So, if you look at my posting history you'll see that I've been concerned about my son's weight gain since he was about 3 months old. He was born in the 50th percentile, gained well in the early months and then dropped off.
He's 10 months now, and yesterday we saw a new doctor (hated our old GP & had a horrible experience a few days ago). She diagnosed him with failure to thrive and referred us to a specialist. I am of course very sad about this but also curious. I'm not sure which chart she is using, but I downloaded the the CDC growth charts for breastfed babies and plotted my son's weights since 3 months, and he actually follows the 10th-15th %ile line reasonably closely, with a few ups and downs. Right now he's about 8kg (between 17.5 and 18 lbs), which puts him right on the 10th line.
Of course we will follow up with the specialist and rule out any issues, but for your little one, when did you feel they "found their curve"? I was thinking he was dropping all these percentiles all the time, but in reality he hasn't had a dramatic drop since 3 months, and I thought it was kind of normal for kids to track up or down before then. He was born at 40+6 and probably bigger than if he had been born at term.
FYI he is a little guy, and not driven by hunger at all, and has had 2 illnesses + international travel in the last month. His weight gains have suffered because of all of this, and I'm hopeful a spurt will be on the horizon...
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I might be midunderstanding, but did your son's weight percentile go from 50% to 10-15%? That seems like a dramatic drop.
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I have read that an EBF baby tends to "catch up or catch down" to their true curve at around 4-6 months and I probably read that on either La Leche or KellyMom.
ETA I have also read that doing a weight check at 24 hours rather than straight after birth gives a more accurate result, particular if mum was given fluids during labour and delivery - not sure if that's applicable to your situation!
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I think around 4/5 months...he dropped from 40th %ile at 2 months to 20th%ile at 4 months, and kept dropping from there, til he evened out at around 10%ile around 9 months. Our pedi was never really concerned, and in hindsight I definitely freaked out about it unnecessarily--his height was always top of the charts so he was obviously growing, and DH and I are both tall and more lean. He is just a tall skinny kid. I would definitely bring your thoughts up to the pedi and see what she says. I mean, SOME kid has to be in the 10th %ile!
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I'm in the same boat. My 15-month-old started out in the 60th percentile for height and is now in the 7th percentile. She is gaining in weight and height (2 inches and 2 pounds in six months) but settled into her curve around 9 months. Our ped is not worried because both of us are short/average and I was very small growing up.
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Yes that's right, he was born dead on the 50th percentile, and by 3 months he was between the 10th and 15th percentile. According the CDC breastfed baby charts at least (and if I am plotting right, which I hope I am!) he has stayed between the 10th and 15th percentiles from 3 to 10 months. I agree it is a dramatic drop!! I've been worried about it constantly, but when i look at the overall trend until 10 months it actually doesn't look that bad?
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My son was born early, gained weight quickly to catch up, and ended up in the 50% for a few months. Once he started moving around 9 months he quickly dropped in percentile and landed around 3%. He has stayed between 3-5% ever since, and his ped isn't concerned at all. He is getting taller still, and is strong and meets all of his milestones on time.
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@ScarletBegonia: If he's stayed there, it really doesn't sound bad to me at all! Is he meeting all milestones?
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@ScarletBegonia: is / was your lo particularly active baby? And is the CDC chart the same as the WHO chart for EBF babies?
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@Mrs. Lion: @hilsy85: @Kemma: Thanks ladies.
He is SUPER active and has been for ages. At 6 months he wasn't happy unless he was scooting, and 7 months he wasn't happy unless he was crawling, and now he never ever sits down or sits still, and is dangerously close to walking
I think all his milestones are being met - certainly in gross development. He isn't very good at feeding himself and is still mostly on chunky purees (we have gone backwards a bit with food, as one of his illnesses this month was making him gag on anything chunky) but we're slowly working our way back to chunkier foods and hopefully table foods soon. -
@ScarletBegonia: meh I would probably not be concerned then (I say that now, with hindsight!). I would focus on making sure he has good nursing sessions, if you're nursing, or getting regular bottles, and making sure that the solids he does eat are higher in fat/calories (avocado, veggies roasted with olive oil, etc).
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@ScarletBegonia: My ped told me "he has a physique most people die for" haha because he is muscular and strong, even though he is a teeny thing. The movement definitely makes a difference. My guy started standing from the floor without support at 8.5 months and took his first steps at 9.5. Sounds like your dude is similar and just very busy. I wouldn't worry unless your doctor does
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@Mrs. Lion: Yeah I mean the doctor does seem worried, and I'm glad to be going to see a specialist, and just trying to control my anxiety. I certainly don't think I know better than a doctor, and she was upfront in saying she really thinks there is nothing wrong esp in light of the illnesses and jet lag, but that she wants to err on the side of caution.
