I took my daughter to the doctor last week she is 9 months old. The nurse said that she is 90% in height and 75% in weight her head circumfrence is 10%. I asked the nurse over and over what this mean't and it was like she side stepped my question. I am very worried as far as delopment skills she is very bright she can do everything that she should be doing at this time {crawling, standing , cooing ,and mimicing. Can someone please let me know something. My other children never had this problem they were always 50\50. Please help.
D.
Thank you for all of your comments they were reassuring and helpful. Progress I took Ariel back to the Dr. he is excuse me for saying a fly by night Doctor. He acted like I was stupid because I blogged the internet after posting my concerns and found that it has now come to attention that if you were on the generic form Steraline which is Zoloft it has been linked to cause Cranyotatsis. My doctor told me it was safe I had never been on an antidepressant and he straight up put me on 50 mgs all through my pregnancy. I am not saying that this is the cause but couldn't this be a factor? He was to busy looking through my notes and arguing while giving me a lecture on smoking. So I got a second opinon who I love as a doctor. I actually saw hiim. He gave me a precription for her allergy's and also ordered a CT scan that we have to do on Monday. I couldn't believe it . So I will keep you updated on Progress.
Haha!! My daughter was just the opposite. At her 1 year appt. she was 5% in weight 15% in height and 85% in head circumference. I should add that she's healthy, smart, and no problems with anything whatsoever.
I wouldn't worry about it. I really don't think it means much.
All the percentiles mean is where your child fits measured against all other children in America of the same age. So, your daughter is longer than 90% of all other 9 month old girls, heavier than 75%, and her head is larger than 10%. So, she's got a smaller-than-average head. That's no big deal. If it were affecting her development, the ped. would have mentioned it. My daughter's head is in the 97%, and that's OK, too. Her dad has a big head, too.
I agree that the nurse should have answered with, "I don't know, but I'll get the answer for you." But the dr. would certainly be pointing you in the direction of getting help if s/he had been concerned. It sounds as though your daughter is fine. She is height/weight proportionate and her head circumference is within normal range. She seems to be doing all the normal 9-month-old activities. I wouldn't worry. But if you need peace of mind, then place a call or have a face-to-face talk with your pediatrician. And if you don't feel comfortable discussing your concerns with him/her, then it's time to get a new pediatrician.
first of all, if she side stepped your question, she probably didn't know the answer... NOT very professional of her, but she could have at least gotten someone to answer your question! second, don't compare your daughter with your other children (i do this often with my kids and frustrate the heck out of myself)... all children hit different developmental mile stones at different times, both mentally and physically. if you haven't noticed anything 'different', then there is more than likely absolutely nothing to be concerned about, and that stupid nurse should be ashamed of herself for causing you to worry! if the doctor says your daughter is where she needs to be, then she is... but if you still question it, definately go get a second opinion so you can rest your mind. again, i'm sure theres nothing to worry about, and if there was some cause for concern, they would have addressed it with you. i think she simply couldnt answer your question without making herself look dumb... FAIL!
Christine is correct. Don't worry about it, My oldest is off the charts for kids his age, my middle one is exactly that, in the middle, and my youngest is at the bottom of the charts. They are there for the doctors to measure and the gov't to keep track of. No matter where your child falls on their charts, as long as they are meeting the milestones, healthy and happy, what difference does ti make? My guess is you love them no matter what, so just relax about the chart thing and ask them to not tell you anymore. Your doctor should let you know if they are too big or too small and it's causing problems, but you would have already noticed, right? as the song goes, "don't worry, be happy", they grow up tooo fast, don't get caught up in some arbitrary chart, it's not thqaqt important in the grand reality.
It doesn't mean anything. The nurse just didn't know how to explain that to you. The only relevant part of the head measurement is if it significantly changes. My son was pretty consistently 90 percent weight, 75 height, 25 percent head. He's now 2, head circumference is still 25 percent (h/w are both 75 now). The pediatrician said it really doesn't matter even a tiny bit. The reason they measure it is to make sure the head grows consistently, and that it doesn't balloon up at some point, signifying something else in there (fluid, tumor, whatever). He assured me that it's not uncommon, will not impact my son's development (which it hasn't, he's exactly on target for milestones, if a little lazy with language, but he's home all day with me, so there's the likely explanation). It makes him look a little older (because babies have larger head to body proportions). His proportions are actually more like those of an older child, and as he gets older, all the other kids will just start looking like him.
