Babies on the 90+ centile - your experiences

[sarahloumadam]

My 6 wk bf baby is mahoosive. He currently weighs 13lbs 6. Neither me or his dad are particulary tall or large. He is happy and healthy so I am not complaining but I wondered if his growth will slow down? Any similar experiences? His size was brought home to me yesterday when I went to the first post-natal group and he dwarfed all the other babies, some of whom were much older than him!

tsk "he started to slim down"

ds1 was massssseeeve, on the 96th for height and close for weight.

He's now 11, 2nd tallest in the class, slim, sporty and handsome - and with bigger feet than mine. He's always got a smile and a hug for his mum.

What makes the difference whatever size they are is a happy, healthy lifestyle.

Enjoy your baby. xxxxx

My son was born at 13 lbs, off the chart. He's now almost 8 but is still 98th percentile for height and 95th for weight. Neither of us are unusually large. I think the biggest challenge with having a big kid is that everyone assumes they are older than they are. It's hard to remember that my boy is not even 8 yet he looks like a 10 year old.

ds born 9lb 14 oz now 3 still very tall and robust for his age.

dd was 9lb 12 oz born and is now around 23lb at 8 months - she is just above 98th centile for weight and just below 98th centile for height. Neither me nor dp are particularly tall or big..

Glad someone (Phlosie ?), mentioned about big babies being late crawlers. My dd seems to be a bit behind in all thing physical... Only just sitting up and rolling around and not showing many signs of crawling yet..

I do love her chubby little thighs though ...

ds was born 10lbs 2 and has always stuck to the 91-99th centile. When he went in for his yearly check the HV told me to see a paediatrician as she had to use an arrow because he was off the height charts! ds is a gorgeous, healthy, happy boy so i have no worries about him at all. His daddy is 6'7 and i am 5'7 so he was never going to be small.

My advice is trust your instincts and don't be fazed by the charts. it is annoying tho at 15 months he is nearly too broad across the shoulders to fit in his Maclaren and his feet are already in a 7- he's going to cost a small fortune in shoes lol!

Ds1 11lbs 3, now tall and quite string bean like. Ds 2 9lbs 2, now 16 wks and 16 lbs. Went through a time of looking far too big for his age at around 6 -8 wks, now still big but absolutely gorgeous and so lovely to cuddle!

DH is 6ft, I'm 5ft 1 - both "well made" although not fat.

DS1 was born 9lb 2oz - and at 7 is wearing 9 year old clothes - again well made but not fat

DS2 was 9lb 9.5 oz - and at nearly 6 is wearing 4-5 year old clothes - he's well made for his height and not skinny

My HV just told me to look at them, if they're healthy and thriving, and to ignore the charts - trust your instincts - best advice ever !

dd was on the 50th centile when she was born but quickly rocketed up the centiles, she was a gorgeous, smiley, pudgy beachball baby hovering around the 91st centile for weight and a bit less for height

She is now 3.6 and is on around the 75th for both weight and height (I think, haven't checked for ages as she looks fine and is thriving), perfectly in proportion for her size I am 5'6 and dh is 5'11

ds2 and dd were both born on the 75th centile then shot up to the 98th within a few weeks - neither of them ever lost an ounce, let alone 10%

Now ds2's 8 he's still v tall (still 98th centile) but v skinny

dd's also very tall but slender

they do even out especially once they start moving

I was 5lb 15 and only 1 day early. Mother is 5ft father is 5ft 8. I'm only 5ft 1 and solid rather than skinny or fat. I was notably tiny until my sixth form when all of a sudden I wasn't quite the smallest and there were a handful of others under 5ft 3.

I've got a DH of 5ft 10 and also "solidly" built - lots of muscle and broad. Part of me hopes for a smallish baby i.e. less than 7lb just to make it less painful! (plus easier to transport them!!) is that bad?

I had 2 on 90th centile, 1 25th and 1 9th

19yo girl now 5ft9/size 12
15yo boy 5ft'10 beanpole and seems to be growing an inch a month
17 yo girl 5ft'2 size8
13 yo girl4'10 size 4/6

Me 5ft and dad 6'4

So they have followed the centiles all the way through

DS born at 95th centile and has stayed around 98th. He only turns 3 this month but most people are shocked and thinks he looks about 4-4.5. It has positives and negatives. We are toilet training right now and I get alot of "your child is just learning now?" looks from people unless I have the chance to explain how little he really is.

