A while back, I expressed concern with my doctor’s suggestion to fatten up my 18 month old. Benjamin has been in the 10th percentile for several months, save one spike on the chart.  The doctor and I both agreed that this was most likely human error, but he scheduled a weight check for a month later, just to be sure.

I also assumed the doctor was uneasy about Benjamin’s previous perch at the top of the charts, during his 90th percentile infancy.

I didn’t like the idea of changing our diet, not when I put as much effort and research into food preparation as I do.  So I whined a bit and drug my feet.  Okay, I started making scrambled eggs with half and half.  But they’re so much fluffier that way!  And I began buying whole milk.  But that was for the whole family.  Because I’m trying to work my way through Nourishing Traditions, and that’s as big of a step as I can take right now towards raw milk.

I wasn’t sure what revelations the weight check would hold.  Would Benjamin slip further down the charts, indicating a health problem or necessitating a drastic dietary change?  Would he hold firm in his 10th percentile position, causing the doctor to seriously doubt my ability to raise healthy children?  Or would a repeated 10th percentile standing merely prove my point that tininess runs in the family (paternally, that is…)?

Well, his weight didn’t change.

But he grew over an inch.

And the doctor smiled as he indicated the slight jump on the growth curve.  In a “Relax, there’s nothing wrong” kind of way.

Just to be sure, I pointed to the beginning of the curve and asked if he was concerned about the drop in percentiles there.

He directed my attention to the ages beneath those dots.  They were all six months and younger.  And he explained to me that during the first six months of a baby’s life, their size has nothing to do with genetics. After that, genetics kick in – sometimes so strongly that all the food in the world doesn’t seem to make a difference.

We live in a largely mulitcultural community, and the doctor asked me if I had ever seen an Asian baby.

Why yes, I had.  I used to babysit one.  He said it always amazed him that for the first six months, they were about the size of their mothers.  Then genetics kicked in and they drastically slimmed down.

The first six months’ growth is based on multiple factors, including hormones from the mother left from before birth!  (Ahh, that explains it…)

So he’s skinny, and he’s short.  But he’s healthy.  So sorry, buddy, no ice cream for breakfast.