Going up centiles

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

My DD is 7 months and has jumped from 25th centile to 99th centile over the last 3 months. She is formula fed, was EBF to 3months and mixed fed to 6months. The HV is worried but hasn't really offered any advice.
She is thriving and has hit all her milestones early. She is just about to start crawling.
Weaning is going well and she is on 3 meals a day. Feeding looks like this
7am: Milk 200ml
8am: 1/2 weetabix with fruit plus a couple of fingers of toast
11am: Milk 200ml
Noon: 1 icecube size veg puree, finger food (rice cakes, veg sticks etc) and 1 icecube of fruit puree plus water from beaker
4pm 150-200mls milk
530pm: 2 icecubes size puree ( eg cauliflower cheese, chicken casserole etc mostly whatever we eat) plus some finger foods of fruit, maybe some nat yog with fruit puree.
645: 210mls milk

Am I over feeding her? Help!

[oldmum42]

WHICH centiles? Weight or length? If she is on the same/similar centile for BOTH, then nothing to worry about, at all. If she is, say, 25th centile height and 99th for weight, that could be a bit more worrying.....

If HV only weighed her, and did not measure her length, telling you she's on 99% is a useless bit of info that means nothing......

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

NO she didn't measure her length. It is the weight centiles she has jumped.

DH has taken her swimming but I will measure her length when she gets back.

[Firawla]

i agree check the length. if length matches then it is definitely fine. my eldest was born on 50th percentile but then he went up to about 90th on length and height, from about 3-4 months-ish. think he is averaging out a bit more now he is 3, but as long as they are in proportion with their length it should be fine.
my little one im sure he has jumped up thru the percentiles too, he was born on something like 6th for weight and 90 for height? (roughly, cant remember the exact) and now he is putting on loads of weight so guess he is just evening up for his height but if you just look at the weight line, you will get hvs start exclaiming oh no look how much weight they are putting on, you need to put them on a diet! which is a load of crap in many cases. i wouldn't worry too much

[oldmum42]

The charts are in your red book.... it's tricky to get a good proper length measure (and BTW, HV IME are really rubbish at it). My DH (a GP who runs baby clinic), recommends the following, if 2 people are available it's easier! Lie the baby on a firm surface (floor/kitchen surface etc), with one person holding head gently but firmly, against the wall/skirting board, while the other person gently but firmly pulls the leg straight (push the knee down and point the toe up!). Put a finger on the floor/surface where her heal touches, and let go of the baby (who may not have liked the stretching out at all!). Measure from the wall to your finger.

HV tend not to do the stretch very well as it may slightly upset the baby, so they often under measure. Our DS4 (11months), was a little ill and had his weight/length measured many times in his first 6months - he often "shrank" by 4 or 5cm between visits (but DH's measurements stayed consistent!) as a result of the HV measuring from head to curled-up leg.

It is normal to have the weight centile a little higher than the length, ie 75th for height, 99% for weight. The other way round, length being on a higher centile than weight would be more of an issue, as it may mean the baby is not eating enough for continued growth.
l
Our DS started out 50th% for length, 25% for Weight (a thin 6lb 8oz), then lost weight down to 9th centile. But is now 75th length and about 80th for weight..... he has caught up to where he "should" be........ maybe this is what your DD has done?

BTW, did HV take off her nappy to weight her - nappies/clothes could add on enough to push her on to the next centile band.

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

thanks for all the advice.
We made her 50% centile for height ( she was on 25th). She was weighed clothed with nappy on. Even so, she is pretty chunky! Not sure what to do though.

[Chundle]

Perhaps look at her portion size. IMO weetabix, fruit and toast fingers is a lot for breakfast for a 7 month old

[Chundle]

Sorry sent to soon! However saying that, my 2 year old is 50 for height and 90th weight and she looks in proportion. They often lose a bit when they start getting more active

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

Yeh maybe you are right. It is only 2-3 teaspoons of fruit purée with one or 2 toast fingers - most of which end up on the floor! Will cut food portions down though, she would eat more if I let her mind you!

[Chundle]

Same with mine cheese! She would munch all day if I let her!! You could give more fruit purree and no toast perhaps. Just thinking as she grows her appetite will and she may soon be munching a whole box of weetabix :)
Both ny girls were very michelin man type chubby until they started crawling/walking etc

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

Thanks, will try that. This evening she has had hardly any milk or dinner,I wonder if she has just come through another spurt as she wasn't eating this much milk or solids a week ago!

[EdithWeston]

" She was weighed clothed with nappy on"

That is totally useless: weigh her again, unclad and either nappy free or clean dry nappy.

[Tgger]

Don't worry, she'd probably just done a huge wee before she was weighed . I would chill out until she is 2, or certainly until she is a proper toddler, walking and running around. Try not to get into bad habits like biscuits etc, but I'm sure you don't do that. My kids hardly ate when they were 7 months old so I doubt it's the solids- and the milk intake doesn't look huge either.

