My Son Stopped Growing

I'd seek another doctor's opinion. It seems that waiting a whole year is a bit too long. Is everything else developmentally on track?

My heart goes out to you. Better to get some testing done so if there is something that needs to be addressed you have done it. I would not allow ongoing testing after intitial screening as long as other normal skill and cognitive benchmarks are being met. Growth charts are created on the average, not every child grows at the same rate, etc. I do have a friend who was diagnosed with Celiac disease and she is a very small person whose problems got worse as she became an adult and she is having her daughters tested now. It is something that can be harmful over time, so it is best to know so you can do whatever you can to make your child healthy and happy. Best of luck.

There are a lot of reasons that could be behind his lack of growth. One of my sons went through the same thing. He just stopped gaining weight, even though he seemed to be nursing okay. He was healthy and active and the doctors thought he just had a high metabolism, especially after testing for celiac's disease and cystic fibrosis as well as a range of other metabolic disorders. The tests all came back normal, but I knew something was wrong, so I switched pediatricians. After another pile of tests, they discovered that he had acid reflux, and that he had gotten into a pattern of just eating small amounts very frequently, which was enough to sustain his size but not enough for him to grow. There were no other indicators besides trouble getting him to sleep through the night, which they found was the worst time for his reflux.

Most illnesses or disorders that cause a lack of growth have other symptoms. You need to think back over your son's life and try to determine if there are recurring problems (like a chronic cough, any types of infections, sleep disturbance, etc.) It can be very easy to view these things as isolated and separate problems, when they may in fact be part of a bigger picture. The main thing to keep in mind is that if your gut tells you something is not right, even if the doctor is unconcerned, listen to your instincts and get another opinion.

My daughter did the same thing. At 1 year she weighed 15lbs 4oz and at 18 months she was 15lbs 5oz and at 2 years she was 15lbs 9oz. She only grew 1/2 inch taller that whole year also. They sent us to have cistic fibrosis, growth hormone and ceiliac tests done. They were negative so they sent us to a gastrointeroligist who found nothing then an endocrinologist who found nothing. Finally a little before her 3rd b-day I said thats enough no more she is healthy just small and I stopped taking her to appts. Now she will be 4 in March and we give her lots of high calorie foods and add something called polycose (powder with 80 caloried per tbsp) to her juice and she is 24lbs and 36inches tall but not on the growth charts. However her brother who is 9 months is really small too and they want to start all that testing and I think he is fine and dont want to do it. Now that I've shared my long story I think you should have the tests done as a precaution and see whatever drs they want you too cause there might be a growth hormone issue. But in the end if they cant find anything your son might just be small like my kids are. If he acts healthy then dont stress yourself to death. I really thought I was gonna have an ulcer when it was all done and I hate to see anyother mommy go through what I did.

C.,
I went through the same thing with my son except they didn't start doing tests until 4th grade and by the time they actually did something for him he was in the middle of his 8th grade year. He had not grown at all in the 8th grade for over 2 years. They finally put him on Humatrope and he went from 4'5" to 5'7.5" in 2 1/2 years. He is now off the meds due to our private insurance no longer covering it, but there is a program through Eli Lilly where no child will be turned away and they provide the medicine will they try to get your insurance to cover it. The only side affect my son had was growing! He now wears a size 11 shoe and his confidence went through the roof! Feel free to email me if you have questions.
Kristina

Talk to your friends and family who are in the medical field and ask who are the three best pediatricians in town. Take your child for a second opinion. I prefer aggressive doctors that do now stop running tests until they know exactly what is wrong and have a plan of action for how to fix it. Get a second opinion immediately. Request that your daycare give you a list every day of exactly what your child ate for the day--not what was offered, what was eaten. Start keeping a log of what your child eats every day and give it to the pediatrician.

C.,
I wouldn't worry about it. Every child is different, to include their rate of growth. If he's eating regularly and gaining weight, he's due for a growth spurt soon. In ten years you'll look back and long for the days when he was small. My 13 yr old is just about as tall as me and I miss it sooooo much! His height will come, no worries!

I think it sounds normal. As long as all his cognitive and physical levels are fine, he should be fine as well. Of course, I am not a doctor, I can only tell you my situation. My daughter will be 4 in 2 weeks and she is just now into size 3T clothes, most of which I still have to alter to fit! She is just fine though. She actually didn't grown ANY from her second birthday until her just after she turned 3. Then 2 months after she turned 3 she grew like 3 inches!! She gained a little weight and here she is. Her doctor said it is completely normal. At age 2 they are NON STOP and will burn off every calorie they consume in a day just playing. Height is relavent. I am just under 5'2" and my husband is 5' 11". We were both small when we were her age so logic states that our kids would more than likely be as well. Just talk with your kids doc and see what she says about his stature. If you still want more assurance, have his thyroid levels checked.

My son weighed 27 pounds at two years old and 28 pounds at three years old. He then started back growing. My pediatrition kept a watch on him, but he said he was healthy. He is now grown and perfectly normal in size. He is 5'10", which is two inches shorter than his dad.

I wouldnt worry yet wait until his 2 year check up and se how i t goes.my daughter was like that she would go months with out growing then shoot up and not do it again for months but shes right where she should be. try not to worry!

My daughter completely stopped growing at 12 months old. By the time she was checked by a pediatric endocrinologist when she was 19 months old she was growing again and all blood-work was "normal". She then stopped growing yet again. She was eventually tested for ONE genetic problem and her "thyroid" was tested.

It took until she was SIXTEEN to finally be diagnosed with a hypothalamic-pituitary problem (which inclded LOW THYROID--but from the pituitary which was not checked) and intestinal malabsorption (gluten) and some other problems. Seemed the doctors could easily diagnose her with "mental illness" in elementary school, though (after all--that does not require a medical diagnosis). Look at research into "schizophrenia" and that is connected with slowed/delayed growth. Stomach aches? "Mental". Vision problems? Well -- if they don't run the right tests, "mental" as well. Fatigue, sleep disturbance - you name it. They blamed everything--all her physical problems-- on her "mental illness" yet when her physical problems were finally addressed the "mental" ones disappeared. (see http://www.ItsNotMental.com)

At least we now have the Internet so we can do our own sleuthing now!

When I look back at that precious baby and what all the doctors missed for so many years I find it incredulous! And she'd been to endocrinologists & neurologists repeatedly before finally we got ones that ran "the right" tests.

(She is doing well now... but there is no giving her back the childhood she missed).