My 16 month prem is not growing & has only just got into 3-6 clothing

[Lisa-2323]

I am worried about my lil girl. She has only just moved up to 3-6 month clothing and is very small even for her corrected age of 13 months. The health vistor comes every two weeks still due to this fact as she is still off the centile chart for her corrected age. She is on prescribed milk by her nutrician and has been since 6 months but she is still not on the chart. She also has solids 3 times a day and eats lots of snacks in between but she does not gain weight. I was not to concerned at first as i was told it was normal due to her heart condition. She has had her op over 5 months ago but has only gained 1lb. one of my sisters had a baby who is now 8 months old and so much bigger already. My lil girl has been crawling for about two weeks but i feel now she is more active it could worsen the situation. I'm so fed up of people looking at her then at me as if 2 say er do u feed her. To the eye that does not know she looks like a very forward 5 month old. I have an appointment with her nutricain next week but i want more answers instead of increased milk, anyone eles had this. All the other prems she was in with are normal size now.

 

[Marleysgirl]

Hi Lisa,

What size was your baby when she was born? And what weight is she now? (I've got a copy of the WHO growth chart for low-birth-weight babies, I was going to see how she shaped up on the SD percentiles!)

Andrew is now 11 months actual, 8 months corrected, and still in his 0-3 month clothing with no sign of growing out of them yet, so I'd imagine that he will still be in the next size (3-6m) until he's 18m actual unless he has a sudden growth spurt. He's on Infatrini high calorie milk and three weaning meals a day, but still only puts on a steady 100g/week.

 

[Lisa-2323]

Hi MG thanks for the reply, sorry i notice in my above comment she had the op 5 months agobut infact it was 3. My head is all over the place at the min. She wa 1lb 9oz. and last time she was weighed she was 16lb 6oz, so im guessing as that was a couple of weeks ago she is around 17lb now cause she def looks a little fatter on the legs. She is also on infratrini 3 7oz bottles a day and 3 good sized home cooked meals with snacking. She eats more than me. To be honest some 0-3 clothing still fits her and some a tad tight. Do you worry? I went through a stage of thinking of asking the docs if she was a small person but backed out due to feeling silly. But i do wandor still.

 

[Agiboma]

no advice to give didnt want to read and run sending you

 

[Marleysgirl]

Hi Lisa,

Okay so this is a very rough guide. Plotting 13m (corrected) against 17lb weight on the WHO low birthweight growth chart (albeit on the boy's one but I can't see it being very different!), puts your daughter above the 0.4th percentile line and below the 2nd percentile. For a baby born so prem & so small, I'd say that is pretty good going.

As a comparison, Andrew was born 11wks early & 1lb 6oz, his growth curve is below the 0.4th percentile, but following the curves adequately in terms of weekly weight gain. So he's plotting even smaller than your girl.

There's a link for the girls' LBW chart here: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/doc.aspx?id_Resource=4952 It's best printed on A3 paper though! I don't know why the hospitals don't use the LBW charts when dealing with such small prems, our Paediatrician plots on a normal chart and on that it looks as if Andrew is not growing adequately yet on the LBW chart he's maintaining a steady gain.

You ask whether I'm worried. Nope, not any more! I'm really shocked to hear that your HV is still visiting every 2 weeks because of this. Our HV doesn't really show her face, she's happy that Andrew is being monitored by the Hospital (Neonatal) Paediatrician. The Paed has just "downgraded" Andrew from monthly visits to every 3 months, because his weight gain is being sustained even if it's not increasing.

She's referred us to the dietician but only as it's normal protocol, she accepts that there's not really anything more we can do to get extra calories into Andrew without putting a funnel down his throat <grin> I've got a pal 3 months ahead on this game, and the dietician really just advises to try mixing unsalted butter and/or full cream into his food to add calories. Avocados are really high calorie - shame I don't like them! That kind of thing.

I have never worried about whether Andrew is a "small" person. I figure he's just going to be smaller than others of his birth age for a few years yet.

