Baby has dropped percentiles but is gaining weight

[andreaanderson]

Hello,

My baby is currently 4 months old and was born on the 86th percentile for his weight.

I was recommended by my health visitor to get him weighed every 4 weeks (which I do). Everytime I go he has gained weight but sometimes it’s not a lot. He is now currently on the 51st percentile.

I’m not sure if I should be worried as 86th to the 51st seems like a big drop?

I mainly breastfeed him but do give him one bottle of formula a day.

any opinions / advice?

What’s his length centile? It’s usually not an issue unless for example his length is like 99th and he continues dropping below 50th so that he is disproportionately thin. Usually they settle into where they will be going forward around 3-4 months. It just means he was born a bit bigger than average, but now he’s more likely to be average average going forward. My first was born on the 9th and 2nd on 86th and both were about 50th at 4 months.

i’ve never actually checked his length, health visitor has never mentioned it - do you think this is something I should start doing ?

Stop weighing so frequently, he's feeding, you get wet & dirty nappies, you have no concerns otherwise.

Catch up and catch down growth is normal.

Mine were both born on 50th centile, dc1 went up to 75th, dc2 dropped to 25th, I wouldn’t worry, as long as they’re having wet and dirty nappies and are bright and alert it’s all good. Dd1 was fairly tall until she was about 15/16 and her friends started catching her up, ds is now 15 and was always small but recently has had quite a growth spurt.

Is baby happy? What is your gut instinct without the weights?

Mine was miserable. I was really concerned and personally didn't think baby was gaining properly. My instincts screamed something was wrong. But everyone around me said he fed loads and was fine, just colicky. Until around 4 months and he'd dropped from 80th to 20th centile (while still being over 91st for length!). Was he skin and bones? No. But it kicked everyone else's arsed into gear and got a CMPA diagnosis (which has expanded to multiple other allergies!).

Once that was sorted he gained weight. I know he's on about the 50th centile again now, still super long on 91st centile. But he is happy and healthy. I no longer have that screaming instinct inside and only reason I know how much he weighs is from the allergy appointments. I don't have the drive to check weight anymore.

Dropping centiles can be them finding their normal centile if they're happy and healthy. In my case it was an underlying allergy damaging their gut and absorption.

Weight at birth is determined by factors during the pregnancy and then babies very often ‘catch up’ or ‘catch down’ because eventual height is determined primarily by genetic factors. If he’s gaining weight, happy and alert, meeting all milestones and plenty of wet and dirty nappies then I wouldn’t be concerned. Also how tall are you and DH? For baby to stay at the 86th I’d expect you both to be quite tall. If you’re not then it would make perfect sense that he’s catching down to find his curve and where he ends will be more in line with your heights.

He could well just be finding his curve. They only refer for further investigation if baby crosses two centile lines, which yours hasn't at this stage, so I wouldn't be concerned right now.

I agree with a pp about looking at the overall picture - is baby happy, or unsettled? My now 7 month old dropped from 25th centile to below the 9th when he was 8 weeks old, and while it was only one centile line and not an obvious concern, he definitely wasn't happy and struggled with feeding. He gained weight, but it always lagged behind where it should be. He'd had a tongue tie snipped so it wasn't that, and we ruled out dairy, egg or soy allergy. He definitely had a poor latch and while it wasn't painful for me, it was too shallow for him to get the milk he needed. I ended up introducing bottles of formula at 5 months old and gradually weaned him fully - disappointingly as I'd wanted to breastfeed for a year - but since then he's consistently gained weight at a faster rate and he's now above 25th centile (and much happier!).

Not suggesting that you should stop breastfeeding, but it'd be worth getting some advice to check his latch and make sure he's getting what he needs from feeds. But I also really wouldn't stress about it - even if there is an issue, it will be fixable. And it may just be baby finding his natural size.

Thanks for sharing this! Tbh my gut tells me he’s fine, but I guess I just get anxious with all the numbers 🥲

i’m short (5ft) and my partner is 5ft 11… so think you may be right, may just be catching down

Thank you for this!! I’m going to go to a drop in clinic which supports with breastfeeding and I’ll see what they think of his latch 🙏🏼

I'm 5' DH over 6', babies all born over 95th centile (my poor tummy!)

At a year old they were on 98th, 85th and 25th respectively, all girls all similar heights.