Small 4 Month Old - 0-3 clothing

[Alice0901]

Hi all,

I’m not sure if this is the best place for this thread so apologies if not.

I’m not particularly worried about my daughter as she is growing albeit slowly. HV is involved and also not particularly concerned. She is just under the 2nd percentile.

I was just wondering if any of you had babies on the smaller side? My DD is coming up to 4 months old and is only just wearing some 0-3 month clothing (some of this is still too big so she’s in newborn in some things).
I see lots of posts about babies outgrowing things very quickly but not so much the other way round!

Thank you x

DD2 is 15 months old and still wears 6-9 month clothes in some brands and 9-12 for all others. She healthy, and following her growth chart. If you're not worried and HV isn't worried, it's totally fine.

Yes my son has always been on the small side - 2nd percentile at birth and still little. He's now 2.5 but mostly in 18-24 months clothes. If your HV isn't worried then it's fine! As one said to me 'someone has to be on the 2nd percentile - that's how it works!'. I think it's only a worry if they fall waaay off the bottom of the chart xx

My LO is tracking in a low percentile but my previous HV was quite rude about it but didn't take into account our family or ethnicity or the fact that the graphs are based on US babies who are formula fed. We keep an eye on LO's weight and she's tracking fine. She's 12 months old and in 9-12 month clothes but not all retailers are the same size so she could fit Mothercare, Primark and H&M but Next is slightly big on them. As long as your baby is happy and healthy I'd not worry about it.

Ds was 5 weeks prem. He was 6 before he was in the correct size clothes!!

DS is just two and only recently grown out of his 18-month stuff. He's always been less than 9th centile for weight and his height is around the 5th centile. I'm not worried, although I do hope he ends up at least the same height as his dad (around 5'7) because I'm short and I hate it! But it is what it is. If you're not worried then that's all good!

If she is tracking the percentile then that’s reassuring. How tall are you and her dad? She may just be meant to be small.

Also some brands of clothing are a good size up. Asda used to be, not sore if that’s still the case.

*sure

At that age my daughter had only just grown into 0-3 months, and even now at 18 months she still wears 9-12 months. I really wouldn't worry as long as they're otherwise healthy and following the general trajectory of their weight chart.

Depending on the clothing brand my DD was way behind in sizes - especially Sainsbury TU range

Also sizes do vary across different brands. My 2yo is still in some 6-12 month trousers from John Lewis but has grown out of his (v expensive) 18-24m Frugi ones.

Centile is way more important and if she's following a line, and especially if you and your dh are not tall, I wouldn't worry too much.

Thanks so much for all your comments. It makes me feel better there are others in the same boat!

HV has made a comment that I should be giving her at least 8 5oz bottles per day but if I do that some of them will be force fed. I have also been told not to dream feed as she suffers with reflux so it’s hard to know what to do for the best!

I’m just under 5”4 and DP is around 5”7 so she was never going to be a really tall baby!

I’ve also noticed that some brands are bigger than others. I’m noticing especially Asda are huge and matalan also seems on the big size. Next on the other hand is pretty much true to size (at least for DD)

She seems to be following her curve for the most part. She did dip when she had a bad bout of diarrhoea but since then has been more or less consistent.
GP wants her to be weighed but they don’t have scales. HV has said that she shouldn’t be coming to weigh her now because of lockdown. It’s all very frustrating haha

Mine was 25th percentile at birth, but gradually fell to the 0.4th - her weight gain was very “step” like though, she’d stay a steady weight, then pack on a load and catch back up, stay steady etc.

HV did refer us to paeds as protocol, despite no no one being worried. Paeds weren’t either as she was clearly healthy, active and thriving. Bloods all normal.

Ebf for interest.

I remember at 14m she was still in her rear facing baby car seat as she wasn’t the required weight for the 9m+ one (in the days before extended rear facing).

Never paid much attention to clothes as size varies so widely.

She was always very active, and on the smaller side throughout childhood.

She’s teens now, had a growth spurt during lockdown and is now a perfectly average height :).

My dh is 6'4 and ds was /is still small...

My baby is also 4 months old and is still in 0-3. He was born on 0.4 per centile and is now on the 3rd but I doubt he’ll ever be massive! I also hear stories of babies outgrowing their clothes super quickly and do worry sometimes but he seems happy and he’s following his own curve.

