hoping for reassurance -granddaughter growing but very slowl

My son was seven weeks premature. He was tiny at birth. I didn't (and still don't) get concerned until the physician says to be concerned. Sounds like her pediatrician is ok-ish. So I would too. I would be asking him/her detailed questions about what should be done to "gain more each week."

As an aside. Son was in the 95% at one year old. Now he is 32, just over 5'10" tall, and a fit and healthy weight. So, IMHO, what's going on now with weight isn't any indication of what size she'll be as a child and adult.

Anyhow....grandma...don't worry, be happy (if you can)!

I was born a bit early and under 5lb.
I gained weight slowly - but I’ve always been healthy! Though I’m still only 5’3” and petite lol.

I’d just make sure she is seeing her pediatrician regularly - try not to worry! Hugs

I had twins at 34 weeks 5 days. They were each a little under 6 lbs at birth, and lost weight once home and got down to the low 5's. They were sleepy and scrawny, but I just kept chugging along with breast feeding and supplemental formula feeding the best I could. It took a little time, but they did just fine and turned into regular weight bouncing babies. DD was more petite at birth than DS and grew up to be about 5'1". DS was a bit bigger at birth and grew up to be 6 feet tall and big and strapping. They both tracked on the chart in their own pattern and I remember the ped telling me, as someone else mentioned, that they basically just look for them to be on the chart and to have consistent growth in length and weight, whatever percentile that is. Hang in there Grandma!!

ETA: just wanted to add that my granddaughter was born full-term but was petite. She is still petite but growing and developing normally and at her own pace. She definitely looks a bit smaller than her peers, but seems to be catching up. It's funny how differently shaped kids are but then by college it mostly evens out!

Yes.

My son was born with a defect that made him fail to thrive. I both nursed him and drip-bottle fed him through a tube while he slept until he received surgery at a year and a half to correct a birth defect. 

The only kids smaller than my boy in early school were two very tiny Vietnamese girls (whose parents were petite). As his heritage includes height ranges from very petite to very tall, we weren't sure what to expect his final adult height would be. He's now full grown, just under 6 feet tall, and certifiably, highly intelligent.

His pediatrician made me feel so bad when she first realized he was failing to thrive, I actually had to excuse myself and leave the office. When I came back, she actually apologized to me and we were then able to develop a plan which included specialists and surgery.

It's traumatic to experience your child/grandchild struggle so hard. Big, gentle hugs to you.

My granddaughter has always been ‘petite’, and was always on the low levels on the percentage chart. Although no one was officially concerned I couldn’t help but be a bit worried. But now she’s on solids and is bulking up - for her - she’s still light-ish for her age but she’s super alert, doing all the things she should and we just all agree that she’ll just always be on the petite side physically.
There are such huge variations between babies and what’s “normal” as I’m sure you know so please try not to worry as hard as that is 😊

Congratulations flanz ( once again ) on your precious granddaughter. Please try not to worry about her. Always remember that you have hundreds of peas looking over her, and you. 💗

Well, easy enough for us all to say "don't worry". Harder to do that though!

But...try not to worry, especially if she's healthy and alert. You said she's mostly having breast milk... if that's the case that the majority of her milk is breast milk then be sure your dd is able to express milk from each side long enough to get the hind milk. That's where the fat is, which is important for all babies but might be especially important for your granddaughter.

I was just reading a FB post from a friend whose baby was absolutely tiny when she was born, and back then the doctor said "failure to thrive" which of course made the mom feel like she was the worst mother ever. The reason she was posting on FB was to talk about the college search that they're starting on for the failure to thrive baby. lol. She's grown up into a lovely young lady, totally normal in height and weight. 

I was 5’ tall until I was measured properly and am 5’1” but there is no difference in one inch.

My son swallowed mecomium too and had to be suctioned. I found out years later because no one would tell me anything at the time.

First, let me say that my daughter went into diabetic ketoacidosis the day after I knew for certain that I was pregnant with my son. She was 18 months old. When my son was born, he appeared very healthy. It took several months before his serious medical issues became apparent. (Hence the misunderstanding with the pediatrician.) Let's just say that being their mom has been an interesting ride. 

