Huge baby - 19lbs at 14 weeks?

[NicolaElize]

Hi there, I'm a bit concerned about my boy, he is 14 weeks and 19lbs! I've looked at the chart and this puts him in the 99th centile! He was born in the 25th at 7lbs 2 and has been a greedy hungry baby ever since. HV hasn't been concerned so far (last weigh in was 11 weeks at 16lbs) but then he went for his jabs yesterday and the doctor made a bit of a snide comment and it's been weighing on my mind ever since! he's on around 6oz formula 6x a day, was on 8 bottles a day but we've managed to curb it a bit, do you think I should a) be worried and b) try him on a bit of food soon?
Any advice welcome!
Thanks! :)

I would only put him onto food if his milk is no longer satisfying him, don't worry about his weight, it's not like he is eating loads of chocolate and cakes! I think once he is crawling etc he will lose some of the chubbiness and you will miss it :)

How long/ tall is he though ?

My DS was born 10.4, the 98th centile but he was also the 98th centile for height. So yes, he was huge and hungry most of the time - but he was in proportion.

So, no I don't think you should be worried.

We did wean DS (on the advice of HV) early, I believe he was ready.

HTH.

How long is he?

DD was 7lbs 12oz when born and by 12 weeks wasn't even on the chart anymore. She stayed just above the charts so would have been bigger than your ds at that age, though only very slightly.

She was 25lbs before she had anything other than milk. Size is nothing to do with readiness to wean. A 14 week old's gut is not ready for anything other than milk. And he's obviously thriving. Around 26 weeks when he can sit up, reach, pick up things and transfer them to his mouth, chew and swallow, he'll be ready.

My dd was just destined to be tall. She was as long as she was heavy and now at 3 is on the 91st centile for height and weight so perfectly proportioned. She's tall, slim, strong etc. As a baby she had rolls on rolls but that's because she wasn't mobile. As soon as she started crawling and walking, she changed physique completely.

Is there a big discrepancy between his height and weight? I was lucky to bfeed so know that it wasn't possible to overfeed dd and her height matching her weight confirmed she was healthy. I don't know about formula though, it is possible for them to have too much I think.

That is big. He's only 14 weeks so I wouldn't put him on solids yet, he'll just get bigger and you have the allergy risk.

I have a friend whose baby drank loads and plumped up quickly. As she got older she ate less, moved more and slimmed down.

I also have a SIL who let her child eat whatever she wanted whenever (this is when she was on solids) so she went from being a plump baby to a fat child to an obese teenager. But she was/is literally allowed to eat a supermarket!

He's still on the chart. Once it's time to go on solids feed him healthily and all will be well I'm sure.

Yes, how long is he?

DS is on 99th centile for weight and length, so is in proportion... and was born on it too

I agree 14w too early to wean

I know a couple of babies that have been the same (siblings). The older one is now 4 and has slimmed down to look like any other child - just taller! I'm guessing the other will follow suit.

I agree with checking his length and wonder whether he's a sucky baby. My giant baby used to scream when the bottle finished but if I gave him a dummy straight after he was happy - he seemed to just like to suck.

PS Someone has to be on the 99th centile - it's the nature of the graph and in fact 1 in a 100 babies will be so he's not alone.

As a PP said, weight really hasn't got anything to do with readiness to wean.

My DD was born on the 25th centile (7lb 6oz) but she was HUNGRY, polishing off lots more milk that she supposedly needed. But she obviously needed it, babies are not greedy. They eat when their bodies tell them they need to eat.

She jumped right up to over the 80th centile within about 8 weeks, and remained at the top of the chart from then on (she fluctuated between 80th - 98th). It was obviously where she was supposed to be.

We did BLW, which is all to do with following you babies lead. At 5 months, she ticked all the boxes for being ready to wean. Weight didn't come into it.

She's now 16 months, still at the top of the chart for weight, and off the top of the chart for height! So she's big, but completely in proportion.

The other thing to consider with a hungry baby, is that a bit of babyrice is not going to give him anywhere near the same calories as milk. He's designed to drink milk because it gives him all the calories and fat he needs to grow. Introducing food to 'fill him up' so he doesn't want so much milk isn't really going to work. They don't associate solid food with making them feel full until 8 months or so in my experience.

Please follow your instincts. Look at your baby boy, does he really look like he's ready for food?

I know how you feel OP.

DD2 is almost 8 months, so older than your baby, but she weighs 23lbs and has rolls upon rolls too! She was 7lbs 11oz at birth so very average, but has always been a big eater. She is also very long, so I'm hoping that when she starts moving which looks like it might be very soon, then she will lose a lot of the 'fat'.

DD1 was always on the skinny side, so this large baby thing is new for me and I find myself slightly embarrassed by it!

i think the earliest earliest you should be considering weaning is supposed to be 17 weeks if not leaving til 6 months so dont give him anything @ 14 weeks and wouldnt give just due to his size or anything? it wouldnt necessarily slow his weight gain it could increase it?
as others have mentioned i think his length is quite important if in proportion then wouldnt worry too much? both mine have been @ top of the percentiles charts but both are @ the top on length too, ds1 was a chubby baby but once he was mobile became much slimmer i wouldnt say chubby @ all now that he is 2, but still quite tall. ds2 is really heavy but not even particularly chubby doesnt have fat roles or anything but v v long he is as tall as children twice his age, and actually not a good eater, never had a lot of milk he is not a greedy baby @ all but of course people like to say "oh he must like his food!!" and these kind of things, bc he is bigger than average. which can get annoying
but i wouldnt worry too much, if your baby is hungry obviously you have to feed him you cant starve him, you know yourself whether he is hungry or not so i doubt you would just be pushing him to have extra milk needlessly? he may be just a hungry baby and will stop growing so quickly once he is on the move. but maybe get them to check his length if you go to have him weighed, or check it yourself at home? even you will be able to see yourself from how his clothes fit to get a rough idea on his length

well OP, someone has to be on the 99th centile!

my babies were all up there, above the 98th centile and only my first was weaned early (at 18 weeks, unnecessarily)

i would be neither worried, nor would i introduce solids

another big baby here. She was off the top of the page by her first birthday!

However, she is now a very tall, slim 7 year old. When she was 3 she was still chubby and wearing 5-6 clothes rolled up, then the next year she wore the same clothes and they fit. It all seemed to drop off in that 12 months.