Referral to paediatrician for size

[Mabelz85]

My DD is 12 weeks old and weighs approximately 9 pounds putting her at below the 2nd centile. She was 5 pounds 13 ounces at birth (full term at 5 days overdue) and lost 13% of her birth weight. I feel she is developing well overall but I am concerned there is an underlying cause for her size so have asked for her to be referred to see a paediatrician. I am fairly small myself (5 foot 2) but I am finding it increasingly noticeable and concerning how little she is and I am very worried. It could be up to 16 weeks before we get to our appointment. Although we can’t really afford it, I have looked into a private referral to a paediatrician to be seen sooner but there doesn’t appear to be any working where we live in central Scotland.

I wondered if anyone else had experience of a small baby and how to cope with the uncertainty.

Thank you.

Should mention her height is at the 2nd centile.

Has she been following her growth curve since birth eg was she born small? If so, probably no need to worry and if the doctors were worried then they would not leave you waiting that long for an appointment. For now I would say why not just go along regularly to a health visiting clinic or whatever provision is near you in order to get her weighed often and keep plotting the growth curve. If she's feeding well and lots of wet and dirty nappies, and growing steadily she's probably fine. They only really worry when they drop down centiles like my son did due to reflux. Someone has to be on that 2nd centile!

Sorry just re read yes she was born small so is probably normal. Losing a bit of weigh after north also normal as long as she's put it back on. See how you go plotting her weight gain

Who have you spken to about this so far and what have they said? Have you been referred by your GP? Were any concerns raised about size at the birth?

How tall is the father? As someone who wasted their babies baby and toddler years worrying they were too small please do not worry about this. As long as she is on the chart (someone has to be at the lower end) and is following her curve the pediatrician is unlikely to do anything at this stage anyway.

DS2 was born at 7lb11 (45th centile) then dropped dramatically to the 4th centile where he's more or less followed the line for the last 8 years. He was referred to a paediatrician at 2 and we've seen them roughly every six months. He's had a variety of tests but it's come down to the fact that he doesn't have tall parents (5'1" and 5'8") and also that he still has a lot of growth potential (he's sort of missed a growth spurt or 2).
If you need to be referred you absolutely will be and it will most likely be a watching and waiting approach. So long as your baby looks healthy and alert and is responding and developing in other ways then you're doing fine.

Ah yes forgot to say my DS was big when born (can't remember the centile but 8lb 10) he dropped to under the 9th centile within a week and has pretty much stayed there since. He just wasn't meant to be big.

My Dd is 0.04-0.9th centile, she’s just shy of 3 yrs old now and is in 18-24 month cloThes, she’s shorter than here peers and is dinky.

she’s always been dinky, she’s not been seen by the HV since 6 weeks and at that stage she was just dinky.

Nursey have no concerns, my DS who is older is slim and shorter than his peers.

DH and I are actually average heights - I’m 5f7 and he’s slightly taller.

to be fair I never even considered a referral to a paed as although small she followed her centile and still gained, albeit small amounts of weight

DD was 5lb 11 oz at birth and lost 10% of her birth weight. She was on the 2nd centile until she was about 3 then jumped up to the 25th centile. She is now 22 and wears size 8 to 10 clothes.

Have you spoken to your health visitor?

My DS is 6 months old and 12lb 90z, his length and head size are both around 50th centile and he has been seen by paeds. He also has eczema and we are waiting for allergy testing so I'm currently trying to fatten him up but avoiding eggs, dairy, peanuts and Soya! The Dr was happy that he is developing and meeting his milestones. I was very worried waiting for the appointment and thinking of all the different reasons he could not be absorbing his food properly. Try not to worry too much and keep weighing regularly and speaking to your HV