OT: Do you have a skinny toddler?

[picktails]

DS was always skinny, couldn't wear the popular loose jeans, & I think he wore a size 4T shorts until he was 7! Thankfully Gap came out with those pants that have the inside adjustable buttons. Took him until about 14 (he's now 16) to fit "normal" clothes, and he's still very thin.

When DD came along I REALLY found out about thin. Never even made the line on the chart for weight until about 10 years old when she hit 10th percentile! I used to sew in all her waistbands, on everything. Now 13 she's thin but fits normal thin clothing.

What's most important is the doctor gives the child a clean bill of health!

And to the people who question it? Best response -
"I know, isn't s/he lucky?" Works every time

 

[laughinplace199]

Thank you for all of your replies. I am feeling a bit less worried after reading all of your stories. It's reassuring to hear from other parents who are going through the same thing or who have been there/done that.

DS was always skinny, couldn't wear the popular loose jeans, & I think he wore a size 4T shorts until he was 7! Thankfully Gap came out with those pants that have the inside adjustable buttons. Took him until about 14 (he's now 16) to fit "normal" clothes, and he's still very thin.

When DD came along I REALLY found out about thin. Never even made the line on the chart for weight until about 10 years old when she hit 10th percentile! I used to sew in all her waistbands, on everything. Now 13 she's thin but fits normal thin clothing.

What's most important is the doctor gives the child a clean bill of health!

And to the people who question it? Best response -
"I know, isn't s/he lucky?" Works every time

I love this response. I will start using it ASAP.

 

[MaumeeMom]

PARTIAL
What I have noticed is that my DS4 gains a little weight and then stretches out and gets skinny again. Gains, stretches, skinny, gains stretches skinny. It's like I can never keep the fat on his body!

DS11 is still in that cycle - currently stretching. You can practically watch him grow!

When people say to me "Boy, he is tall and skinny." I reply, "I know that half hour on the rack every night before bed really works."

You just have to laugh, it doesn't do any good to get upset.

OP: if you are bothered, please trust your gut and get a second opinion.

 

[jacksmom]

My dd just turned 3 is 27lbs and rather tall! She is very small boned though. I have worried because she eats so little (1 good meal a day and then she just grazes!) She does drink milk well, and I give a multi vitamin. I am buying some 3t, but for shorts a 2t with pullups on fits well! My son has always been in the 75-90% in height and weight! But, my Dr says everything is great! She is developmentally on target or a little above! I still worry though! She just seems so tiny!

 

[Joyful3Heart]

Soooo nice to see so many of you in the same boat as I am. dd was always thin but "well balanced" according to the doctor 25% for height and weight. Everytime we got new clothes I had to pull out the old sewing machine and spend about 2 hours ripping seams and taking them in. She's 9 now, this was before adjustable waist in toddler sizes. I thought this was bad until ds was born, he has been 75% for height and 10% for weight since he was one year old. Well, last year (5yo)he officially dropped below 0% for weight (how is that possible) The only way he can wear clothes is with the adjustable waist buttons pulled to the last hole. Maybe we could petition the clothing manufacturers to come out with a double slim???
The doctor told me that as long as he is stooling well and growing his height consistently to have no worries. Thats a hard thing to do, but he does eat at least one good meal per day (mostly grazes otherwise), has enough energy to outlast even his big sis, and overall is a healthy, very happy kid. That being said, I'll still feel better when he can at least BE charted on the growth chart!

 

[Kit'smommy]

My DS is almost 5.5 and is 38 pounds and 44 inches tall. He was a 5.5 pound baby and has been trending 25% on the weight charts since he turned 6months old.

The child is healthy and can out eat me, so I am not worried. I am 5'4" 125# and DH is 5'8" 150# so I doubt the child is going to be playing professional football.

However it is not fun to try to find pants to fit him...

 

[katied]

My DS is very skinny. He's 27 months and almost 24 lbs. Since about 9 mo, he's been between the 5 - 10th percentile for weight.

The dr is not concerned. His BMI is still within the acceptable range, and he otherwise is fine. But, he hits all his developmental milestones and he EATS! I've counted calories for him a times - some days he'll eat more than 1800 calories in a day!

It does make clothes shopping more of a challenge - no elastic waists, only the adjustable waist clothes. Swimsuits are really hard. I just have to find size 12 mo ones that are made a bit longer style wise, because even the 18 mo swimsuits will just fall right off him.

I also feel a bit better because I have a DNephew who is also very skinny (now age 11) and a DNiece who is very skinny (now age 3) - so maybe there are some good genes in the family - I just wish I got them.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Yep, DD 8 is 75% percentile for height and 20% percentile for weight.

She looks like an elf, all bird bones and long legs. But she eats like a trucker, is obviously healthy and happy, and neither her pediatrician nor I worry about it. She's always been super skinny-at least once she learned to walk-she was a typical chubby baby.

