Hard time having small babies

vlahop

DD1 was born a healthy 8lbs 6oz and was always in the 95th-100th percentile.  The twins just had their 2 month checkup and they are in the 10th and 15th percentile   They were born in the 5th and 10th, so they are technically moving up, but I thought it would be much quicker.  They were born at 38 weeks, so they have those 2 weeks to make up for too, but it is just hard for me to accept them being such little peanuts!  They also had RSV last week and did not eat very well, but I am not sure if that made a huge difference.

Anyone else feel this way?

leslie13510

They were our first, so maybe it's because I had nothing to compare them to, but their size was just... their size (5lbs 7oz, and 5lbs 8oz at birth).  For a long time I actually found average size newborns and infants to be MASSIVE.  I don't know.  Everyone always told me that they were good weights for twins born almost 3 weeks early, and their pedi never seemed concerned by their size so I wasn't either. 

Now though, when I go back and look at the teeny tiny, doll size, preemie clothes that were big on them, it is literally impossible for me to imagine babies that small. 

Haven1

There's nothing wrong with being in the 10-15%.  Shoot, my DS1 is in the 2%!  The growth chart is only used as a measure against itself.  If the twins have always been on the low end, there's nothing wrong with still being there.  Someone has to even out that 95-100% you also have.

I was told that somewhere between 18 months to 2 years is when their percentage is likely to stick.  You have pleeeeeenty of time before they're destined to be "small' forever. 

jennie13

My DD1 was 7.4 at birth, but gained so fast she was nearly 15lb at 2 months.   My twin girls are barely 15 lbs at over 7months.    I kinda like that they are tiny, knowing that they are perfectly healthy.   I felt like I missed out on months of easy lifting with my first!     And they still fit the bucket seats!

efhoping2010

Mine are at the 3% even now at over 10 months, being approximately 15lbs and 16lbs.  After much concern and extra monitoring and weight checks, even weekly for a time, they even dropped off of their own curve at one point, the doctors decided they are just genetically small.  So I worried a ton about their sizes and it is was all for nothing.  They still look super tiny especially compared to most 10-11 month olds, they even look small compared to most five month olds!  But they are crawing, standing, and starting to walk, they just look like living dolls because of their size.  On the positive side they get tons of use out of their diapers, clothes, car seats and strollers.  They can still fit their infant seats and their DSNG too so it has worked out somewhat well money-wise.  They were born at 35 + 5 weeks at 4lbs 10oz and 5lbs 10oz.  Try not to fret    

floridakat

They may continue to move up on their curves. My girls were both under 7 lbs at birth, and this week at their 6 month checkup one is at 55% for weight, and the other one is now at 88%. At two months they weren't nearly this high on the curves.

orange682

My DD was 4lbs 14.8 oz at birth (born 3 weeks early) and at 24 lbs at 3 is still not on the growth chart for weight.  She's had tons of testing (all which checked out), but after meeting with a specialist we were told that she is just destined to be petite. 

She's very smart, very heatlhy and has always hit her milestones, so I can't see any reason why being small is a bad thing.

Leigh71

My girls are tiny, and I am learning to accept it.  Key word is learning..... 

It's hard, because I want them to grow "big".... and I feel TONS of guilt from them being preemies.  (born 8 wks. early... one was 3#4oz and the other was 4#5oz. ) 

My Pedi keeps telling me not to worry, but it's hard when there are "big" babies everywhere.  So, I know how you feel.   

missfire

Mine were 1% and 10% at their 1-month check-up. In the last few weeks, they're both getting chubbier cheeks, and I'm so excited about that. But I'm also trying to fight the urge to "fatten them up." When I was a baby, I was always under the 10% mark, but I've been overweight since elementary school. So you want to help them find their healthy size, not just try to move up to a higher percentile on the chart!

I think I'm going to miss all the comments about how tiny my babies are when they get bigger! People still ask me how many days old they are, and seem shocked when I say they're 6 weeks old.

Haven1

missfire:

But I'm also trying to fight the urge to "fatten them up."

My mother makes comments about this ALL THE TIME.  I was born at twice the size of my babies (and almost 8 weeks later), so she's convinced there's something wrong with mine.  Just last night as she was making passive aggressive comments about me finally giving them pork, she started in on formula.

Mom: Have you ever thought about giving DS1 higher calorie formula?

Me: He's already on Neosure, and for the millionth time, he's FINE.

Mom: My friend told me about some formula that's even higher than Neosure.

Me: Well, yes, but it's extremely expensive.

Mom: *GASP!*  You'd starve him because it's "TOO EXPENSIVE!"  That's why we gave you money, so you could buy things like that!

(They paid off my sister's student loans for her recently, and out of their own sense of fairness, they gave me an equally generous amount.)

Me: Okay, stop. If the pedi thinks he needs $50 a can formula, I will absolutely purchase it.  But just because your nuttyass thinks he's small, that's not enough.  He's had weight checks every month since he was born.  Never once have they accused him of starving.  Oh, and you can have back the money if we're going to play that game for the rest of our lives.

Annnnyway, I'm clearly a little touchy about small=bad attitude.  Obviously I want my boys to grow up to be tall, dark, handsome men, but I won't feel like a failure at 8 months if he's hanging out at the bottom of the growth chart like he's always been.

leviandlandensmom

Haven1:

missfire:

But I'm also trying to fight the urge to "fatten them up."

My mother makes comments about this ALL THE TIME.  I was born at twice the size of my babies (and almost 8 weeks later), so she's convinced there's something wrong with mine.  Just last night as she was making passive aggressive comments about me finally giving them pork, she started in on formula.

Mom: Have you ever thought about giving DS1 higher calorie formula?

Me: He's already on Neosure, and for the millionth time, he's FINE.

Mom: My friend told me about some formula that's even higher than Neosure.

Me: Well, yes, but it's extremely expensive.

Mom: *GASP!*  You'd starve him because it's "TOO EXPENSIVE!"  That's why we gave you money, so you could buy things like that!

(They paid off my sister's student loans for her recently, and out of their own sense of fairness, they gave me an equally generous amount.)

Me: Okay, stop. If the pedi thinks he needs $50 a can formula, I will absolutely purchase it.  But just because your nuttyass thinks he's small, that's not enough.  He's had weight checks every month since he was born.  Never once have they accused him of starving.  Oh, and you can have back the money if we're going to play that game for the rest of our lives.

Annnnyway, I'm clearly a little touchy about small=bad attitude.  Obviously I want my boys to grow up to be tall, dark, handsome men, but I won't feel like a failure at 8 months if he's hanging out at the bottom of the growth chart like he's always been.

Mine were always on the low end of the growth chart but they always stayed there. All my babies have been little with giant heads. Pumpkins on toothpicks

copilot

I'm concerned about my little peanuts every time I take them to their doctor. They are both in the 0% for length and one is in the 0 for weight and the other is in the 1st. Mine were born at 34 weeks though. I do my best to believe my doctor when he says that they are doing great and as long as they are growing steadily they are doing just fine.