Fifteen Month Vitals
We’re back from the pediatrician’s office—Robin now tips the scale at 21 and a half pounds, and he’s thirty inches tall. This is slower-than-expected growth and prompted the doctor to quiz me about his calcium intake. The truth is I haven’t been paying much attention to his calcium because we’re still nursing, albeit less often now. The doctor said it was probably nothing to worry about but that I should offer him cow’s milk throughout the day in addition to nursing (I did do this for a while but he consistently refused the cow’s milk, so I stopped), and hopefully by his eighteen month visit he’ll be back on one of the normal growth curves. So as soon as we got back home I offered him a cup of milk, which he refused, and then I gave him some cheese, which he is right this instant tearing up into little bits and throwing on the floor.
Also, Dr. Simons said that if Robin isn’t talking at all by eighteen months, we should check his hearing. But I know he can hear because he turns his head when I call his name. I know some kids are already talking by this stage but I don’t think it’s so unusual that Robin isn’t. He’s very vocal and “conversational”; I can tell that he’s making progress with language and he understands a lot of what is said to him. I really feel certain that he’ll talk when he’s ready.
I also feel certain that Robin gets all the food he wants, and that if he were hungry he would not be shy about making that fact known; but all the rational certainty in the world doesn’t stop the crazy part of my brain from freaking out: oh no, am I starving my baby??? Probably for the next few days a lot of food will get thrown on the floor, as I persist in trying to feed Robin every twenty minutes.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Bea starting talking incredibly late. Three years, I think, although my memory is hazy. But when she did start, she was very quickly talking a lot, with a large vocab. Ryan also wasn’t talking early, although again he was well past three before the experts confirmed this as a problem (and, even at that time there was a mix of opinions).
So – I really wouldn’t worry at this stage.
November 14th, 2008 at 6:25 am
At some point do they take into account the fact that his parents are not huge people? Because if he’s on the same chart as, say, the Obama girls, he’s got to end up lower down eventually…
He does look like the perfect picture of baby health. Although it’s as good a time as any to introduce him to the wonderful world of CHEESE. I suggest homemade mac & cheese as a delicious and extremely messy endeavour.
I’m remembering that someone whose blog I read raved about mac & cheese cooked into finger-friendly slices/slabs. I don’t know how she did it (and it doesn’t sound as delicious to me as the soupy kind) but it’s probably a tiddle bit neater.
oh now I want mac & cheese. I will be able to think of nothing else until I get some.
November 14th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Robin is actually still on the tall side for his age — he’s dropped from 75th percentile to 55th in height, although he’s in like the 20th percentile on weight. But it’s not just about whether he’s in normal ranges (which he is)–they want a kid’s growth to match one of several preset curves that have been charted out. And Robin was following the curve beautifully for a while, but in the last three months his growth has gone nearly flat on the chart.
This *does* coincide with cutting back on our nursing frequency, but he’s been eating a lot of solid food to compensate.
I like my mac & cheese baked with egg, and sometimes peas and ham. Maybe I’ll slide that into the meal plan next week.
Dawn — that’s good to hear about Bea. I’ve actually heard of a lot of kids who didn’t start talking until they could basically form sentences. I think the doc is being a little weird on this issue. Maybe he wouldn’t be worried about it if it wasn’t for the growth lag.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Isabel’s growth stalled out at around this same age. She was around the same percentiles for height and weight as Robin, and at around a year, she stopped gaining weight for months.
Our pediatrician told us that the growth curves are based on both breast-fed and formula-fed babies, but that breast-fed babies have a different growth pattern (faster for the first 6 months or so, slower later) than formula-fed babies (steadier and more consistent). Our pediatrician told us it was nothing to worry about, and that we shouldn’t make a big effort to get her to eat more. She stayed at 19 lbs. for maybe 6 months, and then started gaining again, very slowly. I nursed her till 20 months, and she didn’t drink a lot of cow’s milk till after she weaned, I don’t think.
She did love drinking yogurt (YoBaby, or we’d mix whole milk vanilla yogurt with milk) from a sippy cup. Nowadays, she prefers soymilk to milk. But even if Robin doesn’t like any of these, I wouldn’t worry at all. Breastmilk has plenty of calcium. I learned recently that it’s actually leached from the mother’s bones. (But your bones recover soon after weaning.)
I wouldn’t worry at all. And not about the talking, either–not if he turns his head, and babbles, and understands what you’re saying. That all sounds so healthy and normal. I know so many kids, especially boys, who talked later than this.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Wow, that is so reassuring!
Now I’m mad at the doctor for freaking me out. He gave me props for continuing to breastfeed but he should have known about the different growth patterns.