In a message dated 98-10-21 23:57:55 EDT, Pat in New Jersey sensibly wrote:

<< I have had several "mimi babies" in my practice who grow consistently and
steadily  on the the 2% or 3 % line.   they are petite, not FTT!  You have to
remember to look at the parents.  >>

And at the parents own history, if they know it or can ask their own parents.
I myself spent my whole childhood down in the first percentile for growth and
as a result spent my toddler years in hospitals having bone scans etc.
However, as a result, my mother kept records of my weight and height monthly
until I was five and about every six months thereafter until I went away to
college.    Then when my own daughter spent her first two years down around
the 3rd percentile we could assure her pediatrician that for her family
history she was on the large side!

Elisheva Urbas, in NYC, now a perfectly ordinary if not very large 5'almost
2".