Baby Doesn't Weigh Enough

Hello,
I remember going through the same thing except my children have genetic disorders and that is why they have their problems. I know what its like to have an underweight child. If you are concerned since the NP isnt a pediatrician, I recommend seeing a pediatrician, I had my fair share of NP's looking over and under things when it came to my children

Hello. I am a single parent of a 3 year old boy. He weighed 6lbs 7oz at birth. He has never been on the growth chart since day one. I had been to many different doctors about the issue, but they all told me the same thing. Since he was eating regularly and he was following his own path then he was fine just a little small. Like i said he is 3 now and he weighs about 33lbs, right on track... hope this helps!! I know what its like to have an underweight child. :)

My daughter is 18 months old and only weighs 21 pounds. She has been in the low range all along. I wouldn't worry too much. Is she eating ok? Is she drinking fluids ok? My doc told me as long as she is trying to eat and is drinking she will be ok. Anyway, maybe give it more time. Hope everything irons out!!

T. :)

most likely it is no big deal. I have 2 daughters 1week from a year apart. my oldest was always"chubby" and my youngest was always"thin" and now they are 11 and 10 it is still the same. I went to wic they asked why was one child over weight and one under weight i replied "look at me and look at their father why is one of us a lil chubby and the other thin? they no longer said any thing. Do u put baby cereal in with the breast milk? give it a try and I do not know how much time u have but, if u start other food it is always better and cheaper to make your own baby food.

Have you plotted her weight on a growth chart for the six months? Sometimes it is easy to get caught in what national percentile a child is in rather than looking whether or not the child is growing on a normal curve for her body.

My eight and three year old children are both in the 90 percentile, they always have been. My four year old seems to linger around the 15-25th percentile. This really upsets my husband who thinks she should be in the 90th because her siblings are tall. He always wants to have her tested for a growth hormone deficiency. Whenever he brings this up, I point out that she is growing on a normal curve for HER body type.

Also, you said your husband is tell and thin, that should be considered too. My oldest was sent for an MRI and to see a neurologist at six months because she had an extremely large head. The first thing the doctor did was measure my husband and my heads. She informed that with two parents who have big heads it is not unusual for the child to have one too. When the big head issue came up with my second child I knew not to worry.

If the NP continues to be concerned, you might want to see the pediatrician for a second opinion. I am not saying to disregard what the NP is saying, I just think a second opinion might be helpful in this situation.

We were in the same situation with my fourth child. My son was born 8lbs 2oz. When it was time to leave, he had lost 5% of his weight. He was also underweight at his checkups. He even had to do the blood test. But he was alright. He was eating well. I also breastfed him. They just told me to give him a supplement. When he hit 12 months, he started to gain weight. Now he is huge and he is 18 months. He had a low iron count as well, so iron count might be a problem also. But stand in there. Everything is going to be alright. Just make sure she is getting a well balanced diet. Be generous with the baby cereal.

My daughter was a peanut too....never even gained 1 lb a month....I supplemented formula once or twice a day, used powder, and added a little extra...6 oz called for 3 scoops, I added 4. She's beautiful and healthy. Don't sweat the small stuff is my motto...my doctor used to say "numbers are just numbers//look at the whole picture!"

If her height is good and she's growing appropriately, its likely you have nothing to worry about, especially considering you and your husband are lean. The blood test will likely screen for cysitic fibrosis- this is unlikely the cause as she would also be growing poorly and having foul foamy stools, and possibly genetic conditions which, if this were the cause, would be accompanied by growth failure as well as developmental delay. So, don't worry, maybe be mindful of what and when she is fed so you may report it accurately, but don't try to stuff her with extra food or feedings. I am a pediatric dietitian, have seen this many times, and it is often much to-do about nothing.

My daughter did this at 3-6 months as well. She was 10lbs at her 3 month check and the dr. was furious, kept threatening that I would have to go to formula. I kept at it, and started eating better, and DRINKING MY WATER and she put on 3 lbs by her next month (7th) check. I still had to take her in every 2 weeks, to make sure she was gaining, and as long as she was gaining, we did OK in the dr. point of view. We then moved down here and had a new DR. This one was completely different. She said that as long as the baby was gaining, that is FINE! don't worry so much. There are just some kids that are petite. Mine is one of them. She is currently 3 years old, wears 18m-2T clothes and follows her own ARC on the chart. She is well below the "shaded" average area, but shes on an arc of her own, and as long as she follows that the dr. is contented.

