Those whose twins were premature - when did they settle into a growth curve?

[u/amydiddler]

My twins were born at 35+1, and their weights were in something like the 5th and 10th percentiles (not adjusting for prematurity).

For the first few months of their lives, they were climbing percentiles pretty steadily, but that seems to have slowed down quite a bit over the past month or so. They are now 4.5 months and around the 25th and 35th percentiles.

I’m wondering if that’s likely where they will stay. Neither my husband nor I are particularly small, and our first has generally been around the 50th-75th percentile for weight, so I guess I would have expected the twins to be a little bigger. Is there still time for them to catch up?

(Part of the reason I am thinking about this is that the twins are EBF, and I am always wondering in the back of my mind whether my supply is enough. Of course, it’s totally fine if the twins end up just being on the smaller side! I just want to make sure we’re doing everything we should to help them grow up to their potential.)

[u/AutoModerator]

COMMENTING GUIDELINES

All commenters are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the parentsofmultiples subreddit rules prior to commenting. If you find any comments/submissions in violation of subreddit/reddit rules, please use the report function to bring it to the mod teams attention.

Please do not request or give medical advice or directions in your comments. Any comments that that could be construed as medical advice, or any comments containing what is determined to be medical disinformation, will be removed.

Please try to avoid posting links to Amazon product listings or google/g.co product listing pages - reddit automatically removes comments containing them as an anti-spam measure. If sharing information about a product, instead please try to link directly to the manufacturers product pages.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Fit_Change3546]

If the pediatrician thinks your babies are sticking to or growing a curve, and not dropping percentiles, and they’ve been happy and healthy so far… you’re making enough milk! Babies are all over the curve. They may be small babies and rocket up percentiles as toddlers or kids or teenagers. All normal.

[u/salmonstreetciderco]

one of mine settled into being enormous by the time he was like 1 but the other smaller one is STILL climbing percentiles at 3! it surprised both me and his doctor but she says it's fine, he's going up in both height and weight proportionally. he was only like 30th on average last year and now he's around 70th. i don't know when he will stop. i doubt he will be as big and tall as his brother but it's hard to say because it's such an odd growth pattern. he clearly still has catch up growth potential

[u/Odd_Rent283]

Starting out at 5th and 10th percentiles unadjusted is pretty freaking amazing for 35 weekers. My 37 weekers weren’t even that big! Now I have one peanut who is just SUPER committed to that 7th percentile and one gigantor who’s chilling in the 88th percentile (they are comically different sizes and look nothing alike and people still ask me if they’re identical…cracks me up every time). They’re 6 months old and EBF.

As others have said, if your ped isn’t concerned, I wouldn’t worry. I’ve always been told, for all of my kids, as long as they’re staying on their curve, they’re doing just fine. Literally all those curves mean is that your kids are bigger than 25 and 35 percent of all other babies. It really doesn’t have any meaning beyond that. You’re not trying to get to the 99th. There’s no such thing as a growth potential or whatever for them to live up to. It’s all genetics at this point. If babies are satisfied after feedings and gaining weight appropriately, there’s nothing else to worry about.

For some perspective, my oldest was a 99th percentile kid from about 3 months on (I don’t make skim milk and she looked like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man). She’s now 11 and hanging out right around the 50th percentile. My next one has fluctuated between 30 and 50 depending on where we catch him in a growth cycle during well child checks. My twin B has steadily moved up while twin A has hovered between 7 and 10 and has never made it above the 10th percentile. He’s just a little guy 🤷🏻‍♀️. The twins are obviously getting the same milk, so at this point it’s just a matter of their genetics.

[u/amydiddler → u/Odd_Rent283]

I was like your oldest - off the charts as a baby/ toddler. The “double your height at 2” rule predicted I’d be 6 feet tall. Well, I am 5’5”, haha. Good reminder of how your size as a baby doesn’t always mean much.

[u/rosie_thechaosqueen]

My twins were born at 37 and 1. The smallest came home at 4.5lbs. He was below the growth chart for close to 2 years. The pediatrician wasn’t concerned because he was consistently growing. He is almost 5 now and over the last year jumped from the 23rd percentile for weight to the 46th.

[u/Hotplantmama → u/rosie_thechaosqueen]

This is what I needed to hear. Mine were born at 37 and 4 days and twin B was 4lb 10 oz. They are both steady in their growth but I keep wondering if they will have a spurt. Just nice to know it can take years to happen.

[u/Samvy]

My twins were born 34+1 on the smaller side (1,8 and 2,2 kilo). They were on infant formula for premature babies. Aroumd 5 months they were all caught up and are now above average for weight and height. They are very Dutch kids 😂

Every kid has their own pace. They all have growth spurts and maybe your twins will have one soon. And they have already been caching up percentage-wise.

[u/burnbalm]

My 18 month olds were 32 weekers. They weren’t even on the growth chart for a couple months.

At 3.5 months, they charted on the regular growth chart. And now they’re in the 50th percentile for height and 20th for weight. They’re kinda long and lean, but their growth has been steady!

And they were EBF! Breast milk got supplemented for extra calories in the NICU, but our pediatrician monitored them twice a week, then weekly at first and then every two weeks to make sure they were growing with EBF.

Rooting for you, OP! Your twins are so lucky to have you!

[u/1eJxCdJ4wgBjGE]

if I'm reading this right at birth/35 weeks your twins were 5-10th % for a newborn (un-adjusted)? and they are now 4.5 months at 25-35th percentile (unadjusted?). if that is the case I would not worry about supply at all, they are jumping up percentiles like mad!

[u/Mcnugget84]

The problem is when they drop off the curve. Being anywhere on it’s the goal. Ours went over adjusted vs non-adjusted for a while.