https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:34:38 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855909 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:59:35 +0000 kes18 1855909@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Could be having a growth spurt, but I think the weight gain is normal. I think he's following a weight gain curve so I don't think there's anything to worry about. </p> <p>My LO was a pretty average weight (7lbs4oz) but on the other side she was fairly short (18.5"- 10%ile) at her 41 week delivery. We are both 6' tall and were 8lb+ babies (and 2 weeks early) so you can imagine I was a little surprised at how small she was. She caught up fairly quickly, grew 3" the first month and 2" the 2nd month and has stayed around that growth curve since then. With weight though, if you have a super active baby, they can burn through some of those calories faster than other babies who aren't as active, so they might be a bit slimmer or have a harder time putting on weight.</p> <p>I wouldn't worry about the oz. honestly, feed him if he's hungry! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855895 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:46:08 +0000 Pirouette 1855895@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO was IUGR and born 5lb 9.5oz, and by her 2 month appt was 9lb 4oz. she ate ravenously for the first 5 months like she was playing catch up before she leveled off. she was breastfed on demand (meaning ALL THE TIME) those first few months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855869 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:33:04 +0000 Mrs. Lion 1855869@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Lo was early, so thats why he was smaller, 5'9. He gained really quickly until around 10 months, and then his growth slowed a lot. He has settled out around the 5th percentile and his ped had never been concerned about it. He only weighs one pound more at 18 months than he did at 9 months, but he is a busy guy and since he is getting taller and heavier on his curve they arent concerned about it. He is in the 40th percentile for height and that has been consistent since birth (between 40-60 every time). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855849 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:26:50 +0000 mkp17 1855849@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD was 6 lbs 11 oz at 6 days, 7 lbs 7 oz at 2 weeks, 9 lbs 4 oz at 7 weeks and almost 13 lbs at 17 weeks. She has always been on the small side, but always had a good appetite (formula fed).<br /> On the other had DS was 7.8 at birth and at 9 weeks was up to 12 lbs 10 oz. (he's formula fed also)<br /> The doctors were okay with both. I wouldn't worry too much about it at all! I think at that age they do a pretty good job of regulating their intake for what they need. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855756 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 06:56:14 +0000 LemonLong 1855756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My oldest was 5 lbs 2 oz at birth, went down to 4 lbs 11 oz by the time we left the hospital and was 9 lbs 8 oz by her 2 month appt. not sure what Junie weighs since our appt is on Monday but she seems to be growing fast too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855726 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 05:07:44 +0000 Snowdrop 1855726@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just anecdotal from my mum but I was 6.6 at birth and she always goes on about how I just ate and ate, I caught up to where my brother was at 7.7 in no time and was always a big child after that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855702 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 00:38:58 +0000 PurplePeony 1855702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My DD was born at 37.5 weeks, 6 lb 9 oz. So, not teeny tiny but definitely not a big baby. I think she was somewhere around the 20th percentile at birth, but she quickly jumped up to the 55th percentile and has stayed there ever since. Her doctor has always been happy with her growth so I was never concerned about the jump. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855701 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 00:34:27 +0000 Zbug 1855701@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds normal. DD was 6,8 at birth and jumped to the 70 something percentile by her two month appt ( EBF). Her weight gained slowed down a ton after month four, and she was down to the 40th by month nine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855689 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 23:26:53 +0000 anandam 1855689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds like he's following his growth curve perfectly (25th percentile) - <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/who/grchrt_boys_24lw_100611.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/who/grchrt_boys_24lw_100611.pdf</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855624 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:29:39 +0000 mlm2934 1855624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: no I haven't talked to my dr about it yet, just all the articles online say 32oz is daily max regardless of weight so I got concerned </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855617 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:24:34 +0000 Mae 1855617@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@runnerd: did a doctor tell you that your LO should eat no more than 30-32 oz? My LO was eating around 30 or even a bit more for 2 weeks after we started supplementing her because she was trying to catch up! And she was only 3 weeks old at the time. Once she did, she pulled back and was only eating around 25-27 most days. When I asked my doctor how much I needed to worry about how much she was eating (because our LC had told me 28-30 was normal for her) she said not to worry about it, that most babies eat 24-32 oz but those are just averages and they generally trust babies to eat what they want unless their weight goes off the rails in one direction or the other. Personally I'd just feed your LO what he wants, at least until your next doc appt, unless he starts puking a lot or something. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855615 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:22:44 +0000 jedeve 1855615@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO was 6#2 at birth (36 weeker). He wasn't back up to his birthweight at 12 days. At his two month appointment, he was 12#13! He is EBF. He went from 2nd percentile to the 60th! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855611 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:19:48 +0000 mlm2934 1855611@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: he has been eating 30oz+/day the past week - all the estimates say it should be more like 20-25, and no baby should eat over 32oz in 24 hours which he has! But after I go through all his needs - food is still the only solution! