Aibu to be worried about my toddlers weight?

[Turquoiseblue1]

DD was born nearly 10lbs, 99th percentile for weight, and has stayed above the 90th percentile since then. She turned two this spring, and her current weight is 33lbs. Which is around the 95th percentile, and according to the NHS website, makes her very overweight.

I feel incredibly guilty but her diet is healthy and she has normal toddler sized portions. A typical day would be yoghurt with fruit for breakfast, home made soup with bread for lunch, and whatever I’m eating for dinner but a smaller portion (spaghetti bolognaise, omelette, etc)

Meals always include protein, and she only has fruit for dessert. The only time she has sugar etc is birthdays but in small amounts. Only water to drink, or very diluted squash, and milk before bedtime.

She was EBF until 6 months but even at six months she was 99th percentile for weight, on breastmilk alone - the health visitor actually said that she would have thought I was over feeding her if she was formula fed

For what it’s worth, she doesn’t look overweight, is very active and healthy. AIBU to be worried?

Also, her height is 75th percentile.

How old is she?

My middle son was the same.

He was an absolute tank.
He's 8 now and slimmed right out.

He's now 75th for height and weight.

She is 27 months.

DS was born 3.7kg I think - slightly above average but not dramatically. Once my milk kicked in he shot up to 99.9% for weight and stayed there for at least 2 years. His height was above average but less so - ( think 80-90%. So his BMI was off the scale. He certainly looked like a chubby baby/toddler. I wasn't worried as I knew that DH's family were all big babies. He only drank breastmilk and water until 2 and didn't actually eat that much at all no sweets or treats. He was very active. From the age of about 2 (he's 8 now) he's just kind of stretched out. Now he's still above average for height (I think holding steady at 80-90%) and bang in the middle of the healthy weight for his height. I haven't done anything but carried on what I was doing before - healthy foods and loads of exercise (obviously no breastmilk anymore!).

Dontbitetheboob - that’s reassuring, thank you!

As daft as it sounds the NHS actually has a BMI calculator for kids from age 2.whoch means you can look at a combination of heigtt and weight and determine if you shoiod be worried.

So if your DD is up there on the height stakes the BMI will give you a more wholostic view.

One of my daughters was a big baby (10lb) and walked much later than her three siblings. She was 18 months before she got up and had a walk about. A chubby toddler, she liked her food and was easier to please food wise than both her sisters.

When she turned 4 and went to reception she lost her baby fat and was a normal weight/height ratio from then on. The extra exercise? Don't know. She lived the same life as her siblings and they were skinny minis.

If you're really worried OP ask at your GP to see a health visitor?

She's 23 now and taller than her sisters and me.

What was her height like when she was born?

There is variation in bone thickness, so some people will be heavier at different heights than others. Does she look chubby? Is, she active? If she's over 2 then you can calculate her BMI and that should tell you if she's actually much larger than she should be or not.

Thanks for replies. She is between 2st 4lbs and 2st 5lbs, so boarderline overweight according to the calculator, 2st 4lbs is just within healthy range.

I have no idea on her height when born but she was definitely longer than other newborns and looked in proportion. She still looks in proportion now.

What a strange approach. If she's in proportion and following her birth percentile, i wouldn't worry.

Rubbertreeplant- strange approach to want my child a healthy weight?

@laiste my unit didn't walk until he was 18 months as well. I used to joke that he was simply to fat to haul himself off the floor.
But perhaps there's some truth in that!

I was really worried about my twins. They were so chubby as babies and obviously bigger than others. At 3.5 now, they’ve got so much leaner. They are very tall and are often mistaken for four or five year olds, and they are sturdily built, but entirely within proportion and not overweight according to BMI. Their baby sister, who is nearly six months, is exclusively breastfed and shot from the 50th centile to the 91st between four and five months. I expect she’ll go the same way as her brothers. Remember that everyone is built differently. It can be hard having a bigger child as people are keen to pass comment, but it sounds like you’re doing everything right. She’s likely to slim down a lot in the next year or two, and then you can do what I did last night: look at photos from a year ago and wonder what happened to my chubby-cheeked babies!

If she is following the same weight centile from birth, I don't think it's particularly concerning at her age. Keep an eye on things, keep feeding her a healthy diet and making sure she is active (usually not difficult, little ones hardly sit still) and most kids get taller and lose toddler chubbiness by age four or so.

DD2 was about 99th centile for weight and height when she was born, she's still 99th for height aged ten, but is only 50th for weight now, and has always been in the middle of the healthy weight zone for BMI since she was three or four.

I would try not to worry if she's fit and active. I understand if the numbers are concerning you but try not to let that come across to your DD. It sounds to me like her diet is fine.

FWIW, my little one is 24lb and 78cm at 16 months. I've no idea what that means in terms of percentile as I'm truly shit at plotting it. But she's constantly on the go, eats vegetables and protein with every meal in some form, and drinks water by the bucket.

If it's not impeding your DD at the moment, wait a few months to see if she has a growth spurt.

This was the exact issue for my nephew. He's been measuring overweight until very rececently when he's been running around and burning it all off. My sister has been so chilled and he totally turned out fine. I have the opposite issue, I worry about my 3yr old constantly he's super tall wearing age 5 clothes already but the most finiky eater (there have been many many tears). So he's a real skinny minnie. I find a BMI calculator helps. My doctors tend to reassure me that it is common for picky eaters but I wish I could get him to gain a little! Any tips on this guys I'm at a loss! I've tried everything.

Some useful links:
www.babycenter.com/0_your-childs-size-and-growth-timeline_10357633.bc

www.emmasdiary.co.uk/toddler/child-health/size-matters

www.marsden-weighing.co.uk/index.php/blog/2019/08/20/how-much-should-my-toddler-weigh/