Small baby concerns

My daughter is eleven months old and is really small for her age. She was pretty average size when she was born (7 1/2 lbs) and put on weight steadily until about 9 months old. I'm 5'2'' and her dad is 5'9'', so we never thought she'd be particularly big, but now she's hardly growing at all, and is wearing her 9 month clothes, is in the 5-10th percentiles for weight/length, etc. Also she doesn't have any teeth yet, so she's stuck on pureed or mushy foods. And her sleep habits have stopped improving. Its like she's stalled out in her growth, and sometimes I feel concerned.

In other ways, though, she's thriving. She walks holding my hand, climbs on things, picks up rocks and sticks and puts them in her little wagon that she pushes around. She says a few words and uses some sign language, and is very socially engaging, affectionate and full of laughter. Although she's small, her coloring is healthy and she's active and bright-eyed.

Okay, so I shouldn't worry, right? But I keep having these worries surface...basically boiling down to: are we doing something wrong? or is something wrong with her? Then I see how she's thriving in all these other ways, and I think I should just let go of these worries and see her for the perfect little person that she is. Is this what it means to be a parent, trying to balance doing the right thing for your child with letting go and letting nature take its course? Any advice or encouragement for this confused mama? A.

I'd say as long as your child is healthy, where she is on the percentile chart shouldn't matter. Everyone of us is different and we grow at different rates. crystal

That said, here are some things to consider from a health perspective that might reassure you.

First, some kids have to be in the 5-10%th percentile, just as some of them have to be in the 90-95%th. The best predictor of kid height is parents' height, so she may be just a petite person, and that's just fine.

Second, those percentiles are based on formula-fed Caucasian kids. Breast-fed kids weigh less, as do Asian and Latino kids (on average). If any of those factors applies to your daughter, just keep in mind that she may not be as small as you think!

Third, keep in mind is that rates of development (all kinds of development) slow WAY DOWN in the second 6th months compared to the first, and especially in the third six months (i.e., age 12- 18 months) compared to the first year. You're not going to be getting rid of clothes, toys, or anything else at the same rate you did when she was a tiny baby, now that she is almost a toddler. She's not going to grow as fast, or change her eating behaviors or skills quite as fast compared to when she first arrived. Sleep it is own separate thing entirely - as you will soon realize from reading BPN newsletters, plenty of formerly ''great sleepers'' suddenly become poor sleepers, and vice versa, and this continues throughout toddlerhood unfortunately. So I would not put any stock at all in the fact that her ''sleep habits have stopped improving.''

Bottom line - she's perfect, and yes, I do think that a lot of the challenges of parenting are emotional (on the parent's part) - balancing your fears with your kids' desire for independence, and, as you put it, balancing trying to worry/intervene with trying to accept your kid for who s/he is. In your case, I think the latter is definitely warranted. As is a day off for you! :) Mom of 2 perfect (and perfectly small) kids

With the pureed/mushy food thing, I found that even before teeth her gums were hard enough to do some chewing, esp. if I cut things up small. So I gave her veggie burgers, tiny broccoli, cut up apples, Cheerios, etc. Things with texture. What we were eating but cut up small. Those front teeth aren't for chewing anyhow, and she still have only 6 teeth at 18 months (all front teeth). Now she can eat almost anything. anon

Fast forward to now: my daughter is 2.5, still small, but she is growing at her own rate and the ped assures us she is doing great. I think she may have finally gotten into the 10th% for weight at her last checkup. She still wears some 18 mo. sized clothing, and some of the 2T and 3T things that relatives send just fall off her... but when I see her with other 2 year olds, she does not look disproportionately small. Will she likely be on the small side all her life? Yes. Can I live with that? You bet. She's healthy. That's what matters.

So there's my experience. As for my two cents:

1. If you haven't talked to your doctor in a while (since the 9 mo. checkup?) call and talk about your concerns. The office should be able to do a weight check. I would not hesitate to ask for this. Go with what your ped says. In my experience, they do not fool around when they think a baby is not growing on target.

