Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. I certainly wasn't trying to open a can of worms for kids who are ordinary in stature and "neurotypical." My child fits the profile of what the author of the book was trying to describe -- she's six years old and literally looks two. She's 29 lbs. I think it's more than having a cherubic babyface.

BTW, once child was on growth hormone therapy for a few years facial features started to mature as hypotonia decreased and now child looks older and is taller than is age appropriate - but we never know at what point the growth hormone will stop being effective, so we have to keep chugging chugging along.............

I'm the OP. I certainly wasn't trying to open a can of worms for kids who are ordinary in stature and "neurotypical." My child fits the profile of what the author of the book was trying to describe -- she's six years old and literally looks two. She's 29 lbs. I think it's more than having a cherubic babyface.

^^ My DS is like this too. Large in stature - always around 95% - but round, baby face/cherubic face. No pediatrician or doctor of any kind has mentioned any concern. Is this a real concern I should be asking the pediatrician about?

Setting aside *stature* for a moment ....

I am fascinated by the possible link between having a baby FACE and certain neurological differences, especially hypotonia.

My DS is on the 75th / 90th percentiles at age 10, so his size is not a concern, but I"ll be damned if his face doesn't look exactly like the Gerber baby or Campell's Soup Kids from the 70s. Cherubic, soft and round.

He also has mild congenital hypotonia with no known DX to go with it. He resembles his soft babyish male relatives who who seem like they have adult mild Asperger's, to me at least.

Anonymous wrote:Same experience as 7:51 - growth hormone deficiency kept that baby face look on our son beyond his toddler years. 2 years after starting treatment, he is still small, but catching up & looking more his age.

and they key to fixing GHD is catching it early. I noticed when I tried to switch from 18-24 month clothing. Thanks to my dh research, he was on GH by 3. The first thing they do is a blood test and an exray for bone age. If they do a stim test it is excruciating. And we are now going to have to go through it with my dd too! But I have to say, while before the stim test they were saying if he is borderline insurance may not cover it............ he completely failed. He would have been a munchkin - I do not know what they are called in pc terms, but LP whose proportions are all correct but just tiny.........................

Same experience as 7:51 - growth hormone deficiency kept that baby face look on our son beyond his toddler years. 2 years after starting treatment, he is still small, but catching up & looking more his age.

Anonymous wrote:The author of "Far From The Tree" used this term to refer to special needs and disabled kids looking far younger than their chronological age -- how nature makes those who require the most care look the most in need of care. My DD is definitely in this category. Looks like a toddler at age 6. I know a lot of other disabled kids who also look tiny. 10 year olds who look 5, 15 year olds who look 10. I wonder if there are any studies of this phenomenon.

I would be careful about this because our dc was not growing, still had that baby face, and turned out to have growth hormone deficiency, which can delay brain myelenation (they told us he had an in utero stroke). 6 years later, brain has fully myelenated, in 99th percentile and no longer looks like a baby at all!

My ASD ds is 9 but is the same size as his 6 year old little sister. They're often mistaken for twins, which he hates. The kids in his class look so much older. In some ways I wish I could hold him back in school, but he's above grade level in most subjects. Interesting theory that his younger appearance is related to his neurological condition.

Interesting!

Small stature or round cheeks? They might stem from different causes.

DS has both:
- tiny because of his prematurity and "small" genes.
- baby faced because of hypotonia.

However, his prematurity enhanced the risk for hypotonia in the first place!

Like you, I would be interested to read research on this.

The author of "Far From The Tree" used this term to refer to special needs and disabled kids looking far younger than their chronological age -- how nature makes those who require the most care look the most in need of care. My DD is definitely in this category. Looks like a toddler at age 6. I know a lot of other disabled kids who also look tiny. 10 year olds who look 5, 15 year olds who look 10. I wonder if there are any studies of this phenomenon.