Preemie Still Small at 2 Years Old

My son is not quite 27 months old and still can't wear some 18 month sized pants. He was full term and weighed a little over 7lbs. He is just small. My other son was a giant. He was 9lbs 7oz and left the hospital in 6-9 month clothes. My youngest, we had to buy preemie outfits for. He eats well and is healthy so I am not too worried about him. He is just small. As long as he is eating well and healthy I don't think I would get to worried about it. We still have some 12 month pants that are still way too big in the waist but now way too short. I think before going to a specialist I might get another opinion from another pediatrician or a family doctor.

Hi D.! My 12 year old son was born at 28 weeks and weighed in at 1lb 15 oz now weighs 80 lbs. He has always been on the small side. All of his doctors told me that he would be behind until he was at least 2 years old and at that point he would probably still be on the small side. They did tell me a few ways to add extra calories into his diet, one way is to use real butter when cooking, to try and get him to eat peanut butter, and to add carnation instant breakfast to his milk. Please feel free to contact me with questions. Evan has CP so we see lots of specialist!

does he eat well? my oldest son was normal weight at birth and was small for his age and never hit the growth chart at his well baby check ups. He was pretty healthy other than bronchiolitis/asthma problems and he ate well but spit up a lot as a baby. He wore a size 2T when he started Kindergarten and was in a 4T by the end of that year and was always the smallest in his class until he got to high school. My husband is 5'7" and I am 5'2" so we are short and weren't big as kids either so the doctors determined it must be genetic. Anyway he is now 16 and 5'6" and weighs around 120 lbs so still skinny but not the smallest in his class anymore and finally got some height. When he was 2 yrs old the doctors didn't think he would get taller than 5'2" so he did pass that estimated guess at least.
If your child eats well and seems healthy then he is probably fine and will catch up when he gets older.
I also have a cousin that was very tiny when he was little and didn't hit his growth spurt til he was around 16 and now he is around 6 foot tall and in the military.
my niece was born a preemie at 2 lbs and she is 10 yrs old but very skinny and looks like a 7-8 yr old so she is also small for her age and burns off her calories fast so she drinks energy drinks to boost her calories.

Hi, D.! I have a couple questions for you. First, how tall are you and your husband? Were either of you small as children? Second, did you breastfeed or are you still breastfeeding your 2 year old?

Let me tell you about my daughter. She was born about 4 weeks early and weighed 5 lbs, 14 oz. She was nowhere near the 20 pound mark at her 1 year old checkup. She just barely hit 20 pounds by her 2 year old checkup. She also was not on the charts for her height.

I am 5 feet tall. My husband is 5'10", but his parents are about 5'7" and 4'11". So even though my husband has some height to him, my kids come from a lot of short people! Also, I breastfed my daughter until she was 16 months old.

My daughter was always healthy and happy, but VERY small. When we'd go to the doctor for a sick visit and have to see someone other than our regular pediatrician, the doctor would always express big concerns about her being so little. I was told more than once by more than one doctor that my daughter was "too little" and needed to be seen by a specialist. But as her mom, I knew she was healthy, so I was in no rush.

At our next well child visit after doctors had started tellings us there was a problem, our pediatrician (who I love and really trust) said NOTHING about her being too small. I asked her if she had concerns about her size and told her that other doctors in the practice had told me she needed to see a specialist. She just smiled and said that considering the size of the people in her family (father excluded, although he's not SUPER tall either), she probably isn't going to be very big ever! She also told me that when a baby is breastfed beyond a year, they tend grow at a smaller rate between that year mark and the time they are weaned, which kind of puts them behind the growth curve. She said there was nothing wrong with nursing beyond a year, that it had health benefits beyond a year, but that it has been noted that breastfed babies tend to be smaller. She said there was nothing to worry about since my daughter was healthy and developmentally on track.

Now, my daughter is almost 5 years old. She is still the smallest kid in her class at preschool. People usually think she's about 3 until they hear her talk. She wears mostly 3T clothes, some 2T clothing still. She's smart, active, healthy, and TINY! I have no worries.

My point in telling you all this is that you may not even need to see a specialist. Some kids are just little! If you and/or your husband are short or were very small as children, consider that! If you breastfed beyond a year, consider that! I was very educated about breastfeeding and knew that breastfed babies tended to be smaller, but didn't know that nursing beyond a year kind of put us in another category. I hope this eases some of your fears. I know that if I had seen a specialist and they had wanted to put her on some kind of hormone therapy or something, I would've said no way. If your little guy eats decently and is developmentally on track, I'd trust your gut. Also, if you decide to see the specialist, remember that you are the mom and you can consider what the specialist says without necessarily doing it. Best of luck to you!

