Cincinnati Babies

I have a tiny baby

I try not to let it bother me, but I can't ever shake the feeling there's something wrong with me as a mom because DD isn't a big baby. Why is it that big babies are "healthy"? Whenever we are out and someone asks how old she is, they always follow up with "but she's tiny!!". Yes, I know. I do feed her. She eats like a horse. I always thought that because DH and I are both tall, we'd have a huge baby. She's always been at about 5-10% for weight on the growth chart and 75-95% for height. The doctor tells me she is just fine.

Moms of peanuts, come in. When did bigger become better?

Re: I have a tiny baby

  • I hadn't really thought about it until you just posted. I do have big babies but it seems silly to think bigger is always healthier, I think it's just what people say. For the record, some of the cutesy babies I've known are peanuts.
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  • Well, I've had experience with both extremes... My DD was an almost 30 pound 1 year old but my older son only weighed 14 or 15 pounds at 12 months and has consistently been <10% for both height and weight, even now that he's 6 yo.  Henry is a peanut too, he's 23 months and weighs 23 lbs, at his 18 month check up he was just over 20 lbs and right around the 10% for weight and for his height.

    We get the tiny comments and questions fairly often too... and it feels exceptionally uncomfortable because I'm not small :) So people look all confused trying to figure out how I got a such peanut little guys... I just try to shrug and tell them they both eat like horses.

    Also, people just have comments on both sides... and it's all usually stupid.  People couldn't get over how big my DD was... they'd be all like "OMG you better stop feeding her so much, OMG lets hope she loses that baby fat before she gets older (um really, you think my infant should lose weight?  that's nice...)

    Don't worry about it mama! You know she's healthy and that's all that matters!

     

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  • Try not to worry about it-- I know its tough and I get comments literally every.single.time I am out in public with Nicholas because he is SO small (14 months and just hit 14lbs). With having a child that is so small (and small due to medical issues) I've learned to bite my tongue when commenting about baby sizes. I think that people just dont know what to say when looking at a baby other than "He/She is so cute" so they like to add in something about size "Look at those rolls!" or "What a little peanut!"

    As for where your child is on the growth chart (FWIW, Nicholas hasnt ever even made it onto a growth chart...he is far far below) there has to be some kids to make up the higher percentiles just like there has to be some kids to make up the lower percentiles. Lower doesnt mean unhealthy or bad it just means that X% of kids are bigger or smaller than them. Unless your pedi has an issue I would try not to worry and you can always walk away smiling and thinking of snarky responses you could say back....not that I do that or anything Stick out tongue

    "Oh he is so small! Why is he so tiny?".....as I'm thinking...." Oh you are SO BIG! Why are you so huge? He is a baby, he has an excuse....whats yours?"

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  • imageskyllingstadl:
    "Why are you so huge? He is a baby, he has an excuse....whats yours?" 

    Hahahahahaha! 

  • imagehannah&ben:
    People could get over how big my DD was... they'd be all like "OMG you better stop feeding her so much, OMG lets hope she loses that baby fat before she gets older (um really, you think my infant should lose weight?  that's nice...)

     

    Oof. People say really dumb stuff, huh?

  • I get those comments too and Lily really isnt small. She's 18 months and 23.5 lbs and 32.5 inches tall. Everyone is surprised at her age when I tell them and they think she is younger. I just think it's odd b/c DH and I are not small at all. She eats all the time, just doesnt gain a lot of weight. I just try to ignore it anymore b/c I know she's a beauty and personally I prefer her not to be "big" b/c of the history of weight problems on both sides of our family.
  • Leah is teeny tiny. She's usually off the charts for height/weight, but even when she's been on them, it's never higher than 7%. The comments do and did bother me, but what helps is that I am small, so people normally make the connection of genetics (but some people are fools and don't...). There are many advantages to a small child, though-- for one, you have to adjust things like carseat straps a lot less, your baby clothes last longer, and they can stay rearfacing longer. Also, in DD's case, she's so tiny that she still sleeps in a crib, which is great for us and so easy.
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  • My boys were both enormous, and I have no idea where that came from.  But I'll tell you, I think it's great that your DD is tiny, because it keeps her a baby that much longer!  It made/makes me so sad when my boys outgrew the cute baby clothes and carriers and stuff......

    I agree with some others, people just make really inane comments.  I have persistent tendinitis in my left elbow from carrying my big ole hoss of a kid.

