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!

My DS was BF... He was on about 7th centile when born but gained rapidly as a baby. He was a huge baby with rolls of fat.. Funny the HV used to say to me what are you feeding him gold top? Difference in attitude between FF and BF.

My DS is not 10 and as skinny as a rake.

Don't babies need lots of 'fat' until their 2 for brain development? Be glad your baby is feeding and growing well, I would ignore the HV on this topic.

Can't believe a HV would say this, not in this day and age. I did hear in the late 70s of a HV sternly telling a friend that she 'must treat the baby like an alcoholic' and restrict his (purely milk) feeds. Glad to say my friend ignored her.
Some babies are just hungrier than others.

I recall my sister telling me that at only 2 months my nephew was often getting through 2 full bottles of formula at one 'sitting'! He was just hungry. Over 40 now and aside from normal baby chubbiness has never been remotely overweight.

I wouldn’t worry - the important thing is how weight tracks over time, not weigh in to weigh in, and what it’s like compared to height.... weight gain and growth isn’t a totally linear thing that neatly follows the graph. She might have jumped up just because she is getting ready for a baby grow busting growth spurt!

What a load of bollocks.

DC1 born on 50th percentile. Within 2 months had jumped to 96. HV made a fuss then asked how he was fed. Said with BF to carry on as you are, but if FF we'd be looking to cut back on feeds. I could not believe it. What a pile of shit, cutting feeds to a 2mo baby!

It's impossible to force feed a baby, they self regulate. Total and utter bollocks.

DC1 was born slightly early so to my mind he was just settling on his natural percentile which he would have achieved with a few more weeks inside.

Some HV seem to enjoy making parents worry unneccessarily. It's like they are just looking for problems. Then if they can't find anything have to come out with something critical just to feel like they've had an input.

I despair of a world where putting a baby on a diet is even a consideration.

Was 15 years ago so can’t recall exactly but my baby went from slightly underweight at birth to 90th percentile in a couple of months. He was solely breastfed but lots of older woman asked if I was giving him rusk too and I wasn’t, warned at 4m per the advice then. He’s now tall with muscle on bone. A string of healthy piss

Weaned not warned. Warning happens now at 15

Please please dont put your baby on a diet

For context - at 50 percentile half of all babies are bigger.

My now 5 yr old was 98th percentile!! Big chubby baby...perfectly normal lookknf2 slender 5 yr old now

Stop writing her for av few months, just take the focus right off.
This happened with my first, the health visitor threatened obesity, diabetes etc. I felt in my gut that she was talking tripe, and stopped going to see her.
Dd now a slim teenager.

Stop having her weighed i only did it about once

My DD went from 0.2 nd percentile to the 95th within the 12 months it will balance out but the time baby walks
It’s not a problem because now she is perfect

Ps a large reason is 9th percentile is very little
Also silent reflux can cause some baby’s to want to continuously feed
www.thesleeplady.co.uk/silent-reflux-tips/

Hang on a sec, when you say your DH loves weighing her, do you mean that you're weighing her yourselves, or that he loves taking her to the HV for weights? Because my first thought on gaining 2 lbs in 2 weeks is an error either in the weighing, or in the scales themselves - the ones the HV uses should be regularly calibrated...

No way should you do that! What a sad thought, putting a baby on a diet.

She's happy and healthy and that's great news.

I think some babies are born and start off at a lower weight than they "should" be, and find their true centile line later on. That could be bollocks though!

DS want even on the charts at birth and his growth line was AMAZING - like the inside of a V!! He's 2.5 now, has been 75th centipede for weight for ages, finally (!!!!!) made it up to 75th for height. Even when the doetician commented he was too short for his weight there was never a chat about cutting it back. Now he's always on the go he's not putting on so much so it evens out

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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