HV has told me that my 20 month old DD is overweight. I'm at a loss

[Unappreciatedandfat]

I've always put in every effort to make sure she eats healthily, she loves fruit and veg and I make every meal from scratch, no junk etc. She has small portions and they fill her up easily. She has the very occasional treat and only drinks milk or water.

We live on a farm so she's a very active toddler (she's been walking since 11 months) and just generally loves being outside. I'm so disheartened because I really thought that I was setting her up for being fit and healthy. I've recently lost 3-4 stones in weight jus through doing more exercise.
I see my friends with their toddlers who are a similar age and the right weight and they're fed chips, crisps, chocolate and given fizzy drinks and are sat inside all day long watching TV. What the hell have I done so wrong?

That second one she looks fine, totally normal.

Btw try not to get disheartened or upset, it sounds like you are doing all the right things which is more than some parents.

Are we actually discussing the possibility of trying to get a 18 month old child to lose weight? Fucking hell, words absolutely fail me.

OP please, for the love of god do not try to restrict your dd's diet. Children NEED calories so they can grow. Kids also have an innate ability to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. Seriously, your HV is barking mad. My son was a huge baby until he was about 2, he had rolls everywhere but by the time he was about 2 the fat had gone without any interference from me.

The world has gone mad. Are we really fat shaming babies now?!

She looks like she still has some of her baby chub on her legs (I think that's pretty normal at her age) but as you say they are 18-24 month clothes I don't think she would weigh as much as the HV said she did.

My ds once shrunk in length according to the HV

Aw she looks like mine OP. Always chunky (as in baby chunky) with big wrist bracelets. Then at 3 or 4 they shoot up and get skinny. I just don't think you can say a 22 month old is overweight unless they are off the charts - they fluctuate so wildly before a growth spurt as far as I can see.

I have had one HV tell me my toddler was big and then another say THE SAME TODDLER needed an extra snack in the afternoons.

If that weight is correct then yes, she is over weight to the point that i can't help but think you would know. I would write down portion sizes and everything she eats, if the weight is correct. But you have to be truthful and you can't guess portions sizes. Then have that ready for the doctors appointment.

From your pictures, your DD looks to have a smaller tummy than my 23 month old DD, but marginally chunkier thighs. Overall she looks about the same proportion as my DD, who was between 75 and 91 percentile when weighed last month. She has been described as surprisingly dense by her swimming teacher! I think DD was either 10 or 12 kg (you can tell she's not my PFB!).

DD has a huge tummy that she rests on things, and we call her our little buddha! And our HV treated me as a bit of a timewaster for even wanting to her her and DS weighed!

She looks perfectly normal, OP.

Ignore them. I get told the opposite her weight isn't where it should be, fatten her up etc. My dd is fine and healthy and your dd looks fine too.

msshapelybottom - have you never seen a morbidly obese child then? Being concerned about a child's health isn't "fat shaming".

Nancy - if the DD is almost 16kg then she is off the charts though!

msshapley how is it fat shaming? The OP is concerned, people are giving her advice.

Ignore, ignore, ignore. HVs generally talk a load of crap. I'm convinced their job description is to find a problem where none exists, just to justify their own existence. My eldest was underweight one week then overweight the next according to mine. I took him to a senior GP in his sixties who had no clue about charts but with 40 years of medical experience was able to tell me fairly swiftly that DS was not overweight or indeed had anything else wrong with him.

Sounds like you're doing great and many of us will be about your DD eating such a varied diet!

I don't think anyone has told op to put her dd on a diet! The general advice seems to be to re measure and then see GP if still concerned.

My nephew had thighs double the size of your dd at that age. He's now a slim 6 year old and it's hard to believe he was that chunky baby!

Her tummy was really swollen when the first picture was taken - she had just had her tea and had drank quite a lot of water.

Doesn't everyone else's children have tummies that pop in and out depending on how much they've eaten, drunk and pooed that day?! DD can look like a barrel or a rake depending on input/output for the day.

Your lifestyle and diet sounds awesome. If she is walking up and down fields at 20mo I'm guessing she carries more muscle than the average 20mo (DS is the same, you wonder why he's so heavy until you have to wrestle him and he is Just. So. Strong).

I bet after a big poo and a growth spurt she'll have evened out. If not, it will genuinely only take a little bit of focus on it to bring her percentages down, because she's not relying on food/snacks all day so it's not a behaviour problem that needs to be tackled.

Try not to panic, this thread is borderline hysterical at times.

Fwiw I have no idea how much ds weighed when he was born. I was told 7lb 13. But the mw who weighed him did it 3 times as she said he felt like he weighed more. When the community mw weighed him 10 days later, he had packed weight on and never lost a little like most babies do. She said the hospital should have tried another set of scales as she had never seen a baby put on so much so quickly. So they do get it wrong. I wouldn't panic, find out what's she weighs and go from there.

The OP has posted pics of her dd to be judged whether she is overweight or not. Someone upthread used the word "fatties" to describe farmers inferring that this was the case here.

My son would have been described as being mobidly obese at the same age (BMI is pretty meaningless for individuals BTW) but it was a normal stage for him which didn't last long.

I just can't get over the fact that people are discussing what amounts to a diet for a baby (portion sizes)

Oh OP she's a baby! Ignore. Not all babies and toddlers and even older DC fit into the ideals.

SHe just looks like she's still a toddler which she is!

Her diet is good.

Carry on! She'll shoot up taller and then even out.

My SIL has just been told her son of 1 year is underweight. He's not. She's in Australia and was devestated...he is breasfed and eats three meals a day...all home cooked, organic meals and he is fine to look at. So is your DD!

She looks exactly the same as my 16 month old from those pictures who certainly isn't skinny but is on the 50th centile for height and weight.

My DS was about 15kg at 18 months. He didn't put any more weight on for well over a year - he just stretched and got taller and slimmer but stayed the same weight.

It's worth keeping an eye on but not worrying about it too much - lots of toddlers are chunky but stretch out as they get older.

This was a week and a half ago. Thank you for all of your advice, I will weigh/measure her again

That's a very good point from a pp about muscle weighing more than fat. She is probably very strong if you walk up hills a lot! She looks solid not fat. I mean that in a nice way

She does look a bit chunky, but certainly not 16kg chunky - I'd have her reweighed. Although, if she is 16kg at that age, then she is extremely overweight and obviously something is wrong. For comparison, my very well-built, stocky 23 month old, who's on about the 85th for both height and weight, weighs just over 13kg.

Also in your centile charts instead of working out how overwight she is, try working out how much taller she should be in order to tick their bloody boxes. In our case it was 2cm I think. I said to her 'are we really having this great big fuss because he is 2cm too short?' He's now a 6ft lanky teenager.