Infant Head Size

At her one month checkup, our daughter was in the 50th percentile for weight, 70th for height, and 10th for head size.  The doctor seemed unconcerned with her head size, since all other markers for growth and development were normal.  In a quick web search, it seems small head size is associated with a lot of genetic disorders, which our baby does not have.  Has anyone else had children whose head grew more slowly at first?  Did it accelerate later?  What sort of advice or things to watch for were advised by your pediatrician?

[D's mom]

at one visit...i think he may have been somewhere between 5 to 9 months old cant remember...anyway...hte nurse had mentioned my sons head was a little small for his age...she didnt seem very worried but she said she would keep a eye on it. come to find out my son was just little as he is now two but looks 18 months...(most of my family is just short)  as he grew his head matched his age. so maybe you should keep a eye on hers as well and if it continues to be too small then get it checked out to be safe or have a specialist look at it sooner. good luck and keep us posted. XXXX

[gonza]

My son was in the 100th %tile for height and weight and in the 30th for head at his 4 month visit and now he is perfectly fine.  Try not to worry.  I am sure everything is fine.

[cutiemama]

If the nurse or doc didn't seem concerned I would try not to be either. I know it's hard when we think that something could be wrong with our precious babies, but I'm sure if the doc thought it was something by which you should be alarmed, he would have spoken up. My daughter was always the 50% until she turned one and then dropped below the 20% from age 1 onward. I thought that that couldn't be good but my pediatrician said that there is nothing at all with which to be concerned.  More importantly to keep in mind is that sometimes the nurses screw up when they take their measurements. I had to laugh when my dd supposedly got shorter btwn 4 mo and 6 mo!!!! And also, if the nurse is off by even a quarter of an inch, it can bring your baby down from the 50% to the 30% so if the nurse didn't do I good job, the percentile is totally wrong. Good luck.