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I have a 18 month old girl who was a preemie weighing around 3.5 pounds at birth (born at 31 weeks). She is now 18 months this week and still weighs 17.4 pounds (she has been in the 17 pound range since Dec 2014). She is 29" tall, almost 30" tall. She is so skinny that she still wears 6-9 months clothes (mostly 6 months though). Doctor did not seem to be concerned that she has not gained much and the fact that she is still underweight. Apparently she only weighs more than 5% of other kids her age and height. She eats ok....not great, but ok. She likes most food, but tries to avoid vegetables no matter how you cook it and try to cover up the taste....even tried with nothing on them and still she refuses most of the time.
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I don't think that you should be concerned about weight. Our son was born on term, but he was really tiny (6 lbs 4 oz), we took him from the hospital at 5 lbs 7 oz. He grew a lot in weight until 6 months and then he slowed down considerably and yes, sometimes, there were months in a row when he did not put any weight on. In those months he grew a lot taller. Now he is 2, and he put on 2-3 lbs in less than a month. However, I am not concerned, since he is extremely active and he is very strong. In our case, our DS is either getting taller or he puts weight on, . Regarding vegetables....a lot of kids get very picky at this age, just keep offering it. We were lucky enough not to have this kind of issues, but mine was not eating cooked pepper and mushrooms no matter what. We kept offering him (for months!) and he kept taking them out of the food. And one day he simply decided to eat them. I wouldn't force it, but I would keep offering. And yes, I heard perfectly good eaters becoming over night very picky eaters. Try not to worry. My little one started to have a solid poop only after he turned two, but every once in awhile he still has some really liquid one. I would look more at activity level than weight :)
My daughter was only 17 lb. at 18.5 months, when I adopted her from China. Today, she is a healthy, normal 19 year old. Yes, she's small; it galls her that she is only 5 feet, 1/2 inch tall, and that she is shorter than even most of her Chinese friends. Yes, she'll never have a weight problem, but it galls her that she will never have a "curvy butt". But she's healthy, very successful academically, very well adjusted socially, and a simply delightful human being. My daughter did have some eating issues initially. For one thing, although she was never diagnosed as such, she had symptoms suggestive of Giardia, an intestinal parasite common in children adopted from China, including foul mushy orange stools, loss of appetite, a tendency to vomit easily, and a tendency to have tummyaches. For another, she did not have strong hunger cues; she would often refuse food at two meals, then wonder why her tummy hurt. Fortunately, these symptoms passed, over time. She also got more exercise and developed confidence in her physical skills, which not only gave her more of an appetite; it increased her muscle mass, and gave attractive definition to her legs and arms.If your doctor is familiar with the development of premature and adopted children, and is not worried about your child's growth, you probably don't need to worry. Being in the fifth percentile is not a terrible thing. However, if you are still not convinced, get a second opinion.Sharon