# Toddler stopped growing!



## ahill004 (Feb 14, 2008)

Hi everyone! I am new to this community but I really want to get some moms' advice out there. My youngest daughter (almost 22 months) was 75-90% in height and 50-75% in weight until she hit 15 months. At that time she stopped growing. She lost weight between 15 and 18 months. She had two growth check-ups since then and has put back on the weight she lost (about 1/2lb) and added about 1/2 pound more but hasn't grown in height at all. She is 22 lbs and almost 22 months. That puts her in the teens percentile wise for weight and her lack of height growth has continually dropped her in percentiles to the 35% now. I wouldn't worry about percentiles at all if she hadn't slid so drastically in both weight and height after 15 months of consistent growth on a regular curve.
She was eating a TON! Even during the months she lost weight she was eating a ton. But she was having 4 poops a day, soft but not runny. They do seem to have a lot of chunks of food in them. Make me think malabsorption?She does not drink any juice. Never has - just whole milk. Now she eats a ton one day and then won't eat more than a few bites for a day or two.

The doctor is doing a blood test in a month if she hasn't rebounded and has suggested celiacs as a possibility. But no one on either side of the family has it and from what I understand it is hereditary. And she doesn't seem to have any stomach pain (although she can be gassy - but she thinks its funny).
What do you guys think? Is this something to be worried about?
Someone please make me feel better or at least give some idea of what is going on with her!


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## alicia622 (May 8, 2005)

I'd be concerned and I'd probably want the blood test done sooner rather than later. I don't understand why the doctor wants to wait a month. A blood draw isn't going to be a good time for your little one, but at least you can get a handle on what's going on.


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## sbgrace (Sep 22, 2004)

My first thought was celiac. I also don't understand why your doctor is waiting. I would ask to test now. You want to know. If it is that you can correct it and try to regain the growth. If it isn't you need to move on to other tests. I'm concerned your pediatrician isn't more aggressive in figuring out the why with such a huge drop at an age where so much is going on developmentally.


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## pbjmama (Sep 20, 2007)

I agree you have reason to be concerned. I would get started with the blood test asap and go from there. I would press to have her screened for as much as possible with the blood test to avoid multiple draws. I would also start a food journal, if it doesn't lead you to some answers now it may come in handy later. Can't think of anything else off hand but to speak with relatives about anything like this that may have a hereditary cause. I hope you get some answers soon.


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

I would cut out gluten starting now, just in case.

However, if blood tests come back normal for celiac's, and she has no other symptoms that point to a food allergy, I would consider seeing an endocrinologist.


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## ahill004 (Feb 14, 2008)

Thanks for the advice! I didn't want to seem paranoid about her health but I did feel like things were moving too slow. I'm going to push for the blood test and I really appreciate the advice to get as much done in that test so she is repeatedly stuck over time.
We thought about taking gluten out of her diet on our own but we were told that if she is later tested for celiac's it might not show up if we had already changed her diet.
I will try to get her in asap for blood work. Thanks again guys!


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## munkeesmama (May 17, 2005)

Do to the lack of growth in height and weight i'd also try and get some testinng for cystis fibrosis. There is the very non invasive sweat tet, but the ambry full panel is a bloo test which is more accurate.


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## tankgirl73 (Jun 10, 2007)

Just to give the other side though... DS did not grow an inch or gain an ounce from his 1st to his 2nd birthday. He went from high percentiles to very low.

But, in that year, his *mental* development grew by leaps and bounds, much more than the "average". So by age 2, he was mentally about 2.5-3yr equivalent, though pretty small physically.

Since then he's been "catching up" and stays at just under the 50th percentile on height -- he's almost 10yo now -- and is still "gifted".

So I really think he was just putting the calories into his brain rather than his body.

It's certainly worth checking into celiac and other disorders, but if she doesn't seem to have any other "symptoms" honestly she might just be in a "plateau" growth stage and growing other parts of her insides, like her brain.









DD seems to be following a similar curve... she grew lots until 10mo and has barely gained at all since then, she's now 14.5mo. DH and I are both very tall and she has the tall "look" to her but right now she's only 50th percentile-ish -- 22lbs and 30". We're not worried at all.


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