I have two preemies. My daughter is now 11, and just this year she was in the 5th percentile. My son is 6 and has never made it to the 5th percentile. He weighs about 30 pounds now. Both of my kids take after their dad who is 5'7" and weighs about 110-115 lbs. It is all about genetics. If you and/or your husband are smaller framed people then your kids aren't likely to be any different. I used to get asked from strangers in the store if I ever fed my daughter because she was so small. It used to really bother me but their doctor has always reassured us that since we were shorter, smaller build that it was normal for the kids to be on the smaller side.

I had 2 preemies. One weighed 3.5lbs and the other weighed 3.15 lbs. They were 22 and 25 lbs at 3 years old. At almost 5 they weighed 30 and 33 pounds. If your son is healthy, eats, sleeps and plays well don't worry about it. Children catch up when they are good and ready and no specialist will make it happen. My doc said both of my gorls are fine and very healthy, just small. She was not concered becauese they eat well, do gain weight on a regualr basis, sleep well, met all their milestones and basically are normal little girls. Don't let your doc scare you or tell you something is wrong. Just because some medical book says that preemies are supposed to be all cought up bythe age of 3---doesn't mean they all are, or that there is something wrong withyour son. Follow your own gut-if you think he's fine , hi is. If you feel there is something wrong, then it doesn't hurt to get him checked out. Just go with your own feelings, not those of your doc.

My daughter was born at about 30 weeks, and her Dr. expressed concern at her 2 year appointment about her height (I think she was 28 inches and then 25 mo). I told her the Dr.s said she was short even for 30 weeks when she was born and her birth mother is only 5'2", but she said even so she felt like that wasn't enough to explain why my daughter was so short and wanted to run some tests. I had never been concerned because she always grows between appointments, but since it was a 2 year appointment and they were doing bloodwork anyway, I agreed to the testing. So she ran several tests, checking bloodwork for hormonal issues, thyroid issues, checking urine (my daughter just wore a little bag taped to her while we went about getting our other tests done) for a different kind of diabetes, and doing a "bone-age" x-ray to make sure her bones are the same age as the rest of her body (they just x-rayed her arms/hands while she sat in my lap), which I think she said could indicate a hormone-issue if they weren't the same age. Anyway, everything came back perfectly normal (which is what I expected) and nothing else came of it. But, I assume these might be some of the things they would check for with your son and perhaps some fairly non-invasive testing to determine if there is really any need to see a specialist. If these tests are normal maybe your mind and the Dr.'s can be put at ease. Trust your instincts, if he's growing and healthy, I wouldn't put him through too much just to determine he's perfect the way he is!

HI,
My son will be three in December, he was not born early but only weighs 25 pounds. I am a short person so I figure he will be small like his mom, he is developmently ahead of the game so I have no worries. It sounds like your son is as well, and like our Dr. said as long as he is healthy and happy no worries.

My daughter was 3 weeks early and only weighed 5 pounds 15 ounces. She will be 3 in December and only weighs 26 pounds. Her doctor said that she is doing fine and as long as she is eating and his developmentally on track for everything, I should not be worried. If your son seems to be on track for everything his age, then I wouldn't worry too much. Hope that helps.

PS - My daughter wears 24 months/2T pants and 3T tops. The tops are a little big but she wears them anyway.

I have 3.5 yr old twins, born at 29 weeks. My son still wears 18-24 months. As long as your son is healthy and your doctor isn't concerned with his size, I would say no worries. Each child is different. Maybe it is just in his genes to be a little smaller. They say preemies catch up by age 2. Again, each child is different, but as long as he's happy and healthy, I don't think there is anything to worry about.

Our daughter was born at 34 weeks weighing in at 4 lb 11 oz. She is now 3 years old and weighs in at a whopping 28 lbs. She is definitely not a big girl, but like others have said, our doctor doesn't have any concerns. She eats, plays, sleeps and hits all of her milestones. My husband and I aren't big people either, so I don't expect her to be too big a person anyway. We have trouble with clothes because she seems to be one size in her waist and one in length. Other than that, she keeps us on the move...a beautiful, normal, ornery LITTLE girl.

I'm a NICU nurse and have seen many premies come back and visit and alot of them are behind in growth. He'll catch up, not to worry.

