Dropping centiles at 6 months

[Lady_Bee]

I am not TOO worried but just a little anxious... My LO started between the 25th and 50th centiles, then stayed around the 25th until now - he is a little below the 10th centile line. The pediatrician first tried to tell me he was off the bottom of the chart!!! But she had plotted the point in the wrong place (not the first time this has happened either!). He is 14 lb 14 oz at 27 weeks old. I shouldn't be worrying about this, right? Just in need of a little reassurance I think...

 

[luna_19]

It is very normal for a bf baby go drop a bit at this age. Firstly make sure he is being plotted on a WHO chart for bf babies, the CDC one is based on formula fed babies and is much different. My lo dropped from around 25 to 15 at that age because he is such a huge mover but has always been meeting or ahead in milestones and continues to gain height and head circumference. By 10 months he was back up to 25th percentile again

 

[Lady_Bee]

Thanks for replying. They use the WHO charts. He actually is crawling already, so maybe that explains it. I guess that must burn some extra calories!

 

[luna_19]

Yes it burns a ton! You are probably just starting solids but try to offer fatty stuff, at first I was mostly just doing fruits and veg but he shot back up in weight since I focussed on avocado, cheese, yogurt, eggs etc

 

[Lady_Bee]

Yes we've just started solids. Thanks for the advice! I will get him on the healthy fatty foods! (He had avocado yesterday and it was a big hit, so I am sure he'll happily eat more of that...)

 

[minties]

Sophie went from the 80th to under the 50th between her 3 and 5 month check. No idea why! She gained well again once we started solids at 6 months (not from the solids, but she was waking more at night and nursing more). She has been just above the 75th centile ever since.

 

[InVivoVeritas]

LittleMan dropped from a steady 50th to 25th at around that stage. He's a shorty from a long line of shorties, and my Health Visitor's exact words were "he'll never be the tallest man in the room".

If your guy's feeding well (breastmilk and solids) and your gut tells you he's fine then I don't think you have anything to worry about.