7 month old quite small - is this normal?

[Willowmum]

I got a bit of shock when I measured my dd for the first time last night, looking at the charts in her red book she's barely onto the bottom of the chart for her age.

When she was born she was 8lb 4oz, just over 50 centile but is now down to 9 centile. She is otherwise doing OK, normal developmentally, chubby legs and wrists etc. But compared to other babies in my NCT group who are just 6 weeks older than her, she is noticably quite a small and delicate thing.

I last spoke to HV about 8 weeks ago who re-assured me the weight thing was OK but I was really shocked about her height. I'm going to see HV again tomorrow, but in the meantime has anyone else had a similar experience?

my dd went down to the 9th centile for everything after she was born (from between the 25th-50th) then when she was about 18months she was back on the 50th. Dont know what she is now but at 5 she is in 5-6 clothes and is tall. i wouldnt worry too much about it. Once solids are established she will most probably chubb out again or not as the case may be. Was the HV concerned about it?

DD is already well established on solids, her weight started to slow down around 4 months which I believe is normal for bf babies and also due to weaning around that time.

HV was far from concerned, told me not to worry about it. I hadn't worried til we measured her last night.

well i wouldnt worry then

Height while a baby doesn't necessarily signify size later on. As a baby I (now 5ft 7) was taller than my sister (now 5ft 11) and she is way taller than me now.

That's why they don't measure babies any more .. because it is virtually impossible to get an accurate reading .. please don't worry too much

Thanks - have calmed down somewhat since yesterday. Also remembered one of the other babies at NCT group has the opposite problem, she is very tall and outside the 100 centile on her chart. Apparently her HV won't measure her any more so that Mum doesn't worry.

Glad you're Ok now Willowmum. My DD is very petite, somewhere on the bottom of the chart for weight I think although I haven't had her weighed for years (she's nearly 6) She used to be quite small as well for her height, but seems to have caught up now. she was round the 50 centile when born. DS is the opposite, he's gone off the chart for height and can't be far off his big sister's weight (he's 14 months) Both are in proportion for their build I think.

Thanks - good to know Dd is not the only one!