In fact the only problem is MIL who insists something is wrong with her and that she should drink high calorie specialty drinks to "plump her up".

I finally got her to stop by sending her a picture of DH that I recently scanned in when he was DD's age. Yep, skin and bones!!!

 

[dis75ney]

My DS8 is exactly the same way...all elbows and knees. I have to search high and low to find 8 Slims, and then I still have to take the waist in. Our doctor is not concerned...DH has the same body type - tall and skinny. DS is just taking after DH as far as his metabolism goes. All the calories from his food go straight into shooting him up four or five inches every few months...

 

[palavra]

I hear ya! My daughter is almost 7 and only weighs 37 pounds. We were visiting mysister yesterday. She has an almost 4 year old who weighs one pund more than my daughter. It's tough when you have skinny kids. Getting pants and shorts to fit right is so difficult!

 

[tam626]

All three of mine are skinny. I'm glad they make most kids jeans with the adjustable waist tabs now. Did'nt have those with the older two. All three are healthy.

 

[micheleq]

Yeah! It's not just my DD! DD4 is only 28 pounds (about 38" tall) and I have been worried about her weight since she was born. At birth, she weighed less than six pounds. People constantly comment on how much of a peanut she is.

My doctors have never been concerned about her, she's healthy, active, and eats meat like a viking! She'll take down an entire NY Strip Steak by herself.

As parents we all worry about our kids. You're not alone

 

[tinkerlisa]

YES!!! Both my kids are/were/ skinny toddlers! My oldest is 7 and barely weighs 45 lbs. He is tall and skinny

My youngest is just about 2. He is just over 20 lbs. He is average on height.

Their doctor isn't concerned because they both are gaining weight.

Kids grow differently. My family says that I must starve my kids...Quite the opposite...they eat like pigs, my boys just have high metabolisms. they are very active.

This is how I dealt with one family member recently My cousin's daughter is 2 and a half and weighs more than my 7 year old!
And recently she made a snotty remark and kept doing it about my kids weight and I finally looked at her and said well at least my kids don't have an obesity problem!
I don't always get defensive like that. Just when people are rude about it. Usually i just shrug off the comments and walk away.

Unless your child is losing weight and not growing, he/she is fine. and don't worry about what others say.

 

[Debbie7452]

My three year old is very skinny looking...but he is really (REALLY) tall so I think his little body just can't keep up with his growth and fill him out. he needs size 5-6 for height but they fall off if they are not adjustable or smallish elastic waist. He is 43'' and 37 pounds.

Of course people think he is, like 5 years old..but that's another thread!

Had to edit height because I just realized he grew another inch!!

 

[bumbershoot]

He'll probably need a 2T by the fall for the length, so at least we'll be able to find more adjustable waist items then.

That bit, right there...you expect to get new size pants b/c he does continue to grow, that's the important part. He's growing and changing. If he was the same height, no weight gain, etc etc, then worry. But he's growing and changing, and you said he's only 6 months off in gross motor skills but right on for everything else...I wouldn't let things people say get to you.

...the dr was so nasty with me, asking me if i fed her blah blah blah..i left the office crying. when the test results came back that she was fine the dr wouldnt even get on the phone to talk to me.

You fired the doctor, yes?

My cousin, who isn't at all the rebel I am, had to fire "the best pediatrician" in their area b/c of weight issues with her son. They even brought in pictures of her husband, a tall skinny lanky guy all his life, so the doc would stop comparing the boy's tall skinniness to my cousin's short roundness, but it didn't work. There was one last straw involving the doc pronouncing that the boy's head had stopped growing and he would die in 6 months (they simply hadn't measured his head in the right spot and refused to listen to that), but then didn't call to follow up on whether they had the tests he told them to have (they didn't believe him, and even if they did, if it was fatal, why do the tests?). He didn't care. He didn't like my cousin b/c she refused to stop nursing her son, she wouldn't take his awful advice on the congenital cataracts the boy had (and she had and her father had and her grandmother had) and continued to go to the *experts*, and this diagnosis based on faulty measuring along with the doc not caring enough to call back...caused her to fire him.

So please fire that doc if you haven't already. That treatment is awful.

I do think that some places also make baby belts.

YES! DS has a tummy now, but at 2 he didn't. He started potty-learning at 18 months, was done by 2 (and we were done by 2.5, LOL, I just coudl'nt believe he didn't use his nice fluffy cloth dipes anymore!), and his pants were so loose with just underpants underneath. We went to Sears, searched the boys section. They weren't in the LITTLE boys area, but in the bigger young boys section they had those braided belts that don't have proper holes, you just put the thing through the opening in the braids. Bought the smallest they had, and it worked wonders. The clerks were amazed at our ingenuity, LOL. They just didn' tknow how tired we were of his pants falling down!

