What can be done to compensate growth for a baby born small because of intra uterine growth retardation?

Question

I had no gain weight the last 3 weeks of pregnancy, baby was born at 39 weeks -he is 5 month old but small -every other thing is normal about him and the doctors were not even sure if there is intra uterine growth retardation they just guessed because of baby's size

Answer 1

If your child has sufficient nutrition and exercize post partum, he'll grow into his "regular" size/weight as determined by his genes.

Answer 2

How small? My son was only 5 lbs 6 oz and he wasn't classified as IUGR - there are other factors they look at when a baby is suspected of having IUGR... the umbilical cords should look thin and 'sickly'... not thick and shiny healthy. The baby will also most certainly have a low APGAR score.

Anyway, if he's normal now, just go with it. Your baby will take off and grow sooner or later. My son is still small for his age, still looks about 9 months (he's almost a year), but he's shooting up very quickly now. He grows almost 2 inches a month atm.

Just make sure your son gets all he wants to eat, don't try to force him to eat. When he gets older, you can feed him high-calorie foods, but odds are you'll end up with an overweight infant. Just feed him like you would any other baby.

Answer 3

just let him be small and grow at his own rate.  My DD was 5 pounds 13 ounces at birth, and she was always a bit on the small side for weight.

She is now 18 months, 33.5 inches tall and 25 pounds.

Let him be, he will gain weight when he wants!

Answer 4

Maybe he is just going to be a small baby.  My son was born at 37 weeks via emergency c-section due to severe growth retardation (i actually lost 10kgs during the pregnancy) and he was very small when he was born but now at 5 months old he is 10kgs and 69cms long.  How small is your son now? he might just be a little boy! Every baby is different and grows at a different rate - he may pick up later. Good luck anyway