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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

My 4 month old ds is very overweight!

19 replies

sleepyandtired · 22/03/2009 12:49

My ff 4 month old ds2 is overweight, he is actually off the percentile charts
When we last took him to the doctors for that very reason he weighed 8.2 kg! I knew he was very chubby but did not expect that.
He has been very difficult to feed, as would vomit alot and then be hungry, and would want milk every 2 hours......it was so confusing. On top of that we put him reflux milk ( which contains starch), maybe that cause the massive increase in weight gain? I have now changed his milk to regular formula milk.

I never had this problem with ds1, its all so confusing. As he wants to drink every 21/2 hours but i distract him till 3 hours then he drinks non stop, he never indicates that he is full. So i stop him at 5 ounces sometimes 6 as he screams when i stop him.
Can he really be that hungry?

also he wakes up every 3 hours at night as well, it so tiring. He is so heavy, he looks unhealthy
At this rate he will carry on putting on alarming amount of weight, im quite worried.The doctor said not to worry, caan't help it though

OP posts:

scrooged · 22/03/2009 12:53

My son was a bit of a guzzler, at one point he was so big I would have to put vaseling on the back of his legs as they would rub. He lost it all when he started moving around and is now the right weight for his height. I do agree that you shouldn't worry, when he's mobile it will go.

Did he feed OK when he was a newborn?

Original poster

sleepyandtired · 22/03/2009 13:01

Thank you for that scrooged. You should see his thighs! even my husband cannot carry him for long. Im hoping when he moves he will lose it too.

He was the same as a newborn, always feeding. It has been very tiring not to mention my 2 year old running around demanding attention whenever i begin to feed

OP posts:

frasersmummy · 22/03/2009 13:11

sleepy there isnt anything you can really do at this age to regulate weight gain

As you say if you withhold milk he is hungry and grumpy.. and you dont want that for your child

easier said than done but while he is on milk only you just have to go with the flow.. he will stop growing and allow others to catch up at some point (honest)

As a gp said to my friend .. what are you going to do put him on a diet???

scrooged · 22/03/2009 13:16

I bf ds, boy I was tired. I don't know how he managed to get anything out of them by the time I decided to give him formula aswell. I did wean him early aswell (was the advice from the HV at the time) which helped.

Tryharder · 22/03/2009 13:19

If your doctor said not to worry, then I really wouldn't.

You can't put him on a diet, after all and its unfair to cut back on his milk if he really wants it.

I agree with others, he will probably lose it when he gets a bit more mobile. Looking back at photos, my DS1 was really fat at that age but now we struggle to keep weight on him.

I definitely think that some babies are probably a bit more greedy than others in the same way that some adults are more greedy than others but as soon as he gets older, you can make sure he eats a healthy diet/gets loads of exercise. If he's still fat in 2 year's time, then you might want to be concerned....

herbietea · 22/03/2009 13:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

UnrealisticExpectations · 22/03/2009 13:29

I agree with scrooged and frasersmummy.

DD was always hungry and high on the percentile charts when she was a baby. She's svelte but still tall/athletic now (age 4).

Is he tall/long too? DD was always high on the percentiles for height/length too, so presumably that's going to make them look heavier on the weight charts.

DS was underweight even though I thought I'd fed them the same. He's bang on 'the line' now, aged 2.

He'll probably lose weight as he starts to become more active. And maybe the return to normal milk will help too.

Be assured by your doc's advise (easier said than done, I know). There's not much you can do now, but as he gets older you'll be able to make sure he gets lots of exercise and eats healthily.

Original poster

sleepyandtired · 22/03/2009 13:30

Thank you for all your replies, i feel much better . I thought it was something i was doing , crazy i know!

Ok then, i will just go with the flow i guess and hopefully in time it will all level out.

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misdee · 22/03/2009 13:32

dd2 was off the charts as well (think there are pics in my profile)

his weight gain will slow down. how tall is he? dd2 was always off the height charts as well.

she did look like a little sumo wrestler.

she is now a tall slim 6yr old with a flat stomache and thin limbs. she is still heavey for her age, but her height means she is in proportion. she wears the same size clothes as her 9yr old sister.

Original poster

sleepyandtired · 22/03/2009 16:07

I can't put the increase in weight gain and off the percentile charts to his height unfortunetly, his height is bang on average!

So i guess he is just a fat sumo wrestler baby :0

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UnrealisticExpectations · 22/03/2009 20:16

Oh, bless! I bet he's gorj. Having had a chubster and a skinny baby, I've got to say, I think a bit of extra padding at that age is better. If they get a tummy bug they lose it so quickly. It's nice to have a bit of a cushion.

He'll very probably lose it all gradually once he starts moving around, but it does get a lot easier to control their weight as they get a bit older. Let's face it, if you take him for a run around the park now, the only person burning up the cals would be you!