I would try scoring her nipples and adding some rice cereal to her formula. My daughter had acid reflux and was on restricted formula feeds. So to supplement her bottles or formula, I would add the baby cereal.

this is KEY to everything.

"The NP didn't seem too concerned especially since my daughter is very, very active, happy, vocal, rolls around, etc."

I had 3 of my 4 children be considered "underweight" or "slow weight gainers" but that was just their way. I'm not that thin; HOWEVER, his family is all very thin. My daughter was born at 9lb 4oz(at 41.1weeks) and she dropped down fast on the charts. When she was 6 mo old she was 13lbs 12oz and now at nearly 2 is approx 24lbs. According to the "rule" she should have doubled her birth weight by 6 mo and tripled by a year. She's far from that.

I never had that problem I have the opposite when my son went for his 6 week check up he wieghed 12 lbs. but my mother always told me that I was like that as a child and that they ran test and then had my mother supplement and when she did I always threw it up so maybe your daughter is perfectly fine the way she is. If she is happy I wouldn't worry

Hi Stephanie,
As long as she is staying on the same growth pattern and not laging slower and slower I wouldn't swet it to much. By the way, The formulia companies are the ones that decided what "normal" is . Most breastfed babies are below the "curve" but on still very healthy. Also, did you know the babys stomach is the size of his/her fist? That is not very big. That is why they need to eat so often. and breastfed babies eat more often than formulia because breast milk digests very quickly. That's also why their poopy diapers don't stink. Formulia on the other hand, tends to rot in their gut. Have you ever smelt rotten food? It smells pretty bad. Have you ever smelt a formulia fed baby's diaper? It smells equally bad.
If you need to weigh her jsut take her after hours to the post office. They get very uptight about their ounces. You can jsut use the scales in the loby.
Hope this helps,
A. B

I have had the same problems with my daughter. she was a preemie though. at birth she weighted 2lbs 15.7oz. at 6 months she weighted 10lbs. the doctors didnt worry about it or say anything about it until after she turned 2. they said that for a year kamryn didnt gain a lb. or lose one. so right after she turned 2 they started all the blood work and everything came up negative. so they sent her to John Hopkins Hospital for more testing. everything came up neg. there too. I just assume she is like me average height and skinny. Kamryn had bearly crawled at all she was up walking and then running and was steadily getting taller. she doesnt look under weight. she is all even'd out . and now im going thru the same thing with my son except his case is a little different . he was 5lbs 6oz. a month later he was 10lbs. at 6 months he was 20lbs. he is like his father in everyway . his name,looks,personailty his build everything is like his father, he was a chubby lil guy when he was short and chunky. now that he crawld and walked and now running hes is almost as tall as my almost 3 year old and weighes the same as her. they are both 25lbs. now the doc says that my son hasnt gained any weight in 3 months. well 3 now 4 months ago he wasnt walking or running. he is even out too. so i wouldnt worry to much about the test. everyone is different on how fast they grow and learn to do things.

Just another "don't worry" note. My son has consistently been below the 5% and my ped is not worried at all. She says it's genetics and thin is good! Also, being breastfed is a factor. There was talk recently of redoing the percentile charts b/c breastfed babies tend to have their own growth patterns which are different/beneath those of formula fed babies. I think that's fabulous b/c I, like you, put lots of pressure on myself for the first 12 months b/c he was smaller than the norm. Of course, a bloodtest will rule things out and make you feel better, so that's not a bad idea. Good luck!
K.

a few things for advice:
1) you can always ask to see the doctor rather than the NP if you want or think you would feel more confident.
2) blood tests are a good thing. If there is somethig wrong, best to find out as early as possible.
3) if she is not gaining weight in a consistent manner, it needs to be addressed. My son is in the 90th % for height and only 50% in weight, but he has been consistent with 50th% at all check-ups.
Don't panic and view any suspicions as good things because they are on top o fhteir game in noticiing any potential problems.
Good Luck!

