What to say to 'little' comments about baby...

[Schmickers]

DD3 is very little as well, still only 7kg at 7.5 months! Whenever someone comments I just say "Yes, she's quite compact" and leave it at that.

[csab]

My little V is 15mths and weighs appro 6.8kg bare weight, she has always been tiny and petite. For a long time I had people stopping me in the shopping centre etc wanting to look at her as they thought I was carrying a doll. I always get people asking me how old she is, then surprise comes on their face, then the question Ohh was she premmie? Then more surprised faces when I say No!!!, full term just little.
Little V has never been on the graph, she is still seeing her pead, has been seeing Genetics, and has also been seeing dieticians. They have also been wanting me to see The Childrens hospital with her, but they are willing to wait to see how she goes first.
I actually would like them to stop picking her to bits, and leave her be, as she is just perfect, cheeky happy and healthy. She isnt a big eater, but has improved.
I have even been able to see a lovely belly forming, and even her thighs have developed little rolls. She is still in the 4-8kg nappies. Still in 000's and is also wearing some 00's however some just fall straight off her, depending on the make.
They have told me that although V is not on the charts, she is more or less making her own chart, and is still following the same direction as their chart.

[Liviam]

It got it with my DD all the time (still do). She weighed a whole whopping 8.1kg at 13 months. Like your DD she was eating and feeding like there was no tomorrow. I would just say she was a skinny minny when I was in a good mood. When people said she didn't look like a 1 year old I'd say "oh ****, you must be right and she's only 6 months. Thanks for correcting me because I'm only her mum so what would I know?"

For what it's worth my DS is a chubby bubby and people are now having digs at how I much feed him. You just can't win.

[Artechim]

I find that some of the time it is just that older people forget how small babies are in general iykwim. My DD is reasonably big for her age (she is around the 97th percentile for height and a bit less for weight), but when people see her they still comment that she is little. I am sure it is just that they don't remember their babies being that small - like when you have a second bub and can't imagine your first ever being so tiny.

[SammyRo]

DD was around the 9kg mark at her 1st birthday, and still wearing some 00's and 0's. But 7months down the track she's made up for it! She hit the 12kg mark just before xmas, and has shot up height wise - enough that some size 2's are getting short on her , she's also gone from a size 4 shoe when she got her 1st pair of real shoes back in August to a 6.5 in the first week of Jan - which are now looking like they won't last the summer! I think most of DD's growth has been in her legs, as she can still fit into a couple of her 0 tops.

[beckoes]

Gosh, i get this ALL the time, posted something similar a while ago about skinny minnies when it was getting to me. One guy in sydney actually asked me if she was ill!! WHAT!

DD is 17 months old and in the lowest weight line on the graphs....ive pretty much stopped weighing her so cant tell you what she weighs, dont think she has gained anthing between her 6 month and 12 month injections, she is HAPPY and HEALTHY and EATs like a blooming HORSE....shes just little!! She is perfectly proportioned. Yes you can see her ribs when she stretches her arms above her head and yes she still fits in to the 0 clothes she was wearing last year. But my GP tells me she is perfect...JUST LITTLE.

Its so hard when people imply that she is starving or you arent feeding her right, but you have to be confident and tell tham that she is healthy and active and its perfectly normal! Babies dont all have to be big rolly polly babies!! Maybe she will be a slender dancer or gymnast....who knows!hugs to you

[chepie]

Aiden is a slim jim too!! He is tall and skinny!! He was always at the lower end of of graph too! But someone gotta fall in that range hey! He ran before he walked at 10 months and hasn't looked back!! He eats like a champ especially fruit and runs and runs and runs!! He is like me!! Where as Charlotte is 3 months and in 00!!! She is my pudding chubba bubba!! They are completely different!!!

People need to think before they speak! With Aiden it was wow he is so thin is he BF blah blah - um yes BF and someones gotta be on the small side ...and now with Charlotte wow she is big must FF - umm no BF and a happy chubba!!! You just can't win!!!

[misty]

My DS1 (2yrs) and DS2 (5mths) were actually wearing the same size nappy until a couple of weeks ago when we toilet trained DS1.

What I found best was to beat them to the punch. To just come out before anyone could say anything and say "oh he is so small compared to his boofhead siblings, but that's because DS1 takes after DH's side of the famiy and DD ans DS2 take after mine." It really doesn't leave them with anything to say, because I got in and addressed the issue first.

[PinkPalace]

you know i have never really thought about it.
DD is 3 in june - she wears size 1 pants and size 2 tops - the same sizes as her 19 month old cousin (my sisters baby).
She wears the same size nappy as her 15 month old brother! lol

She has always been little (5lb and 47cm born) and well i tell people, what do you expect from 2 parents lucky to be taller than 5ft 6! lol

But i never really was bothered by the comments, she is little, she is perfect, this is her.

Perhaps you can tell them that!
even though she is turning 3 in june she is still pushin 12kg. I checked my books and she didnt even reach 9kg until she was 18months.

I just warn her that her brother was 2lb and 2 inches bigger than her at birth and she shouldnt pick on him as he will be bigger than her soon haha!

