5th percentile for height?

[smilingeyes]

Hey guys, long time no talk. I hope everyone's doing well.

I just got back from DD's 15mo appt (even though she's 16mo) and I'm a bit concerned.

We moved in August and there was no peds that would take her as regular care, I guess there's a shortage or something so they only do referrals.

Anyways - we found a family doctor and he has been decent so far.

She is a bit under the 5th percentile for height (28 inches) but in the 25th for weight (which is great for her, she was always a slow gainer)

Now, I'm worried about her height. If it's not weight, it's height. I can't win, lol.

He has referred me to the ped that is at the same clinic. I am very worried something is wrong. I am short (5'2) but my husband is 6'0. However, all his family is below 5'9, same with mine.

I am just so concerned and we probably can't get in to see the ped until March/April they were saying.

Our family doctor isn't concerned, he said he is just sending her to be sure that the ped isn't concerned since she knows more about it than him.

Ugh.

Anyone else have any similar stories?

[annarose]

I don't have a similar story but I was curious, how tall was she the last time you went to the doctor? You might be catching her right before some good growing?

[Unknown]

I wouldn't worry until you dr does, remember there has to be kids in the lower % and the higher %. Is she growing or stalled and as she ages her height % is decreasing? If she isn't growing that could indicate a problem, otherwise you might just a
Have a little peanut. An 18 yo female in the 5th percentile (assuming your LO stays on her curve) is 5 FT tall, which is short, but not to short considering her mom is 5'2. She can also have a growth spurt in height at anytime. Hope you can get in w/ the pedi soon. It must be frustrating to not be able to get in w/o a referral.

[fiveohfive]

I don't have anything to add, but I hope your next appointment goes well!

[sugarkissed]

Good luck at the appointment! DD has dropped off to 10th percentile for height after being in the 25th for the first 12 months, but her pediatrician wasn't concerned at all.

[happymama]

I wouldn't stress about it yet. Just because she is a little shorter than many kids her age doesn't mean something is wrong. Kids go through growth spurts at different ages, or she just may be petite. Try not to worry about a growth issue, especially when your doctor isn't concerned about it yet.

[smilingeyes]

Thanks, ladies. Your kind words help a lot.



annarose (can we do that here? lol) she was 71cm at her last appt which was 3 months ago. So, she's only gained about 2cm in 3ish months.



Unknown - she was around the 20th percentile her first year of life (but always under the 10th for weight) and then she dropped to 5th percentile after a year but went up in weight.



It's very frustrating not being able to get her to see a ped regularly. I don't mind family doctors but I'd rather a ped, especially at this age. For some reason, we moved out of the big city (Toronto) and moved to a suburb city that's literally 15 minutes away. In Toronto, we had a ped no problem. There was a bunch available. Here, not so much. You have to be referred. Now that she has been referred, I am going to request that she stays with this ped and not go back to the family doctor.



Hopefully the ped isn't concerned. I feel like the family doc looks to much into percentiles and not her own growth pattern. Her old ped would never look at percentiles.

[lilqt3929]

I'm sure talking to a ped will ease some of your worries but honestly I wouldn't worry to much. Like others have said there are kids both in the high and low end of percentages, most kids are not going to be right at the 50% mark. My DD is on the higher end for height (88%) and neither DH or I are tall (we're both average) and I wouldn't describe anyone in our direct families as tall either. My point is that all kids grow at their own pace and at this age they don't always follow suit to what the parents' (or family) stats are.

We have a family doctor for our LO too and I don't necessarily like it. I feel like it's ok for routine checkups but if there were ever any other issues I would feel much more comfortable with a pediatrician for LO. It doesn't help that our doctor is only a couple of years older then DH and I and he currently doesn't have any kids of his own. I'm not saying thats a deal breaker but I'm not sure just how much experience he has with babies/children (professionally or personally). So I certainly can sympathize with you on not being 100% comfortable with who LO's doctor is at the moment. I hope you can get into a ped soon for reassurance!