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855588 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:56:41 +0000 Mae 1855588@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>how much does he want to eat? My LO was not underweight at birth but at 3 weeks she had only gained 3 oz from her weight the day we left the hospital, so we did have weight concerns (which is why we started supplementing). I was worried the first week because she was eating wayyy more than I thought a baby that little should eat and I called our LC (who had told us to supplement) to see what to do. She told me to feed the baby. She said if I was EBF I would have no idea how much she was eating, she would just eat what we wanted and it would be fine. So in her opinion formula feeding should go the same way-- feed the baby what she wants until we have reason to do otherwise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855587 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:55:08 +0000 Rockies11 1855587@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine was 6lbs 6 oz and ate 24/7 for the first six months or so, and gained well, but she's back down to the 10th percentile at 14 months. I would keep feeding at 8 weeks and not worry about it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855586 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:53:10 +0000 night cheese 1855586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>She was 6-14 at birth and dropped to 6-5. She was only 6-8 by two weeks so we started supplementing with formula. </p> <p>She was 7 lbs. by 3 weeks and has continued to gain steadily. She's 7 weeks today and according to our bathroom scale, she's 10 lbs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855569 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:35:31 +0000 JennyG 1855569@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO was 5 lbs 13 ounces when born, but only 5 lbs when we finally left the hospital 8 days later. It took him almost two weeks to get back up to birth weight. At his two month appointment, the little chunker was over 9 lbs. He stayed around the 50% percentile for a while, but then he got on the move and dropped percentiles. </p> <p>I think as you might want to check with your ped, but trust your instinct. You know your LO best. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855568 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:34:02 +0000 winniebee 1855568@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds pretty normal. T was 5 lbs 5 oz when he was born (38w). When we left the hospital he was 4 lbs 13 oz! By one month he was 7.5 pounds and by 2 months he was 9.5 lbs. so, about 2 lbs a month for the first few months. He was nursed and fed pumped milk. Thereafter, his gain slowed and he gained roughly a pound a month until one year (when he was 18 lbs). He was exclusively formula fed from 5-13 months. Gain dropped off significantly after a year, as it does for most. He was so small when he was born that he wasn't on the charts. He jumped up to 5th percentile or so where he has pretty much stayed </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855557 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:27:52 +0000 marionberry 1855557@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@runnerd: our lo was born at 6lbs 4 oz but was 5 lbs 13 oz when we left. I felt like he caught back up fast but he's consistently been in the 5th percentile for weight. We started formula feeding at about 9 months and now I think he'll be closer to average but I have heard that smaller babies often stay smaller. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855548 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:21:27 +0000 mlm2934 1855548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@meesker: @spaniellove: thanks, both your numbers make me feel better!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855533 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:07:15 +0000 twoofeverything 1855533@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our twins were 5.5 and 5.10. I think they gained about a half an ounce a day for the first few weeks (formula fed), then slowed down. I will check their journals though...could be wrong! Anyway, try not to stress :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855528 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:04:36 +0000 spaniellove 1855528@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@runnerd: I think our LOs were almost the same birth weight and looking back at his numbers, at 8 weeks he was 10 lbs 11 oz. Definitely not inappropriate! We had a short period of weird weight issues recently but he's back to his usual weight gain and I think he's now around 13 lbs at 14 weeks tomorrow. </p> <p>How much is he taking at each feeding? Honestly I never could go by guidelines. If you enter his weight into childgrowthcalculator.com and look at the WHO percentile you'll see that his weight is pretty reasonable! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855527 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:02:39 +0000 meesker 1855527@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>D was born 6.13 and dropped down to 6 before we started supplementing. We were able to stop supplementing within a week and she was 11.8 at her 2 month appt. So your babe's gain seems totally reasonable to me. D's gain has leveled out since then and she stays close to her curve. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855525 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:00:44 +0000 avivoca 1855525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>He could be going through a growth spurt. As for weight, H was born at 7lbs 10.8 oz and gained very well until her six-month checkup when her weight slowed down. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-had-a-small-baby#post-1855514 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 19:50:53 +0000 mlm2934 1855514@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>...what was their weight gain like in the first few months?</p> <p>LO was 6lb 7oz at birth. He now is 8 weeks and around 10.5 lbs. I'm trying to figure out if that is an inappropriate weight gain, or do smaller babies play "catch up" after birth? I had placenta concerns during pregnancy which made us think LO was at risk to be smaller, so I figure he might be regulating out in weight.</p> <p>I get worried though, bc he is formula fed, and the last 2 weeks consistently wants to eat significantly more than what the guidelines say he should need for his age and weight. He doesn't spit up, so I don't feel like I'm overfeeding, but planning to ask the doc about it at his 2 month appt next week. But I don't want to deny him food since at 8 weeks he's still smaller than some babies are at birth.</p> <p>Does this seem normal? </p>