babies and growth percentiles

[randy0472]

I posted this on the CB, but it doesn't seem to be attracting any answers.

ello all . . . I have a quick question.

My daughter is 9 months now and weighed in at 17 lbs and is 26 3/4 inches long. The doctor said she was overall in the 34th percentile and was a little concerned about her height. She is currently nursing and receives solids 3 times a day. She is an active little bugger!

Everything else is going along fine. For over a month now she has been crawling. She started pulling herself up over 2 months ago. She has the pincer grip down. She is trying to talk and form words (yesterday is sounded like she said "bah-bye") but she never said it again.

So, how many have you had/have children on the low range? We are thinking she is just petite because everything else is going well with her. Also, our doctor said if she had any concerns she would let us know, but she (our daughter) seems to be developing fine!

 

[perkinsrose]

Are baby's parents tall/small/average??

 

[randy0472]

I'm 5'6 and dad is 5'8.

Maternal grandmother is 5'8, maternal grandfather is 5'6.

Paternal grandmother is 5'1 paternal grandfather is 6'2.

 

[ERMama]

it appears shes on the charts. genetically shes not going to be a giant.
sounds like shes healthy and developmentally on track.
dont worry about how tall she is.

my oldest has consistently been 25% or under. second is average or slightly above. third child (no genetic link to us) is average now but im sure she will start declining on the charts as genetically we know she will probably be short.

 

[ajh88]

It's been a few years since DD was 9 months old sad1: ), but from the sounds of things, your DD sounds fine. As long as she is growing & developing cognitively, I would try not to get TOO hung up on the percentages.

My DD was average or above (over 50-75%) for the first year of her life. Then it's like she stopped growing! She is down in the 15-25% for both height & weight and has been for 5 years now. DH is only 5'6" and I'm 5'0" - I think her "genetic potential" for height is about 5'1"!

Her pediatrician charts her numbers & as long as that line stays pretty straight (meaning she is growing steadily, just not as much as other kids!), she has no concerns.

Enjoy your little girl!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

My DD is very petite. She's been in the 10th percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight consistently. I'm 5'1" and her dad is 5'5". She's simply never going to be a big kid because of genetics.

Her first pediatrician was really uptight about her weight and was putting a lot of pressure on me to get her weight up. DD was full of energy and developmentally on schedule in every other way. I was constantly trying to get her to eat, but she just doesn't eat very much. I switched pediatricians last year, in part because of the food/weight issues, but there were other issues as well. Her new pediatrician was totally the opposite. He looked at her bouncing around the room full of energy, saw her growth was along a smooth curve, and told me to not worry about her size. He said she wasn't small because she wasn't eating much, but rather she wasn't eating much because she's small. He said his kids are on the bottom of the charts too. It was so reassuring to have him tell me her height and weight were just fine given my and her dad's size.

So if your DD is developmentally on track and has lots of energy, don't worry about her placement on the charts. Someone has to be in the bottom percentiles.

 

[deedeetoo]

I completely agree with Maggie'sMom. Someone has to be in the bottom percentile. I have two kids that have hovered around 5th percentile for most of their lives. I can't remember where they were at 9 months but I know both weighed about 19 lbs at one year because they were still too small to turn the car seats around. My doctor has never been concerned. She always felt that as long as they were gaining weight and growing and moving up their curve they were OK.

They are now 7 and 10 and still small but it doesn't seem so obvious now. DS7 complains that he is the smallest kid in school but I think DD10 actually rather likes being small and cute. Both are completely healthy and active kids. I'd say not to worry unless there is some other indication that something isn't right.

 

[justcantwait]

I'd love for my kids to be in the 34th percentile! DS is below the 5th, and DD is about the 25th. My pediatrician said their general height, once they're done growing, will probably be somewhere between my height (5'4") and DH's (5'9"). As long as she has been growing consistently, and is in about the same percentile, there's no worry. My doc always shows me their growth curve. It's in their chart and has the results from every time they were measured from the time they turned 2 (birth to 2 was on a different chart). If it looks like it's still on the same curve, I'm happy! HTH

Kathy

 

[LuvBaloo]

My doctor always said to be concerned if they suddenly change which percentile they are in, but if they stay fairly constant then not to worry. And if they do change, not to panic, just keep an eye on development and energy.
It sounds like your daughter is fine. And as somebody posted, there's has to be some kids in the lower percentiles.

 

[Poohbug]

My kids are the opposite-they have all been in the 90's and sometimes even off the chart altogether.

My understanding is that the chart is for tracking your child's growth-you want their weight and height to grow respectively. It doesn't really matter where they are on the chart compared to other children but it does matter where they are compared to their last DR. visit.

It sounds like your daughter is progressing well and I wouldn't worry about.

 

[Sparkie]

Pediatric nurse here....

First of all those growth charts were developed in the 1940's with a sample population of white babies only so they should be viewed as just a guide line.

Next: you are correct , you need to look at the genetic make up of the parents. short parents generally = short kids, tall parents generally = tall kids. (now I am 5 feet even and DH is 5'9 but my son is 6'1 - so go figure- but great granddads on both sides were tall so there you go- genetics)


Then: Is the child between 10th and 90th percentile? If yes, then "average". Not every kid can be at the 50th percentile. But if your kid is below the 10th or above the 90th- how is her rate of growth? Does she grow on a steady curve? What would be more concerning would be a child say born at the 50th percentile, gaining weight and then suddenly falling off the curve below the 10th percentile.


