"WOW she is so little"

wychets

Ugh It really "hurts" my feelings when people say DD is really little. She was a late term preemie and is in the 20th percentile for her weight so yes she is on the small side (14lbs 12oz @ 6mnths) I just don;t understand why people feel the need to point that out everytime they see her!! ok vent over.

lwmooney87

I understand completely. My DD is 14 months and I think she's around 17.5lbs and 27.5 inches. So, she's tiny. I ALWAYS get those comments. I'm getting kind of used to it. It used to really bother me, especially when she had feeding difficulties and I was already stressed out about her weight. As long as her pedi is fine with her size and she's happy and healthy, then I am too. Try not to worry about it.

For what it's worth, her pedi and GI both said they think she would be small even if she were a term baby. So, maybe your baby is just not supposed to be a chunker and that's ok.

wychets

lwmooney87:

I understand completely. My DD is 14 months and I think she's around 17.5lbs and 27.5 inches. So, she's tiny. I ALWAYS get those comments. I'm getting kind of used to it. It used to really bother me, especially when she had feeding difficulties and I was already stressed out about her weight. As long as her pedi is fine with her size and she's happy and healthy, then I am too. Try not to worry about it.

For what it's worth, her pedi and GI both said they think she would be small even if she were a term baby. So, maybe your baby is just not supposed to be a chunker and that's ok.

This exactly. I had her at 36wks 1 day and she was 4lbs 12oz...full term is 37wks so honestly I don't think she would have been much bigger either...She is happy & healthy so I am totally fine with it:)

spain116

My 28 weeker is about the same size now, 14 lb 6 oz at 6 months.  We get the comments all the time.  On Father's Day, we went to dinner and a lady at the next table asked if LO was two months old.  I was so close to responding with an unflattering guess at the lady's age.  I am trying not to let it bother me. 

As moms, we know how far our LOs have come from their often tiny birth weight.  I wish folks could learn to approach new moms and babies with "How cute!" or "What big beautiful eyes!" instead of "How old is she?" and "Isn't she tiny?"

PhDMomma

This used to bother me alot more.  Then. at the in home daycare that we use there is a FTT term baby who is smaller than my preemie....it helps  me keep it all in perspective.

Kadyra

DS will be three in August and people still comment on his size. He weighs 27lbs (10%) and is 36in tall (24%). Better than when he was born with both less than 1%. The giant children are what bug me. 

crystaleyes39

People are just dumb. I've grown up my whole life being naturally very thin and I have had people say things like..."do you eat" "so and so thought you were anorexic" etc....Its like someone thin saying to someone over weight..."GOD, do you ever stop eating?!" I would never. Same goes with our kids. It's very aggrevating.

wychets

I agree. People are just ignorant. I hate when people try to guess how old she is and they say something like "4months" I just roll my eyes!! Ughh!

vsalt31

I try not to take comments like this personally. Yes, I do have a small baby, so when someone says that, it's true. As pp mentioned, before I had DS, I probably would have said/thought the same thing. Sometimes when I'm asked Lo's age & I want to avoid a 10min explanation, I just give the adjusted age and smile.

AZ_Erica

DD2 was a late term preemie too, so I get this comment.  But I also got it with my other two her were full term.  I just have small babies.  It used to bug me, but actually it doesn't at all with DD2, I just let them know that she was early, then most people move to commenting on how well she is doing:)  I think people use it as a conversation starter. 

JuliaJAG

strudel82:

I feel like people might make these comments as a weird compliment... as in, "How cute! A tiny baby!" I'm just thinking of what I might have said to someone with a small baby before I had preemies myself. 

This. I first realized this when we had to take Jack out about two weeks after his due date (a little over three months actual) and I heard these people whispering, "teeny-tiny!" I whipped around to face them but saw from their faces they were enraptured and meant it as a good thing (kind of how people comment on newborns how tiny they are).  

People are definitely weird. Our friends who know Jack's story always say, "Wow, he is chunking out" or "Look how BIG he is now" -- probably because they know I'd like to hear it. (and really, it's true, compared to how he started out in life!) Yet strangers who don't know us will comment on how tiny he is. [eyeroll] 

JeepersWife

I agree...people just dont know what they're talking about....some people say my DS is big when...actually he is not....and some think he's tiny!  I even had a man say to me "what is he, a midget or something?" ...uh...WTH?!?

DS is 17 pounds or so and 27 inches...he has mild stunting and had IUGR....I'd say he's doing pretty good!  Especially considering all he's been through this year!  Just smile and say "He/She is growing!"

snoangel79

My daughter is 4 m old and only 9lbs! She had severe IUGR at birth (doctor says she is growing fine) but of course people think she is a newborn, her brother was SGA and outweighs her by about 3lbs!

XyLeahsMom

May I internet hug every1 who deals with this for a sec?? My DD was only one month early and she was 6# 11 weeks and just now fitting her clothes correctly and everyone starts with how little she is....... I get mad and sometimes it hurts my feelings like I need to feed her more but thats not the case she is growing as she should. One day I snapped at someone heavy set who just could not get off the topic of her weight.....(Well everyone cant be your size) was the words!

sweetpea2003

I understand.  My DD was a late term preemie too, and has always been small.  At almost 3 she is still in like the 10% for weight.  The she is "sooooo tiny" comments are still something I hear all the time, but they stung when she was under a year old.

That being said, I also had a full term chunker (9 pounds 11 ounces) and the commentary on him being "ginormous" and "huge" gets old too.

People always have something to say.  After having a teeny baby and a huge baby I have learned that commenting on size is usually not very polite.  So when I see a new baby, I always say that they are "beautiful" or "cute" or "perfect".  Never about their size or milestones or anything else.

Divashrink1982

I get this all the time, too. DS was late pre-term (36 w 0 d) and was diagnosed IUGR after he was born. 5 lbs, 2.2 oz. Among my family members, we joke about it because I was afraid of having a super-huge baby because of having GD. Never thought that we would have the opposite problem. The comments don't bother me too much but they do make me feel a little self-conscious, even though I know that he is growing really well.

Imanurse03

I hear you! My DS was born at 35w0d and weighed 4 lbs, 10.5 oz. He is nearly 6 months old now and probably weighs about 12 lbs. So he is tiny. And I hear that all the time. I get pretty defensive, esp because DS was diagnosed with milk and soy protein allergies recently. It has been super stressful and hearing how small he is just makes me feel worse. Pedi and pedi GI aren't panicked so I am trying not to panic either.

IncogNeato

I would try not to take it personally. I kind of chose to take it as a compliment. Personally, I love that my LO is tiny. She's healthy, she's perfect, and she's my little peanut. Now, at almost 19 months, LO is just over 19 pounds. She amazes people constantly when she runs around and chatters their ears off because they can't believe such a tiny person can do so much.

DD was a late-term preemie so I know I don't have them same emotional wounds that many earlier preemie moms do, so I understand that it feels more personal and judgey when you've spent so long worried about your child's growth and development but sometimes just looking at it from a different perspective can help.

FWIW my LO isn't even on the growth charts for weight and hasn't been since she was about 9 months old. She's about 10% for height but 0% for weight. Her pedi isn't worried so neither am I.