Its none of their business - iwould just ignore them!

xx

[MantaRay]

Good things come in small packages.

My mum used to say that when I was a small child. So I guess it shouldn't be surprising to me that both my boys are very small for their age. Poor DS1 is off to school next week and the smallest size school uniform is huge on him.

The funny thing is that if our kids were big, we'd probably get comments about that too!! Sometimes you just can't win!

[MummyNaomi]

Good things come in small packages!

I say the same - DS has just cracked the 8KG mark at 9 months, was 5pd 12 oz at birth and has always been the littlest baby at mothers groups etc, wore newborn nappies until almost 3 months etc, but I just think it makes him cuter!! He is on the bottom line of all the percentile graphs (but has a boof head LOL) but is healthy, happy and gorgeous so I have learnt to say the above or when someone says he's small I say "I know, it just makes him cuter!!"

I got heaps of use of out my 0000 / 000 clothes and have saved heaps of money as haven't really needed to buy a heap of new clothes yet, as got lots of 00 and 0s at my baby shower as well as the smaller sizes too and we are just making use of 0 now mostly due to his head circumference with tshirts etc

[~ Mylitta ~]

I'd love to know all of your secrets to keeping your bubs small!

DS has always been around the 75% (was 8pd10oz at birth even though he came 2.5 weeks early!!). I'd love for him to stay little, but he keeps on growing up way too fast hehe.

I have the opposite problem to you girls. I get a lot of people asking his age and then telling me he's huge. He's not really that big though! He's not a chubby baby and doesn't have any "rolls". People love to comment on his "chunky thighs", but they are no bigger than any other babies thighs. I just tell them it's all muscle and he's using them to learn to walk.

[Mummyof2under2]

I don't know about comments but my DD wasn't even kilos at 15 months!!!!

She is now almost 4 (in April) and she now weighs 14 kilos. She eats a wide variety and not small portions either - she is just a girl and a slender one at that, same as i was until i got halfway through high school.

[Trillian]

My DD2 was always a skinny minny - she would have been lucky to weigh 10kg at 1 and she finally got to 15kg by 4yo, and she looked so lean and skinny because she was tall but by the time she turned 5 she was 20kg. She put on 5kg in a year! I have no idea why the sudden growth spurt, she didn't eat any more than normal, but I guess her body just decided that it was the right time to grow. She is very nearly as tall as her older sister and they get confused for twins all the time.

DS2 is also a bean pole and I think he will follow DD2's growth pattern. When he was born there were 3 other boys born locally around the same time and though he was the biggest at birth (10lb1) come 12mths he was the smallest by far. One of the other boys' mums commented on how small he was in a really competitve tone and I just said 'yeah, better than being a fatso and having to worry about childhood obesity hey?" and she hasn't commented since. So as for comebacks to the 'gee they're small' comments it really depends on who said it and how it is said kwim? If someone is being competitive or trying to make him inferior simply because he is smaller, then I don't hold back, but if they are nice about it then it's just a 'yeah he is, but that's OK'

[Dotty]

Hi all,
I was so comforted reading that I'm not the only one that gets frustrated when people comment on my 'tiny' baby! (of course I know i'm not the only one out there...but i dont know anyone else who is in this situation that i can talk to!) My little Lily is 10 months old and only weighs 5.7kg. We have had a LOT of health issues though...liver fibrosis, possible metabolic disorder, feeding issues resulting in being fed via nasogastric tube plus lots more! I'm sick to death of being asked 'whats wrong with her?' and told 'she looks like she's 3 months old' As she has so many health issues that we still have no answers to its really hard to answer people. I've now just started simply saying 'she's 10 months old would you believe....yes she has issues!!!!' I love my gorgeous pocket rocket who is still in 000's but could do without constant remarks! Anyway, just wanted to share my story, goodluck to everyone with their beautiful little bundles!
xx

[jmmum]

Hey,
I'm an adult and 4 foot 8. (about 145 cm). Size of the average 10 year old. People used to look at my DD and say she was little. My response was hello look at her mum. Now they all tell me how much taller than her mum she is going to be.

[Lolli]

I have two littlies. Ds is 2 and still in a a size 0-1. Dd actually looks like she may be a bit bigger than ds, but not by much. i got a bit sick of the "Where they premmie?" question too, the first three months or so that was all I heard!

I also use the "Good things come in small packages" line, and, like MR, my mum used to say it to me, and I remember it being very comforting. I'm a shortie and used to be teased relentlessly about it at school.

However, my best mates dd was almost 11 kilos at six months old (the size my ds is now, at 2), and now she is 2 and in a size 4, and she cops the "Wow! She's huge!" comments. Can't win

[curlygirl]

People can be very rude sometimes. When my DD just turned 6 months one lady said with horrified look 'She's so tiny for a 6 months old! Is she on the small side?' like it was a disease or something. So i said, 'No, she's perfectly healthy. But I am small, so she might take after me'.

I personally don't consider DD tiny as she's 7.5kg now at almost 7 months, and lengthwise she's almost on the 50th percentile. So she's average. What do people expect - a giant?