If you've had a small or preemie baby...

My 18 month old is a post op baby. She was 6 lbs at birth, 41 weeks gestation. Why, I have no idea. I gained about 22 lbs, mostly during the end. My OB doesn't think it's because I didn't eat enough but there are no signs pointing to anything like illness etc.

She has been in the 3rd percentile on the growth chart for a long time (meaning that 97% of babies her same age are bigger than she is - in other words, she's tiny).

Is she ever going to grow????? Or is she going to be small forever? 

I used to worry that something was wrong with her. My doc has told me time and time again that some kids are just small and that's okay. She knows what the first question out of my mouth will be as soon as she enters the room. But it doesn't FEEL okay, kwim? 

I thought she'd grown since her 12m check up, hoped that maybe she'd jumped up to 5-10th percentile, but no. Still 3rd. My pediatrician has told me time and time again that as long as her little arc is maintaining and there's no dip and everything is fine developmentally, then there's no worry.

But Dear God why isn't she growing?! 

Some people have tiny preemies and they grow and become normal sized children. I can't help but worry about my daughter. We give her Pediasure once daily and I think I'm going to increase it to two, though my doc neither encouraged or discouraged my idea. I got the feeling she was more less thinking, "If it helps you sleep at night, but this is no big deal."

I'm not the worry wort type. My kids are accident prone and get sick and I don't lose sleep at night over worrying about whether they'll break another bone or get another cold. But her size has worried me sick and to tears ever since she was born. I feel like I need a support group or something. Or maybe that's just pregnancy hormones........

My 19 month old was born a month early and was 5 lbs 11 oz. He's currently below the 3rd percentile in height and between the 5th-10th percentile in weight. But, he's consistently growing, so we're not too worried. I'm not tall and neither is his dad, so genetically speaking, he's probably not going to end up very tall anyway. Other than the fact that he looks more like a 1 year old instead of a 1.5 year old, he's developmentally on track.
Try not to worry!

My 16 month old is really small too and I don't know why. I figure she seems healthy and I don't think she's skinny so maybe she got some supressed genes I didn't know me or my husband had in our families. She was in the 6th percentile at her 15 month check up.

She will grow... Just relax...

My son was born at full term and was 5lbs 13oz and was 18in long. He was always on the low end of the growth chart too and I worried just like you are now about your daughter... We also had Pediasure added into his daily diet too to help him grow and it did help... He's just not much of an eater even now... And is always on the go too!! He hovered at the 5th percentile for both height and weight forever! I lost 20 lbs with the pregnancy but the doc also assured me that it was nothing I did wrong... I ate all the time but all I took in went to the baby...

However, he got close to being 2 years old and voila he did take off both in height and weight... It just took him a while.... Now he is a happy & very healthy almost 3 year old... I know it's hard when your child is being compared to others all the time and you hear people comment how small your child is... I heard it ALL the time and it does get annoying! I actually went off on a couple of people who were rather rude about things concerning my son... Not every child is the same, grows the same, learns at the same pace and that is something we've all got to keep in mind...

Your daughter will grow at her own pace and if there were something to be concerned about the doctors would say something to you... I thought the same thing each time we went to the pediatrician and even switched pediatricians about 3 times because I felt like they were blowing me off with my concerns... I finally found one I trusted and he said the same thing... So apparently, my worries were not much to worry about... So hang in there and try not to stress too much about it... I am sure she is a very happy & healthy little girl... :-)

