Baby dropped 2 centiles -worried

[Screamer1]

I had my 5.5month old weighed for the first time in 3 months (she's my second and I had been much more relaxed about this sort of stuff). Anyway I found out that she's dropped from 75th to 30th centiles. The gp said that if there's no change in 2 weeks we'll have to be referred to the paediatrician.

I'm now terrified after reading about causes of failure to thrive and cystic fibrosis etc.

We've had a pretty rocky start, sleep is currently horrific and I'm pretty wiped out. Sat here in tears thinking all sorts of horrible things. Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing?

What milk does she have? Will she take more?

I'm breastfeeding her. I feel like I'm feeding her constantly. Sometimes her feeds are short but I always offer more a bit later.

Her poos have been quite watery recently.

I don't feel like she got an allergy because she's so very contented

She won't take a bottle, I keep trying

How big was she born? I've found with friends who had 9lb/10lb babies they did drop centiles despite feeding very well and no health issues.

She was around 8.9lb

I'm guessing she's been checked for tongue tie?

She hasn't I don't think. She was gaining well until September which was the last time she was weighed.

Apparently her length is still on track

I know it's hard but try and remember that these charts go off data from formula fed babies. All babies are different and I know 3 in my small group at baby club who have dropped centiles (my DD is 6 months). It's probably just because it's been a while since she was weighed, it looks worse. If she's feeding well, content and has lots of wet and dirty nappies, I'm sure she'll be fine. Just take her back in two weeks and go from there.

Hello op, my son was not a particularly big baby, but he dropped from 75th, to 2nd, to off the bottom of the chart.
I believe he has a lip tie, though the Drs never checked for it. He would appear to feed fine but the feeds took a long time.
In the end, in my case, I started mixed feeding with gp support and then gave up bf-Ing.
From that point my son quickly bounced back, he's now 2.5yrs and 50th centile for height and weight.

I'm absolutely not saying you should give up bf-Ing, in fact my gp encouraged me to carry on, and of course your case may be entirely different to mine, but I just wanted to reassure you that this may just be a little blip on the graph that will soon be behind you. STEP AWAY FROM DR GOOGLE!

Don't panic! 'Failure to thrive' is such a horrible term but many babies don't stick rigidly to one centile line. Although they need to rule out any underlying health issues, it's probably just one of those things or she is perhaps not feeding as efficiently as she might. If she's otherwise healthy, alert, meeting milestones then chances are it is just one of those things.

My DS dropped from above 50th to below 2nd - just wasn't getting enough from my milk, so topped up with formula. Once we started weaning I made sure he got lots of calorific food like avocado, peanut butter etc. Over time his weight has moved back up and he is now on the 91st centile so he is getting towards the other extreme.

The charts are actually based on breast fed babies and prior to that were based on both breast and bottle fed babies.

Thank you everyone. Do you know if you could still have cystic fibrosis if the heel prick test came back clear?

They check for cystic fibrosis in the heal prick test now (where I am anyway) so don't worry about that. Can you check that?

My friends daughter dropped off the charts and she didn't care because she was determined to breastfeed her, she maintains that breastfeeding charts should be different. She is a nurse and has 5 children and balls of steel really! I think you are doing great, I just wanted to say that.

We were referred for DS dropping in weight. I wasn't concerned at any point as he was very happy. When we saw the consultant he said it was a nonsense measuring from birth weight as birth weight is a reflection of how they grew in the womb not what they are as babies. He said it takes a few months for them to find their place on the percentiles and then it should even out.

Thank you. I feel so fried and in the edge. The last few months have been really really tough and now this is just making me go abbot over the edge. I'm up all night feeding her because she doesn't sleep.

My boyfriend tells me not to worry but it's impossible seeing as my whole day is taken up with trying to get good into her. I feel pretty alone at the moment.

Glad your ds is ok whatinthe

Oh screamer, you poor thing. You've put in so much work and done such a brilliant job of looking after her every need, no wonder this has knocked you for six!

Of course all babies go through cluster feeds/growth spurts etc, but if she's unsettled and feeding that much I do wonder if she may have a tongue or lip tie or some other thing that means despite your and her best efforts she's just a little hungry

Thank you curls. Who could I get to check for tongue tie ? She definitely doesn't have an obvious case of it.

Sending 

If not tongue/lip tie - could it be latch? Has anything changed in terms of positioning etc since she was gaining?

I don't think so. Maybe I'm getting mor lazy so not checking her properly. She did go through a phase if not wanting to feed from my left breast for a few weeks. So I was having to just use my right until I worked out that she would take the left if I did the rugby hold. That seems to have resolved now.

Sorry for all these typos

I got my sons tongue tie snipped at a few days old by an independent lady who came to my house, they do consultations before doing it but it is quite pricey even just for that as they essentially come to do the snip type thing - i may be remembering this incorrectly though - can't remember what I searched but it was a sort of group of approved tongue tie people - I knew he def had a tongue tie so knew the expense was justified if that makes sense!

so may be worth having a check w potentially a lactation consultant if that's possible for you - as they will be able to see if it is a tongue tie and also would be able to check latch etc if it is a problem on that front - also it's not such a huge expense for potentially nothing and could rule things out which might help? I'm not saying it's probably a problem w her feeding but might be worth a look as does sound like it could be potentially something to do w that, and if it is that's a much easier solution to get to than trying the other way around and then ending up there!

Also, agree with others - sometimes they are born a weight then settle into their natural weight

Sorry this is jumbled - sick child half asleep on one arm so typing with one hand and v quickly!!!