2. The teeth are coming in and that will make a huge difference. Until then, and with your ped's blessing, you can try to feed your baby calorie-dense foods. Sweet potatoes, avocado, whole milk yogurt.

3. Don't worry about what size clothes your baby wears. And if she gets to wear her size 9 mo. things for a while? Saves you money.

4. Breathe. Babies grow in fits and starts, and perhaps yours is just tapering off naturally, according to her own schedule. It sounds like this is the case for yours. She sounds perfectly wonderful & healthy. But you want to be sure. So call your doctor. Mama of a wee one

look around and notice the huge variation in size of the people around you- both children and adults. that helps me remember that everyone is different and there is no need to compare. your daughter is growing at her own speed, and by all accounts is wonderfully healthy despite being on the small side of the scale. so, i'm offering encouragement- just enjoy her and don't worry about her size, as long as she's developing in every way.

my cousin had a petite little girl, and, she worried about her weight and was concerned because she could see her ribs, so she started feeding her very high fat, high calorie foods (including lots of chocolate millk!) well, the child quickly gained weight, in the form of body fat, and is now a plump teenager who struggles with her weight. i think it's best to let your daughters appetite be the guide to what she eats/how much she nurses, and trust her own body to call for what it needs. hang in there and good luck! warmly, mom of another tiny tot

If you've been weaning her, and replacing breastmilk or formula with mostly pureed fruit or baby cereals, she's probably not getting enough calories and fat per ounce in her diet. Try offering her more meat, yogurt and other higher-fat/higher- calorie healthy foods, like avocado. If she's not interested in more calorically dense foods, she's not ready to be weaned. Go back to breastfeeding more often, or if she's on formula increase the amount you offer.

All that said, it's entirely possible that your daughter is simply putting her energy into areas of development other than physical growth. It's common for babies this age to grow much slower or even lose a little weight as they become much more physically active (having learned to crawl, climb, stand and walk). But if she's been dropping significantly in percentiles, do think about whether her diet could be contributing. Not a Fan of Purees

20-month-old has never been above 1% on the charts!

My son is 20 months and is only 18-1/2 lbs. He's been underweight since birth, and recent tests reveal nothing abnormal. My husband is very thin, so it's probably genetic - but it's still a worry. He's never been above 1% on the charts! He eats pretty well most of the time, so it's hard to know why he's not gaining. We've encouraged self-feeding, and a variety of foods. We're now focused on a high calorie/high fat diet and are trying PediaSure (1 can/day diluted with whole milk), which I'm apprehensive about but just need to get some pounds on him. Oh, and we're trying to stay ''relaxed'' at mealtime, especially if he doesn't want to eat much. We've thought about talking to a nutritionist... Any suggestions on how to get his weight up without stressing would help! mom of little guy

Smoothie pops:

2 containers Full fat kids' yogurt like Yo Baby
A banana
a cup or two fresh or frozen fruit (strawberries are great,
raspberries delicious if the child doesn't mind the seeds)
1/2 cup orange juice if you have it

Blend ingredients in a blender.  Poor into ice cube trays or
small cups and put a plastic spoon in them or popsicle stick.

Getting food into skinny 1-year old

My son, now 1 year old, used to be in the 50% percentile in weight. At 10 months, he had slipped to the 5th percentile. We did a weight check a month later, and the doctor seemed ok, but since then we are very stressed about this weight/eating issue. I'm still giving him a lot of breast milk, and we are struggling with giving him enough of the right kind of other foods. He does eat a variety, but is picky and doesn't eat much in one sitting. We don't want to force him to eat more, but we are concerned about him not eating enough. He looks healthy, but especially my husband is concerned about invisible effects, such as brain development. Should I be cutting back more on breast milk so he's hungrier for other food? Any tips on great fattening foods? Any experiences with this type of weight fluctuation? Thanks!

I lowered my standards of what food I'd feed her. She likes commercial mac and cheese? Never mind I would consider it more chemical than food, fine, let her eat it. I also started adding more sugar and salt to get food to taste better and get her eating things. I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but it hlped. Ice cream is actually a good food, aside from all the sugar, it's dairy and high fat and kids like it. Our daughter finally started eating more. Now that she's 2 1/2 and can talk, she will frequently complain of a tummy ache and I notice she eats less when she has a tummy ache. So I wonder if her stomach was hurting her when she was a baby too and would cause her not to eat.

