Anybody had a baby this small

[rascal1979]

My LO was 983g (2lb 1oz) at birth when she was botn 9 weeks early with IUGR.

She is now 16 weeks old and is still only 5lb 12oz.

Im just gerring really concerned cos she is still so small. Peads are a little concerned but not overly so long as she follws a centile line which she is kind of - below the 0.4th.

She is healthy and alert and puts on between 3-4oz a week - once put on 5oz. She is exclusively breast fed.

It just gets me down that she is still so small and will robably only be 8-9lb at 6mths old.

Has anyone's LO been this small or is this relaly unusual? Could there be developmental issues with her size being so small? I;m see ing her paed on 1 May but need some support and reassurance now - HV is a bit crap.

[Shitemum]

P.S. Derja - try starting a new thread in the 'Living overseas' topic.

[Shitemum]

My cousins DD was born at about 31 weeks and about the birthweight of yours. She was also small for dates. Her head was the size of a peach! She's now 3.5 yo and absolutely fine except for tendency to lung problems but nothing too serious.

If your DD is eating well and gaining, no matter how little, I think you are both doing really well. Fantastic that you managed to bfeed her after such a hard start too.

Looked at your profile pics and she is lovely and looks really well.

[disneystar]

i had a prem baby he is now 7 next month and barely touches 2 stone he is so small and skinny but very fit and happy
as long as baby is thriving its ok a little bit each week is better than weight loss

[Derja]

I am living in the Netehrlands, and i am pregnant. Has any one given birth in the Netherlands and any advice? i had my first baby in UK thanks very much

[chelseamummy]

DS is now 22 months and the size of a 13-month-old. He was 1 lb 9 oz at birth!

[glamourbadger]

My smallest twin had IUGR. She managed to hang in there till they delivered at 29 weeks at just over 2lbs.

I was obsessed with her weight for the first year and wish I hadn't been so worried. Being small hasn't affected her cognitive development at all, despite being below the bottom centile on the all charts.

Well done for exclusively breastfeeding, I know how hard this is with a prem. Try not to get too hung up about it, as long as she follows the same line then there is nothing to worry about. It's worth getting all the advice you can from the hospital paeds and their nutritionist. When I stopped breastfeeding my DD was prescribed a high-cal formula and when we weaned her they prescribed an additive to mix into her food to bump up the cals.

It is actually rather lovely having a petite little girl. People always seem blown away that she can do so much as at age 2 she looks too small to even walk! I love her to bits the way she is - she is a bright and very determined little person.

Enjoy your little lady and try not to worry!

[TinkerbellesMum]

No problems, we'll make a laid back "la la la" in one ear and out the other mum of you yet!

It sounds like you are both doing really well, you need to sit back sometimes and remember that. Even when a baby is not gaining weight you have to remember that when they are not losing weight they are working hard to maintain it. Maybe we need a thread "tell me I'm doing well"

I'm good, my other half is on secondment in Croydon at the moment so I'm on my own and dropped down the amount of forum time I have all round. Had a really bad week last week though, got tonsilitis and a chest infection, I was so ill I had to move back in with my parents for a week. Tink was a star though, she let my parents look after her and do everything for her, she even played with my sister which is really unusual! Now I've just got asthma which normally leaves me alone

[rascal1979]

Thanks Tinkerbelle - how are you? Not seen you around on here for a while!

I'm a little less stressed today because Babyrascal put on a massive 8oz last week and was 6lb 4oz when she was weighed yesterday. She is also on the 0.4th centile for length after growing 3cm since mid March and and just ABOVE the 0.4th centile on head size. Still under on weight but is going up and following the line steadily.

I'm nipping into NICU today to show her off with an other ex-Nicu mum and her DS.

[TinkerbellesMum]

PS stop comparing your daughter to other LO's! Babies will vary dramatically when they're not premature ours completely do their own thing!

[TinkerbellesMum]

I'm going to say what I always say to you, it sounds fine, perfectly normal don't worry about it

OK, I know it's not that easy to not worry and it's only as Tink's gotten older I've been able to come to this conclusion. When you have a premature baby you are under the scope a lot, first at the hospital and then when you come home. You get to feel slightly smothered with attention and at the same time you end up worrying because of it. There is a lot of things that if I could go back I would ignore the professionals on, I hope that my new job will give me that support if things happen again.

If you ever need someone to talk to you have my email address and I think I sent you my card if you ever want a real chat.

[jingleyjen]

Good friend had triplets born at 24 weeks, the each weighed less that 2 kg, they are now 2.5 years old they were slow to start with but they seem no different in height or stature to other children their age. (couple of minor eye problems but nothing major)

[elizabethsmum]

Hi Rascal

I think I have replied to you before on a different thread> my DD was 3lbs 14 at 36 weks due IUGR, so although bigger than your DD i have been looking at her red book as her weight if you take into assount correct age was quite similar and we trailed along on our own line below the 0.4th centile until about 6 months. If I have worked it out correctly your LO is now 7 weeks corrected? At around the same age my DD weighed 6lb 8oz which I know is a bit bigger but by then we had been persuaded to add one bottle of formula (BF rest of the time). I think it sounds like your DD is doing great, well done for sticking to your guns. she is putting on weight at a consistent pace and that is the important thing. My DD is now a very active 2 yr old and I think has probably caught up with her peers. I spent a great deal of time feeling very stressed about her weight and as the OP said in a couple of years you will look back on this time and wonder reminise about your gorgeous little baby (as I do when my monster angel is rampaging round refusing to take off charlie and lola PJ's and get dressed for nursery )

PS no effect on her development, if anything I think she found it easier to move round than some of her peers being smaller

[MillieRocks]

My DD was 1lb 10oz at birth - emergency section at 28 weeks due to pre-eclampsia and had IUGR - only weighed the equiv. of a 25 weeker.

