To ask what bonny means when describing a baby?

[Oysterbabe]

I'd never heard it before having kids. Everyone keeps telling me DD is bonny. I'm not 100% on what it means. Does it mean fat?
She does have lovely chubby cheeks and thighs that you just can't help but squidge.

[nightandthelight]

Among my family it means healthy looking :)

[pearlylum]

In SCotland where I live it means beautiful or handsome.

I have family in Yorkshire and to them it means podgy or fat.

Of course at one point having a fat baby was desirable.

[UterusUterusGhali]

It means pretty/chubby/cute/healthy to me.

Chubbiness is a good thing in a baby! It was especially favoured in ye olden days when malnutrition was a real concern for a lot of the population.

[limitedperiodonly]

My birth weight was 9lb 11oz and I know that because my 5ft and 8st mum was so proud of growing me that she mentioned it all the time - like years . When the doctor did his first rounds he told her to skip the milk and give me bacon and eggs. She took that as the joke it was intended.

When she took me to be weighed at the clinic, I'd lost a little and the nurse asked her if she wanted to see the doctor. My mum said: 'Why? Is he going to give it back?' That was a bit mean, because the nurse was trying to be reassuring. But my mum realised that I could afford to lose a little weight before panic set in. That is the joy of a chubby or bonny baby.

[sianihedgehog]

Beautiful, with a sense of wholesomeness and health. "Ah, it's a bonny day, the sun has some warm at last!"

[Ludways]

Bonnie/bonny = Pretty
NE.

[buttercupfarm]

Bonny means pretty, I've never known it to mean fat at all.

[Branleuse]

pleasantly plump and beautiful

[CandyCrusher]

Bonny doesn't mean fat.
It means pretty here! (Yorkshire.) Nothing to do with weight at all.

[AngryPrincess]

Beautiful.

Fat doesn't work for 'on the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond', if you need any persuading.

[specialsubject]

it is a compliment. Babies are supposed to have a bit of blubber on them, as long as isn't too much.

don't fall into the MN oversensitivity trap!

[MissPronounced]

Bonny does NOT mean fat up here (Newcastle). It only means pretty, and is not just reserved for babies.

[Northumberlandlass]

Bonny does NOT mean fat, it means beautiful!

[limitedperiodonly]

I don't understand why people are so determined to say that describing the normal state of a baby doesn't mean fat. It is normal for some babies to have ample fat stores. It is also normal for some babies to be lean. That is not the same as saying the chunky ones are obese or the slim ones are sickly.

[LordoftheTits]

I won a bonnie baby contest in 1991 and I was absolutely not fat! Shame the same can't be said for me now

It means pretty.

[Oysterbabe]

I don't mind really if people do mean chubby. She's 4 months old and only has breastmilk. I know I'm not overfeeding her and I think chubby babies are cute :)

[LordoftheTits]

it is a compliment. Babies are supposed to have a bit of blubber on them, as long as isn't too much.

But it's quite common to say "she's a bonnie lassie" about a girl/grown woman, not just babies. In that context it just means good looking.

[ClashCityRocker]

I thought bonny for babies and Bonny for older kids/adults were different....

A Bonny baby is a cute, chunky bouncy baby - like you get in the adverts. I wouldn't say 'fat', just well, bouncy. For my nana, babies were either 'bonny wee things' or 'precious wee dots'.

Bonny for older kids and adults meant pretty/handsome.

Same word, two different usages.

[notagiraffe]

In the north east in means pretty or cute. In the south it means chubby. Both are compliments for a baby, though, aren't they? A bit of chub on a baby is a sign of good health.

[APlaceOnTheCouch]

Awe, she is bonny.

I've only ever heard of bonny meaning beautiful. My BIL who is much much older used to call me a bonny lass which I always took as a compliment. Now I'm wondering if he meant fat?!

[ClashCityRocker]

Google dictionary thing says pretty etc, (of a baby) plump, healthy looking and a third usage as sizeable.

So everyone's right, hurrah.

[CotswoldStrife]

I'm from the north west and chubby immediately sprang to my mind, especially for a baby.

[limitedperiodonly]

I think chubby babies are cute

So do I OP. My friend said her baby looked like a skinned rabbit. She kind of did. But she was lovely too.

[CalebWomble]

Bonnie Prince Charlie is, of course, known for being a lardarse. Nearly sank that boat on the way to Skye.

[KayTee87]

Pretty / beautiful / good looking in Scotland anyway. Never heard it to mean fat or chubby.