My daughter was small at birth, jumped the charts at 2 months and then slowed so that she was dropping percentiles at every visit after until she was 1 - though she never lost weight...just didn't gain at same rate as other kids so i guess. My ped said that was a normal trend for breastfed babies - to show a small leap and then slow way down. She has always focused on her eating habits which have always been quite healthy. She also looks to her milestones which were all normal and many early. Throughout that first year she just watched and as long as she was holding on between the 3-5% she was content. At 1 year, my daughter's heal prick for a repeat iron test (first done at 9 months but was a bit low so went on vits with iron and retested). The nurse really struggled with the prick and the test came back low again so she had to have a more involved blood test for that so while they were at it, she did have them take a bit of extra blood to confirm all of her enzymes and such were healthy. Everything (including the iron) were all normal so they haven't thought anymore about my daughter being on the tiny side. My husband's tall, but slight and I'm fairly petite so she always notes that we are not likely to have larger children. You hate to have to deal with any testing, but if it comes to it, my experience with the blood draw procedure on our 1 year old really wasn't too bad. The advantage for us was that we could use the test as proof to all of our families that she was healthy and our vegetarian diet wasn't compromising her health or causing her to be too thin or not grow properly. Sarah's 3 now. By 2 she had gained on the charts and climbed to about the 20-25%. She's remained steady there since. She never really went through the toddler phase of not wanting to eat so she was able to make some ground on others over the second year.

Since she is on the skinny side, you will want to pay close attention to her food (breastmilk or solid) intake and make sure she continues to have a healthy appetite. Clearly she doesn't have a lot of calories to spare so if her appetite starts to drop you might want to consult your ped. My cousin's daughter was also very light and she did fall off the chart. In her case, she wasn't a healthy eater - she basically only wanted to nurse still at 18 months. They discovered through also observing issues with motor delays that she had suffered a stroke at birth and it resulted in some difficulties with her swallowing reflex. That caused problems with her eating so she wasn't eating enough food and at 18 months, breastmilk just wasn't enough anymore. They had to put her on pediasure/half&half combination to help her gain weight while they worked on her swallowing so that she would eat more regular foods to maintain her weight on a healthy curve.

It sounds like your daughter is doing fine with her milestones and appetite and since she's now 6 months, she will be eating more foods in addition to breastmilk (I never fed mine food until 6 months either) which may help her hold on to a bit more weight. At this age, fats are really healthy for brain development so you might think about making some homemade babyfoods that are higher in fat. A great first food that fits this category is avacado. Just scoop it into a food processor until it's smooth. You can add small amounts of expressed breastmilk to make it the right thickness. It freezes really well in single servings if you use an ice cube tray (after frozen just pop them out into zippy bag to store in freezer). You can thaw and warm them for easy meals. It's got lots of good nutrition and is higher calorie than many other fruits/veggies due to the high fat content. And my kids loved it!

Hope everything works out well and next weight check goes smoothly.

H.

Sounds like youre little one is petit. Ill tell ya that my 2 year old niece is 23 pounds. they found that she has a heart murmur. Shes smart as a whip and developmentally active. Best wishes to your family in finding out about your daughter.

I cant really help as my baby has always been both height and weight above even the 95th%, but i have been a little concerned myself... but all in all, all babies are different as are the people... so dont worry... all the blood tests would be is like the vaccinations, actually when i had her checked for iron(to make sure it was OK), then she didnt even cry at all when they got her blood taken... or when she had some infection, she also got a blood taken... is not so much they need and it doesnt really hurt... she cried a bit with shots, but blood taken, is just a little pinch and nothing too horrible...
btw... my big girl was 22in and 10lbs2oz when born and now at 16m old 33and3/4in(near 34in) and weighes 31lbs... she's big but always been healthy and active and extremely smart... so why to worry and make problems if they are not needed... :)

I've had the same problem with my son all of his life. He has always been smaller than other kids his age. He is 3 1/2 now and weighs 25 lbs and is several inches shorter than most kids. The doctors have done tests and said nothing is wrong. My husband and I were both very small for our ages until we got to be teenagers. My son will probably do the same. It may be the same for your daughter too.

