11 month old, head on 2nd centile, reassurance????

[Vivienne52]

Hello, we have just had a horrible few days in hospital with ds. He had a vile gastric bug. my gp had said to me before we took him in that his head appeared small to her. They measured it in hospital at my request and it is on the second centile. I think he is on 50th for weight and 75th for height. His head was on the 25th when born. Developmentally he is cruising, picking things up, interacting well etc. he doesn't babble much but I'm not worried about that (well I am now!) They have booked him for an MRI at hospital. I have been so upset (to put it mildly) that he will have something wrong with his brain. In hospital the paeds were really reassuring but wanted to just check it out. Has anyone else encountered similar? Many thanks x

I haven't exactly encountered similar, but DS had a small head compared to other babies - still has now grown up. He was also tall and slim as your DS seems to be. I don't know what percentile as it was never measured except at birth, but he is perfectly normal - quite intelligent, in fact! I guess some babies have to be on the second percentile - perhaps if they are off the charts entirely, there may be some cause for concern.

Ok, thank you for that. I actually wish I had never had it measured and gp didn't mention it.....

Anyone else?

yes, DS1 is a tall skinny rake with a small noggin. He is absolutely fine, totally in proportion for a tall skinny boy. He'd look like a lollipop if he had a bigger head!

Idifeel his head is quite cute, and one of the registrars also said he'd never had noticed..... I am just totally freaking out x

Hi. My sons have all been the opposite, average length and weight but heads around the 95 centile. I also have a big head and can't ever get a hat to fit! My boys have big heads, yours has a small one but they are all still within normal limits. Do you or your husband have a small head? I'm sure everything will be fine.

I don't think that head height necessarily correlates with height and weight. I am below average height, but my head is too large for women's hats and is a little bigger that DH's head. DH has quite a big head, but is a foot taller than me, so I must have an abnormally large head for a woman of my height. So if there are people out there with very large heads, there must also be people out there with quite small heads.

Have you measured your head or your DH's head?

My DIL has such a small head that she has to buy childrens hats. I would never have noticed if she hadnt mentioned it.

She has a very high-powered job with a large multinational company, so having such a small head certainly hasn`t affected her intelligence!

Thank you all for your replies. I measured my husbands head and found charts online. His head appears to be on the 3rd centile. He is very tall and thin. Perhaps it is genetic? Although my head is massive....... I so hope everything will be ok. He is a really grumpy baby and I think they want to rule out anything which might be affecting his mood. But I am hoping he is just quite sensitive and reactive. X

Head size can most definatly be genetic so the fact your husband is on the 3rd centile could well explain your baby's head size. And remember, being on the 2nd centile is still in the normal range, out if 100 babies your baby will be 2 nd smallest but still perfectly normal. The main thing is his development and he seems to be doing great!
I do understand your worry though, dd was prem but head was only on 2nd centile at birth whereas oldest was 50th. But doctors say it is fine. X

I definitely come from a family with large heads. Where did you find adult charts?

I have a small head. My husband has a small head. All my siblings have small heads and so do my parents. We are all absolutely normal in terms of intelligence etc. My daughter also has a tiny head (she is six and non-stretchy age 1-2 hats fit her just fine). She is doing really well at school, is happy and normal and basically fine. She also has teeny tiny hands and feet (both smaller than her three year old cousin's).

Also, someone's got to be in the bottom centiles because that's how they work, and it's probably going to be someone whose parent is similarly inclined. Have had many many arguments with HVs about weight on a similar level about my daughter (who has only just got to 15kg at well over six).

Not sure if this will offer reassurance but I have ds red book here. Ds is 4 months old he's 9th centile for head, 50th for length and 25th for weight.

Other ds 32 months (nearly 3) 50th head, 98th length and 91st weight

Next ds now 4 was tracking 9th for head (it was last recorded 2nd at 38 weeks) 75th length and 25th weight

Dd now 6 was tracking 75th head, 75th weight and 98th height

I think it might be genetic as 4 month old ds and 4 yr old ds look spookily simillar and have the same genetic skin condition, and are simillar on the centile measurements

Whereas ds nearly three and dd look spookily simillar, also tracking simillar measurements on centiles and ds doesn't have the skin condition like his other dbs do.

All my dc are perfectly fine and their head circumference stayed the same from birth.

I hope everything is fine. It sounds normal going from my dcs records. x

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1793909/?page=2

This is research paper I found head charts for adults on. My dh and I both measured ds's head and both got 44com (9th centile) whereas dr said it was 41cm (2nd centile). It's very wooly and annoying. I last few days he has started sticking his tongue out on request and when you say where is daddy he turns to look at him and same for mummy. I don't think his development is hindered by his wee head but hope to god I'm right.

Looking at that link, my head is 5cm above the 97th centile for my height. Clearly I am just lucky that it has never been measured by a medical professional. DH's head is over 97th centile so we will be the start of a mutant strain of huge headed humans.

DD was 0.4 for height, 50 for weight and off the chart (HV put a dot over the top line) for head. That was at 12 months. She's now 22mo and things don't seem quite so off balance now! Though I've not measured, to be fair.

Ok I got the date through for his MRI and I am freaking out. Boohooxxx