Has your IUGR baby ever caught up sizewise?

[Toothyboy]

I have been pondering this recently! Ds2 has just turned 2, he was diagnosed IUGR, delivered at 38+5 weighing 4lb 15. It took him about 4 weeks to reach the very bottom of the 0.4th centile. He reached the 2nd centile at around 10 months and has stayed within it ever since. Btw, I'm not fixated on centiles (not bothered at all in fact), it's just useful for comparison in this case.

I was never given a reason/explanation for his IUGR and wonder now whether he was just small and was always going to be! At all my growth scans he had grown at a steady rate, just below the charts!

So I'm just interested in other people's experiences and whether you think your IUGR baby was actually just small and not growth restricted at all.

Toothyboy, my dd has always grown steadily in utero as well as outside. She is now 4.7. She was suspected IUGR but she had heart problems on the scan which dwarfed the IUGR. Her heart problems have been fixed but she still remains on the same line (0.4th). I think she is just physiologically small. Eats well generally and is very active.

My Ds has just turned 1, and was born weighing 4lbs 5oz at 38 weeks. He's hasn't been weighted or measures since 8 months at which point he was still miles off average. To be honest I'm not bothered. Compared to some babies, he looks small and to others like a complete bruiser. If it's any help my consultant said that until a child turns two all bets are off as to how they'll develope. So a very tall 18m toddler may end up shorter than average.

Thanks for your responses! I have no concerns at all about ds2 - never have really. He's always fed/eaten well and is very active and strong.

blueshoes - I think your dd is a good example of what I was thinking about. To stay in the 0.4th for over 4 years, says to me she was always destined to be small. And it means clothes last for sooo much longer !

My niece was born at 37 weeks weighing 4lb 3oz. In fact my ds3 who was born at 32 weeks by emergency section was big in comparison ( 5lb 3oz) My niece remained small until she was about 18 month-ish and then started to "catch up" AFAIK she wasn't smaller than average when she started school. Dsis and I on the other hand were normal sized at birth but were always the smallest in our class!

Both mine were mildly IUGR (2.5 and 2.9 kilos respectively) which is VERY small for my family, where we tend to have 4 kilo+ babies (9-10lbs). I had health problems in both pregnancies which no doubt caused their IUGR. They were both of normal length at birth (51 cms), just skinny. They had both caught up in size by their first birthday. Dd at 11 is very tall and already has quite a nice feminine figure; ds is a normal 7 yo.
So in my case, it almost certainly wasn't genetic but a temporary health problem.

My dd was 4lbs 6oz at 38 weeks. She is now 5 years and is 60% for weight and 40% for height. She caught up steadily from birth

there is a petition to decrease the amount of IUGR babies dying each year. please sign it here