How can a happy active baby be labelled failure to thrive?

[scrabbledabbl]

I just don't understand even though my 5 month old has dropped 3 centiles down the chart since birth he seems absolutely bloody fine to me - he is smiley, active, alert, curious etc. yes he's a small boy but surely if he was malnourished he would show it????? Feeling really down :-(

I know exactly what you mean. There is one school of thought that suggests watching the baby rather than the scales.

My baby has dropped more centiles but our paediatrician / HV wasn’t worried as he is so active and still gaining / developing etc. They seemed to imply they only worried when they crossed the lines etc implying a bigger drop. Was it near one of the lines and someone isn’t using their common sense? Or was he only quite a small centile to begin with? Have they suggested doing anything?

@Kinderbueno89 thanks so much for your reply how many centiles hs your baby dropped it you don't mind me asking please? I thought the whole point of a centile drop is that they cross the lines. He started at 25th centile and is now heading for 0.4th at 5 months he wasn't on that line I guess I just don't understand why they make such a big deal of it if the baby seems active and alert otherwise I've been referred to dietician and it all just feels scary x

Ahh ok I was referring to say 25th down to the 21st. He went from 25th to 9th centile but this drop happened when he was a bit older. I think the term failure to thrive sounds really worrying when really it sounds like they are going to see how he does with dietician input and take it from there? It definitely is a positive thing that he is so bright and smiley. I would take the dietician advice as we struggled quite a bit with weaning so tips on how to increase calories was really useful. My baby also goes off his food when he’s not well (understandably!) but we do notice his weight drops down so we go really high calorie to keep his weight up so that there is a bit of a cushion if he does lose some.

I know it's scary but just think: they're giving you more support and being proactive.

25th to 0.4 is quite a drop but hopefully nor something to worry about.

Are you breast feeding or formula (or both).

Are you waiting until 6 months to ween?

OP that's not a normal amount. It may indicate there is some malabsorption from the gut (or another metabolic issue). Presumably you're no longer breastfeeding? Have you been referred?

If he seems healthy and lively don't worry too much.
I've a friend who had massive amounts of tests on dc 1 as they dropped from 90% to 5% in the first year.
By the time she was on dc3 they decided it was just the way her babies grew (or rather didn't!).
They all grew into healthy adults.

I would allow the tests in case there is an issue that they can pick up, but it may be one of those things.