Worried my 15mo is greedy and getting a bit tubby...advice please

[YouMaySayImADreamer]

Wasnt too sure where to put this as he seems a bit old for the weaning topic. My 15mo ds was a big baby when born at 9lb 13oz. I ebf him for the first 6mo but from 3-6 mo he struggled to gain any weight and dropped from the 75th to 9th centile between birth and six months.

He took to weaning really well and he slowly started to climb back up the centiles moving from 9th to 25th by 12 months. It took him until around 12mo to double his birth weight despite eating loads, because he was so so active. From an early age he just wanted to move, and he rolled, crawled and walked early and just didnt stop. He was always a lean looking baby until 12mo. For this reason I didnt worry that he ate so much because I felt he must need it.

Now however he has grown to love eating and I am worried he is becoming greedy. Whenever he sees food or anyone eating, he wants some even if he has just had a big meal. He always finishes his food no matter how big a meal and wouldnt stop if he was full. Weirdly he seems to love drinking too - he only has milk or water but if he sees his water cup he grabs it and downs it - he was sick he drank that much water the other day.

For breakfast he has two weetabix and a whole banana - i know this is a lot. For lunch he generally has a sandwich of which he eats half to three quarters followed by fruit. For tea he only has homecooked meals which will generally be things like spag bol, pasta, stew, mild curry, chilli etc (all baby recipes or adapted with no salt etc) followed by yoghurt (full fat greek). Tea is usually a pretty big portion - a childs plastic bowl full. For snacks he will have either a few baby rice cakes, fruit, mini bread sticks, that sort of thing. I think it is the portion sizes that worry me and the fact that if we are eating a meal or a snack even if immediately after his tea, he will scream to have some.

Whereas most babies his age seem to have started walking and dropped the chubb, he seems to have gone the opposite way and started looking chubby. He has quite a big pot belly and I have started having to buy him size 18-34mo tops. I havent had him weighed for about six weeks and intend to next week but last time I took him and raised my concerns they said that on the charts he was ok, whereas my eyes ans his clothes sizes are telling me different. Even his cm has said he eats a lot more than the other children so I know it's not just me.

I was an overweight child and I don't want him to to be overweight and develop a fixation with food or spend his childhood obsessed with eating as I did. My family love food and my mum and dad are overweight. I dont want him to become greedy, I just want him to have the normal relationship with food that I never had. I am a healthy weight now but I do watch what I eat and I don't want this to rub off on him either. So how do I tackle it now whilst he is young?

Just realised my title sounds a bit mean! He is of course absolutely adorable, it is his physical and future emotional well being that I am worried about and I only focus of the appearance thing because I keep getting told at clinic that he is ok on the chart despite the fact I can see his tummy looks tubby and he cant fit in clothes for his age!

I presume he is feeding himself, not being spoonfed? In that case at his very young age he won't overeat. Make sure his diet is varied and interesting. Talk to your GP or go to baby clinic for reassurance - you really shouldn't be restricting a growing toddler's diet or projecting your food issues onto him... All the calories he takes in are going towards growth (of body and mind!).

Rereading your post, it really doesn't sound like he's eating that much to be honest! You really are protecting your issues onto him.

Hi juniper thanks for your response - rereading my post it does sound like I am projecting my issues but my food issues really arent an issue - I was over weight as a child and now I watch what I eat, but I'm not obsessed by any means. I just mean, I don't want him to even think about food as anything other than something you do when you're hungry whereas I eat food (or have to stop myself eating food) just because I like eating!!

I worry about him being overweight because I think he is a bit overweight and does eat a lot, not because I am pre-empting him becoming overweight. I suppose my own childhood weight is irrelevant - I just mentioned it because it is one of the reasons I am worried about him being overweight.

