Failure to Thrive according to GP, just thought she was petite like me - any experience of this?

[Pipsicle]

Hi

My 11 month old was referred to local pead'cion in nearby hospital yesterday and he cited 'failure to thrive' which has made me feel like a crap mum! GP started asking questions about cystic fybrosis in family etc - but she has tested negative for this at PKU test time.

Basically I am barely over 5ft and as a teenager did not reach puberty until 17ish and had to be referred to a specialist in case I had some short arse disease (which I did not). I am taller than my mum. My hubbie's mum is marginally taller than me although he is 5'10. My dad is small for a man as is my grandpa so I presumed that my LO was taking after me.

I also moved from London recently as the HVs seem far more on the ball here as my HV in London told me not to worry when I asked about her weight dropping back in December!

Her weight has now started to plateau with just small increases rather than following the usual chart lines and has gone from circa 35th centile area to 9th and she only gains weight slowly (I think partly due to the fact that she seems to have a cold at least once a month, sometimes twice and limits her food intake then) - GP thought this was worrying, I again thought frequent illness it was part of being a baby. She now weight mid to top end of 7kg, poss reaching 8kg on my scales.

He was not too worried about her height which is 71cm. Head circumference however has gone from circa 35th centile to 0.4 but to me she looks all in proportion but this was concerning to him. She also has very chubby thighs and there is fat on her, she is as bright as a button etc so I was not worried until yesterday.

Anyone else have experience of all this? Surely she is just taking after me? Are most babies ill once a month with something??

Ta for any advice.

Pip

Oh lordy I reckon my babies have had constant colds/illnesses for the first 2 years of life.
I don't know anything medically but it would make perfect sense that your dd took after her family height- wise(call me Sherlock ).

My last baby is 13 months, born on 91st centile, gained weight well until about 3 months and then did free-falling through the -bloody- charts until he got to the 9th.

His height is fine, HV is flapping etc. There's nought wrong with the little chap and the odds are your dd is just fine and dandy

Thanks Kitty - honestly GP worried me senseless and made me feel like a rubbish mum. The only thing I am a bit concerned about is her poo-is smelly and sloppy and has been for the past 3 weeks - put it down to teething.

i have nothing useful to say, but i will be smiling all day over the phrase 'short arse disease' pipsicle thank you for that! good luck with working through these worries.

teething poo is horrible: acid, bum burning stuff yuk!!!!

My dd now doesn't figure on the centile charts at 10mths. She weighs just 6.6kg, 14lbs. HV very sensible and came around to visit yesterday and said just keep feeding her, she will grow.

As with your dd she is very bright but there is not an oz of fat on her !

P.s short arse disease is also known as ducks disease as your arse is so close to the floor. At least that is what I was told about my height !!

here this might be of interest to you come and join us all

Kitty, its the only time DD gets any kind of nappy rash. I've never understood it, at all, as there is no physiological reason for their bowel habits to change just because they are teething. however it does! almost without fail! Poor little girl. she's been raw for the last couple of weeks. To sore to even put any kind of cream on it.

Pip: I am a big believer in trusting your instincts and any paediatrician, with any common sense will listen to you as well. Don't worry yourself until you see the specialists. I'm not debunking what your GP has said, just that take it all with a small pinh of salt until you are seen again. You have to remember she/he would not e doing their job if they didn't make sure about all these little things, and that they don't add upto anything bigger. Good luck.

pip we also had the nappies yuk. but she cut 3 teeth within 2 days that was after 6 days of nappies

I had some of this with ds 1. Get them to measure your head size and plot where you are on the adult scale and then they will be able to tell if you and baby are on the same scale if you see what I mean

Are you breastfeeding?
I only ask as someone on my post-natal group's baby wasn't putting weight on and it turned out to be dairy intolerance, She cut dairy out of her diet and he is now doing much better.

sorry for hijack but vs di she cut all dairy out? The only thing I have is splash of milk semi in coffee BUt eat about half block of cheesea day . I wonder is that maybe affecting my lo. btw im not obese despite the cheese im a size 6/8

Hi, I just wanted to add my experience on this.
My eldest was labelled failure to thrive-an awful expresssion imo, but he too was referred to the hospital.
Both my and my husband's families are fairly petite but they became obssessed with those centile charts and panicked. I didn't- he was very advanced for his age, happy and content little thing really.
Anyway, 6 years on he is the smallest but one of the smartest in his class and a very happy young boy.
Try not to get to stressed, if baby is happy, devoloping well and curious, along with eating well then I would say he/she is thriving!
Good luck

Yes soremummy, it's peachy, on the postnatal april 08 thread, I'm sure she'd be happy to tell you about it if you posted there.

Wow - so many messages, thanks all. No longer breastfeeding, not since Jan and to be honest weight tended to fall in terms of not following those bloody graph lines since then. Also def more illness since then.

Trefusis - I already have PND so def trying to take it all in my stride.

Love the ducks disease comment!!

Pip

About the breastfeeding, I don't know how it affects babies once weaning has started or their main milk is not bm, but it could still be a dairy intolerance, I suppose, especially as dairy intake normally increases just not via mum, when baby no longer breastfeeds.

cheers vs.

Good luck pip