Good luck. It's kind of scary when a child won't eat and drops in percentile. I would say it's probably fine and your child will not starve himself and he'll eventually start to eat more. But do monitor his weight and if he loses weight again, consider asking the doctor to run tests because there are physical conditions that can cause kids to lose (or not gain) weight.

One other thing, look up ''occult UTI'', apparently that can be a factor in eating and weight gain. Websites will list other symptoms and you can see if that might be what's causing it. I thought it might have been in our case until the urine test came back negative. sarah

First, it turns out that he doesn't like bland food, and I had been making some wrong assumptions by serving him food that lacked flavor. Turns out he prefers flavor. Pasta WITH sauce. A tiny dot of ketchup on potatoes, eggs, or even broccoli increased his interest - he had previously refused eggs and potatoes until ketchup was introduced. I had a nice, rich soup that I thought might be too spicy for him, but it turns out he loved it. I mixed in a spoonful of plain yogurt to tone down the heat a little, though. If I'm trying to get a vegetable into him and he shows no interest (in our case, it has been green beans, peas and spinach) I puree it with plain full fat yogurt, and he scarfs it right down. We're into a lot of finger foods and self- feeding these days, but there are times when it seems not much is making its way from tray to mouth. On those occasions (a few meals per week) I puree some and spoon feed him, no big deal. I keep a little electric coffee grinder handy for pureeing things in small amounts, though I wonder if something like a magic bullet might be easier to clean. Plain full-fat yogurt is my standby. Good for adding flavor to vegetables, a dipping sauce for any food, and adding a familiar flavor and smooth texture to almost any puree.

Second is variety. At some point in every meal, he begins to lose interest and just wants to finger-paint or throw food off the tray. Previously, I thought that meant he was full, and ended the meal. However, I've since learned that he was just bored with the current course, and if I switch to a different course, or add dipping sauce (yogurt, salad dressing, or a little dot of Mayo or Ketchup) or move on to a ''dessert'' course such as fruit, I find renewed interest and he keeps eating.

Third, offer plenty of between-meal and after-meal snacks. For some reason, my little guy never lets me know when he's hungry. Yet when food is presented, he gets excited and interested, so I've learned to ''remind'' him about eating. An hour or two after a meal, when he's sitting on the floor playing, I'll bring out fruit, toast, applesauce, bagel, crackers or cheerios.

Fourth, peer pressure. He's in daycare, and our daycare provider has observed that he gets very interested in foods that he sees the other kids eating. If you're not doing daycare, you might want to experiment with picnic playdates. My daycare provider also uses cookie cutters to make shapes out of cheese and bread.

Here are some healthy, high-calorie foods that are some of our favorites: Avocados, Full-fat yogurt (and if you puree avocados with the yogurt, it makes what I call ''baby guacamole'' and little guy loves it!), high-calorie fruits like bananas, frozen peach slices (also great for teething), Whole grain toast with butter or cream cheese (we like Alvarado St. Kids Bread), Whole grain frozen waffles with butter (we skip the syrup), bagels with butter or cream cheese (especially when teething), Yams - baked, boiled or fried, Hummus, pasta however you like to make it for yourself, and I did an experiment modifying a banana bread recipe - left out all of the sugar, added just a little molasses, and let the bananas supply most of the sweetness, and made it into mini muffins. He loves those. We also give him whatever meat we're eating, cut up into pea-size or smaller pieces (kitchen scissors are very handy for this). When I make hamburgers, I make a finger-shaped one for the baby. It fits into his fist perfectly.

I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of this, but only recently, and I feel like I need more variety in my menu offerings. I am looking forward to reading the other responses in hopes of more ideas! L

I also tried forcing, pleading, and chasing my son around but in the end, he'll eat when he wants to eat as much as he wants to eat. When he's hungry he'll eat. I provide ample opportunities and choices for him. We also give him ice cream whenever he wants, butter and/or olive oil anything we can, and supplement with Pediasure (recommended by the Nutritionist we also saw).

