HV has told me my baby is too heavy

[NeverGotMyPuppy]

And I'm feeling really crap about it.

We had his 10 month check. He is weighing between the 75th and 91st centiles for weight but only 25th for height. She said there should be a maximum of 2 centiles difference between the 2.
She told me to stop spoon feeding him completely. This has thrown me because although he has breakfast and lunch as finger foods dinner is almost always spoon.

I just feel a bit low about it because I thought I was doing ok.

I threw those red books away and paid no heed to health visitors. My mother was the best source of information and common sense.

Does your baby look overweight?

Thanks Soola.

He has a little tummy but other than that- no i dont think he does?!

How mobile is he?

What does he eat in a day? Maybe she feels he is greedy and if you offer off a spoon he won't refuse. If he eats finger food he is likely to eat more slowly.

While the centiles can be an indicator or problems they are not foolproof. I was told at DDs two year check that she is overweight because her weight is on the 75th centile and her height is on the 25th centile, she has been on both of these centiles for each since birth and I had several growth scans in the pregnancy which put her on similar centiles too. When I put her height and weight into the BMI calculator on the NHS website it states she is within the healthy range however the HV says they only go off the centile lines

He is 10 months old. He will very soon be mobile at which point their growth and weight gain really slows down compared to how rapid it has been up until now. On the presumption that you're not giving him puréed junk food and a bottle of Tizer to wash it down, ignore her.

If he is overweight then you should take this seriously. You don't want to start him on that path.
Don't take the comment from HV as a criticism of you, but just as a bit of good advice (which we all as new mothers appreciate from time to time)

as long as you aren’t feeding him loads of unhealthy foods I’d ignore her!
With my first I regularly got her weighed until they started getting funny about the 2 lines thing, they actually asked if I was feeding her because she was 3 lines out rather than 2. She was absolutely fine and not a thin baby.
With my second I’ve never had him weighed outside hospital/1 year check because he eats fine and looks healthy.

Depends if he is mobile. He will likely slim down as he stays walking and moving about more. What weight is he?

Ignore ignore ignore! All babies are different!

HV serve a useful purpose, but not everything they advise is. Surely at 10m your DS will eat what he wants to and leave what he doesn't. Provided you are not force feeding him more than he wants I wouldn't worry. I am sure DC self-regulate their food intake at that age. Both of mine certainly seemed to.

You're doing a wonderful job

I wouldn't worry about it, I never listened to my HV, she said my son was overweight and he's a perfectly healthy 4 yr old now, and had no problems as a baby. Babies are chubby for a reason, they're supposed to store fat. yours probably isn't walking yet but as soon as that starts you'll see the weight change. Remember no two children are the same, it annoys me when people expect all children to be within certain numbers etc, they're all different, otherwise we might as well all be clones!

Hv go by the text book, every child is different. As a pp said he will be moving around soon.

Sounds like mummy is doing a fab job. Well done 👍🏻

I find that some babies go through a really chubby stage at this age - they are eating good amounts of proper food but not yet quite mobile enough to be burning it all off by running around. They do tend to slim down once they are confidently walking around.
I would get him weighed and measured again in a couple of months, and see if it's evened out.

I do wonder why some women on here even get their babies weighed or take them to see the HV. These are not compulsory checks.

If you're not going to listen to their advice or do anything about your baby being overweight then don't waste the HV's time in the first place.

Sure, question them or ask for a follow up or

How can you stop giving him food? That sounds ridiculous. They do get really chubby before they start walking.

Is he very active yet?
As long as you arent feeding him rubbish or forcing him to eat when he doesnt want to- ignore the advice imo.

Probably due a growth spurt... Both my DSs used to get a bit chubby as toddlers just before they suddenly shot up in height (again)

I remember when my first DC was a baby, he was 9lb when he was born and by 6wks old was 12lb. The HV got a bee in her bonnet that no six week old should weigh 12lb, it was too heavy for a six week old. I asked how much weight he should be gaining and she said around half a pound a week, give or take. So in six weeks he should have gained approximately three pounds, which he had, he'd gained exactly 3lbs. I explained he'd been 9lb at birth in case she hadn't realised and all I got over again was that he should not weigh 12lbs.

Oh Jesus, babies can’t be overweight. They are BABIES. What are they supposed to do exactly, take themselves to the gym? This is so very silly.

IME babies are supposed to be a bit chunky and have lovely rolls. They soon disappear when they become mobile.

Babies can most definitely be overweight given they don't choose what they are being fed. Lots of parents feed their babies terrible food.

It sounds like you’re doing a great job!

Like in all professions, some (Hv’s) are great and some are crap

No one here can tell you if she’s right or wrong about him being overweight common issues are them not weighing it measuring them correctly do you could go to s drop in session and get that re done.

Or you could take him to the GP ((though they’re incredibly variable as well)

Probably the best thing to do is ask people who you trust to be honest with you.

Myself, I wouldn’t worry unless the weight gain was sudden and I’d keep doing what I had been doing. I might adjust his bottles if he’s eating well and I’d offer water frequently because he might be thirsty not hungry or needing milk.

He’ll soon be needing those extra pounds for growing and moving about (if he’s not already)

Don’t stress yourself out about it it take her comment personally 🌷

A word of caution. DS1 was on 95th centile for height and weight. HV banged on incessantly about his weight but I took no notice because the centiles were the same, so, in proportion right?

At school, he was a head and shoulders taller than his classmates - looked like he was in the wrong class for years. They didn't start to catch up until mid teens. He's 33 now, 6 ft 1 and while he is a fit rugby player, he is too heavy. He's probably a couple of stone overweight and when he stops playing he's going to have to take drastic action to get and keep his weight down.

In short, he was a big baby, a big kid, a big teen and a big adult. The HV was right and it does concern me that I could have perhaps done something about it if I had listened to her.

Despite the record increase in the number of overweight and obese children in UK, I think I have yet to hear anyone on Mumsnet admit that their DC is overweight - even when health service professionals who have looked at the child, have told them that they are.

And many people responding to this kind of post are happy to state that the DC in question is not overweight without having seen the infant, and that the NHS tables are wrong.

Makes you wonder.

That’s interesting @LenoVentura my DD1 was always big - off the charts while still exclusively breastfed - & she has always nudged along at the top line of ‘healthy weight’. I do worry a bit about it.

What height weight centiles has he been on up to now? I think that’s more important. If he’s eating to appetite and not a rampaging sugar monster I’d continue as you are for a couple of months.