Should I contact the GP

[Smilingwhenrunning]

Hi all

First off I AM NOT LOOKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE HERE.

My son is 6 and a quarter, he has always been small and short, he's currently 2st 7lbs and 107cms. Husband and I have just looked on the centiles and are now concerned that he is really quite small.

I want to get advice from the GP but with everything going on, is this a valid reason to contact the GP next week?

I should say that he is on asthma meds daily and under review.

Thanks.

My just turned 2 year old is 2 stone on the nose. Yes you should call the GP.

Just to give a direct comparison, as my DC is the same age, and he's 3st 1 ish.

I'd say call them. They don't actually seem that busy at the GP's right now. You will probably get a call pretty easily and can discuss your concerns.

Call. I phoned about something non urgent yesterday, was put straight through to a GP and collected a prescription today. Amazing service!

What I mean is, GPs are quiet at the moment. No need not to call.

I would definitely have him checked out, esp as Asthma meds can cause growth issues I believe

Has you son been weighed and measured at school? I was concerned about dd weight but school nurse routinely weighed and measured and came back within normal range. My dd is 5 years 8 months

My nearly 6 year old is 2st 10 and 103cm, I don't think it's anything to be concerned about. If you are concerned give them a call for reassurance.

Hi GP here - not true that “GPs are quiet right now” (central London) - Currently able to filter out more urgent matters, rather than spending hours every week with people who linger in the consulting room, or running late due to patients turning up late. Able to deal with short matters in a short amount of time rather than having people feeling like they have to take up the whole 10 minutes because they have had to come and waited in the waiting room. Compared to 3 weeks ago I am now more busy with complex patients than before covid, and struggling with not being able to pull any old person in for examination, and having to weigh up risk of exposing people to potential covid unnecessarily - very draining.

This is something I would speak to your GP about, I would be more than happy to hear from you and take this further. If you have previous weights it will be extremely helpful. If your son has had to take significant amounts of steroids due to his asthma this may have impacted his growth, but regardless do get in touch.

Hopefully everything is alright xx

He's on about the 0.4th centile for weight and height, so that gives a BMI of just over 2nd centile, which is considered in normal range.

Sorry TheDot. I meant no offence. I was trying to reassure the OP that it was okay to call.

Interesting that your time is being used so differently now than before. Do you think some changes will remain in future? More telephone consults? Medically trained staff ‘triaging’ before appointments?

In fact, the BMI calculator gives 7th centile.

Thank you all.
In the meantime we have just dragged out all his consultant papers, red book and year R health monitoring report and it seems he has grown 7cms in the year since his year R review and although it appears he has lost weight, he weighted himself naked here (not something he does regularly, I had had the scales out for me and he was interested) as opposed to fully clothed at school.

Thank you. I will give them a call, he is seemingly due an asthma review as well so I hope we can combine them. However, I'm hesitant at going to the surgery so we'll see.

Thank you all for your views. Especially Mrs GP(sorry, I can't remember your name), I k ow our surgery is still busy hence my asking here.

If he is growing 6 cm in 12 months he may be fine. It s growth rates that counts and following his centile.
But measure him properly if you can and again in 6 months and see if still gaining cm . Coeliac disease can cause lack of growth but you would be seeing less than 1 cm in 12 months not 7 cm

If do get referral to growth clinic they will run set of various blood tests and measure properly and then again measure in six months to check growth rate before any action .

You can also take parental heights and calculate mid parental height. If everyone is 6 feet tall and he is only short one might be a reason to look more. But as he is gaining in cms he is prob just on his line

Also ask about the meds he is on if strong steroids

How tall are you and his dad? If you're tall, then it's rather more worrying. If you're both short, then it's a lot less worrying.

My almost 8yr old is very slight and last october was 17kg... blood tests were all ok, he does have a rare genetic disorder so theyve assumed it's related to that. We have been prescribed high calorie shakes daily and he is now around 20kg

GP couldn't advise much but did refer to peadiatric services who assessed him and then referred on to dietetic services.