Aibu to be stressing about what my gp said today!

[somuchmess]

I took my 5 year old to the gp today as she has an infection on her leg and needed antibiotics.

While we were there the gp started talking about how small she was and asking how long it was until her 6th birthday etc.

Then he said about making sure there was no growth hormone deficiency.

Then he randomly seemed to change his mind and said "well someone has to be at the bottom of he chart". Have us the antibiotics and said goodbye!.

I just stood outside the door in a bit of a wtf state for a minute or two!

He told me to forget about it and not worry basically but now I AM worried about it!

Aibu to think you can't say that then change your mind in less than 5 minutes!

Maybe contact the health visitor they do the height bmi measurements at school I think they will probably be well placed to say whether you need to push for a referral or whether she's absolutely fine and within the usual limits. Sometimes gps make these throwaway comments without thinking

That’s a shame. People should think befthey speak like that, especially hcps. Are you and/or your dp small statures? And is your dd growing at a steady rate?

He’s right, some of us do have to be on the lower end of average. Huge difference to that vs a growth issue. Why don’t you keep a wall chart at home if you are worried and measure her every few months. Then if she doesn’t seem to be growing you can go back and ask for further reassurance. Or speak to your hv but a child is highly unlikely to be referred on the base of a random observation like this.

And finally, if there was a problem you would be most unlikely not to have noticed.

Thanks Matilda. Last time we measured her on her red book she was below the 0.4th centile but she's always been short so it's not a new thing if that makes sense!

I am 5 foot 3 and dh is 6 foot 🙂

I think sometimes Drs thibk out loud. My gp said today "oh gosh those blood results...oh er well no actually that's not that high that's ok" it's a bit unnerving. I think it's a sort of think out loud while under pressure thing.

Maybe check with health visitor?

He was probably just thinking out loud and sounding out if you were worried. She sounds tiny.

Don't know if this is helpful but I was sent for all sorts of tests when I was a child because I was so tiny. I'm a respectable 5ft now. My mum is short and my dad is below average so I was just a short kid, who grew into a short adult!

Same as Fluffy, I got checked out when I was 5 for being super short, had a bone scan I think and all was fine. I’m just a short arse! Mix of short and talk people in my family. My mum was concerned in my case because she was convinced I didn’t grow AT ALL between 4 and 5. Is your DD growing? She’s probably just a shorty! I’m 5 ft 1 now.

Grr tall not talk

I am sure all is well and he was just being an arse but I would still go back and ask for it to be checked as there is something they can do if it turns out to be that.

The patch - she is growing just slowly 😄 I think she's grown maybe 4 or 5 cds in the last year? I don't know if that's normal or not!

My DD was born on the 50th centile for weight and 25th for height over the first year she dropped down to both on the 5th centile and stayed tiny for years. In the first year my HV used to say she is a bit small and needs to be weighed monthly, I always said look I'm 5' 2" she is going to be small. When she was 5 she was wearing 2 - 3 year old clothes, she was tiny, she grew really slowly until she hit puberty early at 10 and then she shot up a lot, but I know when the others (some have already) all hit puberty they will outgrow her again. I'm hoping she will get to at least 5' 2" - 5' 4". So if you are only small yourself she is likely to be small too.

Please try not to worry my DS was small for his age, when he went to school at nearly 5, his birthday is in October he was wearing age 3 clothes. He's now 5ft 10ins, at 33, so hardly tiny now. All children grow at different rates.

Get a height chart and mark where she is now and then again every 6 months. Hope your DD feels better soon.

I think it matters if they have always been at the same centile or if they have suddenly fallen off. DS2 was up at 45 centile then he dropped to 9th so hey knew something wasn't right. Does that make sense?

How tall is she somuchmess?

It's worrying when health professionals think out loud like that, but if you are worried it might be worth following up just to put your mind at rest.

Lon- she is 103cms🙂

Get her referred. One of mine was well below 0.4 on the charts at that age - was in age 2 clothes at 5/6 - and had all the tests going - bone scans, blood tests, etc, etc. Nothing was ever found. Both DH and I are average height. Now aged 18, she's 5'2", so still small but not hugely so.

Tbh 0.4th centile does sound a bit low for her parents’ heights. The Red Book has a section on likely adult height projections by centile.
Might be worth pursuing it in a low-key way to rule out any problems. I wouldn’t necessarily do it through the HV, though. I’ afraid that after being told a year of no weight gain was fine for a toddler, and that a diet based mostly on fruit was fine - and being confirmed by blood test that DD was anaemic when my concerns won out and I got her to a GP - I don’t see them as particularly reliable.

I had appointments at the hospital for years because I grew so slowly. Finally one doctor watched me and concluded the problem was I never sat still so had no energy left for growing!I'm now about 5'5 and wish the not growing was still the case for my waist so try not to worry OP.

I would follow it up - either GP or HV and get it checked out.

Is your DD in year 1? When will she be 6?

Does she seem happy and healthy with plenty of energy?

Sorry for all of the questions. I hope her leg gets better very soon.

Sids yes she is in year 1 although she is she is home educated so not actually at school.
She is 6 the start of Feb 😄

Hmm, she does sound tiny then. DD was 112 cm on her 5th birthday. More than likely your DD is petite, but you might as well check it out.

I have a daughter with Growth hormone Deficiency. It was diagnosed before she was 3 and she's been taking injections ever since.
It's not just down to height. It's also to do with their bone age, and for my daughter it was clearly evident she wasn't just short. When she was a toddler, she looked like a walking talking baby. It was only because she was a twin that it was picked up so early, as I was able to compare the two.
Please don't worry about it. GHD is based on far more than whether they're tall or short.