29 weeks and 24lbs! Worried

[SuperAmoo]

I'm worried about my DD2. I've tried really hard not to stress about how big she is but I had her weighed yesterday and it shocked the health visitor and me as well. But I don't know what to do about it. She is a week away from 7 months and yet she weighs nearly 11kg (24lbs!). DD1 was a BIG baby too but didn't weigh this much till she was nearly 1.5yrs. DD2 only started solids a couple of days ago and not much gets eaten. She is breastfed and doesn't feed that much I don't think. Once at night - maybe six times during the day. Maybe 7 times is she can't get off to sleep for a nap. Should I be taking her to the doctor for tests? Why is she so massive? Would you worry? I am diabetic incidentally so I'm thinking what if my breastmilk is too sugary - but surely she'd feed less if it was more calorific - is she just greedy? What do you reckon? I'm also having abit of a stress because she is so heavy and I find it difficult to carry her and yet she shows no signs of wanting to move. How can I get her moving? Or atleast buring off more energy?

ds was over 20lbs at 5 1/2 months so was probably about the same weight as your lo at 7 months. I had no issues with his weight and niether did the hv. Once she is moving about the weight gain will steady a bit and she will not put it on so fast. DS didnt start crawling till around 8 months and was walking by 11 months.

DD was 25lbs at 25 weeks. She was off the charts (having been born on the 50th), exclusively bfed and happy and healthy. She was very chubby indeed but as soon as she was mobile that changed. She's still off the charts but is a tall, healthy, lean, strong 2.8yr old.

That weight alone wouldn't worry me at all. Are there any other reasons for concern?

Breastmilk quality I think wouldn't be affected as far as I know by being diabetic. weight does drop once they get mobile mine were never chubby but were at their chubbiest just before crawling. saying that mine were on about 4 feeds a day and 3 meals by that stage as milk didn't satisfy them. If you've just started her on solids then she may reduce the amount of milk she takes which she would have to take a lot of to satisfy hunger I presume, so see what changes in next few weeks THEN if you're still worried talk to HV.

Don't worry I'm sure she's fine and the main difficulty is the strss on your back from lifting her!
Both my boys were whoppers. 20lb at 20 weeks I remember and always in clothing way ahead of their age. Also exclusively BF and weaned late.
The fat started to disappear as soon as they were mobile and they are now tall and skinny athletic boys.

Thank you everyone for your reassurance. I wasn't really that worried until I saw the look on the health visitor's face - she just looked so unimpressed with me and asked did I want to discuss making some changes to the way I feed my DD2. Just made me feel so inadequate - like I'm making my daughter fat by my ignorance or something. I think my partner also doesn't help - he frequently makes comments that leave me feeling critisized and like I'm harming our daughter by feeding her.

My DS was always a proper chunk and he was exclusively breastfed. He is still a lovely chubby toddler but I laugh when I look at his baby pics; rolls on his rolls! My FIL once suggested I was overfeeding him and he was fairly demanding but my HV was brilliant and said you can NEVER overfeed a bfed baby (don't know if that is true or not but it was my mantra) and that it would all melt away when he was up and about. And it has mostly. He didn't walk until 14 months and I didn't stop feeding him until 22 months. Me and my DH are both short and slim. Some babies are just big and bouncy!

I'm sorry you feel unsupported. You cannot overfeed a bfed baby. They are very good at regulating their own appetites and those rolls will serve them well into mobility. It will melt away.

You are doing bloody brilliantly and don't you dare let anybody tell you otherwise.

hi SA i'm in exactly the same position as you with DS, he's also weighed in at 11kg at 6.5 months and also BF and just started weaning, but HV was similarly shocked so have made an appointment with GP for tuesday to see if it really is anything to worry about or not. I think the latter but it can't hurt to check. just wanted to let you know that you're not alone!

my 12 and a bit month old isn't even 17lb yet.

My friends little girl was alway huge. I couldn't give you weights but her legs were like draft excluders at about 9 months

She's 4 now and is normal 4 year old size.

lol, ds1 was also mahoosive. it still makes me laugh to look at his baby pics, enormously fat. he was only 8lb 6oz at birth, but piled on the pounds rapidly. at 11 weeks he was 17lbs and even the paediatrician called him 'fatso' (in a nice way - he had contracted rsv and ended up with double pneumonia, and she was thrilled he was such a chunk as it would help him fight the virus). he carried on bulking up until he started walking at 11mos. he's a scrawny 8yo now.

It's amazing how HVs can make you feel so inadequate isn't it? A good friend of mine has had two big babies... They both hit 2 stone by the time they were a year old, and she got told she was obviously over feeding, that they were obese etc etc by her HVs. She knew she wasn't, so just kept giving them their regular food, and now they're mobile they aren't off the charts (but still big for their age). Please don't worry, if your DD is happy and healthy, it will more than likely drop off as she gets older.