My youngest was born on April 22 of this year. She has a few special needs and weighed about 4 lbs the day we took her home from the hospital. She was 4lbs 14oz when she was born but had some difficulties feeding. Every time I take her in for a checkup(which has almost been every week since she was born), he whips his little weight chart out and shows me that she is not even on the curve and he says she is too small and not putting enough weight on. I've had to supplement my breast milk with Alimentum to help her put on weight. Right now she is almost 3 months old and weighs just under 8 lbs. Everywhere I go I get comments about how tiny she is. She eats just fine and has a little problem with breast milk or formula coming out of her nose right after she is finished. But even that has slowed down quite a bit.

I guess I just was wondering if any of you mamas have or had a really small baby and when did he/she start to catch up to other babies their age? I'm trying not to worry so much about it because other than that she is happy and she does eat enough. The constant comments about how small she is do bother me though.

Well, my eldest was rather small, though not to the extent your daughter is.

One thing about that weight chart...I can almost guarantee you the weight chart your doctor is saying she should be on was made from at-term, 100% healthy, formula-fed babies. And your daughter doesn't fit that mold, does she? She cannot be expected to be a way she just isn't. Tell the doctor to stuff his ****ed growth chart. Two things about doctors: 1) They are pathologists. This means they're trained to look for something wrong. 2) They are generalists. They have to be. In order to look for something wrong, they compare your child to a general idea of the way things are "supposed" to be. It's a good thing in some ways, but it can also cause doctors to see problems that aren't really problems, but merely a variation on normal.

The fact that he's already had you supplement just because she didn't weigh enough is a red flag to me, TBH. She's a baby, for crying out loud, not a pig you're fattening up for market! Your milk is the absolute best thing for her to have, and as long as she was growing on her own, and you had no reason to suspect a poor supply (c'mon, Mama, you know what a hungry baby looks like), why give a special needs baby anything less than the best, just so she can gain weight?

With your baby, as with any baby, what you need to be on the lookout is a steady progression on her terms. You probably already know this, but I'm going to say it anyway. She may not ever really "catch up", or if she does it could be years in the future. But if she is making progress, that's what matters.

As for other people commenting on how tiny she is...Let 'em. People are dumb. You probably also get people thinking she's a boy, right? (Or is that really only my kids...)

She is precious, by the way. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/SabraEllen/Smilies/aniheartbeatpink.gif

Thank you. I think I just needed to hear that from another mama. My husband's attitude all along has pretty much been "screw 'em" and that she will eat how much she wants when she wants and grow at her own pace. She has already been through a bunch of tests for different disorders and all have come up negative. We should have results from chromosome testing in a few weeks. I wasn't too happy about the formula thing either but I guess I just get intimidated by doctors for some reason. I put it off for a whole month before I finally caved into pressure from the doctor and started supplementing.

Your ped is NUTS! She has DOUBLED her weight in 3 mos. That is GREAT! My last babe was very big. He didn't double birth weight until his 1st birthday.

She started out tiny, so of course she isn't on the growth curve. But she is gaining weight, and gaining well. 4 pounds in 3 months is really good for a full term babe eating well.

I just wanted to agree with the previous poster - since she started at "below average" (under 5 #, really I think the average baby weighs 7-8# at least according to my lamaze teacher), there is no way she is going to automatically catch up to the "average norm" for a baby her age. I would merely point out to the dr. that she HAS already doubled her weight from birth and the average baby only triples his/her weight at a year old. She sounds like she (and you) are doing fine and as long as she's regularly peeing and pooping and not vomiting/refluxing too much I'd say let her be.

I think she's beautiful! My second dd was 8.10 at birth and now, at 21 months is only about 21 pounds. I *always* hear how tiny she is- she's short..but I'm slowly becoming immune to the comments:) You will, too!

Thank you all for your input. I feel alot better. I am trying to ignore the comments. I had a woman at the market today tell me that her son weighed 2lbs when he was born and now at age 18 is 6'4 and 265lbs!

