Baby gone from 9th to 98th percentile

[IdiotSandwich05]

Hi all. Baby boy is almost 10 weeks. He weighed 6lbs 12oz at birth (born at 37 weeks), 7lbs 5oz at two weeks, and 12lbs 10oz at six weeks. We had our 6-8 week GP check Friday and he now weighs 15lbs 2oz, which is apparently on the 98th percentile. At two weeks he was on the 9th percentile!

Apparently due to this jump in percentiles, GP wants him weighed every two weeks, and he may potentially be referred to a consultant to make sure there's no underlying health issues contributing to his rapid weight gain 😔

He is also on the 95th percentile for length so to me that means he's just a big boy. He's perfectly healthy, happy, and smiley. He is exclusively breastfed and feeds every 2-4 hours in the day, and only feeds once at night.

I thought BFing was going well but I now feel like I'm doing something wrong 😕

Does anyone else have babies that jumped percentiles? What was the outcome?

We had same with my little one. Was born tiny and put on the weight quickly and has remained tall and accordingly heavy. Both in the 98ish percentiles… don’t let the GP worry you and continue breastfeeding if you so wish x

It could be that he is just settling into his line. It's a big jump, but some babies are born much smaller or bigger than they will be on the outside. If his percentiles for height and weight broadly match it's ok.

You can't overfeed a breastfed baby so don't worry about it too much.

My daughter was a chunky breastfed baby too. It's evened out now she's older and on the move.

For some reason no medical professionals seem to look at this bit of the growth chart and expect babies born at 37 weeks to be exactly the same as babies born almost a month "more cooked"

Get him measured every 2 weeks if it will make you feel better, but he's probably just a normal, healthy, big baby!

kellymom.com/bf/normal/weight-toomuch/

My little girl was 5lb 9oz when she was born and up to 75th centile (where she's stayed at age 3) by 6 weeks. She fed ALL the time so it sort of made sense. Try not to worry x

That's still an abnormally big jump in centiles in a short space of time and would indicate further investigation is needed.

Op, your baby is probably fine. But there could well be something underlying. It's good that they've noticed and they're checking.

Usually these threads turn into HV bashing. 'My HV said my baby was fat but I know she's fine!!!' I wonder if because this one's going via the GP (giving the same advice the HV would), it'll go the same way or not?

Health care professionals don't just say random stuff to be annoying or to parent bash by saying you're over feeding your baby. They flag issues relating to your babies weights because they're following clinical guidance set out by their trusts. It can affect your babies health and like in this case, may need further assessment to check your baby is well.

Mine went from 25th to 97th and has stayed happily on there since she was tiny (3 now). She was just small in the womb (but very long!)

Mine also jumped loads of percentiles. It was ten years ago now so can’t remember specifics but I think he’d leaped from like the 9th to the 75th although no one seemed concerned. After a while he settled on the 75th for a while and then after a couple of years ish went to 50th where he seems to have stayed. I wouldn’t worry but it’s good they’re being thorough

Are you small and your partner massive? A couple I know had a baby like yours - genetically programmed to follow his Dad but mum was really very small so our non medical assumption is that he had to pause at a point that made sense for mums size in the womb but then got going again when born!

Mine was exactly the same!! As 37 he weeks when he was born they plotted him straight on the charts as just over the 15th percentile. He went up to above the 75th within a few weeks and there he stayed forever more.

Mine was bottle fed so I didn't have the old 'you can't overfeed a breastfed baby's to fall back on.

After a week or so of stressing I realised that had he been born 1 day earlier at 36+6 he would have been plotted on the premature chart..... so I plotted him on it myself and lo and behold he was born on the just above the 75th percentile. They did say very initially when he was born that he was a good size for 37 weeks - he was 3.5kg so not small.

The HV stressed me out a lot about it. She was sure he should be following his initial line even when I showed her the other chart. In the end I just nodded and smiled when she made suggestions.

My ds was born just under the 25th centile and by 6 weeks was up on the 98th centile. He was breastfed and fed every 45 minutes through the night (😕) but no-one ever mentioned the centile leaps! He just was a big baby who happened to be born quite small. He is now 14 and 6'3".
Monitoring won't do any harm but don't let it stress you out, it's not that unusual for babies to jump centiles, especially if they arrive early.