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  • N is 40th percentile for weight and i get these comments all of the time =/ Hes always being compared to other babies, oh my gosh my baby was xx .bs at that age, hes so tiny! um hes average and im very happy about it. i kid you not i had 3 different people tell me he looked 3 months old when he was SIX months old...in all honesty, i dont see it. Ben was a big kid, always has been but hes always been skinny as well so i got it on both ends. Sometimes I want to say flat out, who cares what size my baby or your baby is? As long as theres no health concerns then it doesnt mean a thing.
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  • Don't sweat it.  Percentiles are silly IMO.  DS was off the charts on the high end, and grew into a healthy 6"2" tall young man who weighs around 160.  Tall and thin.  DD is low on percentiles for height,  almost average for weight, and her head is off the charts on the high end.  She is tiny.  She is 2.5 years old, and 29 lb, 34 inches last time we measured.  There are 18 month olds who are bigger than she is.  We are ok with that, because we know she is happy and healthy.  If anyone comments on your child's size, feel free to tell them to butt the fark out of your biz, and find a real issue to harp on elsewhere.  They don't have to catch up until they are adults.  You have plenty of time, and my bet is that it will happen. 
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  • imagesistrkate:

    My boys were both enormous, and I have no idea where that came from.  But I'll tell you, I think it's great that your DD is tiny, because it keeps her a baby that much longer!  It made/makes me so sad when my boys outgrew the cute baby clothes and carriers and stuff......

    I agree with some others, people just make really inane comments.  I have persistent tendinitis in my left elbow from carrying my big ole hoss of a kid.

    I totally agree with Katie.  DD is in the 95% for weight, she is a chunk, and I got horrible tendonitis in both wrists from carrying her.  People are going to make comments unfortunately no matter what, which stinks.  And I feel like Katie does about them seeming to grow up so quick with clothing size, DD is 19 mo. but in 3T shirts!  I actually remember almost crying when I had to buy 2piece "big girl" pajamas for her because she was too big for the baby ones at 12 mo.  

  • There is definitely not something wrong with you as a mother. DD is a super tall and thin. Weight wise, she can wear 12 month or 18 month clothes, but height wise, we need the 2Ts. We have tried everything to get her to gain weight: butter, gravy, sausage. All things that the dietician recommends. She is just thin. I was too until after college so it is just how she is.
  • Honestly, I think I wrote a post like this when J was your DD's age. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was, somehow, being judged as a mother based on my child's percentages...as if height and weight percentages were equivalent to a standardized mothering exam or something. It's so silly. I had major supply issues with J; and, therefore, I probably carried around much more guilt about his size (which probably manifested into being much more sensitive to this issue than others). Heck, sometimes I still do. That said, it is particularly refreshing to see this perspective come from someone else. 

    Obviously, W is another story; but, I can't say that I attribute their growth pattern differences to any "success (or failure)" on my (or DH's) part. They are just different children - they look differently, act differently, grow differently. However, they are both happy and healthy, and those things are really all that matter. 

  • I have small baby (well toddler now).  He weighed 9lbs when he was born and gained quickly in the beginning, but slowed down a lot.  Since he was about 6 months he's been in the 15% or less for weight.   He finally at 18 months went up to the 20%, but I think he's falling back down on the growth chart.  He consistently wears clothes that are smaller than the month range that he is in (right now he's 22 months, but wears mostly 12-18 months clothes). We offer him plenty of food/milk to eat and have never limited his diet, but I just think he has a high metabolism and burns off everything that goes in him. 

    I don't think I would be concerned about Nora unless she wasn't meeting milestones, alert and content.  As long as she continues to thrive then I think she is doing just fine!

  • We get comments on the opposite end of the spectrum as well. DD has always been in the 90th and above percentiles for height and weight. At her two year she was still 90th for weight but finally stopped pretending to even be on the chart for height - she's off now. I don't mind the "My she is TALL. My granddaughter is 3.5 and isn't as tall as she is." etc. etc The downside is that because she looks like an older child people often expect her to act like an older child. That's where it all gets to be a bit unfair.  
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  • I really think people on the whole are just ignorant.  Moms are either being told their kid is too big or too small.  I know of very few moms that haven't had one comment or the other thrown at them at some point.  I've had both.

    Logan was like your DD.  He was 95th %ile for height and 20-25th for weight until he was about a year old.  So of course, I got all kinds of comments about how scrawny he was and did I ever feed him, despite the fact that his dad is 6'2" and 145lbs soaking wet (even though he eats more than anyone I've ever seen).

    Since around 18 months or so, he's been 90th %ile for weight, and still 95th for height.  So now I have to hear about how big and beastly he is, whereas I think he looks perfect, and so does the pedi.

    Don't listen to the haters.  You and her her doctor know she's growing beautifully and that's all the matters.

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  • Thanks ladies. :)
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