Someone please reassure me about toddler weight loss? I'm a little worried and HV was a bit useless

[CBear6]

DS is 20mo and since birth has hovered around the 75th-91st percentiles for his weight. He's a normal, active little boy with no health issues so it was no big deal and he's all in proportion, etc.

Roughly six weeks ago he had an episode of your bog standard D&V with a side order of snotty nose/cough for good measure, he was off his food for a few days and just wanted to sleep. Four weeks ago I took him to be weighed at the HV clinic just to check he was doing okay. It had been a while since I got him dine (November was the last time) and while he'd had a gain of 1lb compared to last time it was still a loss overall and he had dropped on their graph from the 91st line to the 75th. They asked to see him again in a few weeks so I took him back this morning and in the four weeks he's lost 13oz, gone from 26lb 14oz to 26lb 1oz which is just above the 50th percentile.

He's still eating - he has breakfast, lunch with desert, and tea with desert, as well as one or two snacks over the day - he also has a fair amount of shite courtesy of his grandparents and Easter. Some days he's picky which he never used to be but overall his food intake hasn't dropped much. He's bright enough in himself, chatty, and active - I just had to stop writing this to get him down from the window, he stacked his toys and climbed them! But for all he's bright and active he has episodes of clinginess and whinging which are out of character, he's also very upset at bedtime and literally howls which also isn't like him. Every now and then his skin flares up in a speckly red rash and he's sometimes hot to the touch too. I don't know if they're related or not but the HV asked about any other symptoms.

The HV thinks it's still the bug he had lingering on and wants me to have him weighed again in two weeks, if he's lost again then she wants me to see our GP. I'm probably being a bit PFB with a dash of pregnancy paranoia but I'm imagining all sorts and I should know better than to fuel that with Google but I'm having a stupid moment.

Can anyone reassure me that weight loss in a toddler is not always bad?

Firstly, I am surprised you are still getting your DS weighed at this age. It is really not necessary unless he has a known health problem.

Secondly, the 1lb gain was not a 'loss overall'. It was still a 1lb gain! Your son is probably not going to keep growing at the exact same rate for the rest of his childhood and lots of children have growth spurts and plateaus, there is really nothing to worry about there. Your HV should have told you that.

The actual weight loss is a worry and I can see why your HV wants to weigh again to make sure that he hasn't lost more. But it is almost certainly connected with his recent bug and is far from unusual. If he seems well in himself, active and alert and eating well then it is very unlikely to be anything more than that. The clinginess and bedtime fuss is also very normal for his age.

Hopefully the next weigh in will reassure you But after that, I woudl give it a miss unless there is a real need.

He was weighed in November as part of a routine check-up and when I got him weighed four weeks ago it was because he'd been ill and off his food, his pants seemed loose so I wanted to check that he was still on a standard track. Today's weigh-in was as a result of that visit, the HV advised it and said she would expect him to have either stayed the same or gained (which obviously he hadn't, he lost). Normally I don't get him weighed unless I have an issue or want to speak to the clinic about something. I know it's normal for growth to slow down and stay the same, etc. It's the actual loss that's worrying me.

The HV at the clinic wasn't my HV, my HV rang me at lunch time because she saw my name on the clinic list. She's advised me to keep a food diary because it could be something as simple as not enough calories (which I doubt) but will also help them to see if he's losing weight despite a sufficient diet, in which case they'd want to look into it further. She's going to see me herself when we go back in a fortnight.

Thanks for your answer, I think I just needed someone to help me rationalise it :)

i dont know why someone would find it suprising you are getting him weighed??
my ds is 24 months and i took him last week as was curious to what he weighed, over the last 2 years i have taken him reguarly as he struggles to gain weight etc.. but even if he hadnt i would still have liked to keep track of how he was doing.

most parents would be a little concerned by the weight loss and although it is all probably totally innocent better you were on the ball in having him weighed and catching a potential problem early than thinking oh there is no need to weigh at this age etc!

My son has fallen from the 96th to the 2nd, this month he lost 1lb. He once lost 2lb. I'm only mentioning this to say he's pretty extreme (other issues) but he's still a happy and healthy boy. If he's alert, generally happy and active don't stress. It's only when they are pale, listless or permanently grumpy I worry (or I'd worry all the bloody time!).

Try not to get too caught up in the worrying, it could even be that they used different scales or they were calibrated wrong one of the visits! Go, talk to the Hv but take it all with a pinch of salt. I've had to tell ask the HV to back off because she stressed me out when too often there was no issue.

Does sound like you have a good HV though to notice you and ring quickly.