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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think HV is talking rubbish and babies can't be overweight?

140 replies

IdiotSandwich05 · 20/08/2022 18:05

Hi all.

DS is two months old and, according to his HV, overweight. He weighed 6lbs 12oz at birth (born at 37 weeks), at six weeks was 12lbs 10oz, and when I weighed him at baby clinic yesterday was exactly 15lbs. So yes a chunky monkey but I was pleased with this! He is EBF.

The HV insinuated I was overfeeding him and shouldn't 'feed him every time he cries'. I don't! She also mentioned him being at increased risk of obesity ect. Basically making it seem like I'm doing something wrong. This is my first time BFing and I thought it was going well! Neither me nor DP nor our daughter are overweight.

DS is also 63cm long which is on the 99th percentile, so to me that means he's big but in proportion rather than overweight. He is healthy, happy, and meeting all his millstones. He goes 2-3 hours between feeds in the day and 3-4 hours at night, so it isn't like he's feeding constantly. And even if he was, I thought you couldn't overfeed a BF baby?

Am I BU to think HV is talking out of her rear? He's not even solids yet, so how

OP posts:
Bluedabadeeba · 20/08/2022 21:34

Report them and get a new HV. My paediatrician told me it's impossible! Total crap. I'm annoyed on your behalf. Imagine she says that to someone with less confidence that they're doing the right thing. It'd shatter them!

Lilylovetulips · 20/08/2022 21:38

I had exactly the same thing with my baby and was accused of overfeeding by a doctor when he was 4 months old. He was a very chunky baby, 95th centile for height and weight. I will never forget what that doctor said to me and I still believe, 4 years later, that this is what led to my severe PND. That baby is now 4 years old, the tallest in his class and a strip of wind. 😁

I now have a 5 month old and he's the same weight and height as my eldest.... guess I just make chunky babies even though I'm petite!! 🤣🤣

Ignore it, you can't overfeed a baby. If they're hungry, feed them.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 20/08/2022 21:46

Yogagrandmum · 20/08/2022 18:21

I believe the health visitors are well trained and know what they are talking about. Does everybody not see the amount of fat people children and babies there are around nowadays?

Google is your friend here...

You can train someone all you like, but if they don't pay attention, or don't remember it, or decide that they know better, then you get dangerous bollocks like this being spouted.

RedWingBoots · 20/08/2022 21:50

Stop taking your baby to be weighed.

I had a different issue but when a logical friend with children and a friend who worked in healthcare pointed out the same thing, I realised weighing babies without measuring their length/height is a crock of shite.

watingroom2 · 20/08/2022 21:54

I honestly don't think they understand how centiles work - my friend was 'praised' for her son being 99th centile .. and I was lambasted for my DD being 2nd centile.

My dd was 99th for height (so super skinny) also EBF... she is now a healthy sized teen - my friends son is also a healthy sized teen!!

Honestly - they always had a go so I started refusing to take her to be weighed (I was told I wasn't doing it right as her weight was so low (never an acknowledgement that a baby at 99th centile height had to be getting enough food or they would not grow!!)..

In the end my OH took her and they were always so amazed a man was there not a comment was made (he was praised for helping me BF her - whereas I was told how awful I was ... work that out?!)

kitcat15 · 20/08/2022 21:55

Thedogscollar · 20/08/2022 18:27

My dil's HV told her that her 11 month old son should be walking and his leg creases aren't equal and told her to take him to the GP to get this checked!!

As a midwife and trained NIPE practitioner I know this is rubbish as we don't look at leg crease now. I did infact check my grandsons leg creases with his mums consent they were completely equal and he is very happily walking around the furniture and crawling without any leg lag. She also marked him down as being unable to pick up a pea. He obviously wasn't in the mood that day as he has very good hand eye coordination and picks up the tiniest crumbs to finish a biscuit.

Your baby sounds perfect keep doing what you're doing and ignore the HV.

Hv in.my area look at leg creases and leg length at 1buear review to check for hip displacement
.....children are then referred on to gp if their is an issue... your area sounds very lax🙄

eatyourcrustspls · 20/08/2022 22:02

I'm a HV. You cannot overfeed a BF baby. Both of mine were chunks and EBF. Ignore.

We aren't all battle axes Grin

BoffinMum · 20/08/2022 22:25

The height/weight charts were originally based on white, bottlefed babies. They have tweaked them in recent years but they measure a population, not individuals, so always need interpretation.

I never took my offspring to baby clinics - if they were growing out their clothes sensibly and looked alert etc that was fine by me,

IsThereALimitToTheLengthOfUsernames48Characters · 20/08/2022 22:40

Mine were both ebf. When I look back at photos of DS1 in particular, he was like a space hopper! Luckily I had a fantastic HV, who was very knowledgeable and never made stupid, ignorant comments about his weight. DS1 is 14 now and of an extremely slim build.

