For those with LITTLE ones that at this point have not yet closed the gap

Like a lot of you – both of my boys were born early and small. W 4 lbs and G 2 lbs 7 oz. We were told by the doctors that most preemies catch up by the time they are 1. Pretty early on W closed the gap and has been in the “normal” range for his age since before 1 year old. G is another story. He had awful reflux till around 14 months and then we had a horrible time getting him onto solids. He was on formula until 2. We were again assured that by the time he was 2 he would catch up. Well we are couple of months away from his 3rd birthday and he still fits in some 12 month clothes and weighs only 22 lbs. He is eating better but not great. We have tried all of the tricks of everything is full fat and adding butter and all that to his foods. He eats pretty much whatever he wants and it all makes very little difference. Okay I am sure it is helping but clearly not enough.
My question to you gals – is did/do any of you give your children any medication to help with their appetite and/or growth? I have a call into their Ped to discuss and I am not at all crazy about the idea and know nothing about the options that may be available so I thought I would start here and see what other folks have experience with.

 

My girls were both 2 pounds, 13 ounces at birth. They are now 3 1/2. They are no where near the size of average 3.5-year-olds. They both still fit in 18 month shorts and weigh about 27 pounds. Our ped was recommended to us by the NICU because of his knowledge of pediatric nutrition. He has never suggested medication and does not seem concerned about their size since they are continuing on their own growth curve. He does have us on whole milk yet, but otherwise just says to offer a balanced diet. I would also be hesitant to add medication. I will be interested to hear what your pediatrician recommends.

 

I don't personally have experience with this, but i want to remind you that all kids (even twins) will grow at their own rate. My nephew was born 8+ lbs, but has always always always been tiny. At nearly 6 yrs old, he's shorter than my 4.5 yr old, he can easily wear size 3-4 pants and shirts, and is just a tiny, short little man. But he's always followed his own growth curve. He has an insane metabolism, for such a tiny guy he eats non stop all day long, but never gains much weight. My sister has been concerned for years, but her ped keeps assuring her that as long as he is growing, is eating, is active and healthy, not to worry. And for the record, my sister and her ex are NOT tiny people Recently, he's finally been going thru some growth spurts and I think he can officially wear size 5 clothes now! :lol:

I can understand your worry and concern of course, but I'd be very hesitant about starting meds, as long as he is in fact eating a good diet, and is growing and following a curve. Now if he stops eating or isn't eating healthy then I'd be more inclined to look into it. :hug: Of course it never ever hurts to bring it up with the ped and discuss all the options

 

:hug: I didn't go through the catching up like you are but my dd is tiny! She always has been at almost 3.5y she weighs 24 lbs. I do still give her pediasure on days that I don't feel she had much of an appetite. :hug:

 

In the early days my smaller DD (born 4lbs) didn't eat well and I was forcing food on her a bit. My pedi told me something to where I will never try to change her feeding habits again. She basically said "you don't want to change who they are" You shouldn’t interfere with how their brain talks to their stomachs naturally and in the end create body confusion which could lead to eating disorders. I've always been way more concerned with their mental development rather than physical as my DD is delayed in several areas. If he is developing fine in every other area I think you're doing great!

 

My guys were pretty small at birth (4lbs 3oz and 3lbs 2oz) and they didn't catch up in growth until they were 2.5. They ate *insane* amounts of food during the second year, *after* I stopped forcing foods on them, but didn't have a "growth spurt" until after they turned 2. My ped never worried because they ate well, had a varied diet, and never fell off their curve (except once when Nate was an infant and developed a bottle aversion).

I agree with PPs that you should talk to the ped and make sure he's following his growth curve, and perhaps talk to a nutritionist/RD about his diet before going on meds. I *especially* agree with TaurusTwins that it's so important to let kids lead when it comes to how much and even *if* they want to eat. They need to develop feeding competence, so they can learn to regulate their own full and hungry cues. Meds could interfere with that, so if it were my child, I would want a specialist's recommendation and assurance that it was medically necessary.

A really great resource for feeding strategies and general reassurance is Ellyn Satter's Child of Mine; when I read this book it was a wakeup call for me, and really changed how I approached feeding and meals. I think it's helped me immensely.

Good luck!

