Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Children's health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

3 year old on 0.4 centile for height, being sent for investigations

44 replies

Butterflymummy95 · 14/03/2024 10:30

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has been through the same or something similar.

My 3.5 year old has now fallen to the 0.4th centile for her height.

When she was born she was on 50th centile for weight and 25th for length. Both of these have slowly been dropping over the past couple of years and when she was around 2 years old the HV referred her to be seen at hospital as she had dropped 2 centiles for both weight and height. She was seen in August by a consultant who said she wasn't overly concerned but would review her again in a few months.

We attended the review appointment yesterday and the consultant is now concerned as she hasn't got much bigger since she was last seen. Her height is now on the 0.4th centile and her weight is on the 2nd centile. She is now referring DD for blood work and for an x-ray on her forearm to check bone age and has said DD has short stature. She did mention they would be checking for the likes of coeliac as this could cause stunted growth.

Im only 5ft 1 and hubby is 5ft 11, my eldest daughter is very tall for her age so the complete opposite to my youngest.

I'm trying to not worry and think the worst and that there could be something serious causing this but it's super hard not to 🙈

Sorry for the long post and thank you if you made it to the end!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Original poster

Butterflymummy95 · 04/04/2024 18:52

@hopeful02 she's doing good, just her usual happy self thankfully. Got a letter through today with an appointment for Monday to get all of her bloods taken so thankfully was quick enough then after this appointment it will be to get her x-ray to get her bone age. Won't be until both results are back that her consultant sees her again.

How is your little one doing? Has your health visitor not picked up and done any referrals for the drop in centiles? That's who picked up on DD at her 2 year review. Hoping you can get your little one seen soon privately, great that you get it through work. It's such a worrying time isn't it xx

OP posts:

828Pax · 04/04/2024 18:57

The same happened with my daughter at age 3, no cause was ever found. She started on paediasure shakes and was on those for about 6 months I think? Her weight increased and she now sits on the 2nd centile and the doctors are happy with this. I think she's just naturally tiny!

hopeful02 · 04/04/2024 18:59

@Butterflymummy95 - We actually missed her health visit at 12 months as we were out of the country, so when she finally had her appointment at 14 months, it felt very rushed. My daughter was on the 0.4th percentile, and the doctor just mentioned that it's fine and she is expected to be around 5.2 feet. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when I realized that the line was at the bottom of the chart and nowhere near 5'2", that's when I started to become concerned. Anyway, I'm glad we're addressing this now. Which hospital are you getting reviewed at, and did they mention anything about a growth stimulation test? I've heard it's not very comfortable at all

sleepwhenidie · 04/04/2024 19:00

@hopeful02 i would push the nhs if possible - once you are in the system with a child they are very good IME.

ds2 was born on 0.4th centile after a very stressful pregnancy as no one could say why he was so tiny (not even on the chart at 20wk scan). He was monitored regularly from birth but didn’t catch up as hoped and was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. Didn’t start daily injections until y1 of school though-this is normal as they like the child to understand what is going on and work with you on the injections. DS2 caught up quickly to around the 25th centile which is normal for our family - he is now 14 and still injecting daily - all good.

hopeful02 · 04/04/2024 19:02

@828Pax - did she have issues with weight or length ? My DD is fine with weight gain it's just her length which isn't increasing

sleepwhenidie · 04/04/2024 19:02

We were at GOSH btw

hopeful02 · 04/04/2024 19:06

@sleepwhenidie - ah that's very good! GOSH is probably the best place to be reviewed. Has anyone heard of Dr Ahmed Massoud? My GP has referred us to go see him privately and when I did check it seems like he was part of GOSH as well

How is your DS getting on with the injections?

Original poster

Butterflymummy95 · 04/04/2024 19:08

@hopeful02 we're in Northern Ireland so under our local hospital. No mention of that test yet but I'm already breaking my heart at the thought of her having to get blood taken on Monday and just hope they have someone do it who knows what they're doing 🤞🏻

OP posts:

828Pax · 04/04/2024 19:08

@hopeful02 sorry I didn't mention length but it was both of them. She hasn't actually grown in length in just under 2 years. She is 5 now and has grown since but is still only on the 2nd centile for her age in both height and weight.

sleepwhenidie · 04/04/2024 19:09

He is fine- started doing them himself from about 11yo. It definitely helped that when he started he was old enough to be aware of his size compared to his peers and be motivated to get bigger - he couldn’t have cared less about that before around 5-6 and I think we would either have had a battle over injections or had to do it while he slept-which would have felt wrong.

hopeful02 · 04/04/2024 19:20

@Butterflymummy95 - I know that feeling! I'm already thinking about how my daughter will handle so many tests

@sleepwhenidie - I'm sure it gets easier as they start to understand it better. Have you noticed any side effects from these injections? And has it helped him grow taller?

