My Skinny Baby
Why baby sweaters are all too short and too wide for baby in question:
At 6 mos, my little bean pole checks in at a mere 13.5 lbs. I think average is about 17.5 lbs! This is a hard baby to knit for, especially since most of my baby patterns are boxy Debbie Bliss numbers. The question is, should I assume that she will continue to be this shape? I want to knit her some sweaters for next winter. Should I alter the patterns to account for the lack of baby chub and make them a bit more narrow in the chest? What do you baby knitters think?
-Elinor
At 6 mos, my little bean pole checks in at a mere 13.5 lbs. I think average is about 17.5 lbs! This is a hard baby to knit for, especially since most of my baby patterns are boxy Debbie Bliss numbers. The question is, should I assume that she will continue to be this shape? I want to knit her some sweaters for next winter. Should I alter the patterns to account for the lack of baby chub and make them a bit more narrow in the chest? What do you baby knitters think?-Elinor
posted by Elinor at 9:54 AM
10 Comments:
My baby is the same. 16.5 pounds at a year and 20 some pounds at 18 months. She's a lithe little thing! If it seems your daughter already has that body type, I'd go ahead and alter patterns as you see fit. You may need to follow a smaller size and add length...? Good luck - you have a beautiful girl!
Our five children were all built this way. Only one was at higher than the 10th percentile in weight at 6 months (and they were all at 65th to 90th percentile in length at that stage, making them look like sign posts). By about 18 mos, all of them were well into the average weight again. None of them lost weight, they just didn't gain that fast. I'd knit them as you see fit, perhaps knitting top down and sleeve down so you can extend them if necessary or unravel the body and add sts if you need to do so.
I have similar issues, but Austy has always been around the 90-97th percentile for his weight. But the problem is he's super tall too, and has unfortunately inherited my long body and short legs. The DB tank he is wearing on my blog was altered by knitting the 9-12m size and wherever the pattern referred to length, I took the 12-18m size and added 2cm (just under an inch). It worked, and fits him beautifully, better than so many other things. Even could have gone the whole inch in length or more as he would fit it longer.
I know your pain too. My two-year-old has always been in the 5th percentile or lower in weight, but at about 60 per cent for height (and 90 for head size!) -- it's very hard to get anything other than yoga style pants to stay up on her. At a year she was 17 lbs, at 2 years, she's a mere 22. But, that's the best thing about knitting -- I can make things that actually fit her! If I check for gauge, that is...
I can't help with the sizing issue, but what a gorgeous baby you have! Love those bright eyes.
My daughter is very similar in size. I tend to knit big, so I have used the size just under her chronological age. I did have to steek the seams once to make the top smaller after finishing... She's about 19 pounds now (at 16 months) and wearing 12 month clothes well. I tend to not worry too much about baby fit, though, as long as it's on the bigger side. They'll grow into it!
Sorry, I just realized that my rambling didn't help. If your girl is like mine, this will be her body type until puberty. So go ahead and make things a bit longer or a size smaller in width but longer in length. That's what's been working best for us.
Ribbed knits are great for the skinny minnies among us. The ribbing also accommodates the new shape if the wearer fills out. Should work for wee ones too! Just a thought, so many of the Debbie Bliss patterns incorprate seed stitch - perhaps choose patterns where you can replace the seed with a knit 2 purl 2 rib?
Well, you guys are making me feel much better about my own 5th percentile in weight 8 month old. All these slender little ones!
What about a wrap sweater? It might even be big enough for the winter after too.
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