Is slight centile drop normal with baby weight gain at weigh-ins?

[Lauren8642]

Is this weight gain normal? As it deems she’s dropping centile ever so slightly every time I get her weighed

i Think you need to ask that to health visitor or GP

It was normal for my DS1 who gradually dropped from 75th percentile at birth to 25th at 3 months. He's now 6'4" and a healthy active teenager!

As your DD has maintained around 9th for several weeks now, I would not be too worried. Does she seem healthy in every other way? Alert, feeding well, wet nappies etc.

They tend to stabilise around where they’ll be at around 4 months. I’d speak to your HV. It doesn’t seem terribly alarming, but it will depend on length as well. If your baby is say 15% for length but was 35% at birth and now stabilising around 9%, then that seems expected, all other things being fine. If baby is 80% for length and 9% for weight, that is probably less fine and might need some checking.

It also depends on gestation. So for example if your DD was a week or 10 days late, her birth weight would be higher than a baby born early or on time but the charts don't allow for this. So she might be settling into her "natural" point.

Chat to your health visitor of course.

This happened with my son too, he was 99centile when he was born at 39+4 but I had gestational diabetes and he was gigantic. He eventually slowly dropped centile to around 30 as he kind of settled into his natural size. At 4, he’s still about 30th centile

Catch up and catch down is common, however please speak your health visitor.

I had 3 large babies all over 90th centile. One stayed there at 99, one dropped to 90, one dropped to 25, they were all 80+ centile just one was very slim and the other two more in proportion.

All healthy weights and heights as adults, the tallest/heaviest and shortest/lightest are the same height and similar weights.

Genetics play a part too, I was a very skinny child and slow height grower, DH & family the opposite. One takes after him and one after me and the other one in between.

Why are you getting her weighed so often??

My first did this. She was officially born on the 50th centile as she was term. However, she was 3 weeks early and more like the 90th for gestation. She gently wafted down the centiles in her early months until she was on about the 17th centile by 6 months. The HV waved it away at each weigh in saying she was just finding her line.

And tbh they were right. Once she hit the 17th centile she stuck to it. Maybe weaning helped, but she stayed there for years. She's 6 now and is finding another line. She's shot up the centiles in height and weight over the past 18 months.

Catching down can be normal i.e. when a baby is big at birth due to factors during pregnancy and sometimes also if they’re overdue but genetically are not destined to be that big so they’ll gain weight but slower, gradually dropping through the centiles until they find their curve. Best bet would be to talk to your doctor or health visitor but if that’s what’s going on I’d expect her length percentile to roughly match her weight percentile and for you and/or DH to also be on the petite side. Also most important thing is plenty of wet and dirty nappies.