 

Sabrina is 5 1/2 and weighs 31 lbs. She's not on the chart at all for height or weight and never has been, and even her height to weight ratio is only like 20th %ile. She wasn't preemie(they were born at 37w5d), but was medium preemie size at 5#3 (dropped to 4#9). She's just growing into 4T stuff for height, but at 5 1/2 can still wear 18 mo shorts. Sydney is 18 lbs, 4 1/2 inches and 4 shoe sizes bigger. We've had her on pediasure for over a year and have done a bunch of tests. Recently we had her into gastroenterology to see if she had absorption issues. Turns out that even though she had 2 bowel movements/day, she was extremely constipated. So now she's on miralax every day. I took her back in today for a check up and it's helping some. Her weight hasn't yet gone up (it's only been about 3 1/2 weeks), but it does seem to have helped her appetite. And it's also really helped with another issue she had of regular wetting accidents. I don't know what all the answers are, but I would definitely talk to your pedi. We also have done everything possible trying to get her to eat better and to eat the things that will fatten her up in the best/healthiest ways possible. But I recently saw a nutritionist who gave me some good ideas I hadn't actually considered... more about scheduling, than content. Good luck! It's stressful to have a little one not growing well, but hopefully your pedi will have good ideas/answers for you!

 

Addison and Ava turned 4 in January and weigh30 pounds fully clothed with their shoes on. They have always been tiny. When they were 2 our pedi recommended that we take them to the gastro dr. He added calorie supplements to their food and recommended Pediasure. We don't do the supplements anymore but I still give them Pediasure from time to time. I have learned to ignore the growth charts and since we moved, our new pediatrician does not even use them. Ava and Addison go through phases where they eat like horses and at other times I wonder how they survive they eat so little.

 

Hi there, I know how stressful this is. My kids are both tiny, but my daughter is extra tiny - at 2 years old she is only 18lbs. My pedi is really great and has always felt that my daughter is just going to be petite but he has always wanted to be careful that we don't miss anything so we have been through a few tests (for cystic fibrosis, celiac, and a blood panel to ensure she is able to digest her foods properly.) Plus, when those were negative we then went to a Failure to Thrive clinic at a Children's hospital near us. This was a group of experts (cardiologist, dietician, another pedi, a social worker specializing in feeding issues). They also felt that there is absolutely nothing wrong. It is stressful because I never know whether I should put her through all of this or just give it a while and see how it goes. Long story short - I believe that every child has their own growth 'schedule' and they will follow it no matter what we do, no one thought medication was a good idea as she eats when she wants so it isn't a feeding issue. One thing you may find interesting is that the hospital that my kids were born at has a post natal follow up program for kids that are born under a certain weight and they followed up with both my kids every 6 months for 2 years for development and physical. They indicated that catch up can take up to 2.5 years for growth.
Good luck - I agree with all the posts - if they are following their own curve on the growth chart I wouldn't worry too much - but of course your pedi will know best.

 

My girls were born 10 weeks early. Dani was growth restricted and had to be delivered early, she came weighing only 2lbs 1 oz. Ever since she was born she's been a poor eater and a slow grower. She had reflux early on and has been tested for everything under the sun twice (allergies, CF, gluten, delayed emptying, etc...) by the pedi GI clinic. We've tried appetite stimulants and other meds. The GI doc is at a complete loss and was pushing me to have her have an endoscopy. I do not want to put her through that since I don't think it's an absorption issue. Her pediatrician and endocrinologist (followed for hypothyroidism) don't think her growth/size is a problem because she IS growing, just very slowly. We beef up the calories in her food as much as we can with butter, olive oil, heavy cream, whole milk, calorie powders, supplements and let her eat whatever she wants. She just doesn't eat very much. I ahve to constantly cue her to eat or just feed her in order for her to eat anything significant. She will be 4 next week and weighs only 26lbs. Her sister is 1 inch taller and about 6lbs heavier. I finally decided to take her for a second opinion at Children's Hospital GI clinic. The MD said she's not concerned, doesn't think she needs an endoscopy and doesn't need to be followed unless she's not gaining weight. She sent us home with a bag full of freebie supplements and said find one that works and I'll get your insurance company to pay for it.

Take home message here and I can tell from pp's is if he's growing, even at his own pace try not to worry too much about it. I know it can be so stressful. :grouphug: