I also do not have a child. But if Mabel cannot fit in to 12-18 sized clothes, then it is a massive cause for concern. Mia is either lying or is proud of her daughter being in the smallest or even below the smallest percentile for her age. With Covid I feel Mia has gotten away with neglecting Mabel, because if a midwife did regular checks on Mabel and saw she was drastically small for her age, they would be concerned.
Two of my nephews were both in the larger percentiles for their age, they were in 12-18 by the time they were 12 months old. They are perfectly healthy children.
Mia's constant body image projections on to Mabel concerns me because I have an eating disorder and I do suffer from body dysmorphia. Mia has obviously always been a midsize girl, and that is absolutely fine. She is beautiful. But I cannot help but get the feeling Mia wants to be skinnier and because of that she projects that on to Mabel. Which is EXTREMELY unhealthy. When I was in inpatient last year, I had a lot of girls tell me that their mothers encouraged their disordered eating so that they would be petite and slender. I can't help but feel Mia doesn't understand the damage that projecting her weight insecurities on to Mabel may have in the future. Mabel i a baby, she doesn't need to be petite, she doesn't need to be slender. she needs to be healthy so that she can grow properly. Mia is totally obsessed with Mabel being skinny and it is NOT okay. The idea that skinny = beautiful reinforces body dysmorphia and ED behaviour. Ultimately, to me this is a huge indication that Mia is immature for her age and too immature to have a child.
