Tired of worrying about my small DS.

meghans30

My youngest DS is small. He just turned 2 and weighs roughly 23 lbs and is 33 in tall. He is not on the growth charts. We are followed by a team of physicians as part of a state funded program. The team includes a nutritionist, Pedi.,  and a social worker. He has gained weight, but with cold and flu season in full swing every time he gets sick he loses his appetite and loses weight. I'm just so tired of having to worry about his caloric intake and answering questions from strangers about his size. He is developmentally on track and prefers fruits and vegetables over sweets and meat. I had in visioned chunky babies with rolls, but both boys are on the small/lean side. How many of you are dealing with similar issues? Does anyone else have a 2 yo who weighs 23 lbs? 

lsufan

Bennett will be 2 next month, and he weighs 23.5 lbs.  His pediatrician has never once acted like it's a problem.  She said he's fine, and that if I get stressed out about how much he eats, meal times will be stressful for him and he'll eat less.  For the past few check-ups, they've listed his weight as < 5th %, but maybe he's still barely on the charts.  I don't really know.  I haven't worried about it, because he's healthy and still gaining weight.

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time, though.  Why exactly are they so worried? 

meghans30

lsufan:

Bennett will be 2 next month, and he weighs 23.5 lbs.  His pediatrician has never once acted like it's a problem.  She said he's fine, and that if I get stressed out about how much he eats, meal times will be stressful for him and he'll eat less.  For the past few check-ups, they've listed his weight as < 5th %, but maybe he's still barely on the charts.  I don't really know.  I haven't worried about it, because he's healthy and still gaining weight.

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time, though.  Why exactly are they so worried? 

I do not think being followed by this TEAM helps. I think the program is designed for people who do not have a clue what their kids are suppose to be eating. Our first appt. was 3 hours long and consisted of an extensive interview about what we feed him. Questions like:

How much SODA do you give him? Ahhh, he is 2 (at the time) I have NEVER given him soda.

How many cookies does he eat?

Do you have enough food in the house?

DO you give him fruits and vegetables? He loves those, so at every meal!

He is just small. I need to learn to accept it and move on. I guess that is the problem. The scrutiny makes me feel like I failed him in some way because he is small. 

 

tanzer13

DS was about 20 lbs at age 2.  Now that he is almost 3 he is just 25 lbs.  He has a liver disease so his liver does not filter out all of the fats and vitamins and they just pass right through.  He eats like a horse, not that you can tell LOL.  Everyone thinks he is about 18 months and it is so hard to find him clothes or shoes that are appropriate for his age that fit.  For instance when he started walking he was still in a size 2 shoe!  So finding a hard sole walking shoe for him was horrible.  Now that he is finally in a size 5 it is much easier. He has many Drs as well that follow him closely and monitor his weight etc they are talking on having to do tube feeding with him at some point, but are hoping he can continue to do it on his own for now!

GL to you, but at least your DS seems to be healthy other than having a hard time gaining weight!

lsufan

That sucks that they're making you doubt yourself.  Even though he loses weight when he's sick, has he gained some overall in the past 6 months or so?  If so, I wouldn't worry.  23 pounds at that age (and height) is skinny, but not malnourished.  If he's eating fruits and vegetables, it sounds like you're doing great.  

Mrs.Tony

my daughter will be 4 in december and I am betting she is not even at 30 lbs. I spent the first two years of her life worrying about it after hearing all the small percentiles.  finally, I just stopped. She's healthy, she just doesn't eat alot.

JOEBunny

My DD was 20 pounds 11 oz at 2 years (I remember because her "target" was 24 pounds).  She is 3 years, 5 months and weighs 25 pounds now.  She is very healthy, happy, developmentally on target.  She has been tested for a zillion things, nothing is wrong with her.  She is just a small person.  I am not (I am 5'9", DH is 6 feet).  I am not sure when I stopped worrying, but around 2.5 years, when it became apparent she very verbal and was doing well, which before they can talk it is hard to really know for sure. 

My DS is 7 months old and weighs 18 pounds, almost as much as his sister at 2 and he is average.  

A couple of things I did with DD that helped, especially the sick times, I fortified her milk with carnation instant breakfast, a full serving split over 3 glasses of milk each day, so she got an extra 150 calories, plus some vitimins and protien, also I give her loads of peanut butter.  I make her a smoothie with peanut butter, banana and peas.  She eats that at least 5 times a week.  She scarfs it down, so she does not feel full, but it has about 300-400 calories depending on how much peanut butter I put in it.  It has helped a ton, since her normal meal is more like 150.

braesmommy

At my DD's 2 year appointment she was 23 pounds and 32 inches.  Her doctor was perfectly fine with that. 

michaeltrish

My 2 year old was just over 22 pounds at that age.  Now he's 3.5 and a whopping 28 pounds.  Pedi just told us to accept the fact that he's gonna be small and quit worrying that he'll starve himself.  So I quit worrying. 

CleoKitty

Ds was exactly 20 lbs on his second birthday (he just turned 5 recently and is now tipping the scales at 30 lbs, LOL.) Dd is a few months away from her 2nd birthday but it's looking extremely unlikely that she'll even hit 20 lbs by then.

We do have some relatively minor concerns about dd and are keeping an eye on her but that's due to an unrelated health issue. As for ds there's not a single thing wrong with him- no underlying health conditions, he's always been totally healthy. He has always been a relatively good eater and has no food issues. He's just small and that's really all there is to it.

As for the team that you're seeing can you opt out of the program? It doesn't really sound like it's doing you any good and is just a cause for more stress.  This isn't some sort of mandatory participation in the program, is it?

meghans30

CleoKitty:

Ds was exactly 20 lbs on his second birthday (he just turned 5 recently and is now tipping the scales at 30 lbs, LOL.) Dd is a few months away from her 2nd birthday but it's looking extremely unlikely that she'll even hit 20 lbs by then.

We do have some relatively minor concerns about dd and are keeping an eye on her but that's due to an unrelated health issue. As for ds there's not a single thing wrong with him- no underlying health conditions, he's always been totally healthy. He has always been a relatively good eater and has no food issues. He's just small and that's really all there is to it.

As for the team that you're seeing can you opt out of the program? It doesn't really sound like it's doing you any good and is just a cause for more stress.  This isn't some sort of mandatory participation in the program, is it?

 

Yeah, I may drop the program. It does raise my anxiety level. 

MommyofAlissa

I have a 5yr old that weighs a whopping 34lbs.