Should you put a 3 month old baby on a diet?! Starting to worry after percentile jump!

[MotherofKitties]

Hi all,

So my DD is 15 weeks and she was born full term at 6lb 11oz and was 9th percentile, and we’ve been weighing her every two weeks and she’s stayed right in the middle of the 9th percentile. Weighed her today and she’s gained 2lb in Just under two weeks, making her jump from the 9th percentile to the 50th!

Our HV said we her last visit (6 weeks) that if she jumped more than 2 percentiles/lines either way we would have a problem on our hands; well she’s jumped nearly 3 lines!

DD is now exclusively FF after refusing to combi-feed after 8 weeks where she did BF (had various issues with latching which meant I was never able to EBF ).

Did anyone else’s baby jump in weight similar to this? Was it an issue? There’s all these articles saying it means she’s twice as likely to be obese and I’ve started panicking!

She’s a really happy, good natured baby and I don’t use the bottle to placate her or anything, so I don’t know how I would restrict her milk intake even if I wanted too! Would you take her to the doctors or just wait a few weeks to see how her weight goes? She’s my first so I’m new to monitoring a babies weight!

[Threenme]

I think that's absolutely the right thing to do!!!!

[MotherofKitties]

Re PP, yep I’m a first time mum, and that’s probably why I’ve initially taken the HVs comments to heart too much.

I have quickly learnt though that whatever advice I’ve been given has been swiftly contradicted by a different HV or MW; everything I’ve been told by a HV or MW about swaddling, co-sleeping, breastfeeding, FF, and weight gain has been contradicted by the other!

I’ve decided to largely ignore their comments and do what I think is best for DD; as long as she keeps happy and healthy I’m going to try and not worry too much! Xx

[viques]

annabellehwhat replies are you on about, I can't see people advocating restricting the child's milk?

[kitkatsky]

Seriously ignore your HV. My daughter was born same weight as yours and was almost totally FF by 15 weeks. One week my HV told me she was too skinny (she was a long skinny baby and is now a tall skinny child) the next week she told me she was gaining weight too fast. Not sure if you’re a first time Mum but I always swore if I’m lucky enough to have a second baby it’ll only be weighed when it has to be or if I’m concerned

[OnTheRise]

All those years ago when my babies were tiny I was told by a friendly health visitor that the centile charts they used had been produced using information from primarily bottle-fed babies, so they weren't very helpful for babies who were mostly breast-fed. She said she'd seen loads of breast-fed babies not follow the curves as they apparently should have done, and was convinced that breast-feeding led to slightly different patterns of weight gain. Her feeling was that so long as the babies were feeding well, gaining weight, and happy, she wasn't going to worry and neither should I. I followed her advice and my children are now all nicely tall, slender and strong, despite being little chunks when they were babies.

[kaytee87]

Also dont bother getting hv to weigh anymore if you don’t want to. My ds (16mo) has only been professionally weighed 5 times in his life including first weigh in.

[kaytee87]

Just adding to the chorus of ‘your hv is wrong wrong wrong’. A 3 month old baby putting on weight is a brilliant thing and something to be celebrated so well done mummy on doing what your baby needs you to do

My ds has gone up and down centiles depending on growth spurts etc. No one had ever batted an eye.

[mirime]

My HV told me that what they look for is a smooth curve and as long as DS wasn't going up and down the percentiles it was fine. He went from 12th or 15th to above 80th and the HV wasn't worried at all.

[altiara]

Don’t let the HV make you feel bad- each baby is different so they can only advise you not be an all knowing oracle of information.
And this is precisely why it’s useful to ask others on the internet because you find out the majority of people told there’s a problem do not find they have a problem.
My DD was 8lb12oz at birth on the 75th centile and jumped to 92nd quickly. I was told not to feed her too much and feed every 5 hours!! I think she was 3-4 weeks. Horrendous advice. When I took the lead from DD she settled down and was an angel baby! (I read the baby whisperer book and she followed that at 8 weeks). She also used to plump up before a growth spurt so even spot checks on weight don’t give the full picture of growth. She still plumps up a bit before a growth spurt (But is now nearly as tall as me!)
So I’d just wait and not worry. Also when you start weaning it all changes again! You either get a baby that loves new food or hates it. But if you get one that loves it, enjoy the smugness as they may change their mind as a toddler!
So in summary, you will always be able to be stressed about some aspect of their eating/weight/diet so enjoy the drinking milk stage as it’s downhill after that 😜👍🏽😳

[TaliZorahVasNormandy]

My DD was on the 91st at birth. A few weeks later, she got back the the 50th and has skirted it ever since. She's 10 now, active, tall and slim.

