percentiles- baby on smaller side- should I be worried?

[biggernow]

hello
my 8 week old girl is now only 10lb (was 7.5 at birth) and is between 25th and 50th percentile. My son grew so fast and was always above 75th so in comparison it has made me worry......she is just breastfed and seems healthy- all fine at 6 week check etc. Am I not feeding her enough??
Anyone got any experience/comments please?
Thanks!
BN x

1/4 of kids will be in that percentile group (by definition). They and she are fine. Carry on as you are - you are doing great.

She's a different baby.

I'm sure you're not exactly the same size and weight as your brothers and sisters.

No need to worry.

Try not to worry - hard I know when they're still so new - if HV is happy with progress don't sweat it. My DD was always in the lower centiles, she's tall but slight and is just made that way. It sounds like you're doing a fantastic job

biggernow, when I opened your thread I thought you were going to say she was on the 5th centile or something - 25th-50th is fine! Absolute bang on average actually!

My DCs couldn't be more different - DS1 started on the 9th centile but loved his food and soon shot up to the 75th at 8weeks and is now on the 91st at 19mths! DS2 is on the 9th (was 6lbs 1oz at birth) and has been there since birth and is not remotely interested in feeding at all - he'll have enough to get by but not more.

HTH!

Those percentile charts are made up of measurements taken from 100 babies in 1990(or thereabouts) and take into account no consideration for the fact that breastfed babies are nearly always smaller and lighter than formula fed babies because formula has a different ratio of fat to breast milk (i.e more because it's made from cows milk) so formula fed babies lay down fat stores very early in life.

Even if your baby is on the 1st percentile so long as she is making good steady growth and is continuing along a good growth curve for her size then she is doing exactly what she should be doing is perfectly healthy. There will always be bigger or smaller babies but thats to do with genetics not feeding.

You are doing brilliantly, keep breastfeding.

It's not about what percentile they are on. Any is fine. It is about how they move accross the percentiles.

Dd1 has always been on the lowest percentile. Her doctors are happy with this. It is only when she starts moving downwards, instead of staying on the same one that they worry.

A gradual move across them is fine. It is sudden rises and drops that they worry about.

I heard that weighing babies is a waste of time unless there are concerns anyway. My DD2 is almost exactly the same (8 weeks, bf, 25th percentile) but as long as she looks healthy, gains some kind of weight/size, meets milestones at a reasonable time (again, not worth worrying if she is in front or behind slightly) and does loads of poos and wees, then don't worry

I know, easier said than done, especially with your first, but, honestly, people are different sizes, it's ok!

thanks all. i guess because my son was same weight at 3 weeks as she is at 8 weeks it made me worry. I know boys can be bigger but he was only 10oz bigger at birth. I fed him totally on demand for 5 months and she has more of a 3 hour schedule (but obviously feed her if she is hungry) but perhaps that is a mistake with breastfeeding..but needed more structure this time as son didn't sleep for 14 months and woke hourly!!!! Anyway, thanks for reassurance. Hopefully she will stick to the line and make steady growth. Will get her weighed again in a week or so to see.

x

my DD2 was on 98th at birth and now on 20th....she has put on less than 6lbs in 6 months, HV was fairly laid back about it. I have BF her on demand since birth so don't think that makes a difference. As long as they are gaining weight and eating and look health i wouldn't worry about the percentile thing.