Was she premature? My son will be 3 months old this week and is probably close to 9 pounds - he weighed 3 pounds 5 ounces at birth. He isn't on the growth chart yet either..but he is healthy and growing. If she is eating well and gaining weight I wouldn't worry about. My daughter btw was 3 pounds 13 ounces at birth and she did eventually catch up (she's 17 months now). She is still a bit on the short side but she is nice and chunky and everyone is always shocked when I say she's a preemie. I think the last time we checked she was like 30% for height and 50% for weight.

Hang in there....I know how those doctors can make you worry. I know with Beth the doctor demanded I give her vitamins along with my breastmilk or else switch to 100% formula. I tried and the vitamins made her sick. I told her doc and he pitched a fit until I finally just lied and said "Okay...I'll give them to her"

She was a little premature but the main issue was that during the pregnancy, I had an ultrasound at around 29 weeks and found out that she was not growing at the rate she should have been. The doctors questioned the due date of course, thinking I was wrong about my last period. But I was positive it was accurate. So I went for weekly ultrasounds and they found that she just wasn't thriving so we made the decision to induce at a little over 36 weeks. At that point they estimated she weighed over 4 lbs and everything should be OK. I believe they called it intrauterine growth retardation. I have no idea why it happened. I read a little about it and smoking was mentioned as a cause but I've never had a cigarette in my life.

When she was born, we found out that she had several birth defects(including an extra finger and several deformed fingers and toes) and had a problem feeding. The doctor told us that it was also a possibilty there may be developmental delays as well but we would just have to wait and see. So the first few days, I pumped and fed it to her with a syringe. She eventually latched on but just never had a good appetite.

It increased over the first few weeks but then we had a problem with milk just pouring out of her nose when she was finished. That still happens but not as much and not as often. I have yet another appointment next week so I will see what he says this time.

Hey mama, it sounds like she's doing FINE! She's steadily gaining, and that is great!!! Ava (older dd) didn't double her birth weight until she was almost a year old. Our babes are only two days apart and Elana hasn't quite doubled her birth weight yet either. She was 5#8oz the day we left the hospital (considerably larger than yours but for comparison on growth rate) and now she's between 10 and 11 pounds. People often remark on how small she is, but I know - she's got chub it's just not visible unless she's nekkid! ;) She was also a bit premie - was induced at 36.2 days and mama was hospitalized for two weeks prior due to PIH/pre-e. She did not have birth defects or other special needs, but we've had feeding issues from the beginning and are still trying to get off the nipple shield (about 65% there).

In fact, the rotten nurse who checked us out told me to "just give her a bottle" because it was so much easier for her (and for us, we were doing an involved feeding process with EBM at the breast w/a syringe etc). When I told her no, we were following the lactation consultant's instructions through the weekend until our follow up appt on Monday, the nurse said "well don't be surprised when you come back to find she's lost a lot more weight and will need to be admitted for failure to thrive". :eek: :shake: :vent: Ugh!!! People are SO stupid sometimes!!! I was so upset, and reported her to the LC supervisor. Anyway, I digress...

Rather than supplementing her with formula, I suggest you get a good breast pump and use it after every feeding. Then take the EBM and use a supplementer while at the breast or do what we did with the syringe. You just put it in the corner of her mouth when she's latched on and slowly supplement AS she nurses the breast. I can even send you a syringe if you don't have yours anymore. Every ounce of formula you're giving her is much more milk that your breasts aren't making!!!

As for milk coming out of her nose - this has happened to LaLa a few times too...their tummies are SO small, and a lot of times premies can have reflux so the milk just doesn't stay down when they get close to full. Nurse her more often and for a shorter time. One good thing is that mama milk is probably one of the easier things to come through the nose. ;)

Do you have LLL where you live? Get to a meeting asap! You might also look for a lactation consultant if you can find one.

Bottom line, go armed to your next appt with a lot of information to back you up. Supplementing a baby with formula is not the answer, getting creative and watching her steady growth is. You instinctively know how she's doing mama. Trust your gut. :hug:

I'm trying to remember when Gedalya (4lb at birth) doubled his weight...It could have been at about 3 mo. I was so excited - I've never had a baby gain so much to double like that - and my babies have both tripled! which is mind boggling to me. I'd ignore the dr. if she is nursing enough, wetting and maing enough dirty diapers and isn't fussy, then she is probably just fine.