5.5 month old dd weighs 6.1 kg

[Sunshine011020]

Hey lovelies,
My 5mo dd weighs 6.1 kg. She was born 3 weeks before her due date and weighed 2.79 kg. She's growing well and meeting all her developmental milestones before time. The doctor (not NHS) says she should be at least 7.2 kgs at this stage. This worries me. Anyone else's lo has been on the lower end of the weight spectrum and still doing brilliantly? I was heavier at this age according to my mum but my husband probably was on the slimmer side.
What CAN I do to increase her weight. I'm expressing BM and also give her 1-2 top up feed of formula in a day.
Thanks in advance for any reassurances and tips!

Hey OP, honestly babies come in all shapes and sizes, my chunk is 4.5 months and is 9.5kg, so the other side of the scale. It used to keep me up at night as I'm EBF and had no idea what else I could do. I think because he's so big he struggles to roll over... 😹

Sorry hit post too soon. All I would say is don't worry, if she is thriving then keep on doing what you're doing 😊some countries are a nightmare in making you feel completely inadequate because you're child is not tracking to a line on a piece of paper.. ignore them

I've just had a quick glance at a growth chart, and it looks like 7.2kg is the 50th centile at this age. So half of babies will be less than 7.2kg and half will be more. It isn't a magic number that they all "should" be.
6.1kg is just over the 9th centile, which is smaller than average obviously, but about where your DD was born. Unless things have changed since mine were babies 37 weeks gestation would be counted as term so no particular allowance would be made for her being early like with prem babies where they have a kind of "minus date" part of the chart. So it looks to me like she is roughly following the line she was born on.
There is a huge range of normal and some of us are destined to be smaller and lighter than others. All my children are small - not a big surprise given that I'm 5ft 0 myself - but are perfectly normal, healthy people. If your DD is meeting milestones, weeing and pooing normally, seems well in herself and doesn't look undernourished you probably don't have anything much to worry about, but the best thing to do if you are concerned would be to seek another medical opinion. Do you have a HV you can ask, or can you get another doctor to take a look to hopefully reassure you?

My littlest fosterling was the same sort of weight as your DD, she is now 5 months and weighs slightly less than your DD but she is tracking along just under her centile which is what they are supposed to do. A baby born on the 9th centile shouldn't automatically to be jumping up to the 50th centile for weight, what was her length centile at birth?

Why does the doctor think your baby should be on the 50th centile? This is not a point to aim for. We just use centile charts to see how the baby is growing compared to themselves. It doesn't matter how they compare to other babies.

She is between the 9th and 25th at the moment which would only be a problem if she started on the 75th. She didn't, she started between the 75th and 50th. So she has crossed two centile lines which is OK. It's on the edge of what is OK but it's not a concern. She will probably bulk up again a bit when she starts solids. It is also not really best practice to use birth centile as a starting point, you should use the centile from 2 weeks old.

In fact, if you take 3 weeks off her age she would be between the 25th and 50th, which is probably more accurate given she is still so young.

I'm using the growth chart from here which includes guidance on how it should be used:

www.rcpch.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Girls_0-4_years_growth_chart.pdf

My DD was 5.5kg at 5 months, although born at 36 weeks weighing 1.6kg. I obsessed over her weight and still do now (she’s almost 18 months and is just over 9kg). Some babies are just small and it’s not a concern unless they drop centiles.

My DD may be small but she’s feisty and full of character!

My DD was born on the 0.4th centile (2.45kg). She stayed on that centile for 18 months, tiny little dot she was. Then she started to catch up. Now, age 8, she is on the 91st centile for height and weight. Some babies are meant to be small, some will catch up (and overtake!) as the time passes.

@BertieBotts With a birth weight of 2.79kg she was on the 9th centile at birth surely? My little one was a similar birth weight and is plotted at the 9th centile in her red book.

My baby was born on 2nd centile and has tracked that - she's now on the 25th (I think) since we introduced solids and bottles. No one seems concerned despite older children / my husband and I being 75th centile plus! I might add she much prefers solids to milk, perhaps your baby will be the same!

Yes, mine was very similar at 5.5 months but born at 40 weeks, 7 1/2 ish lbs. I exclusively breastfed and we didnt see any health visitors or doctors (to weigh) so it was never an issue. I knew she was fine (very alert, lots of wet nappies etc). My DS dipped in centile before weaning also. DD is now 8.5 months, adores her food and definitely put on a bit of chub! I wouldn't worry too much if you feel she's ok and looks fine. Has she actually dropped any centiles?

OP if it helps my 19 month old weighs 8.1kg and has tracked on the 2nd percentile line since she was about 6weeks old. She was walking just after her first birthday, she's an utter chatterbox with a huge personality. She also eats amazingly, she's just small.

I'd try not to worry as long as she is following her curve. It sounds like she's doing fantastic and you're doing a great job

My boy was born around 30th percentile but fell to 2nd percentile quite quickly. I was told many times there is nothing wrong. I even paid for private paediatrician. He walked soon after 1st birthday, started speaking before then and was an absolute chatterbox by 18 months (still is). I worry occasionally that he will be bullied for being so small but he is otherwise healthy and an absolute star. Your baby will be fine

This was 20 years ago and I'm not entirely sure from how many months she was at the time but parents were told to put double cream in her milk. She became a tall beanpole of a teenager. Not a problem I ever had with either of mine who were robust but never carried any fat.

She sounds perfect @Sunshine011020

Like PPs have said she's tracking her Centiles and meeting her milestones. I think it's pretty unreasonable of the Doctor to say that she should be on the 50th centile. Does he think that all babies should be on the 50th and if so, I'd want to know why.

This is why I love this forum! A big thanks to each one of you for your reassurances and words of encouragement. I've just looked at her chart and she's perfectly following her 9th percentile graph that she was born into. This is where I stop stressing and enjoy her being active and healthy. You mommas, you all rock! ❤️

[quote bloodywhitecat]@BertieBotts With a birth weight of 2.79kg she was on the 9th centile at birth surely? My little one was a similar birth weight and is plotted at the 9th centile in her red book.[/quote]
If you look at the notes the birth weight is calculated differently based on how many weeks gestation the baby is. From 37-42 weeks each has a different set of measurements.

Then there is a gap on the chart between birth and 2 weeks of age, because during the first 2 weeks you're really looking that any initial weight loss does not exceed 10% of birth weight and then for birth weight to be regained. Then you take their weight at 2 weeks old and this is the first point you start to measure from in terms of going up or down centiles.

This is new since 2008 - older birth charts go from birth but this was found to be misleading as many factors can affect birth weight which have no bearing on a child's future growth and it can cause confusion or unnecessary concern.

I have this but the "nice" way around. My babies are small at birth but they stack on weight in the first few weeks and end up on the 75th-98th centile. I can only assume it's some kind of protection that my body doesn't grow them bigger than I can get out. It doesn't cause health professionals any worry this way, but if you're the opposite because your baby was born bigger due to being overdue or having taken on fluids during labour or growing big due to gestational diabetes then it can cause havoc if the hcps you're dealing with only know the old method of taking birth centile into account. You'd hope that was rare these days but apparently still not.