Last thing: I am in no way trying to contradict what your doctor has told you. It is always important to listen to your doctor. But maybe this can give you some information to ask some informed questions.



My kids: all were born at the 50th percentile

DS: as a baby was fat and medium height. as a toddler tall and thin. as an adult tall and thin. He always was 90th percentile for height and 25th for weight.

DD1 : went from the 50th percentile at birth to below the 5th for weight and height for most of her baby and toddler years. She is now a teen and is 5'2 and weighs 105. so short and thin.

DD2: stayed about the 50th for baby and toddler but as a preteen I see her growing like her brother and anticipate she will be tall and thin.

I bottle fed DS and DD1 and breastfed DD2.

 

[randy0472]

Thank you everyone for your input! I was a little concerned, because she is the smallest baby at her daycare (all of the others are cute little chunky monkeys). Anyway, she is nursing and I think that may have something to do with it.

She is a happy baby all of the time and doesn't give us any problems unless the "milk" doesn't come fast enough for her!

 

[MommyBryn]

Some growth charts aren't based on breastfeeding, which can make a difference. My older DD has always been below the 50th percentile, most often around the 15-25th. She's just small and lean, but VERY healthy!

 

[cruisinmama06]

She's fine. I belong to a mom's group and I just looked back at our kid's stats...my kids were the same weight of your 9 month old when they were 12 months old.

My youngest is 4.5 and still only weighs 30lbs.

My kids have always been in the 5-10%. They were born at 50% and went down to 5-10% when they started being able to get around on their own. They were both so active that they settled in the 5-10 percentile...and that's where my 4 year old has been ever since.

My 8 year old finally got out of that by the time she started the 2nd grade. But she was the smallest for a long time until she hit a major growth spurt.

I am 5'4, my hubby is 5'8. We know our kids will be tiny.

 

[laughinplace199]

I wouldn't worry as long as she's growing/gaining consistently. My youngest DS (21 months) is always below the 5th percentile for weight (he's in the 25th percentile for height). He's just not a big eater. My ped isn't worried because he says that DS is consistently paralleling the growth curve, he's just a little bit under it.

 

[brandylouwho]

Sounds like everyone else has given you opinions which make a lot of sense...I'll just echo that and say that my eldest was (still is) low on height & weight. Our doctor mentioned it in passing once, and that he just wanted to see her rather steadily grow...not stop or regress. She is now almost 5 and is fine, short & rather light, but fine. There are plenty of short women in her gene pool--so I suspect she'll be a shortie.

I have friends whose child was small and not growing very steadily by 6 months, turns out he did have a rather serious problem. He had other symptoms of this problem too. Growth alone wasn't the major concern.

And yet more friends whose child was very small, after much concern and testing, turns out she is just going to be small. Her dad is Asian and quite petitie himself...that is liekly where she gets her height (or lack thereof) from.

 

[Zeebs]

Another one who says not to worry, drives me batty, all the emphasis the put on gaining weight (too much not enough etc), as long as they are thriving and developing that is the main thing and your wee one sounds like she is. I stopped going to get the boys weighed, not because anything was ever said just because I could see they were doing ok, I didn't need the scales to tell me, now they only get weighed and measured at their developement checks. Last one Seth was 75% weight 25% height and 9% head?????? He doesn't look out of proportion so I won't let it worry me. My eldest is tiny against his peer group and my youngest is a wee chubby fella, infact I think there is about 6 lbs between them Cullen is 2.5 and Seth 9 months. They don't base the guide on breastfed babies.

Kirsten

 

[The Disney Bunch]

My twins were always in the 5th percentile for everything but our doctor asid as long as they show growth consistently and don't backslide, they are doing fine - they are just not going to be huge! I think they were 16 lbs at 1 year! They are 7 1/2 now and only weigh about 45 lbs.

 

[PrincessPeyton]

My daughter has always been big, i think she was probably 17 lbs around 2 months! But my sister has boy-girl twins. My nephew is average/big but my neice is so tiny! She will be 3 yo in November and can wear 24 month clothes.
Because she was a premie the dr's watch her growth but she can out-eat my daughter and her brother who both have easily 10 lbs on her!
So my answer to you is that if you know your child is eating healthy and the doctor doesn't think there is anything physically wrong, then consider yourself blessed that you have a health (small) child!!!

 

[wickywinn]

I wouldn't worry too much. My dd has consistently run 60% height but between -3 to -5%. She has never even BEEN on the chart for weight. They were concerned, needless to say, when her weight plateud (sp?) at 8-9 months for a couple of months. Had me feeding her ice cream and high calories. Then once she was at the -5% she stayed with it so they agreed it's just genetics (she took after daddy, lucky girl) and 9 mos is a common time for babies to shift and begin to adjust into their actual body type. I just keep telling myself she'll be one of the lucky women that never has to worry about her figure. She may be 2 1/2 and barely 22 pounds but she's a monkey on the big kid playground!