Aibu to be sick of people saying my baby is huge

[Mynotsolittlemonkey]

So my baby is 7 weeks old today. He is absolutely perfect and the picture of a happy healthy baby which everyone agrees with. However I am sick of people commenting on how huge he is, how we should put him on a diet etc. Mostly it is said in jest but it's starting to wear thin. I'm aware he is big but he is also healthy and I think he is actually long not just 'fat'.

He doesn't look like a 7 week old, he looks about 3 months and it makes me sad he is growing so fast which isn't helped by these comments. Today in the supermarket a lady asked how old he was and when I said she told me I was feeding him too much?!

I've also been told he will be a big boy and that I'll need to watch he isn't obese :-( I'm so worried that when he is older he will be bullied or something for being big which I know is ridiculous! Has anyone had a big baby that has evened out as they grew?

He was born 9 pounds and is now just over a stone. He is on the 94th or 95th percentile I cant remember which.

He is bf exclusively and mil has said I'll have to wean him early as that won't satisfy him until 6 months? I'm a bit cautious of anything she says tbh as we have a terrible relationship and she has already tried to give him a bottle so she could have him to stay.

Aibu ? I'm probably being over sensitive! To me he is just perfect :-)

Make decisions based on your child's needs, not people's comments. Our DS was average 7.7, but jumped on the 95 percentile quickly so has always been way bigger. He's now coming to 7 months and wearing 12 clothing, weighing about 20 pounds. We got the weaning comments too, but we didn't have to wean him early, he was perfectly content with breastmilk.

@Mynotsolittlemonkey
My DS was the same in terms of birth weight and percentile measurements.
Try not to worry about it and be proud (far better than skinny imo).
My DS is now 13, about 5.7 ft has a wonderful slim physique - more of a rugby player than footballer.

DS was 9'6 , on the same centiles and I got these comments from when he was born "oh big boy" "you'll be weaning him soon" "chunky monkey" it used to really piss me off. Other mums used to say it too so I used to say "Yes we are very lucky he takes his milk fantastically he's such a good baby, very healthy , thank you for noticing" in a weird thing to comment on kind of way.

He wasn't weaned until 6 months , not 12 weeks which MIL used to say he's 17 m now and on the 50th for height and weight , he's now one of the smaller among the other babies we know that age (not that it matters even slightly) but they all do even out eventually so just eye roll and nod

DD was 10lb..big load of black bushy hair too😃in 3month old clothes-&yep 'supermarket' advice was the worstfrom what id eaten,to how big DP is &how she sleeps etc..total bloody strangers??Then onto baby groups etc&more'well meaning' sh#te! DD was weaned at4.5mths as was incredibly hard to keep satisfied&remained99centile..now almost a teen has just hit5'8..her large boobs&curves make her look much older(need a whole new thread for that!)some kids are just destined to be taller&bigger -shes been taller than me since she was10 😂Grow a thick skin&cut the talk off or ignore.

My pfb dd was 9lbs 2oz at birth. She was absolutely beautiful, peaches and cream, rosebud mouth with a mop of dark hair, eyelashes out the door. Picture perfect, one of those babies people would stop you to look at.

BUT It wasn't long before the comments started. "Ooooh she's going to be a Long Tall Sally". "Oooh she's going to long feet, isn't she??" And of course, I started to worry. And secretly compare her and worry worry worry.
She's a young adult now. Turns out she's shorter than me, took the height genes not from ex-h but his tiny mother. She's an ordinary height. And her feet are the same size as mine and yes i do steal her docs every now and again.
Enjoy your lovely baby OP and don't waste a second thinking about other people's comments....
(Ps., I'd get ds onto a bottle of expresso bm and get you and dh out for an evening! I'd have killed a babysitting mil!)

My DS was 7lbs 7 ozs when he was born he was ebf and when I took him to be weighed at the baby clinic he had put on so much weight they asked me what I was giving him.

When I said breast milk only the nurse laughed and said it must contain iron filings, and I should feed him less!

Yes he was a chunky little chap until he was 5 when he suddenly stretched out to a string bean. He is now 6’ 3” and perfectly formed

They all develop at their own rates and not to fulfill some standard charts. If they comment and say he is big etc agree and add and soo beautiful !!

