Confused by baby growth charts

[starlastar]

Long story short, I’m confused by the difference in the percentile chart in my baby’s red book and the chart in the ‘Growth’ app I’ve been using to track it (so we can see the more accurate numbers) which is supposed to also be the who growth chart.
Can anyone have a look and give advice, is the app chart accurate?

Because he’s been weighed today and has only gained 70g in the last week which doesn’t seem like a lot (for a 14 week baby) and my phone app is saying he has dropped on the percentiles from 8.3% to 6.7%. Whereas in my red book it looks as though he has actually gained on the percentiles and is plotting on the 9th, which doesn’t really make sense to me as he hasn’t gained much weight from last week.
Thank you for reading/looking

Your app may use a different chart with different numbers and ranges to the red book one. The red book uses a WHO (world health organisation) reference for the centiles and so is the most accurate standard for how babies should grow.

If you want to plot your baby's growth electronically, you can register for the red book app, which is exactly the same growth chart as in the paper book, but in digital format.

Hope that helps!

Oh actually, I see that you've said they are both WHO. I can see that the app is using Z scores, which is actually a different type of chart. It's not centiles, it's standard deviations.

You can find both on the WHO website, but centiles are generally easier to interpret than z scores and are used more widely

It’s plotting at about 9% though on the app - halfway between 3 and 12. Baby started off at over 50% though so are you speaking to the HV about his weight loss?

@FleasAndKeef thank you so much for you reply, that makes sense! I've never heard of z scores (I was using the app as it claimed to be the who centiles but doesn't add up!).
I didn't know you could register for a red book digital app, is this in the UK? Would you mind sharing how you can do this? I've tried looking online for plotting with the who centiles and getting no where! Thank you!

@Summasolstice thank you for your reply. Yes we're working with the health visitors (and GP) and as you can see by his charts having him weighed weekly. Feel like I'm going a bit mad to be honest but it has never been taken very seriously even though we're really worried and stressed out over it! Feel like we've tried everything, he won't take bottles otherwise we would have just swapped to formula at this point (tried withholding breastfeed and offered bottle and he still wouldn't take), we have been trying him with formula top ups alongside breastfeeding but he won't take bottles. We've tried different bottles, different formulas, cups etc. The last two weeks we've been syringing formula top ups after breastfeeding (which I don't like as feels a bit like force feeding) but he still seems to have dropped on the percentiles so I really don't understand! He is booked to see the paediatrician and the dietician in January but at a loss as what we are to do until then. Tried to get a GP appt today but they are all booked up 🙄 (although when he has been the GP- several times- they haven't been very helpful and have basically just suggested referral which is such a slow process 🤦‍♀️)
Health visitors are very supportive but are mostly just saying keep going, keep monitoring, see the GP etc...

Just another thought- he is on the 91st for height so I'm not sure if it's possible that is throwing off his weight chart (something I want to talk to the paediatrician about).
Every health professional who has seen him agrees he looks like a healthy baby and js meeting his milestones so far.

Here you go 🙂

www.eredbook.org.uk/

As above, if your baby has crossed 2 centile lines, NICE guidance suggests paediatrician review to rule out any underlying medical causes, so don't worry about being a squeaky wheel with your midwife/HV until your appointment in January 😊

Have you got a local breastfeeding peer support group you could pop along to? They are often great at advising on small tweaks that can improve things

Sounds like you're doing a fabulous job advocating for your little one so far xx

We had pretty much exactly this but had a referral to the paediatrician at the hospital. You definitely should ask your health visitor for this, can’t believe it’s not happened already honestly as they said ours was late in the process and it was sooner than yours. Although she started at a higher weight.

She’s also in the 90s for length/height. As far as I can tell the length charts and weight charts don’t interact with each other at this stage.

@YellowHatt thank you for your reply, do you mind if I ask what happened with your LO? Could they find a cause or a solution? Worried about possible health issues or him needing a feeding tube 😔
So we did see the paediatrician early on when he was only a couple of weeks old, they thought it was a supply issue so we added in formula top ups via a bottle (which at the time he took fine), which is where he followed the 50th percentile for a few weeks. He then started refusing the bottles, which at the time I thought great he must be full and my supply must have increased (I was literally pumping like crazy- although never managed to express much) but obviously his weight didn't reflect that 😔 and then we've had issues with bottles/getting him to take top ups since. I really don't want to go down the route of a supplementary nursing system, we used it with my first son (he had a severe tongue tie and I mostly used the SNS to avoid nipple confusion) and it was so time consuming and now I've got two other children, it just wouldn't be feasible 😔 I think it would also take a toll on my mental health.
But yeah back to the point, I asked the GP to refer me to the dietician 2 weeks before they actually did as they wanted to try him on reflux medication first (which helped his reflux but hasn't encouraged weight gain), so I am a little annoyed about the delay there. It will have also been a month by the time he has his appt at the rapid access clinic with the paediatrician since his referral was made, so frustrating.

@FleasAndKeef thank you for that. I've logged his weights and it looks like he's tracking about the same as the last couple so I won't panic too much then 🙈 it does seem slightly different to his book though. I wish they would show the exact percentile numbers as well, I get that they probably don't want parents to get too caught up on it etc, but I just want a clearer understanding of if he has definitely gained enough this week or if he's still tracking down! I guess I wish it was a bit more precise.

Thank you 😊 yes I have been to a few groups and I've also been having support from an infant feeding specialist I've definitely had a ton of support and helpful suggestions but it doesn't seem to have made a difference 😔

That does sound frustrating. Luckily ours manages to take the bottle for top ups now (most) of the time now. And that’s what helped. If yours is refusing completely I’m not sure what they’ll suggest.

I’m sure you’ve tried all the bottle tricks but what works for us is: calm & happy breast feed, holding the bottle (very warm milk) right next to the nipple. Briefly swap to the bottle teat. The moment they show signs of fussing swap back to the nipple until calm. Repeat until they’re taking the bottle. Took about three tries and we now only have to do this every now and then.