HV keeping an eye on 16 week olds weight

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

DD2 is 16 weeks today. The HV was out yesterday and weighed her, checked her length and head circumference.

At birth she was between 75th and 91st centile for length (sorry I dont know the correct term) then at 2 months she dropped down to right on the 50th.

Now she has dropped again to just above the 25th.

Her weight has went from 75th to 50th and is now on the 25th.

She is formula fed, takes around 30oz in 24hours. Shes a content baby and apart from the odd periods of teething which affects her sleep shes just normal.

Today I noticed a pea sized lump on her neck. I will be taking her to the GP but I am trying not to freak out about that as I have read its normal/could be nothing sinister. But could the two be related?

[lljkk]

Try not to panic. It's their job to find problems. False alarms are super common. DS was all on 9th percentile from 16 weeks to about 8 yrs, he's fine.

[JakeBullet]

She sounds normal wannabe, length is notoriously inaccurate and many places no longer bother measuring it at birth...I think the latest research says the most accurate length measurement in the early years is probably the one recorded at age 2.

Weight can simply be a case of her adjusting to the line she will follow throughout childhood. It can be quite normal for some babies to do this and if they are otherwise well I never bother much about centile charts. The only time I worry is when weight falls through the centiles like this and the Mum is saying "there's something not right with my baby", you are not saying this, you are saying that she seems fine so she is probably therefore just doingwhat she is meant to.

[JakeBullet]

The pea sized lump could be a gland....they do go up and down at times. You are right to get it checked though.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Thanks Jake. Thats reassuring. The HV said she wants to keep an eye on her weight so I suppose it made me wonder.

I suppose because DD2 is demand fed and is healthy in all other respects I am thinking is there something sinister causing it because its not something obvious iyswim.

[MajaBiene]

If she's 25th for length and 25th for weight doesn't that mean she's perfect?

It's also normal for them to go up or down 2 lines from their birth line.

[JakeBullet]

"If she's 25th for length and 25th for weight doesn't that mean she's perfect?"

I think you have summed it up with that comment ....perfect.

[christmasjo]

Has she got a head turning preference i.e keep her head turned one way? As you can get a pea sized lump in the neck caused by a stretch on the neck muscles when she was born (like a pulled muscle)

[Dulra]

She sounds fine to me and 30oz in 24 hours at 15 weeks seems bang on. I would say she has just now adjusted to her normal percentile curve. My dd1 was born around 75th percentile at 8lb 2 by 10 weeks she had dropped to 25th percentile the hv was a bit concerned at the time but doc not bothered at all she was eating fine and very content. She is now 5 and still on 25th so that is her growth pattern. I would only get concerned if she keeps dropping and that is probably why the hv is keeping an eye on it. Can't help about the lump but like the others say you are right to get it checked out. now sit back relax and enjoy her (smile)

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

She did have christmasjo. We are under physio for positional talipes. She preferred her right side but the physio checked for a lump and there was none. We did the exercises and now she has no preference.

The lump is on her right. I read on here it could be a swollen gland from poor drainage. She has cradle cap and also had fluid in her right ear which caused some problems with her hearing tests. So its very likely to be something like that!

Yes, the student HV pointed out that length and weight were both the same centile but the HV still said about monitoring it.

I am reassured after this thread. Just need to get the lump checked!

[Fuzzymum1]

My eldest dropped from somewhere close to the middle of the charts to way off the bottom ? he stayed there until he had a mahoosive growth spurt at 15 (years not months) and now at 19 he?s 6? tall.

[Jenniferturkington]

I have a 21 week old, and a very similar story to yours. She was born on 91st and went down to 50th by about 12 weeks. The HV wanted to 'keep an eye'. My baby also had pea size lumps on her head behind her ears. I, like you. Started to worry there was something sinister going on. So I took dd to the doctors who examined her thoroughly and told me the lumps were normal (glands) and she was perfectly healthy. I haven't taken her to the health visitor since!

[ItsallisnowaFeegle]

I had a conversation about centiles with my HV last week. She said she hated them as babies often lose weight, for various reasons, illness, for example and will go up and down in centiles throughout their first year.

Try not to worry too much but it's sensible to see the gp re; the lump on her neck.

HTH