Growth - when do Drs get concerned?
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Topic: Growth - when do Drs get concerned?
Posted By: Mum_me
Subject: Growth - when do Drs get concerned?
Date Posted: 28 June 2010 at 12:31pm
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I have a 13 1/2 month old DD who is very little - only 7kgs and 68cms.
We see a paed who is closely monitoring her weight which is increasing, very slowly. She has only grown 0.5cm in the past 5 months. There has always been a lot of concern for her weight, but they never seem bothered by her height. When I mentioned it to her paed at our last appointment she said that it is difficult to measure them at this age so that don't tend to get concerned about height. We have had this line from our GP before as well - it feels like a bit of a fob off though. As even if you build in a reasonable margin of error - say 3cms she would still be off the plunket charts. I am 170cms tall and DH is 180+cms tall - so we wouldn't expect to have a short baby. Can anyone share any experiences as to when they start taking it seriously? |
Replies:
Posted By: RinTinTin
Date Posted: 28 June 2010 at 12:45pm
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I'm sorry I can't help in respects of this but I really think that if you're feeling fobbed off and if you're really worried about it all then you need to take a hard line with the doctors and start pushing for some answers...hard! My boy is 6.5 months old and about the same weight and height as your DD and he is considered small so I do think you have every reason to be concerned for her. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Mum_me
Date Posted: 28 June 2010 at 1:06pm
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Thanks M2M
(looks like we have replied to each others threads!) This isn't even the public system (we have had absolutely no luck there!). We see a Paed privately (in Akld) who is normally excellent. At the moment the paed seems so focused on her other problems (reflux, allergies, intolerances, leaky gut weight etc) that I think her lack of stature has got a bit lost along the way (or maybe just explained away as a symptom of her other problems). I will bring it up again at our next appointment, but maybe she is too young for them to get overly concerned yet... |
Posted By: millymollymandy
Date Posted: 28 June 2010 at 3:20pm
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Mum_me,
I also have a small baby girl, and will be stoked if she makes it to 7kg at 13 Months. How does she stack up weight vs height on her growth chart? It does seem a little short, but you can't compare one kid to another. If weight and height don't match up, I'd show it to them and keep pushing. The thing I needed most was piece of mind I told them I didn't mind being a paranoid Mum, just as long as everything was OK. It's OK to ask questions. Good luck. |
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 28 June 2010 at 11:33pm
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Mum_me, yeah I'd be a little concerned with you DD's height compared to what you guys were at the same age, IF she was a normal child.
My boy was short! We put him onto losec & he had a height spurt plus his hair started to grow. His weigh plateued after this cause he was going backwards, everything that was going in seemed to be going straight out again. You might find that when you get her better in terms of what else is going on with her she'll grow, at the moment she'll be not getting the extra nutrients to put into height. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: Mum_me
Date Posted: 29 June 2010 at 9:12am
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I'm not convinced that this is solely an allergy/intolerance problem. My DS had allergies and intolerances and managed to maintain around the 85%ile for height most of his first year.
Although I did notice that her hair grew when we started losec! Her height problems started a long time before most babies start solids - so while it may be aggrivated by the fact that she doesn't eat, I don't think that this is her only problem. Has no-one been through this? I know they can do things like genetic testing, bone scans etc, but just wondering at what age they start to look at these things. |
Posted By: gmunster
Date Posted: 29 June 2010 at 12:11pm
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Mum-Me - we have a similar issue but mainly on the weight. DD is nearly 13 months and just 8kg, but recently had a 5cm growth spurt to make it to 76cm. She also has a dairy allergy and asthma. However, when she was 4months old she had put on about 50g in 2 months and not grown anything in length. So we were sent to CHCH hospital for a couple of weeks where they did exactly that, bone scans, genetic testing, blood tests, bronchoscopies, sweat tests etc. She was started on duocal and neocate where they expected huge growth improvements. Whilst we didn't get huge improvements, we certainly increased compared to what we had before.
With your DD's intoerlances an allergies, and reflus etc, maybe they are just waiting until these are under control to see if once she is getting the correct nutrients she will grow?? Have you asked directly for genetic testing, bone scans etc??
Sorry I am not much help! -------------  
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Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 29 June 2010 at 6:21pm
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My little guy is weighing in at whopping 8.5kg sitting him just under the 3rd percantile and 74cm tall putting him just on the 10th percantile. He is 15 months.
Our paed is very happy with him.. as he puts it someone has to be at the bottom of the graph. Jake hasnt been just a slow grower either, he has lost weight and gained it back and and his height has gradually slipped down the growth chart including a plateau between 3 and 5 months which was a bit concerning. I guess I dont feel like there is anything wrong.. he is just a small kid so am happy with my paed care but if you are not happy then perhaps its time to get a second opinion... I am inclined to agree with kel, Jakes growth mirrors his output.. if he is struggling and having lots of loose bowel motions his growth is shocking.. non existant or worse, he looses but if the poos are ok he seems to grow ok....  -------------   
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Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 29 June 2010 at 6:57pm
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I haven't read all the replies, but my oldest was born on the 3rd percentile and pretty much stayed there until around 18 months when he then fell off the chart, his paed (we see one cos of allergies) was concerned cos Dh and me aren't short and also concerned that he stopped tracking the line, his weight carried on increasing. He was tested for gluten intolerance, iron levels, growth hormone and thyroid (I thnk that was all of them) some were border line and he is just about to be retested for them, he's just turned 3. Between these tests we have been to plunket every 3 months to have him weighed and measured. He is still not quite on the chart but he is growing, they are now kind of uhmming and arring over whether it needs further investigating if his tests come back ok, obviously if they don't come back ok then we will be doing something.
It couldn't hurt to ask for some tests, just they will be blood tests and that isn't pleasant for a little one. Not that's it's that bad but still nicer to avoid if not totally neccessary which might be why they haven't wanted to do any tests at the moment. |
Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 29 June 2010 at 8:46pm
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Oh forgot to say, I wouldnt put too much in the Plunket charts tbh they are so very general...
What Jake plots on their chart as opposed to chart our paed uses is very different! For example Jakes height is 3rd percantile on plunket chart and 10th on paeds chart. For weight plunket have him just over the 3rd and the paed has him just under the 3rd.... Oh and my paed said the same thing re height.. just wanted you to know its not just yours to say it. -------------
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Posted By: tiptoes
Date Posted: 30 June 2010 at 11:47am
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I was looking at mine and DH's baby books and both of us were 70cm at 12 months so quite similar to your DD. I think my book just had 'petite' the whole way through and I'm short now, but just a bit under average really (about 158cm) not crazy short. DH's mum worried a lot when he was little and took him to paeds and looked into growth hormones etc... but in the end decided against it. He's now about 167cm so short for a guy but he's got 2 or 3 shorter friends.
So yeah, we both ended up short, but some how ended up with a big baby - Cooper was measuring about 68cm at 5 months (or was it 69cm) so no idea how we ended up with a big baby!! So even though you guys are tall, maybe there's some genes in there somewhere for a petite child. Maybe ask the paed at what point do they worry? Is it an age or a height? ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com">  
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