Medical peas, need advice on son

The CDC calculator puts him in the 3% and in the underweight category.

Had he been consistently small all his life or has he fallen off the growth curve?

Does he take any medications?

One of mine at the same age is on the exact opposite end of the growth chart at 5’6” and about 130lbs. One of our cousins at 12yo last month is as small as your son. Someone is always the outlier. Sometimes that is a problem and sometimes it isn’t. I would want to know whether a cause could be identified. My child is big like her father and the cousin is just small and all her other indicators are normal including her genetic testing.

This is what would concern me (and our pediatrician, for the record). A child who just happens to be consistently small, or even has a one time bump to a lower spot on the growth curve but then stays consistent - no big deal. But unless a child is overweight, he should not be losing weight at that age. (Some minor fluctuations such as we all go through are fine.) Keep pushing for answers, mama.

My son turned 11 in July. He is 55.2 inches and 62 inches and between 5-10% on the chart. Just a little more than your son.
My daughter is very small for her age. She was just asked if she is going into 1st grade and I had to tell the questioner that she is actually going into 4th grade. She is very low on the curve but is on her curve, about 3-5%.

The Dr. did do a bone scan last year on my son and this year on my DD. They x-ray the wrist to see if there is still space between the bones meaning there is still room to grow and the growth plate isn't closed. Both my kids are fine.

What is your family history like? DH and I were both very skinny as kids and on the small side. My mom is barely 5ft and MIL is 5'2" (did I use the ' correctly?). So there is definitely 'short' potential. But my DH is 6'1" and I'm 5'5' so lots of of potential either way. DH is still very thin about 175-180 pounds even though he eats a ton and is muscular. I remember looking at a growth chart in middle school and realizing that I was under weight. When puberty finally kicked in the Polish genes surfaced and while I was still thin no longer underweight.

You should be able to look up a growth chart online. Our office just switched to an online system which I love. It only has about 3-4yrs of data but is really nice. I have their younger stats on a few different pieces of paper and wish o could input it all myself!

Consistent growth curve with a balanced height to weight ratio is what we’ve been told too. My son is at about a 5% (or is it negative 5) either way it’s been consistently going up ever so slightly for the last couple of years and that’s the key. 

Ds is 13 years old and just finally reached 60lbs and my ped is happy with his progress (some significant hospi within last 8 years impeded progress) She’d like him to have a bit more reserves to fight again if he ends up in hospital but she’s not overly concerned. We do try to add extra calories to his diet, he is encouraged to eat things like cream based smoothie, peanut butter on anything and so on. Our dietician/OT (way back when he was 2 years old) always said it’s our job as parents to provide healthy food and it’s his job to decide if he eats it or not, never force him to eat more and he’ll eventually gain weight so we’ve gone with that monitoring his growth consistently.

That being said that’s after making sure there’s no other health issues causing low weight. For my son, he was a preemie, weighing in at 1lb 9ounces so he’s had a lot of catching up to do. You’ve said he’s lost weight so maybe I’d get a dietician involved if you can, or a second opinion at least. There will be fluctuations but another opinion can’t hurt. 

That is small & I would be concerned, especially about losing some weight.

In my family, the one child is almost 11, is 62" and weighs 110 lbs.  

The 4 year old is 40" and weighs 50 lbs.  This one is carrying a bit extra weight but is very healthy & very active.

Good luck!

We are a military family that uses military docs. I find most docs are hesitant to use specialists and often try to take care of issue themselves unless you push for specialty care.

I would make an appt to specifically discuss his weight loss. I would ask about markers that would cause concern, or reasons why the ped feels the weight loss is ok. I would point out the downward trend and be ready to answer questions about his diet and exercise. And then I’d say things like “I’m concerned about this”. “I’d feel better if we investigated this further.” And I’d push for a consult with an endocrinologist. You can also ask for a second opinion.

My DD was a failure to thrive baby due to severe jaundice and I feel like she was watched far longer than necessary once the jaundice was resolved. When I asked about it, the ped said she just wanted to keep an eye on her, but all was tracking well. She was then a small, chubby toddler who was then the tallest in her K class, then small all through middle school, then grew to 5’10” by the time she was 15. My BFF (also military family) had 2 sons who were at the very, very bottom of the chart. She really got harassed about it, but both her and her DH are small and were skinny kids. They xrayed the boys’ hands and discovered they had a lot of growing to do. Sure enough—those skinny boys who were 100 lbs in HS shot up about 18 and both are average height now. I actually think #1 is about 6’ tall and #2 is about 5’10”.

Your DS may just be small, but you are well within your rights to want reassurance about it.

My grandson is 11 yrs, 5 months. Wearing shoes at the doctors last week, he was 63 inches, 87 lbs. He is tall and thin.

He does have a tall (6’4) dad and a short mom (my DD) who is only 5’2”. Years ago his pediatrician projected him to be about 6’1”, we suspect he will be somewhat taller.