Aa
20 months old and 18 lbs
Hi everyone,
My daughter, Paige, is a bright, beautiful but tiny little girl. Between 6 and 12 months, we noticed she was smaller than your average child. At 12 months, she began to fall of her growth curve. Shortly after her first birthday, she got rotavirus and became severely dehydrated. After 4 trips to the ER (they thought I only wanted a cure for the stomach flu), she was admitted for 5 days and closely monitored. She was 17.5 lbs at her 1 year check up, she lost 1 1/2 lbs from rotavirus at admittance and upon discharge she weighed 18 lbs. A pediatrician who is a specialist thought she had celiac disease but testing came back negative. Her pediatrician asked to see her at 18 months to follow up. We followed up on October 8 and she still weighed 18 lbs, He did a panel of testing, which included the typical CBC's, Iron and then Diabetes, Thyroid Function, Growth Hormone Deficiency and a retest for Celiac. He got part of the results today (all except the Growth Hormone) and the only thing it shows so far is iron deficiency. I am at a loss right now and am confused as to what my next step is. I am okay with her being small ONLY if it is not an underlying health condition that will cause her problems in the future. I don't want her to become an avoidable statistic because something was overlooked. She is currently meeting all of her milestones developmentally and is eating like a normal child. She is my third child and my smallest. My oldest is 6 1/2 and he looks as though he is 8 or 9 - he is 3'11" and 56 1/4 lbs and my second child is 5 1/2 and weighs 35 lbs and is 3'5" (he has always been smaller but has kept a consistent growth curve). What more can I do? Also, just out of curiosity, if a child is "meant to be small" and seem to be doing well developmentally, what are the benefits of a high calorie diet?
My daughter, Paige, is a bright, beautiful but tiny little girl. Between 6 and 12 months, we noticed she was smaller than your average child. At 12 months, she began to fall of her growth curve. Shortly after her first birthday, she got rotavirus and became severely dehydrated. After 4 trips to the ER (they thought I only wanted a cure for the stomach flu), she was admitted for 5 days and closely monitored. She was 17.5 lbs at her 1 year check up, she lost 1 1/2 lbs from rotavirus at admittance and upon discharge she weighed 18 lbs. A pediatrician who is a specialist thought she had celiac disease but testing came back negative. Her pediatrician asked to see her at 18 months to follow up. We followed up on October 8 and she still weighed 18 lbs, He did a panel of testing, which included the typical CBC's, Iron and then Diabetes, Thyroid Function, Growth Hormone Deficiency and a retest for Celiac. He got part of the results today (all except the Growth Hormone) and the only thing it shows so far is iron deficiency. I am at a loss right now and am confused as to what my next step is. I am okay with her being small ONLY if it is not an underlying health condition that will cause her problems in the future. I don't want her to become an avoidable statistic because something was overlooked. She is currently meeting all of her milestones developmentally and is eating like a normal child. She is my third child and my smallest. My oldest is 6 1/2 and he looks as though he is 8 or 9 - he is 3'11" and 56 1/4 lbs and my second child is 5 1/2 and weighs 35 lbs and is 3'5" (he has always been smaller but has kept a consistent growth curve). What more can I do? Also, just out of curiosity, if a child is "meant to be small" and seem to be doing well developmentally, what are the benefits of a high calorie diet?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
From your measurements, her height is on the 10th percentile and her weight is below the 3rd percentile for her age. Children can be small for their age due to genetic reasons and the growth charts have huge ranges due to that fact. If their weight and height are increasing (no matter how slow), that concludes they are developing, however, it is a concern if they are not growing or gaining weight (or lost weight). Every child is different even in the same family. It is good to hear she eats well. Sometimes children need extra calories and protein to help them gain weight and grow. Suggest giving her milkshakes (milk, ice cream and fruit blended) or yogurt smoothies (yogurt, fruit, and ice cream blended) at every meal or in place of milk for the additional calories to help her gain weight. Hoped this helped you.
I should also add that her birth weight was 6 lbs 15 oz and she was 21 inches long.
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