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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Dropping percentiles

8 replies

Duv · 10/01/2024 21:17

My EBF 10 week old has dropped from 48th percentile at birth to 6.5th percentile at 10 weeks. At first weigh in post birth (5 days) baby had only dropped 2% of body weight so was doing well, and she was weighed at 2 weeks and 3 weeks and HV was happy with babies weight gain (I didn't bother looking up the percentiles at the time because the HV was so positive, but having looked it up since I believe this would have put her weight at about 40th percentile, so slight drop).

Then at my 6-8 week gp check up which I had at 8 weeks, baby was weighed again and on 11th percentile which was quite a shock to me. The GP wasn't too worried about it as technically that meant she hadn't crossed two percentile lines (but she did shift from top end of one to bottom of another, so nearly), and recommended she be weighted again in a few weeks.

2 and a bit weeks later she was reweighed and now at 6.5th percentile. HV wasn't worried and (incorrectly) said she hadn't dropped 2 percentile lines yet (think she had slightly wrong birth weight), but recommended another weight in in 4 weeks.

So my question is should I be worried, when GP and HV aren't? Should I be more pushy or if they aren't worried should I take that as a good sign? Everytime they plot her growth they don't do it super accurately - they just look at the graph in the red book, which is hard to plot, whereas I'm getting accurate percentiles by plugging her weight into the WHO percentile calculator, so I'm getting slightly more worrying numbers than them, and according to NHS guidance she does now meet the criteria for further investigation.

On the other hand, my baby looks healthy, she may be dropping percentiles like crazy but is still gaining weight (albeit more slowly), she has lots of wet and dirty nappies, and seems in line with behavioural milestones. I'm very much well below average height (her dad is a little above average) so I don't want her misdiagnosed with poor growth and put on a feeding plan that might do more harm than good if she is actually just small because of her genetics. That said, I also wouldn't want a genuine problem missed.

I also did have gestational diabetes through pregnancy which was considered well controlled with diet, but I'm thinking that might have inflated her birth weight Vs her genetics but it not have been seen that way because her birth weight was very much in the 'normal' range. But maybe an average weight baby on a below average height woman is actually a baby that got a bit more food in the womb that normal?

Basically, I'm concerned baby will drop below 2nd percentile, and my instinct is she is fine and just small because I'm small, and worried about this triggering interventions she doesn't need, but also worried that I might be just telling myself that and a problem is missed.

OP posts:
CelticPromise · 10/01/2024 21:23

https://breastfeeding.support/baby-not-gaining-weight/#:~:text=There%20could%20be%20many%20potential,onset%20of%20lactation%20and%20more.

Some good info on this link. Do you have any access to specialist feeding support possibly via HV? Sounds like it would be useful to get a feeding assessment to either set your mind at ease or suggest some small changes that could improve things.

Baby Not Gaining Weight

Sometimes a breastfed baby may struggle to gain weight, either not gaining weight at all or not gaining enough weight

https://breastfeeding.support/baby-not-gaining-weight#:~:text=There%20could%20be%20many%20potential,onset%20of%20lactation%20and%20more.

KineMasterModAPK · 30/01/2025 07:49

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KineMasterModAPK · 30/01/2025 07:54

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Whittab · 02/04/2025 21:43

I know this is an old thead but can you tell me how you got on?

I have a super similar story with my 10 week old now and trying not to stress when everyone else is saying it’s fine.

Duv · 13/04/2025 16:09

Whittab · 02/04/2025 21:43

I know this is an old thead but can you tell me how you got on?

I have a super similar story with my 10 week old now and trying not to stress when everyone else is saying it’s fine.

We agreed to keep weighing my LO every 6-8weeks for a few more months, and basically her percentile positioned plateaued around the 7% mark, which is what they want to see - the percentile should plateau somewhere and not just keep dropping forever. Her height is a similar percentile, so I think she is just genetically supposed to be on the smaller side, and I think she was a bit larger than her genetic endowment at birth. I was the same, born very high percentile weight and grew up to be a very small kid.

If there are no other concerns, I think they generally recommend to just keep monitoring the weight over several months and hopefully it should plateau at some point.

OP posts:
BunnyRuddington · 14/04/2025 10:56

If it helps my DD did the same. She dropped 2 weight centiles and just stayed there. She’s still around that weight centile now and she’s very nearly an adult.

BunnyRuddington · 06/08/2025 15:04

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