Superscientist · 04/04/2024 20:09

hopeful02 · 04/04/2024 18:46

Hello everyone,I hope everyone is well. Unfortunately, my daughter was measured recently, and she has fallen below the 0.4th percentile as well, which is causing me significant stress. I have requested a referral to a private doctor and am attempting to utilize my workplace insurance, but they require extensive forms from my doctor for approval.

@Butterflymummy95

How is your daughter doing? Have you received any updates from your doctors?

@Superscientist - What tests did they cover when your daughter was reviewed?

They haven't done many tests. She has been tested for coeliacs when she started with a wheat intolerance and she had stool samples when she started with toddler diarrhoea which showed mild inflammation but only just out of normal so they have left that for now

I think they are hoping that she will grow more when she out grows her allergies and reflux as they both impact her diet and she is on a lot of meds for her reflux. She's showing no signs of outgrowing either though and still reacts to crumbs of her allergens. Her toddler diarrhoea has improved in the last year which means her weight isn't dropping any more 18 months ago she went from the 50th to the 25th percentile for weight when it was more of a problem.

There are so many spinning plates it is hard to know what to worry about each week!

NorthernGirlie · 04/04/2024 20:17

My ds was under the hospital because he was prem. At 18 months the consultant (endocrinologist) convinced himself ds had pituitary dwarfism or a Growth Hormone Disorder

He said he'd not grown, started arranging tests etc. I researched and was convinced he didn't have either. His hair and nails grew like wild fire and he'd. Over into the next size clothes since his last appointment

He was small (and is still at the shorter end of his friendship group at 12) but he was 3lb born and didn't 6lb until he was 3 months old because of health issues.

Turns out his height had been wrongly tracked in his red book.

sleepwhenidie · 22/04/2024 15:31

@hopeful02 sorry, haven’t checked in for a while. No major side effects. Some growing pains around 12yo but that can happen anyway.

hopeful02 · 14/10/2024 10:35

Hi everyone, @Butterflymummy95, how are you doing? We got the blood work for my daughter done in June, but due to some errors, a lot of blood had to be taken again, so we only received the results in July. Her IGF levels were fine, but one of the thyroid hormones was mildly elevated. The doctors weren’t too concerned and asked us to return in 6 months

She’s going to be 2 soon, but she hasn’t grown at all. I’m afraid she’s no longer on the growth chart. When she stands next to kids her age, she’s almost a foot smaller than them. Even her weight is at the 0.4th percentile, and I’m not sure what to do. This really worries me.

cestlavielife · 14/10/2024 15:44

If is not coeliac then ask for other tests. Talk to child growth foundation.
If zero growth rate then something is up

Original poster

Butterflymummy95 · 14/10/2024 19:01

Hi @hopeful02! That's terrible they aren't investigating the elevated thyroid levels further!! I would definitely push them and if they refuse to still do anything I would ask for a second opinion.

We also had something similar with bloods, they took a lot of bloods including a genetic test around April time, we got results back for the majority of them which were all normal. Although they didn't take enough blood for the thyroid function test or for the growth hormone test so they had to retake them last month, still no results as of yet. She is going for an x-ray of her arm on Wednesday to also check her bone age. She has grown 3cm since march, but her consultant said it is not enough and based on myself and my husband's heights she should be taller. She said we will have another appointment once x-ray and blood results are back but that she likely will refer us to endocrinology. So I'm glad they're actually do something, unlike yours 😥

OP posts:

Sweepsthepillowclean · 14/10/2024 19:12

Concestor · 14/03/2024 13:57

My son is 9 and isn't even on the lines, he draws his own line underneath, despite having been on them as a baby. He's been tested and is just small (both our families are small so I guess he just got all of the small genes).

Exactly. All 4 of mine were the same. I am absolutely tiny so they take after me (although they are teenagers now and have passed me out thankfully)
Please don’t worry OP x

hopeful02 · 14/10/2024 20:16

Thanks @Butterflymummy95 her IGF levels were fine and so was T4 but slightly higher TSH at 4.67 where the normal range is from 0-4.20. The other problem I am facing is that my DD is such a picky eater and hardly accept any food other than 1-2 things and breast milk even at 22 months old. Consultant has asked us to return in 6 months so he can check for linear growth and might want to repeat thyroid test again but its going to be 4 month since she was last measured and has showed no signs of any growth whatsoever. Even the 1 year olds at her nursery are all much taller than her now.

Flip

1 2