 

[Lisa-2323]

Oh thank u i feel more reasured now.I had a look in the red book to see what charts they are comparing her with. It is a pre term girls and your right she came home on the 50th then just kept dropping until she was below 0.4 for months, but she has gradually moved up to the 2nd over the last few months.
Its always difficult when your not reasured this is normal and not knowing anyone eles in this situation so thankyou for making me feel less worried.
My health visitor still comes and said she will until the team are happy with her weight and thats what panicked me she keeps showing me the 50th line saying we need to get her back here and even said it would prob be best if i stopped breast feeding so i did. and her weight did inprove.
She is seeing her dietician next week so i will ask her if its nessasary for H/V to come cause ur right really why both when she is under the Pead team anyway.
All the comments " she doesent look any bigger since the last time i saw her" from friends and family do get to you after a while and make me feel like im neglecting her.
Thanks again for ur input its amazing how better u feel when there is someone eles to compare and they are in a simular situation. x

 

[Laura2919]

My girls are a little behind, They were 29 weeks and 3lb 10oz and 3lb 5oz.. 18 months and still in 9-12.. I know its not the same but I am guessing Marleys Girl is right.. Its probably good going hun

 

[holly<3]

hello.

best advice i have is if the doctors say she is ok then she prob is my son has only just grown out of 1 and 1/2 to 2 years and he will be four in dec. the doctors say he is 'healthy' just little.

 

[Marleysgirl]

I can see our Andrew being the same as your Charlie - small for an awful long time!

 

[keldac]

Mikayla doesn't grow much either! She's 18 months and in 6-9 and a couple of 9-12 month clothes! She only weighs 18lbs. Her consultant isn't worried as she eats and is healthy now

 

[bumpsmum]

Matthew is 17m and just into 9-12 but he is really long id say folk who didnt know him would place him 12ish months.

HV are really poor at working with prem babies/parents, Matthew was weighed weekly for such along time, then fortnighly before monthly (im finally comfortable that I only take him to clinic once in a blue mood as I can see/feel any gain. The term baby centile charts imo should not be used at all with prem babies so long as she is maitaining a steady albeit very slow gain and healthy she sounds like she is doing great

and dont get me started on HV recommending you stop bfiding grrrrr I was also persuaded and stopped at 10 weeks and wish I had stuck it out alot longer as his weight didnt improve either xx

 

[sue247]

Just wanted to send you some as i know how you are feeling. I can't really offer advice as my son is about to turn 4, he was born at 28 weeks weighing 1Ib 10oz and i still worry so much about his size. He is still small for his age but he is healthy, happy and a normal 4 year old boy. He is now wearing a size 3 years clothes and people generally think he is a year younger than he is. As he was born in Aug though due Nov, he has to go to school this year and so i am getting so many comments about how tiny he is, and getting school uniform is a bit of a nightmare. I used to be worried sick about him not catching up, but came to realise that me worrying would just make him conscious of his size! So i try to make him feel confident and happy as he is whether he grows as tall as everyone else or not! Sometimes easier said than done! x

 

[Marleysgirl]

HV are really poor at working with prem babies/parents, Matthew was weighed weekly for such along time, then fortnighly before monthly (im finally comfortable that I only take him to clinic once in a blue mood as I can see/feel any gain. The term baby centile charts imo should not be used at all with prem babies so long as she is maitaining a steady albeit very slow gain and healthy she sounds like she is doing great

Andrew's Paediatrician insists on using the normal growth charts because she is used to reading them at a glance, and can mentally compare his growth with other babies of normal and low-weight. When I come home, I plot A's measurements on low-birthweight charts as it is easier to see that he is maintaining his growth rate when you have the lesser curves (-3, -4, -5SD) to use as a guide. I just plotted his length and that and his weight are spot on the -3SD curve, so he is definitely not sinking down the charts. I read earlier today (googling!) that dietitians aren't really worried so long as they maintain or improve their growth, it's when they head down the chart that worries start.

I can't really offer advice as my son is about to turn 4, he was born at 28 weeks weighing 1Ib 10oz and i still worry so much about his size. <snip> As he was born in Aug though due Nov, he has to go to school this year

I would be interested to hear how this goes, and also whether your son achieved his development targets based on corrected or actual age (or delayed). These are Andrew's months too (born Aug, due Nov) and he is currently about 2-3m behind his corrected age developmentally, so we are wondering whether to request that he delays school.

 

[Baylioomy]

Is she still on formula? If so, you may what to ask her dr if a preemie formula which has more supplements might be good for her. My preemie is on Simulac Neosure for preemies. He seems to be doing really well on it. He only lost 3% of his body weight and is steadily putting more on.

I wish you the best for you and your little girl.

 

[AP]

and if it makes you feel any better - I was born at 29 weeks and im average now so i guess our preemies wont stay short arses for life!