I think he eats healthily and luckily enjoys a wide range of foods, but I do worry he is eating big portions and still wants to eat afterwards. He cant spoon feed himself yet but he would refuse to open his mouth if he didnt want it (as he sometimes does if he really doesnt like something)

At his age can't he use his hands? Sorry I never spoonfed (BLW) so I don't know. He certainly should be on normal food not purees anyway.

He isn't overweight according to the charts, by your admission. He should be tracking the same centile on height and weight, go to the baby clinic again and get it checked out for reassurance.

Lots of babies/toddlers get a little podgy tummy then have a growth spurt not long after!

Oh yes he is definately not on purees, he uses his hands where possible for things like pasta, sandwiches, finger foods etc but for less solid things like weetabix, curry, stew I never really thought it practical (although maybe you have experience you could share?!)

Last time I got him weighed I got him measured too which reassured me a bit. He had jumped a centile quite quickly which she said was ok. Id say he tummy has definately got bigger since then and hes jumped a clothes size too so I am planning to go next week. Good point about the growth spurt though!

I could have written this about my daughter when she was that age! She ate everything and always wanted more! I too was worried that she would become obese and have problems when she is older. She fed herself from a young age and you could introduce that with your son to see if it slows him down a bit! We also avoided snacks so she would eat a full meal at meal times and limited portions and told her "last one" with whatever it was and stuck to it. She is now nearly 3 and still a good eater but now refuses food when she has had enough, is much less obsessive about it and doesn't "beg" for food which she did before and in fact usually has smaller portions than her 17 month old sister! She still has a bit of a baby tum, but it has slimmed down as she has got taller. Try not to worry about it.... My husband used to go on about it to me so I would ask the HV every time I saw her and was always told that as long as she was eating a healthy diet with lots of variety and was active , then it wasn't a problem. Good luck!

My 13 month old eats about the same and seems constantly hungry. As someone said above provided he is feeding himself and not being spoon fed he will be fine.

He is growing a lot, presumably moving a lot (my DS never stops) and needs lots of fuel for his busy days.

His diet sounds fine.

We did BLW too which I really enjoyed. My 17 month old can use a spoon no problem although she still prefers to use her hands, so maybe you could introduce that... I even give them soups with chunk of bread in it , but it depends upon how much you mind the mess! Don't worry about the clothes size... There is a such a variability between different brands. I often use bigger sizes for my eldest to make sure that there is enough length in a top to cover her tum! And my littlest is in clothes younger than she is because she is a bit on the short side!

Thanks christobel your post has made me feel much better, glad to hear I am not alone!

I think him feeding himself might be a good idea and it is something we have been working towards - i dont mind the mess, but what do you do with more sloppy foods when they cant use a spoon? Also just out of interest, as a few of you have mentioned that him feeding himself might make a difference, why do you think this is?

He is exactly as you describe, he is obsessed with food and screams and begs for it! We have decided to stop him picking from our plates or ideally not eat around him which is sometimes difficuly because of our work patterns but will try.

I wasn't too worried about the clothes at first but I am having to do it in all shops now and like you say, it is so they are long enough to cover his tummy! It is cute but want him to be healthy too!

Glad to help! My girls eat the same meals as us and for sloppier foods such as stew, I usually serve it with rice or pasta or mashed potato so that it helps it stick to the spoon , or with some bread that mops up some of the juice... If you don't mind the mess, even soup is possible!, though mostly of the chunky kind...
We tried to eat together as a family but that's not always possible, but we used to give her a portion of food and then that was it.... If she still seemed hungry she could have fruit or a yoghurt but not endless portions of the main meal unless for some reason she had had a small lunch and I thought she was genuinely hungry. We tried to never eat around her as she would always want some and we tried to make sure that if we went to friends houses or other places that food wasn't always on offer or available except at meal times. Fortunately, she has grown out of it!

I often feel worried for my LO's future when I look at him because he has an enormously big belly and weighs 55 pounds (he's 3)

3 is vastly different to 15mo Nicole - don't worry the OP! Her child is fine.