I have tremendous faith and a God-given intuition that I can't really explain. I'll just quickly sum it up by saying that I had absolute conviction about each child before I became pregnant with them. I knew immediately when I was pregnant, long before any test could be taken.

It's because of that faith that I knew that they would both be "alright", even though each still has continuing medical issues. (It's difficult to talk about or explain because to date, only my late husband and my kids show any real understanding, and that understanding has come only because that's what life with me has been like. I apologize if this is confusing. It's not you, it's my lack of ability to explain the unexplainable.)

Medical doctors decided my son would be alright sometime soon after he got surgery.


He weighed over 7 pounds at birth and weighed something like 18 pounds at 16 months. Nursing plus a milk drip had sustained him until then, but when Dr's took him off the drip, he began to seriously fail and required immediate further measures.

DESPITE what the pediatrician claimed, I did not have to stop nursing him either before or after surgery.  I can only recommend from my own experience that your daughter continue to nurse as long as she is able. 

Pediatric ICU is a blast and a half. Not. Don't be too worried that your little one has been knocked out by the experience. That won't last. 

As for growth, my boy had surgery at 16 months. By age 5, the only kids in his kindergarten class smaller than he was (albeit he was younger than most because of his birthdate) where the 2 girls mentioned. He was little for a long time. Until he wasn't. 


Doctors unintentionally can add a great deal of stress.  As long as your grandbaby girl is alert and curious, and continues to eat/poop regularly, try to let that ease your minds a bit. And once again, I suggest continued nursing for as long as possible. That bonding time with Mom is the most healing thing possible for her.

At her age no one has any idea how much she will grow to be.  My DGD was 5 weeks early and is now 10 months old and in the 80th percentile for weight and 75th for height.  

Her pediatrician is the best one to know if she is on track.  Infants vary so much.  My other DGD's bestie is one week younger than her and was born at 21 weeks gestation and less than 1 lb.  DGD was full term and 7 lbs.  Now at 3 years old you cannot tell who was full term and who was born early.  They are the same height and weight.  One is verbally stronger and one is physically stronger.

Some babies sleep a lot at first and then when they mature more they forget to sleep at all.

Anyway long answer short, if her pediatrician is concerned then follow the pediatrician's recommendations.  Otherwise she's only been in the world a few weeks.  3 months from now she may not resemble the baby you see today.

My daughter was born 7 lb 7 oz. Very normal birth. Except for the first few months or so, she was a slow grower and has always been at the very bottom of her growth chart, like below 5%tile for height and weight.

Only recently at 13 years old. Has she gotten into the double digit percentile-wise. She is petite, healthy and fierce competitor. Nobody should mess with her!

My mom is barely 5 ft. My mother-in-law is about 5'2. But I am almost 5'6 and my husband is 6'1.

Only since being in middle school has she been taller than her friend. They were always the two shortest kids in their grade. Both of my kids have been slim and petite but her the most. No doctor has been concerned because they are both on their personal growth charts and continue to be.

I actually had to have a talk with her when I realized a few years ago that she was very proud of her short stature and being small. I knew that there was a possibility that she could eventually hit a more average height when she hits puberty and I didn't want her to think of being more average size as a negative thing versus being petite. Now she says that she likes being small but she might be tall one day and that's good too! 😁

Our pedi wanted dd1 to grow quicker as well. My milk was super thin and I didn’t have much so she was also supplemented with formula. She dropped a lot of weight to start and put it on slowly. We had a scale at home and would weigh her before / after feeds to make sure she was gaining. It was stressful. And my dh is a pedi and kept saying to me that he thought it was all ok but we were going through the expected motions. She was 3rd percentile until 3 years old and then went to 50th. When dd2 came out smaller, dropped weight and didn’t put it on quickly, ended up at 3rd percentile, we didn’t worry at all. She ended up at 50th by age 3. As long as there is some gain. But really the pedi is the one to listen to to make sure baby is doing well.

Both my kids were full term and in the 5th or lower percentile according to the charts. They ate well but we’re just tiny.

My oldest is 11 and in 6th grade and is just at 5’ and almost 80 lbs. my youngest is 6 and is following the same growth pattern my oldest was on.

I’d say not to worry as long as she’s eating often and sleeping “normally” for her age.