Anyone with a 3 and a half year old...?

Question

My friend is a little concerned about her son's height and weight as he appears to be really small for someone who will be 3 and a half next month.

He weighs just over 12kg (27lbs) - the average for his age is about 15-17 kg.

And he measures 90cm - the average is 104cm.

Her other son is 14 months younger than his brother and is fast catching him up.

My daughter will be 3 in October and is average weight/height for her age.

The 3 and a half year old is perfectly in proportion, eats a very well balanced diet, and is incredibly active, and has plenty of strength in his arms and legs, and is hardly ever ill.

His parents and family are, for the most part, average in height and build.

His mum is concerned though as he only seems to have grown a little in the last year. (He can still wear 9-12 month cropped trousers and 12-18 month t shirts).

What did/does your son or daughter measure and weigh at this age?

Answer 1

Sound similar to my son and my niece.  My son was still wearing his short jeans (size 12 months) when he was 3.  He was regarded as 'Under Nutrition' when I brought him for check-up at one of the Gov't clinics when he was 4.  He doesn't eat all 3 meals and is choosy in food; sometimes 2 and sometimes only 1 meal a day.  But he had small portions of wholemeal bread, oats, sometimes cereals. But he has the energy to play whole day. Now he's 7, he weights only 22kg.  I am not sure if he still underweight.

As for my niece, she was choosy in food too.  Her scenario is more or less the same as my son's.  Now, she is 10 years old and she's growing well i.e. 5 ft. and weight 57 kg... heavier than me. And she eats well.

As long as the 3 and the half year old is eating well, physical development are well, plays well, your friend has nothing to worry about. He will pick up when he starts going to school.

Answer 2

short , small , fat , tall , takes all kinds of people to make the world go round , he may just have the throw back genes that makes him a small picky little eater . If his health starts to fail then you can get him to the doc and see what it is that's going on , but if he is normal as any other his age then he is right where he needs to be  

Answer 3

the averages are only a guide ,so long as he is eating well ,is not bone thin and is over all healthy he is fine ...if she is worried she should take him to a clinic but he sounds just fine to me ,a lot of boys (mine include) are small till they get to about 12 and then they grow fast ...

Answer 4

As long as he's eating well and there aren't any obvious problems, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Everyone is different and maybe he will soon have a growth spurt, who knows. My three-year-old weighed 10.5kg and was 100cm. We were very worried because his weight with his height made his BMI very low and so we took him to a doctor.

My son had leukemia, so that explained it for us. As I said, I don't think there is anything to worry about. Just make sure he keeps eating healthily and he will soon catch up to others his age.

Answer 5

as long as he is healthy then there should be nothing to worry about as u say each child is different. my daughter has 3 boys and the first one is 3 1/2 and looks like (blond/blue) and has same build as her partner large framed and quite heavy he is on the 75th centile. however her 2nd son looks like her (brown/brown) and is same frame as her petite altho he eats all day and her baby daughter 4 months old is also same as her and is only on 25th centile. all of them are perfectly healthy.    likewise my youngest child has always been on the small and light side, he is 11 now and is one of the oldest in the year however also one of the smallest.  his best friend is the opposite end of the year but much bigger, his mum passes me clothes that are too small for him but they are too big for my son so everyone is different and dont worry. (my 11 yr old is in age 10 trousers and age 9-10 boxers)

Answer 6

Ive had the same problem with you second son.  From the age of 2 to current he has only gained 15 pounds.  He is almost 8 and still wears a size 3T/4T.  He weighs 42 pounds and is only 3 feet tall.  He is always the smallest one in his class by at least a head or more and s always looking up at his classmates.  His 4 year old brother wears the same sizes as him.  He has high functioning Autism, bi-polar, ADHD and sensory integration deficits, but is a very good eater and it always seems like he is eating non-stop.  I finally told my pediatrician to give me a referal to a endocrinologist and also a geneticist.  Both these doctors can rule out specific things as well as list things that may be the problem.  Currently the geneticist has not been able to find anything and all of his blood work for the endocrinologist has come back negative.  We are monitoring his growth for three months and go back to the endocrinologist in September.

Answer 7

It seems to me that a lot of kids clothing brands are making their clothes in big sizes, maybe to accomodate the rise in obesity in this country.

I know parents of a three year old who buy clothes designed for younger kids because trousers for a three year old would fit a fat six year old.

Answer 8

we have 11 kids and few are very tall and some are short   my 2 year old is as big as his 4 year old brouther and his not small 4 his age