Late-Preterm moms- When did LO catch up?

Mmm79

Hi Ladies,

I mostly lurked here after my son was born at 36 weeks (or 35w5d depending on the due date calculator) in February at 4lbs 9 oz.  He will be six months old tomorrow. He is still really small for his age- around 13 lbs at 6 months. At his four month appointment he was just in the 1st-5th percentile for weight and height.   He is just now moving into 3-6 month clothing.  He is EBF but we are staring solids now.  His weight gain has been pretty steady, but I am wondering when exactly he will catch up in size.

Thank you for any experience, advice, etc.

CMDR513

DS was a little bigger and older. He was born at 36w4d weighing 5 lb 13oz. He was just under 16 lbs at 6 months. By a year, he was wearing closer to the right size (instead of the tail end). He is 4.5 and wears a 4T pants and 4/5 shirts. 

LnR70707

I think it varies just like it does for full term babies.  DS was 6.7lbs at 34w5days and came home at 5.13.  The first year he was in the 50-75th percentile for pretty much everything.  He slowed down around a year and dropped to 25th for a while, but caught back up around 15 months.

Wally3

DS1 was a 34 week preemie 4lbs15oz.  He start out around 3rd percentile and slowly caught up until the age of 2.  Then he kept going and at 4 was in the 95 percentile.

DiFazette

I think it's totally dependent on each child.  My LO was born at 34 weeks - 4 pounds 2 ounces.  He was under 3rd percentile at birth due to IUGR.  At his 4 month check up he was 14 pounds (22nd percentile) - but still very "short" at 23 3/4 inches (5th percentile). 

I haven't done any reading on this, but maybe because he was IUGR he's catching up quicker due to actually getting nutrients once he was born - which he wasn't getting much of in utero. 

FWIW - we added neosure to his BM for the first 3 months per our NICU and pediatricians rec to continue.  We switched him to formula around 3.5 months since I was EPing and was just unable to keep up as he started needing more.

Good luck!  He'll get there!

kelly321

DD1 was about 4lbs7oz (I always forget the exact number in lbs. we're on the metric system. she was 1990g, at any rate) when she was born at 34w1d.
She is now 2.5 and is a good 23 lbs, putting her in the 3rd percentile. That's where she's been since birth. Many preemies catch up quickly, some catch up slowly, and there are probably some who stay small. I don't know if DD1 will ever catch up, but she hasn't yet. I'm not concerned. She's healthy, happy, intelligent, and is on track with all of her other milestones (other than talking, but that's a different story).

ashbee0223

FWIW - we added neosure to his BM for the first 3 months per our NICU and pediatricians rec to continue.  We switched him to formula around 3.5 months since I was EPing and was just unable to keep up as he started needing more.

Good luck!  He'll get there!

That is about what I did for my muffin.

He was born at 35 weeks and weighed 5 pounds 9 oz. he is 8 months now and 18 pounds. He is so short though 26 in and less than 5th percentile for height.
His weight started to catch up around 4 months during what seemed like a month long growth spurt.
All babies will grow different and yours will catch up, the important thing is to have a steady weight gain.

BLPL101

My DD was born at 35 weeks (5lb 3 oz) and she's almost 9 months now weighs 17 lbs. She wears 9 months clothing and jumped from the 10th% to 30%, but that was when she was 6 months. I don't know her percentile now. She has very bad reflux so she's been gaining slowly due to that. She eats some solids and I EP.

mmooki

Dd was born at 33w3d weighing 5lbs 12 oz. at one year she was 18 lbs and just moving into 12 month clothing. She will be 18 months next week and is just moving into 18 month clothing. She is about 50% for height and around 20% for weight.

tngrl3

N was a 34 weeker with IUGR and weighed 3 lbs 10 oz, 16.5 inches. At his 9.5 month appointment he was 14 lbs 7 oz, 25.75 inches. He is progressing well. He is a little behind on his gross motor milestones, but he has caught up in the mental and social skills as well as fine motor skills. His gross motor skills are continually developing so I try not to worry about it too much as even term babies vary a lot for these milestones.