I have the opposite problem, OP. My DD was born on the 75th centile and is now 9th centile at 10 months old. I am a little sensitive about people’s comments about it because there seems to be the suspicion that I’m not feeding her properly, which I am. People ask how old she is in supermarkets etc. and I now say her age and quickly add that she’s tiny for her age, so they don’t feel they have to say anything (they still do).

FWIW, I feed her as I did her 75th centile sister and 95th centile brother, she’s just Also, I exclusively BF all my babies until they were 6 months old before introducing food, so please don’t think you’ll necessarily have to wean your son early.

DS was just over 7lb when he was born but grew really quickly, 99th centipede. He is now 6ft 4 and was taller than me by 11 years old.

My daughter was 9lb 6.5oz, she slept through from birth pretty much. She never lost any weight in first few days like most babies just gained and was a happy healthy baby and never had any worries.
She Always ate everything growing up, she wasn’t fussy and was such a good baby. She soon lost the chubbiness once she was running about and now at 14 is taller than me and slender her eats like a horse.
I was only 22 when I had her and remember all the other mums and their visitors coming to look at the big baby and I wanted to tell them where to go and wish I had said something looking back about how hurtful they were being.
Had my second baby last year after massive gap and he was only tiny compared at 6lb 5oz, he lost a lot of weight in first few days and was really worrying in first few weeks about him gaining weight and just as he felt so little.
Love a chubby baby and am sure this one ( 31 weeks) is a girl and is going to bigger size and I will definitely say something if people dare be rude this time round!

I think it's cool he's big, it means he's healthy and that is the most important thing above all.

I've never heard of a baby getting too much breast milk, OP. I'm sure he is perfect.

Ignore the fuckers. All mine were 10lb or so, EBF, chubby big babies, and gorgeous lean, healthy kids. You can’t over feed a breast fed baby! Remind yourself of this on repeat!

My eldest was 7lb 3oz born but everything about him was massive. He’s now 13, 6ft tall and size 13 feet. I did feel sad that he couldn’t do some of the things the littler kids could like playing in some soft play areas. But it hasn’t held him back at all. In fact, because he’s so big it means he’s definitely not a target for bullies!

Ds2 was under 7 lbs at birth and ebf for 6 months and was the fattest baby ever. Rolls of fat everywhere. He's now the skinniest little thing ever. Just ignore.

I’ve have 2 children both exclusively breastfed, well one for the first couple of months, she was falling off the chart and looked like a newborn still at 3 months, so I had to top her up. Second child he was 8lb 3 born and was exclusively breastfed (wouldn’t even take breast milk out of a bottle) until 6 months old, he was literally on the 99th centile at 2 months old. He looked chunky, but he was fine. Once he started to be mobile he slimmed down. He was back to the centile he was born on by about 12 months (50th).

I wouldn’t worry in the slightest with a breastfed baby unless they are on the low side of weight. Being a good weight and exclusively breastfed is a good thing. I felt really good about my second child gaining so well, I never felt in the slightest bit worried he was too big. If I’d been formula feeding I might have questioned it more, but not breastfeeding.

People make silly comments all the time when they see a baby, they feel the need to hand out unwanted advise or tell you about their experiences as a mum/dad. Just smile, nod and ignore. Sounds like you’re doing a great job besides!

My sumo baby is a lovely lanky 12 year old. Just love all that squish while it lasts.

My DD was like this, 9 lb at birth, but grew very quickly, so as with OPs DC not fat but 'bigger', she basically looked at least a year older than she was!
I had to give away a bouncy chair when she was 10 weeks old (that was allegedly up 18 months) as she came out the top and bottom of it!
She's a tall healthy teenager now, they all grow at different rates, but end up where they're supposed to, so no need to worry OP 😊

The commenters only have power if you let it get to you! And I also exclusive BF two 98 percenters til 6 months with no issue, carried on feeding the second for two years. Ignorant people shouldn't be allowed to spread false fear!