I just HATE the words failure to thrive
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@ScarletBegonia: I hate that term so much. Were there other factors other than weight that caused them to make that diagnosis?
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My little one dropped percentages her first year. At birth was in the 80%, 8lb4oz. 6 months was 13%. I started to wean her at 6 months, was on 100% formula at 8.5 months. She didn't gain anything between 7 and 9 months. At 12 months she was 19lb15oz, 40%. She gained weight between 12-18 months, she loves her milk. At her 18 month she was at the 87%.
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@ScarletBegonia: I know it's hard, but I would try to remain positive until you've had your appointment. My LO's weight percentage is dropping, and she is eating less than average, so I'm worried about failing to thrive. I try to remember that babies are constantly changing. Sounds like your LO will be OK.
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mine is in 10 to 15 percentile, although she always was so I can't speak to the drop off. she was about 17.5 at 10 months, had a dip down to 5th percentile at 12 months which caused huge panic, and then back up to 10 to 15 since. She's only 20.3 pounds at 18 months, which doesn't seem to concern anyone as long as she's tracking that curve.
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@Mrs. Lion: nope nothing else mentioned, and i'm just reading the referral and it only references the drop from birth, and states that all physical milestones have been met early or on time.
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@Smurfette: Thanks so much, that is super helpful. Its nice to see that babies can bounce back so much in a relatively short amount of time!
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My LO was born pretty big (almost 9lbs at 39 weeks), but I also had GD. He stayed around the 80th percentile for a couple months and then started decreasing. Around 6 months or so, he hit his curve where he's been for awhile, 30% for weight and 10% for height. I'm a very petite person, so I figure his genes were just catching up to him.
I'm sorry you had to hear "failure to thrive." Seems so harsh. I bet as he gets older and starts becoming more interested in food, he will begin gaining more weight. It's good your doctor is coming up with a plan, though. Hugs, mama!
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I think your doctor is overreacting. I'm in a bit of a different boat with my daughter - she was born 7lbs (around 40th %tile) but put on weight dramatically and hovered at 80-90th %tile from 1-7 mo. Since then (shes now 1 yo)she hasn't gained an OUNCE but she's an early walker. I think only now is she finally settling into her real curve which is closer to the 50s again. Apparently this is a thing for little movers and BF babies so I'm not worried.
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My little guy was failure to thrive. He was born at the 50% and stayed there for about 3 months and from 3 months - 7 months dropped to the 0.5%. He had horrible food intolerance and wasn't able to digest the breast milk. We did 1 week of hypo allergenic formula at 9 months old (I went out of town for work so we requested it). At about 12 months old he started gaining 1 pound a month and got up to the 10% where he has stayed. We breastfed until he was 2 years old. He was off dairy and soy until he was 18 months and off soy still.
Ultimately, failure to thrive is not a death sentence. You also need to follow your heart. We knew the initial plummet was bad but when we got the food issues fixed I stopped worrying even though he was small and had a few set backs (one or two months he didn't gain enough). Kid was an eating machine.
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@ScarletBegonia: have you tried googling for the Australian criteria for FTT? It could be that it's purely based on weight gain which is why your GP is obligated to refer your LO to a specialist.
And for what it's worth, one of the little girls in my coffee group was diagnosed as FTT and after two years and a whole range of tests and speech / eating therapy they've finally diagnosed her as just being smaller than the other 97% of children her age! We (the coffee group and her family) could see that she was doing all the same things that the other kids in the group were doing, she was just littler!
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Mine was so tiny he wasn't even on the charts when he was born. By 2m he found his curve at 3-5% and has been there ever since. Some docs have been more concerned than others and I have been more concerned at some times than others too though I generally have not worried much since 12m (hrs 32m now).
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My LO (15 months) has been dropping in the percentiles for some time now and my pediatrician is not concerned (probably because DH and I are both quite short and fairly slim). LO was 50% for a long time in weight but has gone down to below 20%. She was around 30% in height at first and is now below 10%. I'm still not sure if she has found her curve. She is very active though and clearly healthy. Some kids are just small. I hope the specialist is able to rule out any issues and give you some peace of mind.
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I usually tell parents that babies find their own curve in the first 6-8 months.
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My LO was also born at the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. Since 4 months or so he's been in the 10th for weight and 50th for height. Our pediatrician is not concerned. My son has a lot of feeding issues, so we watch his weight carefully. He had his 18th month appointment last week, and the pediatrician specifically said, "that curve is him. He's stayed consistent for over a year now. "
How has your LO's percentile been for height? Our doctor also said that kids' weight can fluctuate, and its totally normal. They start getting concerned more when height is affected because that can indicate an issue with nutrition more than a change in weight. Basically, if a little one isn't getting enough calories, the body protects itself by losing weight first before true growth is affected.
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