Hi Stephanie,

Yes I do have the same troubles. You see though my son was born only 3lbs 12ozs, and has been on a high cal formula, he's now 10 months old, and is still underweight. My daughter is the same way, but she was born 7lbs 12ozs. She is now 6 and is still at a low weight. Sometimes it just takes awhile for babies and kids to catch up to others depending on how active they are. You might want to ask your doctor about high cal formula, or foods to help with low weight. Also if you have wic they would be able to help you out. You need a script from the doctor in order for wic to give you that kind of formula, but i'm telling you it's worth the trouble. If I may ask, what is she on now? Have you tried rice cereal yet? Maybe even add some to her bottle at night, or do a night feeding mixing some in her baby food. As she sleeps she will be less active and more likely to gain weight. These are just some things i have tried that helps my son to gain. I hope some thing I said helps.

A.

I know exactly what you are going through. My son just turned 1 and when he was 6 months he was 28.5 inches and only 13 lbs. My husband is 6'1". My doctor said that he was a little concerned about his weight, but when he started to eat solids at 6 1/2 months he got a lot better. Probably because he had 8 teeth at 6 1/2 months. I wouldn't worry about the tests. They did his blood tests too and they were all fine. Your little girl is just going to be tall and thin. My son is now 31 inches and 20 lbs. She will catch up.

My daughter had the same problem. She was breastfeed until she was 1. After 8 months my milk supply slowed down and she didn't like formula too much. The doctors were concerned about her weight (not making the chart) so we had the blood work done and everything was fine. She was just petite for her age. At 11 months I started her on whole milk and she loves it. She's now 24 months and is finally on the charts. As long as she's eating is happy and doing all the things that a child should be doing at 6 months I wouldn't stress about it. If the doctor recommends doing blood work I would.

Hi Stephanie,

My daughter was down to the 5th percentile at her 9-month checkup. She was a big newborn, but she started to fall on the charts around six months when she started becoming active (rolling, playing, etc.). At six months, she was 15 pounds and still 15 pounds at nine months (a few ounces heavier). The doctor gave me recipes for boosting calories, but I didn't make them. They seemed more appropriate for an older child, and my daughter was otherwise healthy, happy, and developing. She was also breastfed. What I did was encourage her to nurse more/longer, and as she ate more and more solid food, I fed her as much as she would eat. She is now two years old and is average size for her age (48th percentile for weight). I would certainly get the blood tests if your doctor recommends them, but also keep in mind that every child develops at his/her own pace.

Good luck!

Don't worry about what the doctor's charts say. My son was always in the 25% percentile for weight and height. He is very, very healthy and has only been sick (common cold) twice in his life, he's 2 yrs old. He was barely 17 lbs at 6 months, and just reached 25 lbs at 2. As long as she's healthy, and eats well, keep breast feeding her, that's her best defense against colds. Whatever you do, don't give her the flouride drops they prescribe. It's poison.

My son is almost 2 and has weighed less then what most babies are his age for a while but his pediatrician isn't worried since I am so small she said he could just be taking after me. So since both you and your husband are skinny she could just be taking after you.

I had similar problems with my son (who is now 2). He was breastfed. He was happy and overall healthy but was not gaining weight quickly enough. He was still on the chart but slowly fell off of it. He looked healthy enough and was very active. Everything was coming back normal. My doctor said that he just may not have been getting enough calories throughout the day. They didn't think my breast milk was as high in calories as it should have been. I continued to breast feed but I also supplemented his feedings with 2-4 ounces of formula. He began to gain wait until he reached the 50th percentile and has remained at the 50th percentile since.

Relax in regards to the blood tests. Although they get very upset about having their blood drawn at this age, it is actually a more traumatic event for us mothers. You may want to check with the NP to see if she would recommend trying the supplementing to see if it brings up your daughters weight over the next month. I wouldn't stop breastfeeding just supplement with the formula which has a lot of calories.

Good luck.

I really wouldn't worry too much. My middle son has always been small. He's 4 years old now and barely weighs 30lbs. His dad's family is all very small and they think that is why he is. He has Ulcerative Colitis so he has had lots of bloodwork done. It's really not a big deal. He usually screams until they actually do it and then says "Oh that didn't hurt." It's no worse than getting shots.

Hi Stephanie! I would not worry. My son is 3yoa. He was born premature. He weighed in at 4lbs 5oz and only 17 inches. From the time he was born they told us he would "catch up" in due time. He never caught up and was listed as short stature/slow weight gain. They,(the endrocrinologist) did blood tests, cat scans, and a scan of his growth bone in his wrist. Everything has come back normal. At this point it is a wait and see situation. Growth hormones have been discussed, but it is something we are going to wait on. My son, is not terribily behind (10lbs and about a 6-10inches) Do not let it eat you up like it did us. As long as she is healthy there is nothing to worry about. Just relax and wait for the blood work to come back.

