Does Anyone Else Have a Five Year Old Who Is Under 25 Pounds an Been to Speciali

People come in all different sizes. If the endocrinologist runs tests and says he is healthy, then I would believe he is healthy and just is a small person. I was a very very skinny child and ate a lot...often had 3rds and loved all food. I never put on weight. I think I weighed 85 lbs my senior year of high school. I put on more weight in college due to taking weightlifting classes and building muscle. If you think he eats enough don't take him to feeding clinics...this probably has nothing to do with what he is eating if he eats the same as his siblings.

My dd was only 31 lbs when she started kindergarten (at 5), but she's always been small. She did have a workup with an endocrinologist and everything is normal. She's 14 now and weighs 80lbs and still under the 5th percentile. She's also a late bloomer, which runs in my family. I'm only 5'1 so she'll probably be small. Her growth plates are still open, so she's still growing and she hasn't really hit puberty yet.
I'm surprised nobody has sent him to a pediatric endocrinologist. That's what I would recommend. They even check chromosomes to see if there is an underlying issue. I also had a consultation with a nutritionist who recommended adding lots of fat to my dd's diet.

I might have missed it, did you say how tall he is? If he's normal height then he's extremely thin? If he's shorter then is it possible it's some sort of Dwarfism?

If you've taken him to specialists and they've said he's okay then you might have to accept he's going to be small. I would keep on top of the medical field though, research and maybe find some other specialists that work with this sort of thing specifically. If there is something there then someone, somewhere, might be working on that thing.

I have a friend that was shorter than me in our senior choir yearbook photo (I'm 5'2") and after high school he grew a whole foot taller. He's over 6' now. Maybe your guy will grow later on, when he hits puberty and he grows his adult body.

I don't know of anyone who has a situation like yours.
I would suspect some sort of dwarfism but I imagine the doctors would tell you if that was the case.
http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/dwarfism.html

It sounds like you have done a lot to try to discover the cause and help him gain weight. Stay with doctors to continue on that course, but put your focus on the unique wonderful boy you have and how special and individual he is. Love and raise him as he is.

You didn't mention his height, and that's a key factor. I'm assuming that when he was at the University of Minnesota he was being cared for by a pediatric endocrinologist. If so, and they haven't identified anything, then it may just be his normal stature. He needs to continue to be monitored by that endocrinologist.

I think your next move will probably be to get a second opinion. You're close to the Mayo Clinic, so I'd probably start there. A friend of mine had a similar issue with her daughter and finally found answers at the Marshfield Clinic. (5 years later she's still making the drive to Marshfield a few times a year because it's worth it.)

Good luck!

Our youngest dd has always been really small- as in falling into the bottom 3-5% of the pediatric growth chart- small. She is now 15 and around 5' 0 1/2 inches, 105 lb. This is it probably for her growth.
Is your child healthy in other ways? Does he eat a balanced diet? Good health is the most important factor.
My daughter is full of energy, loves playing soccer, and has ADHD. For years and years she wouldn't fall asleep without me laying down next to her bed. Once she fell asleep she was a good sleeper. She is super funny and always has had a good sense of humor. She began applying herself in school in 9th grade and has had decent grades since then. She made the honor roll last quarter. But there were many years of not-so-good parent-teacher conferences.
Find what your son is good at and enjoys doing. Offer a balanced diet. Once he is in Kindergarten see what his teacher(s) observe as far as his behavior and/or energy level. It wasn't until 3rd grade that one of my daughter's teachers suggested that she be tested for ADHD. I hate labeling children, but this diagnosis explained quite a few of her behaviors in her early years. Let us know how he is doing!

I don't know if he was that small, but I have a relative who is a pediatric dietician who has a tiny child. Her child eventually grew in middle school and although slim, is now a typical sized adult.

She used to just shove healthy snacks into him constantly. I don't think she resorted to Boost or Ensure or anything like that - but grapes, raisins, etc. were always in her purse, and any chance she got, she fed him. He was just very small.

The thing was, if you looked a pictures of his father - he was a tiny child in his school pictures. So is any of this hereditary?

Just like some kids are off the charts naturally for weight and height (mine were all in the top percentiles at that age and are now mid range - happened without me changing anything in their diets) - some are small.

They tend to normalize I guess during the school years. If they have performed tests and he's seen the proper doctors - I would just let it go. I'm not sure why they felt you were starving your child and had social services involved. That seems rather extreme. I haven't heard of that before. Sometimes they will intervene if they think there's a problem with being able to afford nutritious foods. However you haven't mentioned that was the case.

I wish you the best and hopefully things work out. Keep us posted. Your story and progress will encourage other families :)

You actually never mention what he eats, if he is a good eater, a picky eater, eats the same as the rest of the family or goes through periods of food refusal. You talk about his energy, that he is funny, and how he compares to other children his age size-wize. But you never mention once about his eating habits - a direct correlation to the question you are asking.

Very strange . . .