Baby length under third percentile

[cskme_]

I went to my two month vaccine appointment and my baby seems to be gaining weight, started out at 6.01 lbs and now 9.11.
My concern is that she was only 51.9 cm in length. Her head circumference is normal, but she is under the third percentile in length. She has grown a bit longer from when she was born but I'm concerned that this could all be torso. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Lil mole]

My dd1 was measured as being the same length at birth and at her 6 week check! Length measurements of small babies is notoriously inaccurate. She has not been measured since 6 weeks and is nearly 3.5 years old, no one was concerned.

My dd2 was never measured at birth, in fact the first time her length was measured was when she went under paediatrician care at 8 weeks old. She is measured regularly but only by very experienced paediatric nurses due to ongoing medical problems. Even then she was up and down centiles a fair bit under 6 months and I think largely due to inaccuracies in measuring.

That said if your baby looks particularly small or disproportionate then do mention it to a health visitor or doctor to see if anything needs to be double checked. Xx

 

[Teaformum]

Hello, are you or your partner short? I'm not but my ex husband is and at my babies five month check up, she was only in the 8th percentile for height!! They said it was totally fine, some babies are just shorter than others. Even now I buy a different size in her tops and bottoms

 

[Left wonderin]

My lo is only on the 6th centile .. No concerns , she is just little wedohave to do a lot of rolling up tops and trousers but tht said I'm only 5 foot ! Your baby is still within normal range just the lower end of it . They will probably have to shop in the petite section

 

[cskme_]

Hello, are you or your partner short? I'm not but my ex husband is and at my babies five month check up, she was only in the 8th percentile for height!! They said it was totally fine, some babies are just shorter than others. Even now I buy a different size in her tops and bottoms

I am 5'2 and DH 5'9. I'm going to assume she just got my height. I don't quite understand percentiles. Does under 3rd percentile mean that under 3% of all babies are this short?

 

[Left wonderin]

Yes they start from 0 centile and go to 100 . Its like an average . So imagine they take 100 babies . Being on the 3rd centile means that on average 97 babies of the same age as your baby will be taller / longer . But anything from 0-100 is in the " normal" range . It's when you fall off the chart totally you have cause for concern or if you fall disproportionately ie started weight wise at 50 centile and at next check were on the 20th and next one 10th . That would be classified as failure to thrive .

So 94% of " average " babies will be taller than my LO and 97 % of yours . We just have smallies

 

[cskme_]

Yes they start from 0 centile and go to 100 . Its like an average . So imagine they take 100 babies . Being on the 3rd centile means that on average 97 babies of the same age as your baby will be taller / longer . But anything from 0-100 is in the " normal" range . It's when you fall off the chart totally you have cause for concern or if you fall disproportionately ie started weight wise at 50 centile and at next check were on the 20th and next one 10th . That would be classified as failure to thrive .

So 94% of " average " babies will be taller than my LO and 97 % of yours . We just have smallies

Thanks for clarifying!! I wasn't totally sure of how it worked. Well that's okay she can stay my tiny baby forever lol.

 

[Berri]

I think there was a time there when DS2 wasn't even on the chart... he was following his own line but he was happy and healthy and meeting his milestones. He's just a shorty (he has regained some ground though as is just shy of 50th percentile I think). I don't put too much stock in it, I remember one nurse measuring him and saying "he looks like he should be taller than that, I'll put it as 64cm instead of 60" ummmm okay?!

 

[xdxxtx]

I don't worry TOO much about the length. I've rarely had people measure the babies correctly just because they roll around or stretch or move during the process every time. There's a good chance it got messed up at one of the appointments.

 

[misspriss]

And remember, for every 97th percentile baby there is a 3rd percentile baby. My son was preemie and spent most of his first two years between the 0 and 5th percentiles for height. Head circumference was in the 30 to 40th though.

 

[minties]

How long was she at birth? Has she shown an appropriate amount of growth since then? I would personally be a little concerned if she hadn't grown much in 2 months.

My girls have both started off rather short, as did I, we were all 47cm long at birth. Emma climbed up to the 75th-80th centiles for length quickly, where-as Sophie spent a lot of time at the 9th centile. She's about the 15th centile for length these days. My son is at the 50th for length I think.

I'm 4'11" and my OH is 5'6", I have no idea why Emma is so long.

Correct me if I am wrong, maybe it's how we do it here, but anything between 3rd and 97th centile is normal. Outside of that and it's a little concerning. 51.9cm is the 1st centile (exactly) for 8 weeks). For 8 months old, which is a little older than 8 weeks, it would be dropping off the chart.