baby clinic says my baby needs to lose weight!

[lovezara]

Hello mums! I'm newly registered here so please give me time to adjust on how the whole forum works. I've been a regular reader for a while reading threads that relate to me.

So i'm a first time mum and loving it. I have a 6 month and 2 week girl.
so i've payed a visit to the baby clinic today morning and got out of there extremely upset and worried. my little girl is quite big, although i should first tell you that her father is 6ft tall and extremely big boned, his family's babies so far all have been big babies so naturally she has chubbiness n her genes. She is currently in the 95 to 98th percentile weight on their charts, she weighs 9.3/4kg.

the health advisor told me that i feed her too much and should decrease her formula intake to 18 oz a day. she currently has 5 6oz a day (although she usually doesn't finish them) and 3 meals a day, breakfast lunch and fruit for desert. She told me keep her meals the same but give her about 4 3 oz milk a day but for her to be ruler dilute the bottle with however much water i want.

I just think that's a bit too extreme but i also don't want my baby to stay like this and also she still doesn't sit up and hasn't rolled over yet, so that worries me a lot!!

the health advisor thinks her development is being delayed due to her weight and told me if she hasn't lost weight from now to 6 weeks she'll refer her to a dietician. I'm extremely worried and really don't know what to do!!

Sorry for the long post but hope i get some advise on what to do, currently i'm thinking of just following her advise and see what happens??

[DialMforMummy]

My 6 mo DS doesn't sit up yet, my other DS never really turned around much (mind you, he HATED being on his tummy).
I think your HV is being alarmist.

[colditz]

Let her refer. Eighteen ounces isn't a pint of milk, which is what a six month old should be drinking, so if I were you I'd insist on seeing the dietician now, because the Hv is a bit ignorant

[helibee]

Diluting formula is very bad practice and no HV should be recommending that. My ds2 turned 7 months old yesterday and he has 5 6oz bottles however he doesn't really eat. He is just not interested in food-neither was my ds1 until nearer to 9 months.

Could you try any distractions for dd to prolong intervals between feeds & food at all? Sorry that's prob not very helpful. I would say that your HV does not sound at all supportive.

Also as you say of your dh is 6ft + tall then it's no surprise that your dd is on the top centiles. As long as she's on the same for both then I really don't think a dietician will be very interested. I wouldn't be surprised though over the next 6 weeks if your dd does become more active.

Big hugs and please try not to worry

[DawnOfTheDee]

My DD (9mo) has consistently been at the top of the centiles since birth. HV's have told me 'not to worry' I wasn't but anyway as she's in proportion.

Is your DD quite tall? If she looks ok to you I wouldn't worry about it. Ime babies tend to go quite chubby just before they start crawling. Once they start moving around a lot it any 'extra' weight comes straight off.

[JugsMcGee]

My DS was the same weight at that age, he is usually around the 91st centile. No HV ever said it was a problem? He didn't roll until gone 6 months either. He slimmed down when he got mobile. I don't think you need to worry tbh.

[lovezara]

i mean her height is normal, she looks totally proportionate to me, but then again her weight seems normal to me as well, i never thought it was a problem until they suggested it.

I mean she is always constipated so that might contribute to her not losing weight as well. tbh so far i've been using the feed on demand method cuz i see that's what makes her the happiest. i didn't think i had to worry about a diet until at least she's out of the 'baby' stage and becomes a toddler??

anyway ur replies helped a lot, i think i'll just continue doing what I'm doing and just hope she'll prove them wrong in the 6 weeks coming!

thanks everyone

[gymboywalton]

what is 9.3kg in the old money?
what centile is she on for her height/length??

[EBDTeacher]

My DS is, and always has been, off the top of the chart for his weight. However, he is off the top by exactly the same amount for his height and head circumference.

It is about the proportions. Can you measure your DDs length and plot that on the graph in your red book yourself. I would say if her weight and height roughly compare then don't worry and stop going to the baby clinic.

[PickledFanjoCat]

I gave ds three bottles from 6 months usually,

Morning afternoon and before bed so 21 oz in all.