DS born at 100th centile for height and 75th for weight - has stayed pretty much off/at the top of the height charts all the way through (now 2.5) but weight dropped to 25th centile pretty quickly after birth (by 3 months) and stayed there. I was bf-ing and think I was lucky that our health centre kept reassuring me that there was nothing to worry about and he was clearly fine, especially since I've read some awful stories on here about unsupportive hc workers! He's still really tall and skinny, everyone thinks he's about 12 months older than he is...not a problem, but I was a bit sad that I never got a 'chubby' baby!!
Number 2 is due next week; growth scans indicate 100th centile again for height and now I'm trying to convince the hospital that I have skinny babies so they don't need to worry too much about weight so they don't try to induce me on my due date!

Also have a ginormous child - 15 months and has been 98th quartile for both weight and height throughout. Has now reached 14 kgs and I have had to stop carrying him now that am pregnant again. Luckily, the minute he started to crawl, we started teaching how to climb up and down stairs which he does at huge speed. Even though neither me or DP are huge, my dad is 'solid' and they estimate DS will be betw 6ft 4-5" and built like a sh*t brick house! Oh well, I'm sure the England rugby squad could do with another front row.

Don't worry about it - just think, he'll get all the girls when he's older becuase of his gorgeous height.

Thanks for all your great messages. I should add that although he sometimes gives me arm/back ache, he looks great on it - all chubby cheeks and edible arms and legs. I found a weeks worth of fluff in one of his thigh creases yesterday ! As genetically it seems unlikely that he will continue to grow at this rate (I am 5ft 4, the DH is 5 ft 7 and a bit and no tall ancestors) I have decided that my breast-milk must be the calorific equivalent of double choc fudge cake with ben & jerry's icecream! Hurrah for all the big bonny babes .

My first daughter was 9lb - I am 5'2 and weigh 8 stone so she was a bit of a push to get out! She was always on the 90th centile . Now she is 4 and at school - she is the smallest in her class. Too much heartache and worrying goes on with those bloody centiles - i was scared I was cultivating an obese baby! As long as your baby seems happy and thriving sod the blimmin things! x

DD2 was 9lb 9 oz at birth (98th centile). When her weight started dropping from 98th HV suggested adding formula feeds which I ignored - she didn't need it, and is now healthy happy average weight / height 2yo.

DS1 was 9lb9.5
Ds2 was 10lb12.5

DS1 was always the biggest baby at clinic too! He is now 2 and is 50th centile.

DS2 weighs the same as DS1 but is only 1. He does not look particlularly fat or chubby, just very solid looking.

dd 6lb 10 at birth, stayed on 25th centile until I introduced solids at 4 months then shot up to 90th where she has stayed. Now nearly 3 not fat just tall and chunky.
ds 8lb 10 at birth, so went from 75th to 91st+ centile where he was last time I got him weighed. He is ten months and not moving yet so I have quite a bit of backache! Big babies are great. My two are certainly very healthy too.

Mine were both exactly average at birth, grew to be on the 90th plus centile within three weeks, and both of them are tall for their ages now.

You should congratulate yourself on your hyper-nutritious norks

There is something called catch up and catch down growth - and also genetic height potential. If you are a big baby, it might be because you are destined to be big forever, or you might have just had a very good in-utero environment. With the latter, babies tend to catch down towards their "genetic" size, i.e. the size they were destined to be based on what they inherited from their mum and dad. The same goes with catch up growth. Babies who don't have a great in utero environment for whatever reason (grotty placenta, poor maternal health etc) often start crossing centiles upwards in the first few months. Alternatively, some babies are small (especially if their parents are small) and are destined to be small forever - if they're healthy and there are no medical problems - so what? The charts are great as a guide, but HV often take them a bit too literally. You can get charts specifically for breast fed infants as their growth is different from bottle fed babies - but you have to order them. You can also calculate roughly what height children will be as an adult, based on their parents heights if you know the formula!

DD was on the 98th centile, last weigh in nearly 4 weeks ago she was on the 91st. She weighed 10.75 at birth and weighed 14.8 last weigh in at 12 weeks

Interestingly enough, DS weighed 7lbs 7 at birth and by 12 weeks he was nearly 16lbs! So although DD started out big she isn't gaining as quickly which is nice. She feels like a baby for longer than DS did.

I was a big baby too, and am tall more than anything I suppose you would say (needs to loose more than a few pounds though).

DD was on the 98th centile, last weigh in nearly 4 weeks ago she was on the 91st. She weighed 10.75 at birth and weighed 14.8 last weigh in at 12 weeks

Interestingly enough, DS weighed 7lbs 7 at birth and by 12 weeks he was nearly 16lbs! So although DD started out big she isn't gaining as quickly which is nice. She feels like a baby for longer than DS did.

I was a big baby too, and am tall more than anything I suppose you would say (needs to loose more than a few pounds though).