Remember that when they start crawling they are more interested in moving and not eating. Even now, my son cannot sit still for more than 5 minutes. I know this is situations-specific but I hope it helps a little. In the end, if you're both uncomfortable with his lack of weight gain, tell your doctor. Anonymous

Once he starts toddling, the kid may be too busy to eat. I fed mine on the playground as he ran by (you have to bring enough food for new friends). And, to the horror of my friends, I fed him like a cat, leaving food out for him. But that's later - at one he can barely eat by himself.

I noticed that finicky eaters had mothers who insisted on good table manners.

Hope I'm remembering correctly from so long ago. At one my kid ate hardly anything but Cheerios, frozen peas, breast milk, and a very brief (two month period) of eating babyfood. He was fat, but I hung out with a mom of frighteningly finicky eaters. I hung out with mothers of finicky eaters.

Small 9-month-old is too busy to eat

i need some help with a very busy 9 month old. she is extremely small - less than 5% on the charts. she was born normal size, but we are struggling with getting her to eat. she isn't starving, she just can't bring herself to focus on food during the day. here is what i think is going on and what i need advice on:

she has a 2 year old brother who she adores. she watches him constantly. she really wants to walk, too, and is excited she can stand up. so when i put her in her chair to feed her, she gets a few bites in (since she is obviously hungry) then once she has enough to curb the hunger she starts to stand up - even when strapped in! she is thin and tall and works herself out of her straps. i put her back down and gently say, ''no, no.'' but she can't stop. she doesn't have the capacity to understand that. all she can see is her brother and she wants to stand.

the problem is, she is so hungry and makes up for the calories lost at night with 2-3 bottles. my husband is tired (i can't get back to sleep after the bottle so he is doing it. oh yeah, she cut me off the breast a few weeks back since it was taking to long - even in private).

i am just having a tough time with her and sometimes i get really frustrated since any type of food or milk is a balance of keeping her involved in a game, but not too excited so she gets distracted. anyone else have this issue and were you able to solve it? my son was sleeping thru the night already by about 6 months and i can't deal with it much longer. she is really sleeping well (weissbluth baby at two good naps -one at 9am and 1pm then bed before 7pm, up for day at 7am), so it isn't a nap/sleep issue (she goes right back to sleep after late night bottles). just a calorie issue. thanks. beth

Underweight 14-month-old - Pediasure Alternatives

My 14-month-old is 5th percentile for height but 2 pounds below the minimum target weight. I met with a nutritionist at Kaiser who said that I need to increase my child's calories by 110-260 per day to catch up. She mentioned that Pediasure would be one of the supplements I could give, in addition to a higher-calorie diet, with lots of fats. My question is, are there alternatives to Pediasure? It's just that I looked at the ingredients and it's so full of sugar, which I'm trying to keep low. Anything out there without too much sugar and no trans fats? Skinny Petite Mom

Pediasure has about twice the calories of milk, if I remember correctly (we did use it for a while when the milk sensitivity went away -- it became an addiction that took a while to break - and my daughter still won't drink white milk unless it is from her cereal), so it really doesn't take that much to get the calories up.

My daughter is now 4 and is about 25% on the weight chart (still slim enough to wear '9-months pants' to soccer, but big enough that my doctor doesn't give me grief. -been there there's a thread/''tribe'' at mothering.com forums, called ''Parents of 'small' or 'skinny' babies'': http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=92716

pages and pages of discussion of dealing with slow growth and small size and medical obsession with ''disease-ifying'' it, as well as looking into the issues that might contribute if there IS a problem (allergies, celiac disease...). my rant on pediasure is post #297. cheap oils, corn syrup, cooked milk protein and vitamin/minerals. and it gets them used to the idea of a ''milkshake'' being good for them.

good for high calories: oils: olive, coconut (my kids will eat it off the spoon), cod liver oil (comes in flavors, now, peach, orange, lemon), flax seed. foods: avocado, coconut, dried fruits, nuts, cheeses, salmon.

