about her height, apart from me who’s always going on about it!!!
I won’t lie, it does worry me as my son is 4 and is the other end of the scale for height, he is huge! But my little girl is just so little, I understand your worry x

Mine was premmie and stayed small until secondary. In Yr9 it was lockdown and he was 5ft 9. This seemed tall to us as he'd been in age 2 clothes when he started school. He took off and kept on growing and now well over 6ft.

When he was 2, he was a bright little chatterbox, at 3 he'd read things in shops and people would be aghast as looked like a toddler

All this said, get reassurance from GP. It helps

This reminds me of my son.
He is 4 and is 4ft. I’m only 5ft 3! People are shocked when they find out his age.

I have two tiny DDs. Both with birth weights bellow 6lb who tracked below their centiles.
They're now 15&13 and still wearing age 6-7 school skirts!
DH and I are both on the small side and apart from DD 1 having a few questions asked about her weight at a recent hospital appointment no one has ever worried.

My experience is you have to push for tests, doctors won’t necessarily suggest them unless you raise concerns as a parent. I was fobbed off with ‘he’s short because you are’ at first, but my son had just needed an emergency operation at the time and was having weekly checkups once we got home, so I think all the illness he’d been through meant they took it more seriously. Since having the right diet for a coeliac he went from under 1st centile to around 9th centile in a couple of years

My eldest ds was very small until about 6yo he's now 18 and 6 foot 2! Myself and his dad are not tall he towers over us

Get her checked at GP op?
There's likely nothing wrong but it will out your mins at ease.
My DS was 98th percentile. When i was pregnant they kept checking me for diabetes. I wasn't diabetic, i just had a big boy. He plays rugby now and is a big strapping teen. We are all different ☺️

There's five years between my two but my eldest and my youngest were able to fit into the same page of shorts when my youngest was about 18 months!

OP My youngest has had the hormone and blood tests and X rays because he is very small and he is just small. There is nothing wrong with him. He isn't even on the centiles. He is below the lowest one on the chart.

I wasn't even worried about him but the health visitor wanted him to be checked out.

Some people are just small and you have to remember that the chart shows a whole population and not everyone can be average or above. Otherwise average would become the lowest centile. I think often people misunderstand the charts and think you have to be in the middle or above, but it doesn't work like that.

I would get a referral to a paediatrician just to rule out any hormonal issues but it is likely you just have a small child and that's okay.

For us, we are both small families. My grandad was 4'11 and my husband is only 5'7 so our children were never going to be tall.

My son is now 10 and wears clothes that are labelled age 8 to 9 usually but sometimes smaller as lots of shops seem to cut clothes absolutely huge. I wasn't able to get him a proper Cubs top because the smallest they do is far too big for him.

28 months, also 9-12 clothes, now fitting 12-18 months in the top. 82 cm, and a boy so 2nd percentile. Yes I worry, but then I remember he has some small relatives, and developing well.

Constantly!! And shoes. Don’t even get me started on the shoes!

Thanks so much everyone for the replies.
I think I will monitor her growth more closely for the next month, and if I don't see any progress in weight or height then I will book a gp appointment.

It’s so hard when they’re really little as people assume they are much older and judge them that much more :(

Oh yes definitely, people think he’s a lot older. He also has a speech disorder so he looks about 8 but then can’t talk. It’s really hard x

My DD was a tiny premie. She now 11, very healthy but can fit into size 8-9 clothes. We are both tall and slim.