12 months weight concerns

[MummyG17]

Hi everyone
I’m getting increasingly worried about my son’s weight and overall growth. When he was born he was on the 25th percentile for weight and height and the 98th for his head circumference. He’s now on the 9th for height, 98th for weight and head circumference. I recently went to get his feet measured and they too were really small. My son has now been referred to a dietitian and I’m going out of my mind with worry. Can anyone share any experiences or advice please I’d be really grateful. Thanks.

Firstly don’t panic, at 12 months he is still incredibly young and still has that ‘baby chubb’. He actually sounds very very similar to my DS (now 7)...

He was born at 7lb 1oz but quickly gained weight and ended up on the 91st percentile until he was 2 and when went down to the 75th percentile. He has always been short for his age. Since being a baby he’s been between the 2nd and the 9th percentile for height, he is now on the 25th percentile age 7. He has also had smallish feet. His first shoes at 14 months were a 3 which I believe is small ish? He’s always had small feet compared to his peers.

His head has always been on the very top percentile line and it still is now. It’s not overly noticeable though. He has a thick mop of blonde hair.

Not much help but I just wanted to let you know my son was very very similar and he’s a very healthy 7 year old. He’s still quite a ‘solid build’ now but far from overweight and short for his age.

How does your son look? I bet he doesn’t look out of balance? My son never did. He was just short and chunky at that age 😂 they lose their baby chub as they get older and become more active.😊

DD isn’t overly balanced in the percentiles either. She is also on the top line for head circumference, between the 50th and 75th for weight (more towards the 75th) and the 25th for height I believe. She doesn’t look out of proportion at all.

Good luck 😊

Is he walking or crawling yet OP? Is he meeting his milestones? How is he in himself?

While you are waiting for your appointment with your Paediatric Dietician, there’s an excellent guide published by the Caroline Walker Trust called Eating Well for 1 to 4 year olds which includes sample menus and portion sizes.

Does he have a decent vitamin and mineral supplement too?

How small are his feet? At 12 months I would expect them to be about 2.5-3? Agree with previous posters questioning whether he's crawling and walking so that he can gradually lose the weight, but according to the NHS they don't consider any child over weight till they are over 3. With regards to dropping centiles in height it doesn't seem an issue. What's his diet like? Does he still drink a lot of milk?

Thank you for your comments. He is meeting all his milestones. He crawls well and walks with help. He has three meals a day which are a good balance of the different food groups. He’s never eaten cakes, sweets etc because I want him to have the bestt diet possible. He has between 10 and 14oz of milk a day spread between two bottles. He is on vitamin and mineral supplements and has been since he was 10 months. Jist find it so baffling and upsetting that they are quick to refer him when he’s so little.

Maybe just check potion sizes then, although sounds like as he's just started walking the weight and height will even out soon enough (hence why they don't normally declare a child overweight till over 3)

Both of mine were off the scale for weight until about 2 although born bang on average, both had big heads too. They were both mainly breastfed on demand and were slow to start eating so I don't think I was overfeeding them and they were always on the go. I think it was just puppy fat. Now they are exactly in the middle of the BMI scale at 4 and 7 years old. My son was 20kg at 2 and just kind of stretched out - he's only put on about 3-4 kg in the last 5 years but obviously got a lot taller!

I’ve looked at his portion sizes and they aren’t massive but probably a bit more than other children his age. If I try and really limit him he wakes in the night hungry so I’ve sort of just gone with what he wants and use low calorie foods or fruit and veg.