I know you have gotten great advice already and I just saw this today. Anyway my oldest was born at 31 weeks and weighed 2lb 14oz. She grew slow but grew so we were never concerned until almost two years ago. she started losing weight, at age 3. She gained the weight back but at age 5 weighs 26 lbs and hasn't gained anything in over a year. We ran all the tests. checking for systic fibrosis and other things. We then went to an Endocrinologist and had a growth hormone test done. Her first test reveiled results that were in the middle. They want a result of 10 she had a result of 5. So we are taking another test in November. Basically there is a slight growth hormone deficiency. We will have to give daily shots of growth hormones for a while. I wouldn't worry until there is no growth progress for a time. Then look into it.

Hi D., ok here is my opinion.....for what it is worth. My daughter has 4 kiddo's 3 of which were born premmie, Ryan was 2.9 pounds, he is now 7, Hannah was 2.3 pounds she is now 4, and Emma was 3.6 and she is now 2. Ashley the oldest is 9 and was 3 weeks early at 6 pounds so no big deal for her. However the 2 middle ones are smaller than the rest, but they did not develope the normal baby fat that most kids have when they are full term. They are all healthy normal kids with the exception they are a little smaller. Ryan does have ADHD so their mom does not let them have pop or processed sugary foods that can make that situation worse. She has been very blessed that her premies have been very healthy with no major problems. So if the only thing that you have to worry about is your little one's size I would say you are very blessed as well! Good luck to you and bless your military family. My daughter and her family are also military stationed in Ft Hood Texas, her husband is currently in Iraq and she just got back from there.

My son was born at 31 weeks weighing 3# 3oz. He is also very small. He still only weighs 22 lbs. and is wearing 12 month clothes, progressing into 18 month clothes. He has always been in the low 3rd percentile for height and 5th for weight. He's always been a little guy. The nicu doctor (we go back every 6 months for checkups-which he is developing ahead of schedule on cognitive, a touch behind on motor but no biggie) said he is going to just be a small man. Maybe 5'8", maybe more but isn't going to be a big guy. I don't think any of our doctors are overly concerned with the weight/height of Jack, they just chalk it up to him being and going to be small. I don't know if this helps, but it kinda mirrored your issue, but hopefully your guy will catch up or maybe he's like mine, destined to be a little small and that's ok. My brother is only 5'8" and is married to a woman 5'10"! So, I guess I'd like to say don't be discouraged or too worried. I hope everything turns out alright for you. I'm sorry, I forgot to mention he is 26 months old, and you said yours was 27, so they are close in age.

Hi D.. Maybe your son is just going to be small or a late grower. My son was 5lb 13oz at birth and is considered "small" on all of the growth charts. He was 3 in July and is only 25lbs. He is perfectly healthy and happy. I've never taken him to a specialist. Most doctors say, "Look at you". I am 5' 2" and just shy of 100lbs. My husband is 6'1 and 190lbs. He was considered "small" until high school.

Now, if you and your husband are both tall and big boned, then maybe there is something to look at.

I'm older and maybe not "up with the times" but I and my children were "small". We were all a normal weight at full-term birth, but I didn't hit 22 pounds until I was 3 1/2 and one of my sons didn't either. The other son was about your son's age when he was 22 pounds. I KNOW that baby clothes now are labeled larger than what they used to be many years ago because children as a whole are larger, so what is now 18 months could have been 24 months when I was small.

My point is that if your child is healthy and developmentally fine, why is the doctor worried about his size? I would definitely ask your doctor about what he is concerned about and how a specialist could help.

By the way, now all grown, I am 5'2" and my sons are 5'7" and 5'9".

My daughter wasn't a premie and had a normal birth rate at birth but lost a lot in the hopsital and when she went home. She has always been a slow gainer but has gained between check ups that the Dr. has not been concerned. If there has been any drop the Dr. suggest different food options. She is now 20 months and is still wearing 12 months clothes and some 18 months. I was a small child as well and sometimes that has alot to do with it. If the Dr. still insist if there is another Dr. in your group then you might seek another opinion. I had one Dr. who never seen her before questioned me about her weight but explained she has gained at every appoiontment and that I was small and didn't say another word. Like someone said before trust your instinks if you feel there is not a problem then more than likely there is not a problem. Most of the time we know our kids more than anyone else and you can not compare your child to your friend/family child.

Remember that your 2 year old is based on the date of his birth which was 2 months early. So while he is two on the calendar he is really only 22 months and at such a young age two months is a big difference. He could just be a smaller person on top of that. At my son's 13 month check up he was in the 7%...we had to take him in for pink eye last night and he's gained almost 3 pounds this last month (and he still looks skinny). I've not been worried because I'm a small boned person, his height is on though cause his dad is tall.
Factor in everything before you worry too much :)