Merryoldgoat · 20/08/2022 22:43

This is why I stopped going to the HV. They were. Utterly useless and full of bollocks.

Mine was 11lb and 60cm at birth. Unsurprisingly he continued to be massive. They just couldn’t seem to accept it.

RidingMyBike · 20/08/2022 22:44

It's also normal for an EBF baby to gain weight faster than a formula fed one in the first months. Could be what's happening here?
kellymom.com/bf/normal/weight-toomuch/

I didn't find the weighing clinics very helpful and they were frequently fly cancelled anyway (opposite problem as had low supply) so got my own scales and weighed at home.

SparkyBlue · 20/08/2022 22:50

OP he is obviously thriving. I had this but with a bottle fed baby. He was premature and very unwell in the nicu with feeding issues for a couple of weeks after he was born . Well when he got the hang of it my goodness he then loved his bottles. I remember when he was about three months old being told he was overweight. I just laughed it off.

GretaVanFleet · 21/08/2022 07:02

Thank you for answering @BoffinMum

DaisyJoy1 · 21/08/2022 07:05

It's really well known that it's literally impossible to overfeed an exclusively breastfed baby and I would NEVER not breastfeed my crying newborn. I never had a HV but from what i have seen on Mumsnet they seem massively incompetent and giving out false information and just making mistakes and making everyone stressed

CoverYourselfInChocolateGlory · 21/08/2022 07:18

My EBF baby looked like she'd been blown up with a bicycle pump at around that age. She had rolls on her rolls. She is now 9 and strong, slim and healthy. No issues at all.

HappinesDependsOnYou · 21/08/2022 07:18

Google can you over feed breast fed babies and show her the NHS page where at the top it says do not worry you cannot over feed a breast fed baby and tell her that her employer appears to disagree with her opinion

Sarah8719 · 21/08/2022 08:41

Don’t listen to her. My little girl was massive as a baby and I can’t tell you how long I worried about it for. I was so scared I was over feeding her and it was my fault she was fat. She sounds like your little one, yes quite chunky but also tall.
anyway she’s 2 now and is still really tall (around 97th centile) but is thin as a rake. Once they start moving it falls off them. Please don’t worry like I did!

BoffinMum · 21/08/2022 09:05

I just wanted to mention that it is technically possible to overfeed a bf baby if you deliberately and repeatedly feed them formula with too many scoops of milk powder in there, and/or other supplementary contents added to the formula itself, but I imagine you would need to be pretty purposeful about it.

BoffinMum · 21/08/2022 09:05

Sorry that should have said ff

caffeine99 · 21/08/2022 09:20

You are doing amazing and the HV is talking rubbish. No such thing as overfeeding an EBF baby. The HV mentioned risk of obesity but actually, you breastfeeding is already reducing the risk of both that and of future diabetes risks.

Keep on doing what you're doing and ignore her.

ReginaFalangeee · 21/08/2022 10:09

My HV said the exact same thing to me.Apparently I was over feeding my EBF baby and should cut down feeds. My eyes nearly rolled out my head ha ha!

My little girl was always on the 97th percentile. She was a chunky little monkey and loved her milk. She’d want fed every 2 hours and if I didn’t feed her she’d scream and cry. So I fed her because I assumed she must need it.

By the time she was ready to wean at 6 month she was very quick to drop milk feeds and was good eater once she got the hang of things. Her weight really evened out when she started crawling and being more mobile too.

I never did cut down the milk feeds and just let my baby decide what she needed naturally. She is now a perfectly health 2 year old and all her little baby rolls have gone.

mycatisannoying · 21/08/2022 10:11

Absolute rubbish. Honestly, some of these so-called professionals are in the wrong job.
They could actually do so much emotional damage to a new mum with PND.

NatMoz · 21/08/2022 10:16

My baby was born at 6lb 11 like yours and at 8 months still isn't 15lb!! She was weighed on Tuesday and is 14lb 10oz. I would be very happy with your chunky boy

loveisanopensore · 21/08/2022 10:27

Yogagrandmum · 20/08/2022 18:21

I believe the health visitors are well trained and know what they are talking about. Does everybody not see the amount of fat people children and babies there are around nowadays?

Your belief is wrong.
I had a fantastic HV first time round. For my second we had ones who couldn't do maths, didn't have any idea of normal infant feeding or sleeping and a very odd woman who criticised my toddler's drawings.
GPs are also woefully uninformed about breastfeeding and their advise is more based on opinion.

loveisanopensore · 21/08/2022 10:33

GretaVanFleet · 20/08/2022 20:07

Genuine question

How do you know that you can not overfeed a breastfed baby?

Because they just stop when they're full.
With a bottle you can encourage them to finish what's left, this over rides the natural fullness instinct. Though with a little baby they're more than likely to puke the excess back up.