 

[MALE*RN*777]

I was to be 5'4" according to the doctor. When I got married I was 6'2" and 150 lbs. (early-mid 20's) now (mid-late 30's) I'm 6'2" and 210lbs. due to the wife's cooking and some good southern meals when we lived down south. My boy is built just like I was. You know those jeans with the waist band you can tighten. He was to skinny even for them at one time and now he still uses those kind of jeans. If the doctor isn't worried then neither did you. God made us all different.

 

[PrincessMom4]

My ds was similar except he stayed at the same weight for nearly 2 years (37.2lbs from almost 3 to 5 y/o). He was dx with ITP at 18 months and was going through lots of infusions at the time so we figured his body was dealing with that vs focusing on weight gain, although he was still growing in height and head circumf. At his 6 year check up he was 42lbs and at his 7 year was up to 50lbs (and 50") so he did some catching up but is still on the slim side.

I have 2 others and their weight gain has been consistent and the funny thing is my middle guys numbers are pretty much the same as my older ds minus the long stall and catch up (he was steady getting getting there).

I would think if the pedi isn't concerned and he is eating well and is just lucky with a super metabolism that you shouldn't be too concerned. Just watch his trending on the charts and make sure there are no sudden changes and keep feeding him well and all will turn out fine.

My 4 year old DS is like that too and we were getting grief but everyone at how small he is. He is 4 and weighs 32ish lbs. Its funny you mentioned ITP (idothymbocytopenia) which is what I had just while I was pregnant with my boys. It went away after pregnancy. So I guess I better get him checked out again.

 

[GulfBreeze]

My oldest DD was 8 lbs. 13 oz. of roll after roll of cute little baby fat and kept on having rolls till right before her 1rst birthday. Then she sloooowed down. She is now 9 and wears a 7 slim jean, 7/8 shirt, 1 shoe size. My youngest also started out big, 9lbs 2 ozs. The thing is my 6 year old DD wears the same size (except her jeans are not slim). I get asked all the time if they're twins. My oldest is about an inch taller than the youngest but the youngest out weighs her sis by 5 lbs. Any time I express concern to the Dr. he just laughs and says they're both fine. Both started talking early, using words way beyond their years, oldest is always on the honor roll with straight A's, youngest just finished K with a 2nd grade reading level. With a Grandpa thats 6'10'' and a grandma thats 5'3 and a great-grandma that was 4'10'' there's no telling were they'll actually wind up on the height chart My oldest does get tired of being the shortest on in her class though.

 

[wickywinn]

Wow, I can't tell you how nice it is to see other people with kids like my dd3. Since about 9 months she's been -5 to -9% on the weight scale yet 60% height. She doesn't look skinny though, her bones are just tiny. Well, she does look thin I will say. I see some saying their 18 mo is 20 #s posting here and I'm like, wow, that's pretty big...mine was around 15# I believe at 18 mos, if that. She was 18-19 at her 2 year checkup and is now 24# at 3. Finding bathing suits to fit her is the worst, esp bikinis. Her current one is a 12mo and it fits great! When she was 9mos and stopped gaining her pedi had me feeding her often and high fat - milk shakes, letting her have fries, etc. It seemed odd but I went with it - it did absolutely nothing. She didn't gain an ounce. We were going in at one point once a week to have her weighed but eventually she said ah well, they tend to even out around this age and become what they're genetically predisposed to be (I have a new pedi now btw). Would have been nice to mention that possibility in the first place methinks?

Anyway, I get comments from people all the time about how tiny she is. Then again, they have dh and his family to reference to - they're all a bunch of beanpoles! Guess that's what happens when you don't eat, which they don't much.

 

[mousebymarriage]

Don't worry so much, the doctor says your son is healthy and some kids are just exceptionally skinny.

My DS8 is 52 inches tall and weighs 47 pounds. He was 8 lbs 11oz when he was born 2 weeks early. He eats almost everything (except seafood) but, he is soooo active. He loves sports, he plays soccer in the fall , hockey in winter, baseball in spring and bowls in the summer. Now he wants me to sign him up for football. The kid is just skin and bones, I'm worried he is gonna get crushed! I ahve to buy him jeans in a slim with the adjustable waist and sweatpants never fit right.

My DD12 is 5'6" and chubby. She was 9 lbs 5 oz when she was born and has always been off the charts for height and weight. She is also very active with cheering in the fall (gave up soccer after 4 years), basketball in the winter, softball in the spring and swimming in the summer. I fell really bad for her sometimes having a brother that can eat ANYTHING and not gain an ounce. She even asked me one time "mom will I ever be as skinny as Alysha (her BFF) and I said "no, your not made that way but , your the right size for you and that's what matters"