Dropping centiles

[butternut22]

Hi. My DS is 15 weeks. I posted last week because he was fussing more when feeding and not feeding as much/as long. He is EBF. I got him weighed today and he has dropped a centile to the 25th from 50th. The HV said not to worry and to go back in a month. I am quite worried about this though. Does anyone have any experience of growth slowing at this age? He is still having wet and dirty nappies.

[NotQuiteCockney]

The tricky thing with those centile charts is, it's very hard for the babies to understand them.

Seriously, the rule is, there is cause for concern if a baby passes through two centile spaces - so if he started over the 50th, dropped down below the 25th through the space under that, to down below the 10th (if that's the one below?).

If he's hitting his milestones, then I wouldn't worry about his weight.

Babies often get distractible at this age, so they fuss, and they get more efficient at feeding, so they feed for less time.

How does he seem, otherwise?

[NickyEds]

In my (all be it limited!) experience of hv they seem to err on the side of caution with regard to weight so if yours says it's fine and your ds is well in himself I'd say all's well.

[Stubbed]

My dd dropped from 50th at birth to 2nd by 6 months. Everyone was worried, but it led me to the GP around 3 months old and he diagnosed reflux (sicky, fussy feeding, hated lying down, these symptoms all got worse at that point)

Managed with meds - off the meds by 8 months, sleeping solidly. She is still slim, but eats a huge amount and has caught up her gap (her dad's family all v slim)

So in summary I would say worth keeping an eye on just in case there is a reason for it, but generally don't panic I'm sure your baby is fine

[butternut22]

Thanks. He seems fine and still looks pretty chubby to me but I can tell he has leaned out a bit. I am just a bit anxious because I bottle fed DS1 and he ever dropped centiles and always fed consistently. I suppose it is different with BF. He is very happy and quite chilled out so I assume he must be satisfied.

[PannaDoll]

Firstly those centile charts are based on formula fed babies and are a vague map of your child's health at best. My baby continued to gain weight, be healthy and EBF until introducing solids at 6 months and regularly dropped centile lines.

DO NOT WORRY.

[tiktok]

The centile charts are not based on formula fed babies. They have been based on bf babies only for many years now.

Having said that, a drop of one centile space is within normal. Reweighng in a month is a normal schedule. Your HV tells you he is fine. Nothing you have said here indicates otherwise so you can be confident that not worrying is the way to go :)

[butternut22]

Thank you. I think I was just concerned because he is feeding less as well and seems less interested in feeding. Thank you for replying, I will stop flapping over it all now!!

[tiktok]

Less frequent, and shorter feeds are normal beyond newborn :)

[squizita]

I had this. DD dropped from the 25th to the 9th. Then she just stayed there, following a new line and gaining steadily. No problems - just one of those things.
She recently had another dip because of a bad cold which gave her the runs. She fed loads once better so I am confident she is making it up.

[squizita]

I had this. DD dropped from the 25th to the 9th. Then she just stayed there, following a new line and gaining steadily. No problems - just one of those things.
She recently had another dip because of a bad cold which gave her the runs. She fed loads once better so I am confident she is making it up.

[butternut22]

Thanks for your replies. I'm not used to the breast feeding as I had to bottle feed DS1 so I am bit anxious about it all. I still can't quite believe it worked this time!

[PannaDoll]

Ah keep on keeping on if you are enjoying it (even through the worry :)).

I think the key about breast feeding once you've established it is not to stress about and just go with the flow (bad pun?) as much as you can. There will be times when the baby changes the way it wants to feed and for how long etc but if you go by the baby's cue's you usually can't be too far wrong.