I have twin girls...Piper was 3lbs 6ozs and her sister Paytra was 5lbs 1oz at birth. They are now 2 years old and still tiny. Piper (the littlest one) only weighs about 24lbs and she's not even on the percentile chart.Which her pedi isnt worryed about because at every apponintment she gains weight,and those charts are not made for preemies,their made for full term babys.So they warent that worryed that she's not on that charts curve because shes been making her own curve she eatsVERY well but she's a VERY busy little girl she's moving ALL the time. Her pedi has told me many times that she is healthy she's just small and I trust her pedi,but I also trust my gut and it tells me that she is fine. Like I said before she only weighed 3lbs 6ozs, she was in the NICU for almost a month and needed very little help well she was their, she was their mostly because of her being so tiny...she was discharged weighing only 3lbs 15oz.I think that if she had weighed what her sister did (5lbs 1oz) she would have gone home with me. Like I said she eats great, but I do give both girls Carnation Instant Breakfast atleast once aday sometimes 2...just to give them alittle extra, since its pretty much a meal in a drink. I would listin to her pedi, if she says she's healthy well she's propaly is:) Also listen to your gut...you know your girl better then anyone...but ask yourself, is she a good eater, how active is she, is she happy, do you have smaller people in your family?? I know I do, my grandmother and a aunt were both alittle under 5 feet and very thin. I think your little one is fine,Im sure if her pedi thought their was a medical reason for her being small, she would have said something a minute she thought their was proplem....If you really belive that her pedi is missing something, you could always bring her somewhere else to get a 2nd opinon...As long as she happy and healthy thats all we can ask for, and I know this is soooo much easyer said then done but try not to worry...in time she will catch up.

my daughter was born at 39 weeks at 7 lbs 3 oz.... she gained had one good month of weight gain where she gained 3 lbs in a month... that was between month 1-2.. even then she only weighed 11 lbs... since then she has only gained 9 lbs... shes also 18 months old... she weighs 20 lbs... she eats like a cow... we call her the mini human... but really her bone structure is small.. shes just a petite person... i use everything full fat with her... she gets a few extra snacks... she gets chocolate milk on days she doesnt eat well ( along with her vitiman)... she has dipped on her charts... she was 75%.. then 55... then 20.. now shes at 3% in her weight... shes ahead in her development.. shes so fiesty and tough...neither the dr or i am concerned..

I had surgery May 2004.  I have had three boys since then.  Ethan in 2007, 38 weeks weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces.  Malachi in 2009, 39 weeks weighed 5 pounds and 7 ounces.  Christian in 2010, 35 weeks and weighted 5 poundes and 4 ounces. I gained t total of 14 pounds.  None of my boys are even close to being on the tip of the chart.  But if you go against their height and weight, they are perfect and that is all that matters to me.  They first wanted to give Ethan growth shots, but I am against it.  God has a plan for them and their own perfect height for them.  Hey, we live in Kentucky, they can be jockeys. lol  The no name jockey can make at $1000.00 a race. I'm for it. lol

Well, the key is that she's consistently growing.  When they worry is when there's a big change in either direction.  My LO has been pretty consistently in the 95th percentile for height and weight (also 18 months old) and I worry that shes too BIG.  She's obviously going to be predisposed to weight issues because of family history (not just me, but lots of people) so I kind of freak out about her diet.

Some people just have small babies.  My 22 year old niece is a big girl...probably 5'10" and over 200 lbs and both of her babies are tiny.  Her 2.5 year old is smaller than my 1.5 year old.  But, the arc has been consistent and the doc isn't worried.

I guess my point is, you'd be worried if she was big, too.  Mom's who's babies are in the 50th worry about something too, it's just something else besides weight, KWIM?

Hang in there!

My daughter was also born at 41 weeks and weighed in at a whopping 6lb 3oz (this was pre WLS).  She has been barely on the growth chart ever since (she is almost 3).  However, she's always developed normally, has a good appetite, and has just been consistently small.  The funny thing is that it was my doctor who wanted me to add extra calories and feedings and I was the one telling him, she's fine, just small.  Ironically, she is the EXACT same size at every check up that I was at her age, and here I am on a forum for people who had to have WLS, so obviously I caught up some where (around puberty I believe).  I actually blame my unhealthy weight and eating habits on the fact that I was given extra calories and meals growing up that I wasn't hungry for because my ped thought I was too small.  So, be careful what you get her used to.  The way I see it (for my daughter), is if she needs more calories, she'll be hungry and she'll eat.  The thing about percentiles is that someone has to be 1 and someone has to be 100, it is no measure of health.  If she is consistently staying on the same point of the curve and developing normally, I'd just let her do her thing.

The thing about percentiles is that someone has to be 1 and someone has to be 100,

Where's my LIKE button?! 

I do agree with you re adding the extra calories in...not that they're bad...just to be careful so she doesn't get used to eating when she's not hungry...or eating til she feels stuffed just trying to get the extra food in.