12 month old head circ faltering but other centimes getting higher.

[abigboydidit]

HV visited today for DDs 12 month check. At birth she was on the 50th centile for height an length and both have wavered from 50th-75th since then. Her head circ was 91st at birth then quickly dropped to between the 25th & 50th. I have not had her measured since she had her 14 week check. Today her weight had jumped to the 91st centile, length 98th but head has dropped to just below the 25th. The HV didn't mention it and just said she was doing fine so I didn't realise till after she had left. I don't usually do measurements as they make me anxious and this certainly has done just that..

Trying to step away from Dr Google

No idea on that one sorry, could you call her tomorrow and ask to discuss it?

What mode of delivery was your DD?

To be honest I don't think that my DD's head was measured more than once, so we never tracked it on the charts and I assumed that was normal.

Thanks for replying anyway. TBH I don't really place a huge value on her opinion. Am a bit cross actually as I was wrestling with a toddler during the session and she said DDs height and weight were coming along nicely. She then checked the book again and said rather nervously that her head was..well her head is nothing to worry about. It didn't actually register till after she left and I went back to check the book. It was as if she was deliberately avoiding discussing it

Oh another reply. Thanks. She was forceps. I checked DSs book and he wasn't measured past 14 weeks so I wouldn't have known. Gah! This is why I hate getting them measured..

I asked about head size because friends of mine talk about how lucky they were having a CS as their DD had a 90th centile head when she arrived, overlooking the fact that she hadn't been squeeze out with her head being squashed in the process.

I've had a look at the charts for 12 months. There is 1cm between the 25th and 50th centile. There is every chance that at least one of the measurements taken (either 12 months, birth or 14 weeks) is inaccurate by 1 cm. If you think about measuring a moving baby, it is a bit of a challenge to get it right.

Try measuring it yourself a few times to see whether you get the same outcome each time.

My DH and I have measured my head and we don't agree on the measurement.

I remember that HVs didn't like to measure length as they said it was really inaccurate. One of my friend's DD's "shrank" by about 4 cm in a couple of weeks due to having inaccurate measurements.

Thank you. I think I may call the HV today anyway, just to see if she was worried or if I imagined her reaction..

Ooh i had 10 month old measured recently but it never occurred to me to look at individual measurements as doctor said he was doing really well....if you don't mind me asking, why would this be a concern ? does your dc's head look particularly small?

No - she's very petite so I was equally shocked by the 91/98 measurements. But she does look in proportion. DS was 98 for length and 91 for weight and looked so different. Very long and lean. If I am honest a lot of it is worry/guilt over her delivery I pushed for VBAC as had 20 month old DS to look after and, though we managed it, it was a traumatic delivery. She is hitting her milestones but DS was crawling at 6 months and walked the day he turned 10 months so by comparison she seems so different (she's almost 1 year and still not even pulling herself up to stand).

It must be a bit different having a baby who is hitting milestones at a more average timescale than your first who was a bit ahead.

My DD had a traumatic delivery, but was fine after it - so I didn't have any worry about her from that. Was your DD ok on arrival or did she need some help?

Forceps are used to protect the head of premature babies during birth in some cases, so she may well have been protected by them.

To be honest she's been fine but I am still wracked with guilt. Unfortunately I am prone to worrying so deliberately avoid weigh ins as they just make me anxious

You actually sound to have been a bit unlucky to get a HV who measures heads.

Haha! That's probably a very fair point

My ds's soft spot was always very small so we had lots of head measurements done in his first year. It is really easy to get false measurements.

Those comments are very reassuring. I will try to stop fretting. Thanks