Child dropping height multiple centiles at age 4/5

[username570009]

Ok so my nearly 5 year old is so small :(

He is August born so I know amongst his peers he is more likely to be smaller however he is particularly small so I took him to the doctors and they said he has dropped from the 50th - to the 0.2 🙁 his weight is absolutely fine.

He is flying academically and developmentally fine.

The doctor booked him in for a blood test.

Don't know what I'm asking but just want to see if this has happened to anyone else and what was the outcome?

Thanks in advance

Anyone? :(

The main possibilities are (more or less in order of most->least likely):

1. His growth curve is a bit delayed but he will catch up to his peers later.
2. He is "catching down" to his expected height (if you are a short family more likely, if you are tall less so.
3. An underlying specific medical disorder that is treatable (the blood tests should identify the important ones such as thyroid deficiency).
4. An underlying medical disorder associated with short stature, that isn't treatable in itself.

Coeliac often causes growth to slow in children. Some children have normal weight with it if they eat a lot.

Thank you for your replies.

My DD is very small for her age and she is coeliac. She did have other symptoms but being short of stature was an obvious one. I would definitely ask the GP to test for coeliac

@guavajuice23 yes I have read that. Did your daughter have any other symptoms? Thanks for your responses

Yes, she also had heartburn, stomach aches, general pains in her body, headaches, a bad tummy and mucus in her poo. It took over a year for her to have a blood test as the GP was convinced the majority of symptoms were "anxiety", when in fact her TTGA level was through the roof. Does your DC have any other symptoms as well as being small? I say that as my DS is also coeliac but had zero symptoms (known as "silent" coeliac).

@guavajuice23 wow that sounds really stressful.

No other symptoms per se. Doing really well at school etc but does suffer from eczema.

How old was he when 50th percentile?
Are his parents small

@Allicanteat when be was born.
Then 25th at around 3 they wernt overly concerned.
Now the very bottom. Yeah dad short and mum average

My daughter dropped from the 25th percentile at 1 to the 1st at 2. She has stayed there since
Around the time she dropped to the 1st we had extra checks to makes sure she wasn't still dropping but she has held the 1st percentile since occasionally making the 2nd.
She has multiple food allergies and reflux so gets weighed and measured every 3-6 months. Her weight is good usually 25-35th percentile which puts her at the top of the normal weight for her height. I am only 5ft2 and dad was the smallest in his class until he reached puberty but is now 6ft.
She is August born too and will be starting school in September in 2-3 y clothes and is currently still in 18-24 month clothes!
She has had tests for coeliacs as she had issues with wheat/gluten for a while but that's resolved itself and she has had stool samples tested to make sure she is absorbing everything she needs and has no inflammatory markers - she toddlers diarrhoea for while but this is mostly better now.

You should also push for him to be checked for pituitary issues. There's a good group on FB called Child Growth Foundation - helpful information there.

My dd was average born (45th percentile) but dropped off the charts pretty much down to 2nd percentile on starting school, nothing wrong, just short. 5'2 fully grown. My other dd was smaller born but stayed at 25% throughout for height and grew to 5'5 her weight was below the bottom curve though. All dc are different and sometimes there is nothing wrong

Second this. My nephew has growth hormone deficiency which can cause a drop off like this. There are other causes of course. Don't be fobbed off

With respect, it's possible she has a growth hormone deficiency that was just never investigated. People often bother less with girls because height is less stigmatised. The rule of thumb is if the child has dropped more than 2 major centile lines and/or if the child is more than 2 standard deviations below the centile line suggested by mid parental height

Just a word to say don't count the August birthday as the doctor will be comparing to all other children with the same exact age.

I also know length at birth can be really inaccurate. The three year height is probably more relevant.