[LaurieMarlow]

OP, it's absolutely bonkers to think about putting a small baby on a diet. I despair of the training of HV, I really do.

My DS was born relatively small (25th percentile) and shot right up to the top of the charts by the time he was 3 months. He was BF and a milk fiend, he was a total chunker . I still remember how heavy he was to lift compared to other babies the same age.

By 18 months he was right back where he started, 25th percentile. DH and I are pretty small, so genes won out in the end. It's good for them to have reserves when they're really little in case they get ill or anything.

[MuncheysMummy]

This is exactly what the health visitors are for!! That's why they are there at the weighing clinic to advise you talk to them not people on the internet!

[x2boys]

I wouldnt worry about it my son was tiny at birth just 5lb 140z and he was born at 41 weeks he was bottle fed and put on weight quickly he was weighed regularly and they never said there was a problem from being a tiny scrawny new born he was a least an average size by 1 yr old I assumed he was just making up for being so small? Hes nearly 11 now and the tallest in his class !

[MotherofKitties]

Thank you all for your replies; you’ve all reinforced what I was thinking, ie, what a load of tosh!

I’m going to completely ignore what the ‘rules’ and percentiles say; she’s happy and healthy and that’s all that counts! My DH wants to continue weighing her (although we’ll do this at home) purely because he likes doing it, but we won’t be getting worried or worked up about

[gamerchick]

Maybe you should stop weighing her if it’s making you think such things OP. They don’t need to be weighed so often unless they’re underweight. Mine only saw scales on needle day.

[OnTheRise]

I wouldn't cut back. I'd just keep feeding her what she wants. My babies went through spurts of growth, jumped around on the centile charts like nobody's business, and are fine. Weight gain is good in a baby.

[qazxc]

No, let her eat what she wants.
The weight will most probably sort itself out when she's more mobile, moving around. DD " thinned out" when she discovered the joys of the jumperoo.

[mummytothree87]

My little.one was born on the 91st centile and was steady on that line until his 12 week visit where he had jumped to.the 98th...health visitor didn't say anything except it'll even itself.out when he starts to move around more...he's only 14 weeks now but is a chunky baby and always has been just like my two girls were but now at nine and seven they're both tall and slim so.i wouldn't.worry.too much

[userabcname]

Hi OP, I totally understand your concern - I'm exactly the same. My 5 month old was born on 75th, then went up to 91st and is now fast approaching 98th. Last time he was weighed HV started making noises about the 'two percentile' rule. DS is ebf and fed on demand - no way am I going to limit his intake. He is happy and thriving so I'm just going to stop taking him to be weighed now so I don't have to worry about what the HV says!

[HeteronormativeHaybales]

People are obsessive over percentiles because HVs and sometimes doctors are obsessive over them and new mothers in particular often don't have the confidence to challenge their supposed authority.

Percentiles are supposed to reflect general trends in the growth of babies and children, but some professionals interpret this as the growth of individual babies and children being supposed to reflect them.

[DuggeeHugs]

Just at the idea a 15 week old baby should go on a diet!

DD is 17 weeks and has gone from just below 50th at birth to above 91st now. HV thinks this is great. There really shouldn't be this sort of variation between HVs "advice".

If you and baby are happy I'd ignore the HV in this occasion.

[Marriedwithchildren5]

Percentiles have not been updated in years. They are from the time people probably, more than likely exclusively breastfed. I completely ignore them. Out of 100 babies yours is now in the middle and not a couple of spaces down the line in weight. Ignore hv on this occasion!

[StrawberryJelly00]

I think most health visitors are useless and don’t tell you anything that you can’t find out for yourself on google.

Most of their advice is unreasonable and very outdated.

I never listen to anything
First of all - have some common sense!

[LouBlue1507]

I don't understand why people are so obsessive over percentiles?! DD is 15 months and she was only weighed a few times as a newborn and I haven't done it since.
You know your baby.

[TakeMe2Insanity]

DS was 2nd percentile when born (36+6 so not premature), by 7 months (a month after weaning ) was on 50th percentile. Nearly 2 he is on the 70th.

I really wouldn't put your baby on a diet. She is still a baby.

FWIW health visitors aren't the most knowlegable or consistent of characters. I'd talk to gp before implementing anything the hv says.