My problem though is the polar opposite of yours!

I think that is a fair amount of milk if she is eating well but u wouldn't worry about it.

[lovezara]

her heights is 24in/2ft, don't know what centile that is in height. 9.3kg is 20lbs if that's what you mean by old money hehe

[SoulTrain]

My little boy didn't really roll, sat up about six months...didn't do anything else until 10 months when he crawled. Has only started walking a few weeks ago at 16 months...doesn't say a word apart from Mum and the noise of a horse and has always eaten loads and was considered overweight by all the HV's. I disagreed entirely. He's only ever eaten meat, fruit, veg, etc and in my experience you can't get a FF fed baby to keep any milk down that they don't want/need. Have you noticed a dramatic increase in weight since weaning?

[EBDTeacher]

I only have the 'boy' graph so I can't help out there. Maybe somebody else will check.

[lovezara]

nope she has always been a big baby, she doubled her birth weight in less than 2 months! she was exclusively breastfed until 5 months so her weight gain was not due to formula..

[SamSmalaidh]

That is really bad advice! Babies need around 20oz of formula a day between 6-12 months in order to get all the vitamins and minerals they need - if they take less formula than that then they really need a multivitamin as well.

12oz of milk is recommended for babies over 12 months.

[sandberry]

Looking at her height on the UK-WHO charts here chart, she is only below the 2nd centile, yet her weight is at the 98th so very out of proportion assuming you measured correctly. However the health visitor should not be giving you such dire advice but referring you to a paediatrician and/or dietician for assessment.
I'd ask for a referral.

[MrsCantSayAnything]

I would hold off any action until I had spoken to the dietitian myself but it seems excessive to give her three meals in addition to that amount of milk.

[MrsCantSayAnything]

I should imagine that once she gets more mobile, she's going to even out anyway.

[Viperidae]

My health visitor once told me DS was overweight and then, on checking his height, added almost indignantly "....and he's too tall!" What was I supposed to do? Cut him off at the knees?!

Some health visitors lose sight of the fact that not all children will be average. Try to relax and enjoy your baby.

[SamSmalaidh]

Ah, I misread your post and thought you were giving her 18oz a day and the HV was saying cut it to 12oz. 30oz is a lot, I would try to get it down to 20oz.

2nd centile for height and 98th for weight is very out of proportion - being obese as a baby does have implications for future health, so I would take it seriously. It's not that she is just a big baby, she is a heavy baby without being long/tall.

[Coffeeformeplease]

I wouldn't worry, honestly.
Breastfed babies (as yours was until recently) cannot be overfed.
My son was a really chubby baby, he was 9 kg at 7 months and 13kg at 12 months. And then he just grew. He was still 13 kg when he was 3. Now he is 11 and he is still very skinny.
My youngest daughter was born with almost 5kg, so she was really chubby in the first year.
I think her suggestion that your daughter should lose weight disqualifies her.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

viper you bad mum! Fancy taking a tall baby to the clinic just to confuse the obviously dim HV.

Agree with the others, if you are ff the NHS recommend 20floz per day of (undiluted) first milk between the ages of 6 and 12 months.

Once she reaches 12 months you can ditch the formula altogether and give her 300 ml of full fat cows milk per day, including milk used in cooking, until she is 2.

I'd let her refer you personally and hope you get some better advice on how to get her weight in more proportion with her height.

[AppleOgies]

I think 30 oz and 3 meals a day is too much if I'm being honest. Maybe see your GP who hopefully will have more tact than your HV. I wouldn't use the excuse your DH is 6 foot. My DH is 6 foot 1 and has a rowers build. My DS was in the top percentile for length/height at that age, and 50th for weight.

Could it be that now you've switched to formula instead of breast that you've slightly misjudged the amount?

I would try to get another opinion, are you overweight? Could the HV have judged you. The amount of formula and food does sound too much to me, have you considered cow's milk instead.

[AppleOgies]

Maybe disregard my cows milk, I can't remember when it's supposed to be introduced as I breastfed for longer than 6 months.