@FusionChefGeoff No, I'm fairly tall (5'8") but partner is average height. However, I come from a tall family. Pretty much every male is over six foot and I have an uncle who is 6'8". Perhaps DS is just taking after the males in my family?

The charts don't do well with non average families.

I'm 6ft and DH is 6'7. Both our families are tall and our son is definitely going that way too. He's almost off the charts for height but is super skinny and always has been.

I think there is a flaw in medical training that doesn’t teach them about baby weight properly, so many times over the last decade I’ve seen mums stressed because they’re told their baby is overweight (or underweight) because the baby isn’t average. (Not sure doctors understand what average means.)

The above average weight baby always just ends up tall! Medical staff don’t seem to understand that babies get very fat, then they have a growth spurt and stretch out, and slim, then they get fat again. It’s almost like baby is made of playdo and stretches sideways then lengthways then sideways again 🤣 At age 2 my son was in size 7 nappies, by age 3 he was back in size 4 nappies. Now he is slim, but tall. He was always 95th centile for weight until about age 7 when he moved to 75th.

Listen to your doctor, but listen knowing that doctors are very often wrong. If your big baby is exclusively breastfed and on the 95th centile for height then 95th centile for weight sounds completely normal.

Hello Could I ask Squashedraddish what time frame was this for your little one? My girl started on the 75th line. She dropped to the 9th line and stayed there steadily, I’d like her to get back to the 75th line where she is for height. She’s slowly moving a little above the 9th.

My son was on the 99.6th centile as a baby and the health visitors sucked their teeth and worried about him.
He was just a big boy. He's an adult now and 6' 8"!

Don't worry. There is only one way for a light weight baby to proceed if it has tall genes and that is to grow quickly.
Your feeding has given the baby a chance to put on weight.
My boy did this and remained on the 98th for height but once he was crawling and running about dropped the weight back to the 75th percentile.

Large drops in weight centiles are more concerning than large gains, unless we're talking very, very slowly between birth and maybe X years (i.e. the child is naturally slim). What advice have you sought/received?

Mine all did this. Two then shot off the chart. I think I am rubbish at cooking them, birth them early then they get to where they should be. They were taller than their peers and are all still tall, sporty kids. You aren’t over feeding if breastfeeding, your babies put down more healthy brown fat too. The two centile cross usually is used to find babies whose growth has faltered and the overwhelming majority of referrals for the fast growing babies are fine. They are just the babies who should be at the top of the chart. Can’t all be average.

you cannot over feed a ebf baby, he sounds like a perfect baby! My daughter went from 9th to 98th centile, stayed there , and not age 5 is 75th for height and weight- absolute stick insect she is! Don’t worry- he was born at 37 weeks, had he been born at 40 he wouldn’t have been 9th centile, he is just finding his line

Sarahpoet wothout a time frame and more info it’s hard to comment but some babies are meant to be on the 9th. Sometimes family size and history gives you a clue. Sometimes other things slightly district the picture too like being overdue, lots of fluids in a long Labour - things that can over inflate the first weigh in too.

She gets weighed weekly or fortnightly they all say she’s found her line. She dropped at the beginning, I struggled to breastfeed her, wasn’t yet giving her formula it wasn’t suggested by the midwives and it was foreign at the time for me. I was giving her a little pumped milk, but at one month I started extra formula as well

GotNewHair Sophie dropped right at the beginning and found her line at 3 months. She’s stayed there since. We are tall in my family my partner is as well. He was a month premature but he caught up (partner) small as a child but then grew I guess in his teens.

I echo a previous poster I’m not a great baby cooker. 1st was 5lb 10 (knot in cord) second 6lb. First shot off the scale, fed so much formula, went off the chart. He’s now a healthy nearly 4 year old. I wouldn’t worry too much..

You don't say how old your child is now. If she's been having weigh ins every 1-2 weeks for some time and has consistently stayed following the same curve, has no developmental concerns and isn't otherwise symptomatic then she's probably supposed to be on the 9th centile. Whether a drop as you initially described is concerning is all about the context in which it occurs.

DS age 2 was born on the 30th and since 10weeks has been the 95th. He was ebf. Health visitors just said well done you’re doing a great job. They didn’t try and pathologise it.