I wouldn't worry too much, my daughter has always been the same way. She is 4 years old and is only 28 lbs. Her doctor said her height is great and she is in perfect health, she said some children are just naturally small.

T.

Make sure they're using growth charts for breastfed babies, not the generic charts which are mostly based on formula babies, since most babies were formula fed when those charts were made (back when we were babies, lol). http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/en/ has the new charts. There are also charts at http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain.html

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I went through that with my daughter from birth to about a year ago. She just turned 10. She was always in the high percentile for height but always underweight. Her pediatrician always told me at every checkup not to worry about it cause she was healthy, she ate, she was active. I was a very petite child but I didn't have the height issue my daughter has. Her father is 6'4" so that's where the height came in. It's only been in the past year that her height has slowed slightly and her weight has increased significantly. For years I had to buy her a size bigger in pants just so the length would fit her and I'd have to pin or take in the waist on evrything otherwise they'd fall down! Now I have the opposite problem. Now I have to but a bigger size for the waist and the length is too long!

Children thrive and grow at their own pace. Have her Adnoids and Tonsils (spelling) checked right away. Many children who are classified as "failure to thrive" in the weight department end up showing substantial problems in those sreas. Easy to fix very difficult to diagnose.

There is a huge difference between being underweight and not gaining weight at all or loosing weight. Both of my kids are under the target weight and height for their ages, but they are consistently gaining weight. Their doctor wasn't concerned as long as they gained weight since their last visit. I wouldn't worry. If she's not gaining any weight at all or she is losing weight then there may be a problem.

Stephaine,
I would not worry. My son was born at 36 weeks and weight was 6lb 9oz. At 1 year of age he weighed 14 lbs. As long as your baby is making her own curve on the growth chart dont worry. My son is now 3 and weighed 31lbs at his last check up. Now my daughter is 14 months old and at her last check up her wight was 27 lbs. All babies are different.

DONT WORRY.

Yet another "don't worry"!
My oldest daughter is 9 and just hit 40lbs... Always has been low on the charts.
My son just turned 2 and it JUST at 20lbs, being 2 he obviously has his days where he's under that!! He did go for 5 months without gaining a whole pound!!

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Go ahead have the blood drawn, the test taken just to make sure! At 6mo your child will get upset about being held down, but she'll get over it quick enough!!

Sounds like your child is active and hitting milestones so I wouldn't worry to much if I were you. Keep up the breastfeeding, don't push the solids if your not ready to just because of this...

Sounds like you're doing great!! Keep up the good work!!

Hi Stephanie,
My daughter is now 4, but at her 9mo check up she wasn't on the chart with weight and everything else was normal. After bloodwork she was dx with biladeral bladder reflux. It is a diagnosis she can grow out of. She did not gain weight because her body was fighting of infection. At age 2 she did get on the chart again and now she is in the 90th %. She still has the reflux but inproving. This might be something to look into. She didn't really have any symptoms. Low grade fever, sometimes, which we thought was teething and not wanting to eat alot. But very active.
Best of Luck.

Little about me. I am a stay at home mom of 3. Two boys and a tall slim beautiful girl.

Don't worry about it. I went through this with my youngest. My oldest was always off the charts for her weight and height but my youngest was barely on the charts. She eat fine, kept her food down, drank plenty and was a healthy active baby. Once her weights were all plotted and put together it just showed that she was going to be petite. As soon as she hit one she gained alot of weight and is now in the 80th percentile for her weight and 90th for her height.

Hi. My Daughter was in the very low percentile with her weight and height. I was constantly taking her to the Dr. for weight checks because they would not take into consideration that her father and I both are only 5'5 in height and most of our family on both sides is even shorter than us. She is almost six years old and has finally caught up a bit with her peers. She now weighs 41 pounds. I would not stress if she is healthy, active, eating well, and everything else. My Daughter was only 18 pounds on her first birthday. She wasn't even legal to have her car seat facing forward until she was almost a year 1/2. You have to look at heredity factors as well. I think that Doctor's go a little overboard with things these days.