Another chiming in to say try not to worry. My guy was like yours, born 9lb6oz and 15.5lb by 2 months. He's always been long and is now slim and tall at the age of 3. There's an app called Growth if you want to occasionally reassure yourself, whenever my guy got weighed or length measured I put it in, it's nice to see he's just following along his growth curve the way he should, and can be handy if you're with a different doctor and they ask for some reason. It's great having a child on the bigger side I think, particularly in the first year or so, if they get a bit sick and aren't feeding as well, I think you're a little bit less worried. I had a friend who had a small baby who struggled to gain weight and understandably worried whenever she'd be a bit off colour and not eating as much as usual.

Secondly, you can't overfeed a breast fed child. Well maybe you could if you expressed and jammed it into them in a bottle, but certainly direct from source you can't. And don't listen to MIL, you can breastfeed exclusively all the way until introducing solids at 6 months if you want to, sure if you had twins your body could produce enough milk to feed two babies, so it's total nonsense to suggest you can't produce enough to keep just himself satisfied!

Lastly, you have to decide what you want to do about people who will probably continue to comment. For me, if I felt a stranger was making whatever comment they made and they were well meaning, I would just smile and nod and move on, it didn't bother me. Once or twice total busybodies tried to tell me I was doing it all wrong, so I told them that I would give their opinion the consideration it deserved. It's not impolite, but it didn't leave them in doubt that I thought they were meddling where they weren't wanted and they should stay in their own lane. On the family member side I didn't have many issues really. I think you might benefit from initially giving the benefit of the doubt, and sharing the information or reasoning behind why you've decided to do it your way. Even if that's as simple as saying this was recommended by the doctor/hospital/midwife/whoever, as some of them won't have patented in a while, will be unaware of newer recommendations and might be interested and adapt their thinking. If on the other hand after a reasonable chance at that has been given, I would probably just agree a simple shutdown message with my husband and stick to that as a response to advice that I don't want. "That doesn't work for us." Or similar.
You're doing great, be proud that you grew and are now feeding a mega-child!

I was so proud that my boy was massive and I'd fed him up myself. It felt like I was still growing him even though I wasn't pregnant anymore. Be proud that you are nourishing and growing your baby with that hold top. He won't be obese, there's nothing like a chunky baby, but my now active toddler has thinned out, although hes still tall for his age.

Gold top

You honestly I can’t win. My were only five weeks premature but one was growth restricted. He didn’t fit into newborn size clothes until he was 5 months old. Ever since he was born I’ve had people questioning whether I’m feeding him, saying he looks ill, urging me to get him weighed ASAP, etc. Oh and he was on a medication that causes hirsutusm and random strangers would jokingly call him things like hairy monkey, werewolf etc.

People are fuckers.

When he was back in hospital at nearly 3 months old (in his tiny baby clothes) we shared a bay with a baby who was only a month or so older but was four times his size - mine weighed 5lb, he weighed nearly 20lb and looked like a toddler. They’re now almost 3 and sure they’re different sizes but a much less obvious difference.

Just ignore people, it goes over your head eventually - and don’t wean early!

My boy has followed the 98th centile for weight for most of his life and now sits between the 91st and 98th. He's off the chart for his length so is clearly going to be a big lad when he gets older. He was in 9-12 month clothes at 4 months, 12-18 month clothes at 9 months and 18-24 month clothes at 15 months.

A few people have told me he looks like a 2 year old recently but he's only 16 months. When the health visitor came to do his 6 week check she commented that he looked more like a 3 month old.

The first thing people comment on him when they see him is his size. He's not fat though, just solid and healthy looking.

I got nothing from praise from my health visitors over my huge breastfed baby and am very proud of how chubby she was at that age. You should be proud too. Babies are meant to be fat, it is insulation for warmth and padding against illness.

Just say, 'Oh, I know, the health visitor says I'm doing a brilliant job.'

If they mention diets, just look at them like they've grown an extra head and reassure them that there is no such thing as too fat for an ebf baby. I imagine the confusion comes from people who formula fed theirs- they get warned not to overfeed. Doesn't apply for ebf babies.

I haven't read the full thread but I just wanted to say I have a massive bf baby (5 months old, 20ish lbs) and he's gorgeous and happy and healthy. I'm not needing to wean him early- I don't plan to introduce solids until he can sit up unaided- and my milk is plenty for him. Unless your health visitor or Dr's have any concerns just ignore everyone. Your baby is perfect.