we had our one year check-ups! babies measured at...

Lilly was 27.5 inches and 18 pounds 6 ounces. Jack was 29 inches and 18 pounds 13 ounces. A lot smaller than I thought. The doctor said a lot of time premature babies are still playing catch-up at a year, he would expect them to be bigger if they had been 7 or so pounds at birth. Jack was 7lb 8oz and Lilly was 6lb 5oz. I wasn't concerned about their growth at all until after this appointment. The doctor isn't concerned at all. He said let them eat all they want, which we do, and he will see them again in a few months.

To those of you with slower growing babies... is there anything else I could give them? Is there some sort of baby protien shake? Should I not worry and just feed them?

I'm just not used to this end of the spectrum! My oldest always stayed around the 90% of the growth chart, and my second was in the 50-75% range. This 5-10% growth chart stuff is all new to me!

Thanks in advance for any advice you have!

Helen

 

Are they pretty much staying on thier respective curves? Are they growing? As long as the answer to those is yes, and the fact that your ped didn't bat an eye, says to me things are going great
I have tall, very skinny kids, that I think are perfect

Mine were ~31in and just under 20lbs at thier 12 month appt. So when you factor in mine were alot taller I would say your weights sound fine!!!!

I think adding in calories for the sake of calories is not good. If you give them a well balanced diet and let them eat as much as they choose they will grow as they should :good:

 

Mine were both taller and lighter at 12 months than yours but it doesn't matter one bit because they have always been long and lean (and still are today). It drives me crazy when I hear about doctors who say that the babies are playing "catch up" when they were a normal size at birth. Catch up to what exactly? The 50th percentile is NOT a goal to strive for... it's an average and there are babies all over the chart who are perfectly normal. It makes no more sense to overfeed a kid at the 5th than it does to underfeed a kid at the 95th. So, yes, give them a well balanced diet and let them grow at a normal pace.

 

Mine have both been small all along. Meghan has been in the 1st percentile. The doctor has not seemed concerned. They have their 3 year appt in March and I will ask at that point. I did keep them on whole milk an extra year because they were so small, I just switched last week. My niece used to drink the pediasure to help bulk up.

 

Mine were 18lb and 21lb at their 15 mo check up. DD has never been on the chart since she was born (except maybe for head circ). My Ped wasn't alarmed but said I could add some fats to their diet and some Carnation Instant Breakfast to their milk. We only do that for one bottle a day. I wouldn 't worry too much about it.

 

Our kids are tiny...the only reason we ever add in calories is to ensure they get enough to sleep through the night (we have issues with that!). If yours are sleeping through, then I wouldn't worry. Congrats on 1 year!

 

Don't worry, they are fine. Mine were about the same size at a year and as long as they stay in about the same growth curve, it is okay. Not every baby needs to be in the upper percentiles of the chart. I'm actually glad mine are not.

Mine are coming up on 2 years of age, one is getting close to 25 pounds and the other getting close to 24. Pedi is absolutely fine with their growth.

 

I just looked in my book where I record all their stats. At 1 year Elliot was 18 lbs 10.5 oz and 27.5" (3%tile and 5%tile respectively) and Clarissa was 18 lbs 6.5ox and 27.5" (10%tile and 10%tile). These are almost the same as yours!

We just had our 3 year appointment last week, and Elliot is now around 40%tile for weight and 50%tile for height, while Clarissa is just over 50%tile in each category. They just needed some catching up time from being preemies.

We didn't do anything special to help them grow - just tried to feed them well.

Don't worry - yours will catch up too!

-Rachel

 

mine were 36 weekers (which I guess is considered preemie) and were half the size of your kids (DD 3.5 lb and DS 4.5 lb) and at a year were 16 and 19 lbs...DD's not on the chart and DS is in the 5th percentile...they grow on their own curve, are hitting their milestones and pedi is not worried

 

FWIW, our pedi told us that it would be a good two years until our preemies caught up with their peers.

 

Thank you for all of your responses!

A few of you mentioned the growth curve... they had been moving along a steady path, but since they didn't gain any weight since December they both dropped in the chart a little.

I'm thinking once they start getting better at table food they'll put on some weight. With the doctor not being worried, I'm not real worried either.

Helen