Tbh, DD was close to the top of the charts, DS was really near the bottom at about approaching 5 months, when the HV suggested he needed extra cals so to wean him, but, although DD was rounder and a bit more 'chinny', and DS deffo had a skinnier bum and legs, it wasn't like there was THAT much difference between them, iyswim. I remember telling sis-in-law how mortified I was when I found out how underweight DS was. She was carrying him at the time and she joked that you wouldn't want one much heavier or you'd need a wheelbarrow!

I've just had a look at my red books and DD was 7.31 at 19 wks and DS was 6.10.

Did someone say to me once, when I was fretting about DS's low weight, that they were lowering the charts because they were based on ff rather than bf babies? I'm sure someone said that to me (dunno if it was true tho) but, looking at my old books, 8.2kg at 16 wks would put him below the 98th line, which maybe wouldn't make you feel so anxious.

peppapighastakenovermylife · 22/03/2009 21:31

My exclusively breastfed DD was 21 pounds at 20 weeks . Now she is 6.5 months she is starting to slim a bit eg I can actually do up the poppers on her sleepsuits now .

Fat babies (less than a year old) are not really something to worry about - children and pre schoolers yes, more so. Babies do tend to self regulate at this age and it doesnt sound like you are feeding him lots or that frequently - DD used to feed every 1.5 hours or even every hour until I weaned her. She now feeds every 3 hours lol.

And I also emphasise the point that it is good for them to have a little extra in case they get ill. When DS used to have a bug of any kind or even teething and was off his food he would shrink quite rapidly and it was scary. I dont worry about that with DD lol!!!

Original poster

sleepyandtired · 23/03/2009 05:40

Im so glad by these comments that you all have made. As i was limiting his milk and he was not a happy baby and it would get quite difficult with a unhappy baby and a superactive toddler!
Now i let him drink the full 6 ounces and feed him more or less every 3hours sometimes 2 3/4 hours. It is so much easier now.

When we go somewhere people guess his age and ask if he 8 months etc !
And i say no he just turned 4 months

OP posts:

KKx · 26/03/2009 22:02

He'll loose his weight once he's on the move. Have you tried a dummy. My DS was the same a big baby and after every bottle he would scream and I eventually gave him a dummy and he was fine after that x

kalo12 · 27/03/2009 10:35

formula fed babies do not get the same oral satisfaction from sucking a bottle as they do from sucking a nipple. this is a primitive reflex that babies need to and automatically do. so what happens when you feed a baby with a bottle is that when you remove the bottle from his mouth he still has the urge to suck so he screams for you to put it back in then the mum thinks the baby is hungry and thus ff babies put weight on quicker.

the reason why they have this primitive urge to suck is because it helps the babies head go back to normal after the birth.

now do be alarmed cos of course many babies have bottles and they are of course perfectly fine, but maybe he is not always hungry, maybe he needs a soother for an orthodontic dummy.

kalo12 · 27/03/2009 10:36

shit, i meant DON'T be alarmed!

Original poster

sleepyandtired · 02/04/2009 05:29

Kalo12- I had heard that too, and i do try and put the dummy in his mouth, but he spits it out or tries to bite it,which always leads to it falling and him crying!

Now he wakes every two hours at night and im seriously considering weaning, he is 21 weeks now. During the day he only drinks 120ml( 4 ounces) every 4 or 3 hours.And vomits alot.

And always wakes from his naps almost every 15 minutes to burp or vomit more! it is so tiring. hence the reason im swaying towards weaning .I will try to wait as long as possible though.

OP posts:

JollyPirate · 02/04/2009 07:10

As everyone else has said - he will "slim down" (not the right expression but it's early) when he starts moving around. Try not to worry too much about centile charts - I'm a HV and they are the bane of my life as many HCPs have no idea how to interpret them. They are a guide to your DS's growth and even though he is off the charts at the moment the chances are that once he starts moving around the rate of growth will slow down and he'll end up well within normal ranges. You can't put him on a diet - just feed him when he wants feeding and be aware that he may not need feeding every time he thinks he does (my DS was the same).

Reflux is hard work as the end of feeding begins the time when they start to feel uncomfortable so not surprising he screams when he stops feeding. Has the GP given you any other anti-reflux medication like Gaviscon to help?

Original poster

sleepyandtired · 02/04/2009 08:36

I am currently living in the middle east.The doctor was quite unhelpful.Said it would pass, and suggested the thickened AR milk (which i suspect, may have also contributed to his weight gain).It helped a bit, but not much.So i swtiched back to normal formula.The quantity of the vomit has reduced and it now thicker.

It is more the constant burping and discomfort and difficulty staying asleep.

OP posts:

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