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General health

Silly question - but are babies/toddlers supposed to have pot bellies?

18 replies

PanicPants · 03/02/2007 18:05

Ds 17 months, has quite a pot belly, in comparison to his body. Is he supposed to?

He only drinks water or milk, eats breakfast of porridge/weetabix and fruit.

Freshly made dinners and teas, with snacks of cheese/banana/cereal bars etc during the day.

He never eats much and sometimes hardly eats anything at meal times.

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footprints · 03/02/2007 18:07

They are meant to, definitely.

I read that the liver is still proportionally large when they are toddlers, and that is why their bellies stick out.

Please don't start worrying about this at 17 months!

Sheraz · 03/02/2007 18:07

Absolutely normal and so cute!

CorrieDale · 03/02/2007 18:10

I don't know if they're supposed to, but they all seem to. DS had as a baby, but as soon as he started to crawl it vanished and hasn't been seen since. He actually looks quite odd in comparison to his little pb'd pals. And very much older, despite being only average height.

I really really wouldn't worry about it - if he's eating healthily then worrying about his weight at this age is the way danger lies.

CorrieDale · 03/02/2007 18:11

OMG, now I'm worrying!!!!! Maybe DS's liver has shrunk!!!!!

PanicPants · 03/02/2007 18:13

Thank God!!!

Wasn't worried about his weight, more worried soemthing was medically wrong with him, like malnutrition, or an infection to cause the bloating!

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swifterella · 03/02/2007 18:13

lol corriedale! my DS is 17 months and after he has eaten always has a pot belly- when he is running around with no clothes on before his bath it always makes me laugh- his belly is huge!!! very cute though

footprints · 03/02/2007 18:14

My dd and my dh have matching pot bellies

CorrieDale · 03/02/2007 18:14

Awwwww. DH says to DS sometimes after tea 'what a fine tummy' and DS pats his affectionately. They really are cute at this age, aren't they?

PanicPants · 03/02/2007 18:30

It is cute now that I can enjoy it!!

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me23 · 03/02/2007 19:57

my dd 19 months is exactly the same! she doesnt eat much either and has a huge pot belly, I'm glad it is normal!

TheArmadillo · 03/02/2007 20:01

ds has a pot belly.

He also had food intolerences that made it swell up. IME it is easy to tell the difference as when swollen it felt different i.e. quite hard.

PanicPants · 03/02/2007 20:05

See armadillo, thats kind of what I was thinking about. Ds doesn't eat much, so can't work out why he should have such a big tummy.

It is hard. I was assumed it was full (ds does love his milk)

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TheArmadillo · 03/02/2007 20:08

with ds it became rigid at some points.

And also we had terrible problems finding nappies and trousers to fit as it was so big.

Imagine a toddler looking heavily pregnant.

There were other signs as well as the continual constipation and diorreah. Plus he used to get a lot of wind and a lot of pain (and would draw his knees up to his stomach and then push them back down again). He also refused to let you touch it.

It was really obvious there was a problem (even to the drs who refused to admit it was anything but colic )

Lilliput · 03/02/2007 20:14

My dd has just turned 4 and her tummy is HUGE. She has had problems with constipation lately which is gradually getting sorted but looking at her tonight she seems really out of proportion for her size.I was actually going to start a thread on this because I am quite worried.

PanicPants · 03/02/2007 20:18

Ds seems very regular but all dirty nappies are normally wet/soft, with the occassional very hard ones.

But he does look pregnant.

He will let me touch it though, so maybe I'm just being a hypochondriac (!)

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TheArmadillo · 03/02/2007 20:20

I think probably if there was a problem you would be definate about it (IYSWIM).

PanicPants · 03/02/2007 20:23

Yes, I think you're probably right, I just keep an eye on it, and enjoy the cuteness of it for a while.

Thank you

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Bozza · 03/02/2007 20:28

I think it is very normal for them to have a pot belly. When they are somewhere around 3/4/5 they loose it and become thinner looking and more childlike - less toddler like. DS is nearly 6 and has been straight up and down for ages with all his bones on display despite being quite a chubby toddler. DD is 2 1/2 and you can see her ribs above a very noticeable pot belly. She wears skirts under her belly rather like a middle aged man would wear his trousers under his beer gut. Apart from this she is quite slight - much more so than DS ever was and also finer boned.

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