dropping on the percentiles...help!

[thegauntlet]

I am a bit worried. DH tells me not to. Everyone is being reassured; but DD ( 13 weeks) is now down at the 25 percentile- started at the 75.
She has gained weight every time she has been weighed- it is just slowing up. She had a tongue tie that was snipped at day 6 but other than that she has had no problems latching on, I have recently had it checked again. She gets bored it seems; and doesn't really manage more than 6 or 7 minutes for a feed- but will take 4oz in less than this time from a bottle of expressed milk, so I am pretty sure that she gets a good fill ( she goes all drunk and lazy!) I am feeding on demand; within reason; ie about every 3 hours but in reality whenever she needs it. She will go 7-11 and then 2ish, 5ish and then 730ish in the night.

What am I doing wrong? It is so hard, i am taking it all really personally- that I am not able to nourish my child enough, or that she doesn't like it enough. I asked the HV about what to do and she said that at the next appt if she has dropped any more percentiles then we could talk about supplementing. I am pretty much apalled at the idea of formula, especially as to me it seems like a clear picture of how I am not giving her enough.

I feel such a failure and it is all a bit overwhelming. I could do with a hug; or a gin and tonic. ( sorry about the rant)

Sorry this is so long.

There doesn't sound the be anything wrong...a drop of two percentile lines is perfectly normal. Guidelines are that when the drop is more than this you might think about why, and just occasionally there is a problem...majority of babies who drop three are just fine.

There is absolutely no need to think you are a failure because your child has dropped two percentile lines - it's within normal so no failure in anything!

If you think there is any suggestion she might benefit from more milk then of course you can offer it - she may not take it, of course! No need for formula - if she needs extra milk you have it on tap :)

Chin up, I know several mums who this happened to and they didn't supplement, babies all fine! My sister gave birth to giants compared to mine, hers were on 75th at birth and they are now probably not even on the centiles at 5yr and 3yr, they are so petite. My daughter was born on 25th (I have such skinny hips!) and is now 75th - so tall and strong like her dad.
Sounds like you are doing a perfect job with the sleepy drousy baby bit! I love that punch drunk look they get!

Both mine will drain a boob in under 5 mins which is normal. Make sure you offer 2nd boob. My DS (11 weeks) will be all punch drunk on one boob, give a great belch but if he doesn't then have the other boob, he cries 10 mins later, it takes him that long to work out his tummy isn't full after all!
x

check whether or not the charts she's dropped on are the ff or bf charts also. My DS fell from 25th to 0.4th centile and I got loads of grief from the HVs including them telling me to wean at 17 weeks. I stuck to my guns and exclussively BFed to 6 months. My confidence came from the fact that he was bright alert and happy. He's not 34 months but still in 18-24 month clothes but weight wise is back to 25 th centile and is perfectly healthy.
If she's falling asleep in first few minutes could be she's having more fore milk and not the higher calorie hind milk but if she's going 3 hours between feeds then would suggest she is efficient feeder.
Try not to worry about it you're doing a great job ((( hugs)))

Mine has gone from above 75th to below 9th and pead not concerned. If your dc is happy it's clear.

After much worry about the centile lines this is now my understanding. Your baby should 'find' a line and roughly track it. This will not necessarily be the line they are born on.

As tiktok said 2 lines variation is normal.

Remember 75th is not better than 25th - bigger isn't better, they are just averages.

Mine was born on the 98th and is now on the 9th. She was referred but the paeds are not concerned. According to them especially for late/large babies it is not uncommon for their weight gain to slow.

Also she rarely fed for much longer than 5 mins.

Thank you all so much. I am so reassured, I feel loved! Beccas... you hit the nail on the head; my sister has a baby girl who is 3 weeks younger than mine and she is on the 91st percentile; and way bigger than my little petite fairy.

Thank you all so so so much.
x

If it helps my 2 month niece is bigger than 6 month DD. They somehow think it's funny, I'm just indifferent.

Yours will probably be mobile much more quickly than your DSisters.

Mine also took until the 4 month to stabilise percentile wise, someone's gotta be the bottom end of average, as they say.

Climber-people do enjoy that don't they, comparing babies. My ds was the biggest baby born to all the mums I met through antenatal/ on the ward etc. He is now the smallest and everyone LOVES it that their child now is much bigger than him. They were comparing neck rolls the other day, my ds still has his skinny turtle neck (yet very good head control strangely). They mean well but I have got used to having the petit/ munchkin child to be compared to! He seems to be trying to stand up to show off in another way!

Hello thegauntlet, as everyone else has said, percentile lines are averages and bigger isn't healthier. One of the most sensible paediatricians I ever worke with said that babes can take up to a year to adjust to the centile line they will follow. I'm a HV and a drop of 2 centile lines is fairly normal in some babies. You are not a failure and neither is your baby - it coukld simply be that your baby wants to follow the 25th line. I only really worry when babies drop 2 centile lines in six weeks or less.

Honestly you are doing well. It's a bit early fior a G+T so have a ((((((hug))))))

On the other side of the coin, some family members have a really big 15 month old and they can find it stressful because people assume he's older than he actually is and so think he's behind developmentally!

If they're healthy, it'll all even out in the end.