Weight of 20 month old

[Frosty13]

Ok so my daughter has just turned 20 months. She was born at 8lbs exactly and was on the 75th centile which she followed and then went up to 98th at some point. I'm worried because she is now 12.8 kilos at 20 months which puts her in the 93rd. She is the weight of an average 2.5 year old! Shes not tall for her age, just above average on 55th centile.

Im worried what the health visitor is going to say at her 2 year old health review. Her diet is very good although she isnt a big fan of veg I still serve it with every evening meal, most of the time she doesnt eat it. and she loves fruit. She very rarely has any treats and drinks water or very diluted squash (sugar free).

I guess we could be more active, obviously hard at the moment but she does spend most if the day up and about. We have a garden that she likes to go in. And we try and go for a walk everyday. Before lockdown we would often go to the park. Although her favourite is the swing so not much activity for her.

I'm worried because I was an overweight child myself and I am an overweight adult, (trying hard now to lose weight.) I just dont want that for her 😒 I never felt comfortable growing up.

I dont know what else to do, on an average day she has about 1000 calories. She doesnt have milk bottles at all and hasnt done since 12 months.

Any advice?

Does she look chubby/fat?

Is she due a growth spurt? Maybe she's going to suddenly shoot up and it'll even out.

Otherwise it's just healthy food in appropriate portions and exercise.

Is she out of a buggy? If not, maybe that's a project to work on during lockdown.

@NuffSaidSam thankyou for your reply, I think she looks a bit chubby, she has a big belly but you can see her rib cage and her chest is completely flat. She has chunky arms and legs but have got slimmer as she has aged.
She is mostly out of the buggy, she will walk for about a mile on a good day. We still have a buggy for long journeys or quick shopping days.
I guess I'm just worried because she has always been chunkier and my sister in law told me that there is no such thing as taking after a a family member, when I said i think she is just bigger like me. I'm overweight but I'm not huge, i need to loose a couple of stone.

I think SIL is right in general, most weight problems are solved by eating less, eating healthier and moving more.

It's hard with small children though because they do sometimes get really chunky and then suddenly shoot up.

Maybe keep a food diary for a week and be absolutely honest, record everything, pay real attention to portion size and see if you can find the problem.

I guess I'll wait a bit and see if she suddenly shoots up then 🤷‍♀️

I have done as you suggested, I myself am on a calorie counting diet, so I have logged all she eats alongside mine. I weigh everything out too. She never has anymore than 1100 calories a day and when I google it says for her age between 1000 and 1400 depending on size of child.

Being in the 93tf centile isn't necessarily a problem, lots of children just like lots will be on the 5th. It's the disproportion between that and her height that is the concern.

There's a really good guide here which suggests portion sizes, menus and recipes for her age. They do them for each stage and I found the teen one very helpful with my DS

I know you say it's hard upping her activity levels, but I'd really try, especially as you have a garden. Could you do things like give her a small pot with water in and a paint brush and ask her to "paint" the wall or fence? Get her to do things like water the plants too. Can she help around the house too like giving her a sister and getting her to do some low down things or load the washing machine? Basically, just keep her busy with very, very limited screen time

I'd also avoid calorie counting and weighing food. It's really not a healthy mind set to pass on to her. Just serve healthy food that you all enjoy and snack on fruit and drink water in between and concentrate on your own activity levels too

@JiltedJohnsJulie she is completely unaware of any calorie counting or weighing of food as I am conscious not to pass on a concern about food to her. The only reason I am aware of it is because for my own diet I do this to ensure I am not over eating. It works for me to do it that way. I am steadily losing weight.

She watches in the night garden before she goes upstairs for bath and bed and is winding down for the day anyway. Other than that she has 0 screen time and is either wondering round the house of garden flitting from different toys. I put activities out for her. I work in a preschool so I am able to use my knowledge to set up little tray activities for her to play with. She enjoys water play, playing with rice etc.. we also go for a daily walk usually between 1/2 a mile and a mile.

If she's eating fine all you can do is up the amount of exercise and wait for her to get taller!

Scooters are great for that age. Can cover much larger distances.

Get a small trampoline.

Chase her.

Up the distance you're walking each day.

Have a sports day at home.

Make a soft play out of sofa cushions etc.

Try and not worry too much. It sounds like she eats well, just get her a little more active. My son has always been heavier. He is 5, and wears clothes for a 7 year old. But he is very tall now.
I remember when he was the age of your child he was so chubby. I look back at photos of him and I cant believe that's how chunky he was. He ate well and was very active. I could never keep him still. But he was still chubby bless him. When he hit 2 he started to shoot up so his weight evened out. He is one of the youngest in his class but the tallest. His only just got rid of hit pot belly lol, but it's never worried me.
If you are really worried raise it at her review. But she still has alot of growing to do. Just up her activity but honestly she has plenty of time to grow

If she is die a growth spurt, I think you know. My DS always got a little chubby, then grew and got more skinny. He seemed to follow this pattern for a long time. In fact my DD doesn't too but it's less noticeable.

If she's getting going up in weight centile but then suddenly catches up in height centile over and over then it's not much of an issue but if she's shot up in the weight centile and she does shoot up, or it's being going on for a while, it's more of a worry.