Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Original poster

Faltering growth

14 replies

SassyPants87 · 03/01/2023 19:26

DS was born on 50th percentile and even though he has been putting on weight (now 10 weeks) he’s now dropped down to 13th percentile( he is EBF). Im really confused because he has plenty of wet and dirty nappies, he’s very happy content and alert. He’s been hitting his milestones and also sleeps 8/9 hour stretches in the night

Surely if he wasn’t getting enough milk and was hungry he would be letting me know!?
HV said if he keep dropping percentile may need to speak to GP and be put on a feeding plan. I hate pumping and get diddly squat so if I was to be put on a feeding plan I would just move to formula

any thoughts on this or anyone experienced anything similar?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
SamanthaVimes · 03/01/2023 19:33

That sounds difficult.
How many times a day does he feed? Could you do a dream feed maybe to get an extra one in?
Breast compressions when feeding can get some extra milk in them too

Original poster
SassyPants87 · 03/01/2023 19:36

@SamanthaVimes he feeds anywhere between 8-10 times a day. The only problem with waking him for a feed is he just doesn’t want to. He’ll go on breast and just fall asleep straight away

OP posts:
SamanthaVimes · 03/01/2023 20:08

Hmm… could you offer more frequently in the day (trying to do the maths of how often it would be but failing!)
Does he do lots of swallowing when he feeds?
Have you tried switch nursing? (Swapping from one boob to the other to get fresh let downs)

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Babies & sleep Breast & bottle feeding Children's health Families
Original poster
SassyPants87 · 03/01/2023 20:37

@SamanthaVimes he feeds every 2 hours in the day. If I try and feed him before he has none of it! I will try compressions and switching to see if that helps. Thank you!

OP posts:
kitcat15 · 03/01/2023 20:43

There’s no such thing as a 13th centile…are you getting confused?

Original poster
SassyPants87 · 03/01/2023 21:42

@kitcat15 he’s 9th percentile but specifically 13th as I have an app which converts the weight into percentile so you can see how high/low they are on that particular percentile line

for added context he wasn’t even 2 months old when he had to go into 3-6 month sleepsuits. He wasn’t born a big baby he was 7lbs 2oz, maybe he’s just growing length ways more so than weight?

OP posts:
dampthursday · 03/01/2023 22:13

They are concerned if they cross more than two centile lines, so the issue will be if he drops below the 9th centile. What was he on at 2 weeks/when he regained his birthweight, had he already dropped below the 50th then?

My fIrst HV ‘made’ me make a doctors appointment as she was worried about my daughter’s weight gain and made a big fuss about her potentially crossing another centile.
The GP saw us to stop me worrying but really wasn’t concerned, so even if you do end up having to see a GP there is no guarantee that they will suggest a feeding plan!

Original poster
SassyPants87 · 03/01/2023 22:22

@dampthursday he never lost any weight after 5 days he stayed bang on birth weight and at 2 weeks he’s put on weight and stayed at 50th percentile. I have no idea why it’s dropping now and it’s making me question my supply. But he’s honestly a very happy and content baby so no idea what’s going on

OP posts:
SamanthaVimes · 03/01/2023 22:27

How many times has he been weighed? Is it only the recent one that has him dropping or has he been dropping for a while? Any chance of dodgy scales / numbers transposed somewhere?

NewNormalLife · 03/01/2023 22:37

what do HV's do if they do drop 2 centile lines? my boy was born 91% now at 6 months he is only 30%. is is about 80% for height so he is long and skinny like his dad. I'm starting to wean now so I hope he puts on more weight. problem seems to be that he is too distracted during the day to breastfeed. I'm constantly offering it but he sucks a few times then pulls away looks around etc. seems happy enough and meeting milestones though

Original poster
SassyPants87 · 04/01/2023 15:56

@SamanthaVimes i think I might have gotten to the bottom of it! He had quite a prominent tongue tie at 7 weeks that we got cut and I’ve looked and felt under his tongue and it looks like it’s reattached! We did it privately so I can get him seen quite quickly but it could explain the faltering growth and now that I think about it he has been a bit lazy on the breast with latching on!

OP posts:
SamanthaVimes · 04/01/2023 19:06

Ah that would do it! Well done for working it out

kitcat15 · 04/01/2023 23:09

dampthursday · 03/01/2023 22:13

They are concerned if they cross more than two centile lines, so the issue will be if he drops below the 9th centile. What was he on at 2 weeks/when he regained his birthweight, had he already dropped below the 50th then?

My fIrst HV ‘made’ me make a doctors appointment as she was worried about my daughter’s weight gain and made a big fuss about her potentially crossing another centile.
The GP saw us to stop me worrying but really wasn’t concerned, so even if you do end up having to see a GP there is no guarantee that they will suggest a feeding plan!

I doubt your HV ‘made a big fuss’🙄…..she was just doing her job….it’s NICE guidance to refer if babies cross 2 centiles

dampthursday · 05/01/2023 08:23

kitcat15 · 04/01/2023 23:09

I doubt your HV ‘made a big fuss’🙄…..she was just doing her job….it’s NICE guidance to refer if babies cross 2 centiles

Show quote history

I never said she wasn’t doing her job, and I’m aware that it’s their job to refer if babies cross more than 2 centiles. I’ve mentioned that in my first sentence.

She still did make a big fuss in the way she handled it though, especially as my daughter hadn’t actually crossed a second centile, she was just worried that she was going to.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread