Anyones baies head measurements not the norm???

[bethoo]

at my babies 8 month check the health visitor said that my son has a small head, it measured below the lowest percentile curve. has anyone else had this and what happened and was it somethign other than just a small baby?

Yes we had this with ds1 - just checked his red book as he is now 4.5. He was between 50th & 75th centile for weight and 50th for height and continued on these curves from birth to 1 year.

BUT his head they measured when he was born and then they stopped at 12 weeks - he was on 50th centile. They then obviously did a check when he was 40 weeks and he measured on the 2nd centile. I then had to have his head measured every 4 weeks where it stayed on the 2nd centile.

They just wanted to make sure it followed the curve and was therefore growing but they were almost hysterical about it all. In the end I made them measure my head as I always have to buy children's sized hats. HV told me that the tape measure only went up to measuring a 17 year old so that I couldn't possibly be on that scale, lo and behold I was!!!!

Now I am not a pea head nor is my son, we just have small head circumference.

DS1 still wears hats that are for smaller boys ie when he was 3 yr he was wearing 6-12 month hat

How are his other measurements - is he in proportion? My DS was also on the lowest centile for head measurement at the 8 mth check.

He's also only on the 9th centile for weight and although he's never been measured is tiny compared to other toddlers his age. I figure he's just a dinky baby (dad is only 5.4) His development is spot on so I'm not worried.

My DS is 10 weeks and her head is in the 95th percentile. Her length is only in the 25th yet she has outgrown her 0-3 month sleepsuits already. She is just fine in my opinion so I am not paying too much attention to the charts.

Ds's head may have been measured at birth but certainly not since. They don't consider it a useful measurement round here unless there's a particular reason for concern so I wouldn't worry about it.

Just a word of warning, my dds head measured on the 2nd centile at 11 months and the HV referred me to the GP and there was lots of talk of tests. When it was measured 2 weeks later, by a different hv, it had apparently grown by 2 cm, putting it on a centile in line with what it was at birth. Heads are very hard to measure accurately. Also DH had a ridiculously small head and currently my SIL is getting hassle about her DS's small head when I'm sure it's just a case of small heads running in the family.

Mine has a teeny head - nothing wrong with it, just small.

Do you find he looks more like a miniature man than a baby??

He is growing into it now iyswim (or more to the point, other kids heads are becoming more child size than the big head baby look, and his looks average too)

My Ds's head was so small it was off the charts when he was born, think it got a bit squashed.
I asked what it meant and they said that he may be less intelligent He is 12 now and in the gifted and talented club at school

We dont half get hung up on the charts! My Ds's head was measured at birth, he was breach and his head was stuck behind my ribs so when he came out he had a little ridge sticking out at the back. This disappeared after a day and by 4 months he had flattened the back of head slightly so when he was measured his head had apparantly only grown a couple of cm's and cause for concern!!!! No it wasnt, he is totally fine but they only work off chart and dont record any other factors.
Incidently he was also hospitalised as he was underweight and not gaining. Got to the hospital where they told me HV's were rubbish, ds was a fine weight and gain was good and they had been using bottlefed charts.

I now take him to the clinic once month purely so I can record his weight in our baby's first years book and smile sweetly and vacantly at the HV's

his weight and length are also in the bottom percentiles so he is in proportion to me. i called the hv last night as i was hysterical as been on the net (bad idea i know!) and was convinced he had bloody microcephaly! she said she did not think he had it and she will measure my head too as i may be small. more likely a hereditry thing (they never mention genetics!) i mean surely my child would be more like me than the random babies used on the charts!!!

every time i see a hv or doc i come away worried! at Haydens 6 week check the doc noticed that on his left palm he only has one crease instead of 2 and told me it was a sign of Downs and not hereditry! i was a mess then until my mum pointed out she has it too so she takes great joy in showing everyone the unique on line her first and only grandson has inherited!