As far as the other measurements go, she's just tall and heavy for her age. Maybe she'll be tall when she grows up, maybe she was just having a growth spurt at the time. It really doesn't mean anything until they're at least 2, except if the proportions are significantly different (then they might want you to increase or decrease feedings). They're just charting it to make sure she is growing well.
well then, sidestep the nurse and ask your pediatrician.
I don't really know what all the percentiles mean but if you are that concerned I would call the Dr's office and ask to speak to someone about the results and what they mean , it wasn't fair of the nurse to not answer your Q's when you asked several times and I would def bring this up with the manager of the office. I do think though that as a medical professional if she truly was concerned about your daughters growth she would have called a Dr in to take a look and they would not have let you leave if they though for a minute that something was not right.
I hope you get to the bottom of this to put your mind at rest.
K.
I've been in your shoes! My son was always in the upper percentiles for height and weight and the lower for head circumference. BUT - he was also diagnosed with craniosynostosis (fused skull) when he was 10 months old. If we had not caught it then (he was very old for this diagnosis and treatment at the time) he could have been faced with cranial pressure as his brain grew (because his skull could not have grown) and that could have led to developmental delays. At the time, he was perfectly normal - had met all of his milestones, but there is no telling what the future would have been. If you are worried about it, trust your MOTHER'S INSTINCT and get another opinion!!! I wish I had trusted mine and saught a 2nd opinion before my son had reached 10 months! Please feel free to msg me privately or email (____@____.com) if you'd like to chat more!
You're child is fine. If she is developing, that is all you need to worry about. My daughter was 75% height, 90% weight, and 30% for head. she grew in to all and is now 50 approximately across the board. Enjoy your daughter.
If she's on track developmentally, then it doesn't mean anything. Children grow in spurts and sometimes not every part of the body is the beneficiary of a particular spurt. They do grow unevenly sometimes but they almost always catch up in the end. Every child is so different and the range for normal is truly vast, so just focus on her cognitive development, which she sounds right on track with, and let go of your concerns. It could be that she will even out when she hits another growth spurt, it could be that the nurse didn't measure around the correct part of the head (this isn't an exact science like weight after all, it's a measuring tape around a wiggly baby's head). As long as she's on track developmentally, don't let her head size eat at you.
My understanding is that the most important thing is tha tkids contiue to grow and stay along their respctive curves. But by all means, call the doctor and ask for some feedback. THey should either say it's fine or it's not and here's awhy or tha tthey will want to re-evaluate at her next appointment. In that case case, I would ask them to do an interim check, such as go back in 6 weeks ot re-weigh and re-measure.
Good luck.
Hi,
All it means is the average for the age. When my son was a baby is was like in the 90th percentile for height and weight, we was a big boy! haha And my daughter was born in the 10% for weight and by 9 months she was in the 50% and 75 for height. They are averages, that's all. As far as the head goes, I don't know. They didn't give me averages.
My son and daughter are fine and normal, in the healthy ranges. No need to worry, your little one is still little.
The nurses don't neccassarily know what the averages mean, they are documenting for the doctor. So ask your doctor next time!
Good luck, God Bless!
i wish i could remember where but i read about a study of head circumference and the relation to intelligence and the part i found interesting was that larger circumference did not correlate with higher IQ but that more growth, i.e. starting smaller and going to average, did. i found that interesting. sadly, i have no reference for you i cannot remember where i read it. btw, when a doctor does not answer a question i just stay in his office until he does. good luck!
This is not a 'problem'. I have 3 kids and they all had/have head circumferences in the teens or lower. My 9YO is in 4th grade, reads at a HS level is is VERY bright. She's in an advanced school and is still ahead of most of her classmates. My 5YO is also smart. As an infant/toddler, he was off the charts for height & weight, but still had the smaller head circumference. He has incredible hand-eye coordination (a natural born athlete) and is above his age level for most of the screening tasks. My 4 month old is in 75th percentile for height and weight and 12th percentile for head circumference. He is meeting all of his milestones and growing fine according to the pediatrician at our appointment last week.
Bottom line, there is likely not a problem at all. Your daughter just has a slightly smaller than average head. There would only be an issue if her head quit growing. Thats why they measure it at checkups. In this society of over-acheivers, we tend to think that we need to be above average in everything. But if everyone was above average, where would the new 'average' be? She's fine. Don't stress. If you're worried, talk to your doctor.
