I decided to spend some time this last winter building a bow for my grandsons upcoming 6th birthday. It definitely has to be a labor of love, because the time involved really isn't much different from a full size custom build. Trying to adapt all my existing charts to an 18" draw for a very small person really doesn't work. In the end I just went with my gut instinct, figured I'd want a draw weight between 15 and 20 lbs at his 18", and as he grows the draw and weight will increase as well. At least for a few years.
So here's what I ended up with:
52" NTN R/D longbow
Claro Walnut Burl riser, 19" fade to fade
040 black glass, 24" bamboo powerlam, 020 bamboo veneer, 065 maple/001 taper, 072 Yew/001 taper, 030 black glass. Stack at the tip of the powerlam is 203.
The riser is 1 3/8" wide, the limbs taper to 5/8" at the nocks.
Result: Dead on perfect!! 18" draw is 17.3#, and at 24" draw its 26.3#, so there's room to grow. I didn't draw past 24", figured there's no point.
And it really snaps some 700 spine arrows, but I think I'll order him some 1000 spine for the first couple years.