Dd is 20 months... some 9-12 months still fit perfectly and most of the 12-18 drown her.

We have a lot of involvement from dieticians etc as she has a medical condition and she's tube fed - nobody is concerned about her weight gain or size.... she just has really little legs ( thanks grandma!)

It does sound like she will always be petite. Will save you a fortune in clothing whilst she's young!

Vertbaudet come up small and slimmer fit.

I was a decent sized baby at birth but quickly lingered at the bottom of the chart for height and weight then went onto to have huge babies and DC due to having a very taller and fast growing DH!

So long as height and weight are reasonably in proportion don't worry.

My baby boy is 5 months old this week, has only just this week gone from 2nd centile to 9th and has only been wearing 0-3 months clothes in the last couple of weeks though a few hoodies and coats in newborn still fit him better than the 0-3 but then on the other hand one of his hoodies/jumpers is 3-6months. I think it all depends on the brand of clothes sometimes as well.

If she's following her curve pretty much she should be ok - if you're both not that tall then it makes sense for her to be smaller too.

On clothes sizes, DD1 is 90th+ centile for both height & weight but still fits in some 12-18 month trousers at nearly 3 - she's got a long body and short legs like me but is overall tall like her dad. I just ignore the ages and take a tape measure to the shops now when she needs new clothes.

@bluebluezoo

Mine was 25th percentile at birth, but gradually fell to the 0.4th - her weight gain was very “step” like though, she’d stay a steady weight, then pack on a load and catch back up, stay steady etc.

HV did refer us to paeds as protocol, despite no no one being worried. Paeds weren’t either as she was clearly healthy, active and thriving. Bloods all normal.

Ebf for interest.

I remember at 14m she was still in her rear facing baby car seat as she wasn’t the required weight for the 9m+ one (in the days before extended rear facing).

Never paid much attention to clothes as size varies so widely.

She was always very active, and on the smaller side throughout childhood.

She’s teens now, had a growth spurt during lockdown and is now a perfectly average height :).

My daughter is 21 months and still fits in her infant seat!!! We have the next one up and usually use that but have the infant seat in the other car and use occasionally. Weight wise shes nowhere near the limit, height wise she is getting there...

OP mine was in 0-3 til about 6m. She’s now in mostly 12-18, but occasionally 9-12 stuff that still fits. Occasionally babies growing slowly is a concern, but if you've been seen recently by a HV/GP and you’re both small parents she’s almost certainly fine.

My DD was in still 0-3 months at almost 5 months old! She flew through 3-6 months though and now at 8 months is in 6-9 months - although Tesco are too small length wise but Sainsbury’s TU are massive!

As long as she’s following her curve I wouldn’t worry and hey, at least her clothes will last a little longer

Thanks so much for all your replies - makes me feel much better!
Nobody is particularly concerned, just have a few family and friends make comments about how tiny she is and that she still looks newborn so makes me a bit paranoid!
She’s similar percentiles for weight and height so very much in proportion with chubby little cheeks and thighs. Like you say I think she’s just petite

yes my dd is 29 months and is in 12-18 months clothes, and some of them are big on her. she has a tiny waist and skinny legs so leggings especially are always baggy. she was ff and has always eaten really well, shes just petite

DD is 14m and the vest i put her in this morning is 0-3. She's still in her infant carseat. She's also as healthy as a horse, running and climbing and eating everything she can get her hands on.

Her dad and I are both 5"4, she was born on the 25th centile but had cold after cold, plus bronchiolitis and then silent reflux, so has been following the 2nd centile line since 4 months. She's just very little. It happens.

My daughter was in first size until 8 weeks, up to 1 until 11 weeks and is still in 0-3 months at 5 months even with her big cloth bum! Our HV is coming every 4 weeks to keep an eye on her weight due to reflux and possibly cmp and soya allergies. She is gaining weight ok and has actually gone from the 9th to 25th percentile. She doesn't seem to be growing in length and I think she is dropping down the percentile as she would have been around the 25th percentile to grow out of the first size at 8 weeks but based on current clothes she is now closer to the 2nd percentile. The HV has said she will measure her length and as well as her weight when she next comes