2 year old dropping through height centiles

[HJBeans]

I'm ashamed to have only just noticed my second son, who is 23 months, has been growing very slowly for at least a year. I have HV measurements for height of 91st centile at birth and ~75th through the 6 month check. And being the second son that's as much data as was recorded. No 1 year info. On measuring him today to find him at 13%, I looked back to measurement from car seat fitting at 16 months to find he was 34% then. So he's been dropping. He had a bad bout of bronchiolitis and always seems to have a cold and a cough, though he's active and very clever, so developing fine in most obvious ways. Mortified I didn't notice this sooner and wondering what to do next and how much it's reasonable to worry? Thanks for any advice.

[woosey35]

Hi. Please don’t worry. We can beat ourselves up as mums for not noticing things like this. But you’ve seen your little boy develop normally and be a happy little chap. So you’ve had no obvious cause for concern. Plus being your second, it’s normal not to obsess over statistics so much.
My daughter has growth hormone deficiency. She literally stopped growing. She’s still the same happy little girl and cognitively has been fine. She sees the consultant regularly for other issues and it was at one of these appointments that it was found that she too had dropped from 91st centile down to 6th!!
She was tested and found to not have growth hormone.
Long story short she is on growth hormone now via injection and her height has shot back up to where she would’ve been. Amazing.
Go to your GP and explain your concerns and ask for it to be looked into.
Good luck and sending you a hand hold. Xx

[Itscurtainsforyou]

Are you due your 2 year HV check? It should get picked up there. Or you could phone the HV and ask for advice. Or you could go to GPs.

Both HV and GP should be able to refer you to either/both a dietician and paediatrician who will review diet etc and look at ways of increasing his calorie intake.

How is his weight now? Is it dropping off too?

[Itscurtainsforyou]

Woosey - how/whendo they check for growth hormone? Is it a daily injection?

[Chickychickyparmparm]

This happened to me, with DD. I didn't notice either, but our pediatrician (who is paranoid) did. I can't remember the details but she dropped off the chart and was the height of your average 18 months old at 36 months. She also had respiratory problems since birth (these are behind us now).

We went for x-rays every six months and visited an endocrinologist but it turned out she was just small. Two years later she still is.

I would ask your GP, but I wouldn't be too worried.

[Chickychickyparmparm]

Sorry that should have said 30 months, not 36...

[woosey35]

Itscurtainsforyou - my dd was already under an endocrinologist for other issues. At one of the 6monthly clinic appointments, they noticed she hadn’t grown for the last 6 months. And the previous 6 months it had only been 1cm.
So they gave her an insulin tolerance test and she was found to have no natural production of it.
Yes we inject her each night with growth hormone. We started to notice a difference within 6 months. She was looking so different to her peers but 18mths on, she’s not far behind them at all 😃

[HJBeans]

Thank you both, particularly woosey for your very welcome kind words and much needed story of this happening and everything being fine in the end. His weight is down a wee bit (75th - 50th, I think) but nowhere near as much. He's gotten much pickier about his eating the last six months.

I have anxiety and have been actively forcing myself not to go to the GP about the never-ending colds - though when I did this with my eldest we were referred and they found he was immunodeficient. I've kept doing the mental gymnastics of overriding my concerns with "is he eating ok? Is he active? Nappies ok? Don't let anxiety win, he's fine and lots of colds are normal" over and over over the last year. I'm lying awake kicking myself silly for not bloody measuring him as I did religiously with his brother. The anxiety has always told me quite firmly that I will never be able to keep my very much wanted 2nd child - it's having a fucking field day with this.

Thank you again for your messages.

[HJBeans]

I take it back - his weight's dropped to 35th. :-(

[woosey35]

Hun....anxiety will rip you apart. I too suffer with it. Hold onto the fact he’s happy and healthy in every other way. And that’s why you didn’t feel the need or even think about getting
Him measured. It’s not your fault and he’s presenting as a well child.
Growth problems scared me senseless. My daughter looks horrific in photos now as we look back a couple of years. We didn’t realise at the time. She’s now a gorgeous little girl who is finally able to buy new clothes and shoes!!!!!!!
Sending you a huge hug. Call
Your gp or Hv or both on Monday and take it from there. Xx

[woosey35]

What I was trying to say was that treatment was easy 👍🏼

[Itscurtainsforyou]

OP - sounds like it's worth getting him checked out.

Fwiw I had a (very) premature baby who was putting on weight, then suddenly the weight gain really slowed down. This tied in with him slowly taking less milk, struggling with weaning and developing a food aversion. It turned out that he had very bad reflux and cows milk protein intolerance.

He's never really recovered from this in terms of his attitude to food and is off the chart for weight and height.

As you can imagine I am quite anxious about his weight/height/development and have shared your thoughts about not being able to keep him for long (so much went wrong for us after having our first we thought we'd never take another living baby home). But the way I've approached it is to go to the GP whenever I have a concern - they'd rather reassure a parent that all's ok than have something be missed because a parent worries that they're over reacting.

I hope you get either reassurance or answers soon.

[Itscurtainsforyou]

By the way, thanks woosey. Good to know there's an easy treatment if it's a hormone thing.

[HJBeans]

Thanks, both - very much appreciated. Off to the GP on Monday and will take it from there.

[woosey35]

Let us know how you get on x

[cestlavielife]

Dd stopped growing due to coeluac.
Get measured properly and monitor at gp and ask for referral to growth clinic.