Poor Growth

[houseelf]

yes. yes. yes.

My son has not been on the growth charts for 3 plus years. He was sent to children's hospital for a workup at 3 y.o. Everything was normal except that an x-ray of his wrist reveals that his growth plates are at a distance which is representative of a child 9 months younger than him. Right now we are just "monitoring" him. His 5 year checkup is next month. If our pediatrician isn't satisfied with his growth, we will be referred to a pediatric endocrinoligist who may offer hormone therapy. We are fairly opposed to such course of action unless we see an actual hormone deficiency. Short stature is not a disease.

I have to admit that this occasionally bothers me more than it should. Although I think that he is perfect, boys can be competitive. Further, people tend to treat him younger than he is and have lower expectations. I also love peoples' ploys to get him to eat (he is a picky eater). It drives me nuts.

In regards to the entire "work up" performed by DH's colleagues in your absence, I'd be a little peeved too. However, I do think that medical professionals start to think that their loved ones are susceptible to every disease. It is part of their world.

Good luck.

Kelly

Laura, we have had the nearly the exact same turn at the same time for our youngest. At six months, he was 75% for weight and height, but fell to below 25% on both...except for his head which has always been 99%+. We have of course, had every test done under the sun, as he also began with seizures at six months, but nothing has shown up on any test- ever. He is almost 22mths and has regulated back to about the 40-50%....mostly on his own. We supply him with the food & drink and he eats what he wants.

I am sorry to hear about the situation with your daughter and the Dept chair.

[SueC]

Hi Laura,
I'm a little late to chime in, but we went through this with our first daughter. She started off as a chunky monkey, but at about 5 or 6 months, she dropped completely off of the growth chart. Our pediatrician totally freaked out, and had me bringing her in weekly to be weighed. As a first time mom, I was very sensitive about the whole thing, worrying that people would think I was starving her and that I didn't have an adequate milk supply. When she was 9 months, I gave up breastfeeding altogether, and she still remained a little pipsqueak. At one year she was 18 lbs. and at 2 had climbed to 20 lbs. I can see the initial concern if their growth curve alters dramatically, but I think if they are monitored and seem to be reaching their developmental milestones, then everybody needs to relax a little. My daughter eventually made it to the 5th percentile, where she remains at age 5. I think the growth charts are helpful, but it's impossible for everybody to be in the 75th and above percentile, somebody has to make up the lower percentiles. In our case, not only does my daughter come from an Asian background (I probably don't need to mention that small stature might be in her genes), but I was also very petite as a child. I can imagine how you felt having your dh's colleagues discussing your child's "failure to thrive"--how can a mom not take that personally!!!

[DCJenn]

My husband the pediatrician wishes that all growth charts would be abolished because he believes they are they are basically meaningless. He gets really frustrated with the expectation that it's a competition and whoever gets over 90% wins. One direct quote: "It's not a pissing contest here, people!"

Nikolai is not on the growth charts, and never will be- Russians are smaller babies to start with, he's a preemie and he's institutionalized. Rick's belief is that as long as they are growing, and growing proportionately there's no reason to be too alarmed. Supplement if you think it will help, but as long as you all believe that your kids are healthy, don't get too worked up about it. Are they sick often, weak? Do they throw up a lot? then get concerned (in my dear spouses opinion)

I have a friend with 3 who have never made it on to the charts- they're just skinny little athletic kids. but her eldest beat her in a one mile fun run!

Jenn