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.

OP honestly it's just a fact not a criticism of your parenting. Your baby is heavy for his height according to the guidelines. It doesn't mean you have done anything wrong. It could even be an error when he was measured/weighed. At least your not ignoring it. Just watch the portion sizes, give him the right foods and see how it goes (actually pretty much what to do regardless of the centiles). I also think that babies do tend to stop when they are full when they feed themselves so I think the hv's advice is quite good.

Ignore.
You cant put a baby that age on a diet. He will trim down in most cases once he becomes more mobile

The HV are really only there to try and help guide you. Obviously it's an emotive response to get a bit defensive as it your baby they are talking about, and in turn, your parenting.

But if he is a bit overweight, you have now identified the high fat areas of his diet and allowing him to try and feed himself will help, so you are already on track for how best to help him.

I definitely wouldn't let it get you down though, just make some slight changes and move on to enjoying your baby.

My much younger cousin was obese age one. There was an uproar in our family at this news. She was just chubby, ate a healthy diet etc.

All of which was true. But she ate huge amounts. I was shocked when I found out what the recommended portion sizes were for her age. She was eating four times that. Huge adult sized bowls of pasta multiple times a week, tubs of olives, loads of cheese and milk. They weren't force feeding her, she wanted it. Portion sizes changed, she started walking, slimmed right down and is now a slim teenager.

HV might only be there to help, but theres a hell of a lot of shit ones out there. Ive had health visitors who really stressed me out that my baby showed no interest in eating at 5 months old. Yes really.
I told another health visitor who then had a proper word with the other one.
Honestly. Please just use health visitors for help and advice if you really do suspect a problem, but they are not the ultimate authority. They have their own biases. You dont even have to see them.
If your baby is eating normally, seems well, meeting milestones roughly, most of the other stuff you just have to go with. Youre hardly going to put slimfast in his bottle or have him crawling on the treadmill. Hes 10 months. Hes a baby

1st baby?

Stop looking at that red book and take what the HV says with a pinch of salt.

Carry on what you are doing!

The thing is at 10 months he will probably soon be moving about and walking and then it'll drop off of him so I wouldn't worry too much at this stage.

Op, my DD has just had the same check, and is between 25 and 50 for weight and 91 for height. Do you reckon we could throw them at each other and they'd even each other out? Do I think my baby is underfed? No, dad is over 6 foot and I'm a size 8, she's just a product of her parents and looks like following her very lively older sibling into the "move rather than eat" camp.

No-one told my DH that there should only be 2 numbers between height and weight. Keep spoon feeding your boy and ignore her.

I was supposed to meet my friend now and now I'm thinking I need to get him exercising.

Exercise really isn't the issue. Even for adults, weight is 90% diet and 10% exercise. What matters is what, and how, he's eating.

Chia seeds, nuts, coconut are all very calorie-dense and not really needed for a young baby.

I have similar concerns to you OP but I’ve made a few small tweaks to my DD’s diet and it’s made a big difference already. I don’t think you need to worry, just keep an eye on it.

My daughter measured as 'obese' and when she was 3 years old they sent me a letter for her to go on a camp for children who are overweight. We ignored it.

Her consultant said that children often grow out before they grow up and she looked fine. She was right. Her diet is the same but now at 7 years old she is only just above the underweight category.

Children all grow at different rates and are differently built.

No need to offer water instead of breastmilk at all! He is eating to appetite. You have no idea if he’s always been on those centiles and he could suddenly have a grown spurt. Also if this is the first time his length has been measured (unless she did it at least 3 times over and averaged) there’s no saying how accurate it is. Keep going as you are and just cut sugar if you are offering any. Don’t panic!!

Have the centiles changed or is he following the same lines he always has?

He's probably due a growth spurt. Babies and toddlers will fill out in the tummy and cheeks then all of a sudden they grow and look slimmer and longer. Ignore your HV. As long as your child is not eating loads of crap then it's all good stuff they need to grow.

I never bothered to have ds weighed except in the first few weeks when they came out to visit. Didn't take him to any baby clinics (didn't know I was 'supposed to' actually).
There isn't really a need to spoon feed anyway tbh but if you still want to I don't see the issue. Is he having lots of formula (if ff)? As that's more calorific than food and if he's eating a good variety of food should be gradually cutting down on milk round about now (not cutting it out though).

Sorry for some reason my app didn't load half the thread. Ignore most of my post

@CollaterlyS1sters sorry but unless you can prove otherwise the 90/10 is a theory, not accepted fact. And apparently disproven by the number of posters who have said theirs shed weight when they started being mobile. The HV was very interested in how much physical exercise he got.

So if you could save the , thanks.

@Ipchill no no crap at all, but lots of calorie dense stuff - I bought one recipe book and he loves stuff from it (e.g. homemade baby 'jam' - pureed fruit and chia seeds) and sweet potato toast (who knew you could do it in the toaster?!)

I'm just a bit gutted because I've been really proud of what I feed him

Get the Annabel Karmel book and take recipes and food plans from that,I always find that's a really good guide.

Nuts for a 10 month old?

Ignore. I had similar, but my DD was high centile for height, very low for weight. A long skinny baby. I wasn't worried and ignored any suggestion that she was unhealthy or underfed... she ate like a horse!
20 odd years later she's a tall slim sporty adult.

@NeverGotMyPuppy @CollaterlyS1sters sorry but unless you can prove otherwise the 90/10 is a theory, not accepted fact. And apparently disproven by the number of posters who have said theirs shed weight when they started being mobile. The HV was very interested in how much physical exercise he got. So if you could save the hmm, thanks.

OK, sure, good luck getting your 10-month-old baby to do exercise rather than changing what you spoon into his mouth.

@moreismore thanks. No no sugar apart from fruit

M y dd1 was what would be considered obese as a baby. She was ebf and at one stage gaining a pound a week. We are a petite family, and her height was about 25th and weight 95th centile. By the age of two she was diddy, her weight gain dramatically slowed when she started walking at 11 months and since then has been a tiny skinny thing.At 21 years she still is. Just my thrupence. All babies are different.

@CollaterlyS1sters did I say I wasnt going to change what he ate? No I didnt. If you're going to be obtuse please do it somewhere else. Thanks.

@Bubbletrouble43 thanks that's helpful to know. He really really wants to walk so maybe that will help a bit too.