and try supplementing in water with trace minerals. i use ''ConcenTrace.'' http://www.traceminerals.com/products/drops.html just 2 drops/8oz, i slip it into their cups or the water jug on the table, and they (5yo and 2yo) don't notice it anymore (initially the 5yo did). i also add it to cooked cereal, soup, pancake batter, ...anything that has liquid cooked into it. it is utah sea salt with the sodium removed, so it has all the trace minerals that are lacking in our soils today (food today has ~25% of the mineral content of food grown 100 years ago). signed: mama of little/skinny babies

Worried About My Small Toddler

My 21 month old boy is on the small side (20/30th percentile). He's been small for his age since 6 months and I have always worried about his size even though he's fine medically. I'm looking for some reassurance here. Will he always be tiny? Has anyone had a small toddler that has shot up later? My family is on the small size (me= 5'2'') but my husband is 6 ft tall. Our Doctor says there is really no way to know and that he is right on track developmentally regardless of his small size. Its just so hard when EVERY little boy his age or several months younger is much bigger then him. It breaks my heart. I sometimes think its because he doesn't drink much milk. He never did--even as an infant he just didn't guzzle it down (bottle or breast). These days it's around 6 ounces a day at most. But our Doctor says milk is for calcium, not growth. He eats/sleeps well and is developmentally right on target, but I can't help worrying that he will grow up to be a tiny man. There's nothing wrong with that --most of my male relatives are shorter. I just wish I met other boys his age that are his size. Any moms out there with ''little boys''? Advice and reassurance would be great. -Mom of a Little Guy

If it's helpful, I broke my concern down into two issues: 1) Is there a health problem (besides not drinking enough milk), such as lead poisoning or an undetected illness? 2) Will his height negatively impact his self-esteem/success etc.? Make sure you check with your pediatrician and maybe ask if you can do a lead test and/or bone scan (to see how the bones are growing) and that might quell your concerns about #1. Also, a friend of ours mentioned that height often skips a generation; our son has a grandfather who is 5'8'' (and a male cousin who is also 25%), so that may be the reason.

For #2 - we're finding that even though our son is shorter than all of his peers (except one or two girls), he still commands great respect from friends, perhaps due to his verbal abilities, sense of humor, and high energy level. We even coach him on what to say if people call him ''baby'' - ''Actually I'm four and a 1/2 and will be five in August. How old are you?''

Also, there's still the possibility of a big growth spurt later on! I hope this is helpful! Good things come in small packages

Tiny one-year-old son

My one year old son has never been bigger than the 25th% for height, but has gradually dropped to the 5th. This is quite alarming since his dad and I are both 6 feet tall and his 3 year old brother has always been at the 90th. Also, he's always been a lackluster eater so his wt. stays around the 25th and he has a number of food allergies. His pediatrician isn't worried as he's still in a ''normal'' window/pattern. One friend who's a nurse recommended we see a pediatric endocrinologist. I'm hoping someone out there can share their similar experience (w/their now 6'5'' son!?) so I can worry a little less. cv

Well now he is 3 and is 50% for weight and 70% for height. Somewhere in there, he caught up.

So my advice is that if your baby is on track developmentally and the growth is following some general arc on the chart, let it go for a bit, especially if you're not worried. If you do start to worry at any point, you can always go see a specialist but it doesn't sound like you're at that point right now.

Good luck! Been there

Underweight 9-month-old

my son recently had his 9 month checkup. he weighed in at 18.5 and 28.5 inches. it put him at 15% for his weight and 50% for his height. no one is concerned but me. our ped said not to worry...PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP. he is our second, and i am totally lost as to what to feed him. we are super healthy, organic eating, but my lil guy will have his good days and bad days. for a day or two he'll eat really well, and then he'll fall off for a few days. he'll only have a couple of bites and than he gets frustrated. and then i give him something else, and again a couple of bites and he's frustrated. any advice would be gladly accepted....PLEASE. i am running out of ideas for food and snacks! he is teething, doing well w/ it. he is learning how to walk and he is super active. he is a very happy baby, except when he wants to eat and when he's tired.... go figure. thanks and i can't wait for the responses!

