Reassure me: small baby HV anxiety

[squizita]

Basically I have mild health anxiety and a small, slow growing dd (Born 25th, tracked 9th, slipping towards 2nd percentile though always grows a bit). My HV are in a demographic area where they like to be "belt and braces" and monitor anyone with this situation, so they see me every 4-6 weeks and always have done. My logical brain tells me it's immediately apparent that I'm a bloody annoying NCT helicopter mum responsible parent who follows advice and does things properly. If DD were to get really teeny (as may happen as she's at the 8 month growth slow down) I would simply be referred to the GP who would check there wasn't a medical cause and perhaps prescribe some kind of bulking up milk.
The anxious me constantly worries they're thinking "what an AWFUL mother she can't even feed her child" and thinking I don't care.
It goes without saying bar the odd cold DD is in rude health and so developmentally average you'd think she read the average baby checklist in the womb.
The HV also always say that most likely she is just petite, she seems quite alright albeit small but they like to monitor in case of allergies or something.

Please give me some reassurance if you have/had a small baby or are a HV/HCP.

[Roseybee10]

I've had a lot of extra appointments for dd2 due to her dropping centiles. She's suffered from silent reflux and j think just doesn't like milk very much. (She still only takes around 25oz of formula a day at 18 weeks).

She dropped from the 39th to the 7th centile by 6 weeks. We've managed to get her back up to following the 9th but neither of my dds have ever followed a centile line perfectly. Dd1 was up and down between 45 and 75 for two years but because she didn't drop to a low centile they didn't bother much.

I think babies are individuals and don't conform to averages or charts. My dd2 is very petite (she was 6lbs 14 at birth compared to 8lbs 2 dd1) and I think that's just the way she's going to be.
Sounds like you're doing s grand job x

[squizita]

What a coincidence my DD started out 6lb 14oz too!

Thank you. Just hearing it's fairly common is reassuring, I bet they see several babies like that daily and TBH if they were worried a GP referral would be a click of a mouse for them.

[trilbydoll]

And you might find the GP wasn't remotely bothered - we got sent to the GP because dd2 didn't put on any weight at all between day 9 and day 14. The GP didn't even ask about weight gain, she looked at everything else to see if dd2 was healthy overall.

[Roseybee10]

I got really anxious too as she was dropping loads of centiles at every weigh in but then she was barely eating due to her reflux.
I don't think she's ever going to be a big baby (she's weighing in at around 12lbs now) but I think she's doing ok.
I think health professionals can sometimes get a bit too bogged down with charts and scales and good ones will, as trilby said, look at all the factors in a baby's health and determine if they're doing ok from that.

I'm trying to look on the bright side. She's going to get longer out of all her clothes lol.

It's a shock for me as I was a 10lber at birth haha.

[MrsCK]

My little boy was born on the 50th and has dropped to the 0.2nd

I wish my hv would come more but I've just been told to keep weighing every 4 weeks. I'm still breastfeeding so really do feel like it's all my fault although he's following his line so that's all the hv seems to worry about. mine is quite a bit younger though so who knows if things change.

[squizita]

Thanks all. Yeah even if the GP said she wanted to give something to DD I'd be reassured in a way as it would be an answer, though of course if she said everything was fine that would be even better! She saw her once before and said she was growing longer which meant she was fed enough, just naturally skinny. Joked about her being an athlete or top model and keeping us through our retirement! :D
MrsCK if they are following a line that's great. But it was even more worrying pre-weaning, I know what you mean. At least now I've got the 'back up' of filling her wee belly with avocado or cream cheese sandwich, knowing how much is going in. But if he's following his line, he's eating his fill (being an NCT BF mummy I talk BF endlessly with lots of wise women! Wiser than me I hasten to add!).

[Roseybee10]

I'm scared to think what we would have dropped to if I had been able to continue BF. I know BF babies naturally drop some weight so I can imagine how much more pressure I would have felt had I been feeding myself, given she dropped that much on formula.
I'm still devastated to not be breastfeeding now but I suppose it could have been even more stressful. X