She spent 12 weeks in SCBU and actually came home on her due date, still only weighing 4lb 2oz!

She's 22 months now and a proper little madam. Chatters away constantly and is such a happy and bright little soul.

From a development point of view, she is doing just great. Was quite a late walker....only in the last 6 weeks....but she was a bum shuffler and aparrantly they always walk later anyway (so may have nothing to do with her being prem at all).

Size wise , she has always followed the same centile line so there isn't an issue. You wouldn't know to look at her that she was ever prem. Some clothes are still 12-18 months but some are 18-24 months - it really depends where they come from so I wouldn't focus on it too much.

I never thought we'd get to this point, but we have and your LO will too. It's such a stressful time but I guarantee you will look back and wonder why you worried so much. Girls are such fighters and I'm sure your DD will do just fine.

Good luck x

[SlightlyMadSweet]

Rascal...I jsut checked my little red book....DTD2 was 9lb6oz at 24wks, DTD1 was 9lb12oz.

So its official, 9lb at 6m isn't bad cos they are perfectly fit and healthy 7yrs later.

P.S. she was bottle fed from 3m too so would be expected to be a bit bigger than your DD.

Please stop worrying and think about the fact that she will wear her clothes out before she grows out of them.

[RTKangaMummy]

Mine were 2lb 13oz and 2lb 12.5oz @ 27 weeks

Now nearly 13 years old and in size 7 shoes and is about 5' 5"

And is all round regular sized

So from little acorns huge oaks grow

[gegs73]

Hi - I just wanted to say your LO is gorgeous! Lovely photos. One of my friends had a baby almost 3 years ago at 26 weeks weighing under 2lbs. She has done so well and is a very bright and happy little girl! I've put you a link to their website about her (more of a blog now but the early stuff has lots of detail).

blog

[jakethepeg]

What a beautiful baby you have got! She looks perfect.

My son was just under 2lb when he was born 13 weeks early nearly 4 years ago. He was under 5lb when he left hospital after 10 weeks and was very slow to gain weight. He was much smaller than my friends' full term babies but now at almost 4 years old he is as tall as them although still a bit skinnier.

He also followed his own line in the dreaded red book and as long as he didn't lose weight nobody was very concerned (except me!).

She honestly sounds like she is doing great.

XX

[sweetie66]

My DD was 9wks prem and weighed 2lb 110z. She dropped down to 2lb 8oz. Left SCBU weighing 4lb 8oz. She is now 4yrs and still in 18-24mth clothing BUT DH and I are both very very short!!!! She was behind developmentally for a while but has caught up. My HV was almost useless and became fixated about the blooming growth centiles. Thankfully our paeditrician(sp?) said as long as she is gaining weight and is healthy that is all that matters. We had lots of other health issues to take in to consideration as well. Trust me what she lacks in size she makes up in attitude! Focus on how great it is to have your healthy happy baby at home with you.

[Kewcumber]

my DS was very similar size 980gr. He is on the normal charts at 2.3yrs. If you and your DH are tall there is lots of evidence to show that your DD will catch up eventually but may take 4-6 years. Otherwise if she's healthy I'd really try not to get too concerned about it for now (I know easier said than done!)

[throckenholt]

by the way - it really helps to think of her as the adjusted age - ie what she would be if she was born at full term and look at the weight charts for the adjusted age rather than the real age - that sort of gives you something more realistic to compare against.

But best of all - don't look at the charts at all - just feed her when she wants it (well done on breastfeeding) and let her grow as she wants.

[throckenholt]

one of my id twins was 3lb 13oz - so a bit bigger - but they were born because he had stopped growing at 35 weeks - so probably comparable weights.

He is still now (at just over 5) trundling along on the bottom line of the charts - he is perfectly healthy and doesn't look particularly small - but he is very light.

No development issues.

He always is less hungry than his twin.

I often ponder if he was small because he didn't get enough food, or just because he doesn't need much food. What I mean is maybe some are small just because they are not because they were restricted - and they will continue to grow at a lesser rate than peers - just because that is what their body wants to do.

One tip - do not look at clothes sizes - just wear what fits and don't stress if is not the age it says on the label (I have 3 boys - none of them wear clothes of their age - especially not their bottom half - they have short legs - just like their parents).

[serenity]

My cousin was smaller than that, but has no health problems now (she's in her mid 20's) She's very small framed but not tiny, she has a degree in something complicated (she works with DNA and genes in a research capacity I think) and is getting married this summer.

[pooka]

I also have friend who had a dd who was 4 oz heavier than dd at birth, on due date (so 6 lb 10oz) who was still in 0-3 month clothes for ages and ages. And consistently wears clothes at least one year younger than her age (is now nearly 5).
She is naturally petite, small but perfectly formed. Is having a bit of a growth spurt at the moment, so is starting to catch up dd (who is also naturally fairly petite).

[pooka]

She's gorgeous and she looks very jolly and well filled out to me. I don't have direct experience, but a friend of mine had a ds who was under 2 pounds. I think he was 1 lb 9 oz. He was born at 28 weeks as she had pre-eclampsia.
He is now 13. He is quite thin ( but then so are his mum and dad) and is of average height. He is bright and happy and strong.

[rascal1979]

Hulo I'm not concerned about how small she was at birth and I realise that there are many born smaller than her but it's the size she is and will be in at least the first year or two of her life that is scaring me