I reckon it's a combination of swapping to formula and a huge wee, neither of which matter at all! Weigh her again naked when you get the chance if you're worried, does she look particularly tubby to you? Really I wouldn't worry at all apart from keeping healthy options for food and when she starts toddling and heading towards 2 keep her active- they slim down once they move properly.

[Beaurevage]

My DS eats fairly similar amounts (he's nearly 7 months) at around the same times of day. He's on the same weight and height centile as before I started weening him. I can only assume that's a good thing :)

Height I have to do myself and HVs tell me that they don't regularly check height but they did weight (w/o clothes or nappy) last week. Weight he's around 65% and height he's around 99%. Everyone comments that he looks to be a very healthy baby...

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

I have decided not to worry, she is happy, healthy and thriving. She pulled herself up from sitting to standing earlier so I don't think there is much to worry about.
Her food is very healthy. It is all home made, she has never had a biscuit,cake or rusk and I don't plan to start! However, I did let her have a lick of my icecream during the hot spell
I will re-weigh her in the nude tomorrow. I have noticed before she gets really chubby then grows really long. She is looking chunky at the moment but perhaps she is about to grow in length like previous spurts.
Thanks all for your advice and help!

[Daisy1986]

She will probably even out when she becomes more mobile. My DD jumped a weight centile at around that age HV told me to stop bf at night. I ignored the advice. We had our 2 year check last week DD is now off the chart for her height and on the 2nd highest centile for weight. So it all works out in the end.

I have also read that the graphs are also an average for ff babies of the host nation so depending on your ethnicity your Dc may not "fit" into the average chart of the red book.

[matana]

Watching with interest, my DS is 10.5 months and has gone from 50th to 75th centile. When his length was last measured he was only 5th centile (50th when born), but he doesn't look 'chunky' at all and is very, very active. I mentioned his weight v length to the HV and she said he was probably measured before a growth spurt - so he stocked up on food and has probably since gone back to the 50th for length. I don't know for sure though as he hasn't been measured since as i'm now working FT.

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

Am going to post in weaning to see how much the other 7 months old eat. Having said that, she is now poorly so not eating a thing - but at least I know it won't do her any harm

She was definately in the middle of a growth spurt, she looks less chunk today and seems a bit longer

[milkyjo]

My HV said the same about my DS. Born on 25th for weight, and 50th length (never measured again until 9 month check), was up and down between just below 25th and 75th for a few months, then at 9 months on the 91st! But being a health professional myself I couldn't care less what the HV says as he was on the 98th for length! She told me to cut down on his BFs which is a ridiculous thing to say. He eats well balance home cooked food, albeit a lot of it, but he has not started crawling yet so he's piling it on.

I am pretty sure the guidelines for accurate weight of babies are that they are weighed naked without a nappy on, and scales must be regularly calibrated. I know for a fact a dry pampers nappy, size 3 weighs about 35g, and if there was a big wee in it about 200mls (200g), plus clothes, the weight is completely inaccurate. I do hope your HV isn't doing this for all the babies in her care, especially premature babies.

[Firsttimer7259]

I'm guessing there's a bit of inaccuracy in HV weighing - but I really would not worry about your child being overweight until shes over 2 at the least. Feed her good food, not biscuits or over processed food etc. Don't force her to have more if she doesn't want it (no plate finishing) but otherwise leave her to it. Children this age are not susceptible to advertising and behavioural eating so they will do fine. Sounds like she's thriving.

[Dillydaydreaming]

Tbh cheeseandbiscuits I would not be too concerned about this. I'm a HV too and see lots of babies leap through the centiles only to slow right down when they start to crawl and really get about.

Agree regarding length too.

If your DD is happy and otherwise healthy then don't get overworried. If she is your first then just remember that if she was your forth you probably wouldn't have time to get her weighed and would just "know" she looked okay and was thriving. Always a good leveller - too many HVs look at the chart and not at the happy and healthy baby beyond it. I am NOT one of those HVs .

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

Thank you Dilly you have reassured me so much. I think we will just carry on as we are then! She is thriving and doing so well - how did you guess she is my first!

[Dillydaydreaming]

I just assumed actually . But funnily enough saw a first time Mum in my clinic last week with exactly the same problem. Like your DD, her baby is gorgeous, healthy and happy. That hasn't stopped some overzealous HV telling her "there is a problem". There is NO problem, her baby is a fine healthy child.
AND while I think of it my DS went from 50th to 99th centile in the first year before adjusting back to 50th where he has stayed for the past 7 years .

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

Ha, I am normally pretty chilled out - I am also a health care professional. But when it is your own, all your common sense seems to go out the window! Wish you were my HV!

[Muser]

Hi Cheese. If it helps, my girl has gone from the 9th percentile to the 50th, and I just got a well done from the HV. I really wouldn't worry at all. Having seen your little girl she looks perfectly healthy and gorgeous.

[Cheeseandbiscuits]

thanks muser. She's dropped a milk feed now so feeling much happier. Well done you though!