And the pediatrician was right. Somewhere in there his weight caught up to his height. Now he's 4, and his weight and height are both at about the 85th percentile. He eats almost everything. He's an amazingly healthy kid (I've been sick more times this last year than he has).

I think if you just keep on as you are -- offering him milk or formula, and healthy food, at regular intervals (including whatever it is you've noticed he usually likes) he'll be fine. Really. Americans get a little too worried about underweight kids, unless the child's weight is steadily falling off the curve (meaning the percentile doesn't stay steady, but keeps getting smaller -- if your child's weight stays at the 15th percentile he's developing steadily). Karen

Low weight 14-month-old twin

I have twin 14 month old girls. One girl is a great eater and the other hardly eats anything. I am very worried about the picky eater as she is barely 20 lbs. I feel like I must be doing something wrong and would like to hear about other toddlers eating habits and schedules. I still give my girls an 8oz bottle of milk upon waking and then breakfast usually about 1 hour later. When is the right time to stop the bottle? Could this be contributing to not eating solid foods? Her usual breakfast consists of 4 bites of either french toast, waffles or cereal. The only fruit and veggies she will eat is out of a jar. I would love to hear from other mothers who have a similar issues...... Sandra

18 month old under weight

Our 18 month old daughter has never been a very big eater, and ever since going from formula to solids has been VERY picky about what she eats. For a time I was very frustrated by it, but she is healthy and happy, so I am trying to ''go with the flow''. Here's the problem: At her 1 year appt she was at the 30th percentile for height and about the 10th percentile for weight (she weighed 18 lbs.) She came in the next month for a virus and was just a few ounces away from 20lbs. When she came in for her 15 mth well-child check she had lost about a pound and was down to 19lbs. This put her between the 5th and 10th percentile. I should also mention that she was walking well by this age and is VERY active. Her doctor put her on two cans of Pediasure a day to help her gain weight. I was fine with that since she does not eat much at one sitting and does not like a wide variety of foods (even though we have tried to expose her to many different things.) I felt the supplement was needed to help maintain good nutrition.

She just went in again for a weight check (she is now 18 mths) and has gained about 1 lb. Her height right now is 30 1/2 inches. Her doctor says she should weigh at least 23lbs and has told me to give her exclusively Pediasure, no milk and no water as far as liquids to drink.

Should I really be concerned about this? I like this doctor, but my daughter is healthy and her height is progressing fine. Her father was very thin as a child and didn't put on much weight until after 35. Both grandmothers are also very thin. Our child is smaller than some of the other children in her daycare, but I think she is just petite. She does eat chicken nuggets and fish and likes different kinds of fruit. I think she is eating better then she has in the past.

I don't want to go against my doctors advice, but I'd like to hear some other opinions on this. Danielle

Another pediatrician in my daughter's practice sent her in for a bunch of bloodwork and other tests. All of which came back normal. -not stressed

A little background: I'm 5' and my husband is 5'6S. We both come from petite families; my mother-in-law is 4'10S and my sister-in-law, who's 16, is also very tiny for her age (she could pass for a 13 year old). My son is almost 22-months old and he's barely on the growth chart; his stats are 29'' and (almost!) 16lbs. (still facing backwards in his carseat!). He's not a very picky eater and also extremely active; he just can't seem to put any weight on. He is most definitely healthy and happy, so in order to not excessively worry, I'm constantly repeating to myself what I keep hearing from others: Rhe'll eat when he's hungry - he just has small genes - he'll plump up when he's older - be careful what you wish for, etc.S

