Hi,

My son had his 9 month Plunket check today. The nurse is concerned that the creases in his legs are not even so they have referred us to he GP to get checked. I am happy with this and do not think there is much wrong as he is reaching all his milestones and is nearly walking. My friend has a baby with clicky hips and he is nothing like that.

What I am concerned about though is his height. Since birth he has sat on the 95th percentile range for his height. At his 5mth check he was 68cm which kept him on or around the 95th percentile. But today he got measured and he is only 70cm which means he has only grown 2cm in 4 months. He has also dropped down to the 21st percentile. This seems odd to me.

My doctor is a bit airy fairy and I know he will just say that he looks healthy and not to worry about it. I will not see plunket again till he is a year old so I want to make sure if there is an issue that it gets recognised now.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

H there if i was you i would go with your instinctis, If it is all ok then no lose but if not then something can be done about it. Just because your next apt with plunket is when he is one doesnt mean you cant go see them earlier if you want to, you could phone up and ask for an appointment and say you have some medical concerns you would like to discuss. I have done this before or you may just even be able to talk to your plunket nurse about it over the phone and they may be able to point you in the right direction. Your plunket nurse can refer to the hospial as well so it doesnt need to come from the GP if you feel more comfortable dealing with plunket.

Good luck I hope it gets sorted and you get the answers you are looking for or confirmation that everything is ok.

When my DD was born she was also high, up on the 97th percentile for height. The paed told me that children who will be very tall adults will stay on an upwards curve and remain above the 90th percentile. Most though will slow in growth and drop down on the percentile chart. He said if that happened there is nothing wrong, it's just that they will be of average height.

Hi,

My son had his 9 month Plunket check today. The nurse is concerned that the creases in his legs are not even so they have referred us to he GP to get checked. I am happy with this and do not think there is much wrong as he is reaching all his milestones and is nearly walking. My friend has a baby with clicky hips and he is nothing like that.

What I am concerned about though is his height. Since birth he has sat on the 95th percentile range for his height. At his 5mth check he was 68cm which kept him on or around the 95th percentile. But today he got measured and he is only 70cm which means he has only grown 2cm in 4 months. He has also dropped down to the 21st percentile. This seems odd to me.

My doctor is a bit airy fairy and I know he will just say that he looks healthy and not to worry about it. I will not see plunket again till he is a year old so I want to make sure if there is an issue that it gets recognised now.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hi,
Babies height measurements are not always accurate as it depends upon the way the baby stretches or doesn't stretch at the time of the measurement. We had a similar scenario with my daughter where she had not grown for 2 months. The nurse said I should take her to the Doc to check for any underlying medical problem. I did this and he checked her length and then I went back to the nurse the next week and she checked it again. My daughter had grown and the first measurement was innacurate. My advice is if your Doc says it's Ok then it's fine and double check the numbers.
Cheers

Thanks heaps ladies. Saw the doctor... he is not that worried re height but when we looked at the charts his weight, height and head measurements had all slowed or dropped back. We are just going to monitor him and see what happens over the next few months. Neither his Dad or I are huge people, so it is more then likely he is just naturally slowing down.

We are getting his hips and legs x-rayed on Friday though so fingers crossed everything is ok there.

I can not really cope with any more extra added stress this Christmas.

Thanks again for your comments smile