Since infancy, he's been through a series of regular visits (and tests!) with specialists because his pediatrician is (obviously) concerned about his growth and made the referrals. The endocrinologist we see at CPMC in SF seems to be fine with his gradual, albeit slow, growth; outside of his physical size, he's healthy and developing RnormallyS (language, motor skills, etc.). She feels that his size could very well be genetic, and he may have a late growth spurt (as late as the end of high school). The gastroenterologist, however (also at CPMC), isn't as comfortable with his slow growth and prescribed the same routine as your daughter's: no milk, exclusively Pediasure. Taking the milk out of his diet has been difficult as he's finally drinking more and more without our asking. When we started the Pediasure (with literally a splash of it in his milk, in an attempt to wean him off of it), he refused it completely and didn't drink anything but water for two days! After experimenting with different flavors, we found that he likes chocolate, so although he's not drinking the 16oz. that the specialist would like or completely off milk, he's at least asking for Rchocolate milkS more regularly. Now, it may be my imagination, but in those few days, he actually did feel a little heavier! We were still in the process of trying to get him to drink Pediasure exclusively when we received some news -

Yesterday, the results of his allergy tests came back and it turns out that he's allergic to egg whites and milk! He's not highly allergic to the point where he'd break out, but because his allergies are in the low-moderate levels, it's enough for the gastroenterologist to suspect that the internal reactions are affecting his digestion/absorption of nutrients/calories, and possibly, inhibiting weight gain.

What this means for my little man is that he, for this Rtest periodS of two months till he sees the specialist again, cannot have the things he loves (that contain whey, lactose or casein): mac & cheese, cheese, yogurt, scrambled eggs, pizza, ice-cream, pudding...the list goes on. It's a consolation that there are soy products and such that we can use as substitutes, so we'll see what happens.

Like you, I don't want to go against the doctor's advice, but because my son is healthy and RnormalS otherwise (and also because I'm still in shock from this news!), I can't help but be a little reluctant. The way I look at it though (as the information slowly sinks in and I accept it), this RplanS won't hurt because he's still eating and getting calories and nutrition. He will definitely not like this change in his diet, but if it helps unravel the mystery of his weight (or lack thereof), we'll all just make the adjustment. If nothing happens, then back to the drawing board.

I'm probably being more dramatic about the news of his allergies than I need to be, and I realize that it could be worse, but, wow, those test results were so unexpected! I think it's just going to take a while to sink in. Perhaps your daughter may have a similar allergy? Worth researching if you have the time. Here's a link I've found helpful: http://www.foodallergy.org/

Good luck and please feel free to email me!

Healthy(!) little guy's mom, Anna

Underweight 10 mo. old refuses food

We have a 10 month old boy who has been falling off the chart since he was 2 months old. He is below the 3rd percentile now for weight.His height and weight were both 50th when he was born and his height is still average. Neither my husband nor I am petite. He is hitting all his milestones just fine and is very active.

He seems to have had reflux as an infant but was not diagnosed at the time(breastfeeding was always very erratic and uncomfortable for him and he never took the bottle). He wasn't interested in starting solids for the longest time and so we didn't push him. But since his growth was slowing, we finally started to worry around 8 months old when he still didn't want to eat solid food.

When he finally decided to start eating solids he would sometimes eat pureed table food (two bites) but mostly only wanted finger food. However, with anything that doesn't completely dissolve, he would gag and vomit all that he had drank/eaten. He now eats only two things: Trader Joes Vegie Sticks and Cheerios. Both dissolve completely. We have been referred to the nutritionist, gastrointerologist, and the pediatric occupational therapist (but the appt. is not for another 6 weeks!).The GI has told me to wean and has him drinking (from sippy cup)high calorie soy formula with added calorie booster so that what he does drink will be very high fat/calorie. She also prescribed prilosec for the suspected reflux.

I have a feeling, due to his inability to handle anything that doesn't completely dissolve,that he has some sort of texture sensitivity or oral motor problem going on. Has anyone else out there experienced these problems, in this combination? Any suggestions regarding very fattening finger foods that dissolve?

How can I monitor my baby's weigth & height?

Dear all, I am trying to monitor the growth rate of my son, almost 4 mos, who is brest-feeded. I am interested in checking his weight and height on a 1 wk basis. However, it seems that the only scales available are at the pediatricians premises. Does anybody know where I can find a place where to check my baby (e.g. pharmacies, ....) without taking an appointment to the doctor?