Is my baby to chubby ???

[peanut]

Hi there I am just wondering if my dd is a little to on the bonny side, she is 8 months and 1 week old and weighed in today at 23lbs & 12 ozs which puts her on the 98th percentile for her weight.

In all fairness she is very long, she was 72cm (95th percentile)at her 7 month check. She seemed to be slowing down a couple of months ago when she only gained 4ozs in 3 weeks but seems to have speeded up again gaining 1lb 5ozs in the past 4 weeks.

She doesn't eat a huge amount (at least I don't think so) a typical day is as follows.

7.30am 7oz bottle
8.30am small bowl of cereal & sometimes a bit of toast.
11.30am 1/2 a jar of dinner & 1/2 a jar of pudding.
2pm 7oz bottle
4pm a piece of fruit or fromage frais
5.30pm 1/2 a jar of dinner & 1/2 a jar of pudding.
7.30pm 7oz bottle.

She has been crawlinh for the last 2 weeks and i always thought that this would be when the weight gain slowed down, but it still seems to be rising.

Any advice or reassurance will be gratefully received.

thanks

Peanut - at 6mo ds was 25lb and was virtually spherical until he started walking at 10mo when it fell off rapidly. I'm sure your dd is fine x

Hi Peanut
I really wouldn't worry too much -especially at this age - so long as the food she is getting (however much or little she eats) is of a fairly balanced nutritional value over the course of a few days - which it sounds like it is? My son was a 'big baby' - 98th percentile too right from birth - and I always just kept an eye to see that the weight/height ratio was approx the same (i.e. that he wasn't slipping to a 80th percentile height with 98th percentile weight (does that make sense?).
Like you, I thought his chubbiness would drop away as soon as he started crawling, but in reality it took much longer. Also, I think his higher average height/weight meant that he found mastering all the mobility things a bit tougher than his petite chums.
Anyway, I was looking at beach photos from our recent holiday and suddenly realised he now become a tall, strong-looking 2.5 year old now, so no worries! (Have to say I just miss tweaking those cute chubby inner-thighs just a teensy bit....!)
By all means chat to your Health Visitor if you're worried over the coming months, but she sounds a gorgeous cuddly little girl to me!

I've recently read research that showed that fat babies were actually slightly LESS likely to turn into fat adults than skinny babies, so long as they don't stay fat as children. In babies it's usually just a sign of health to be big. On average, big babies also had slightly fewer adult diseases such as heart disease (it wasn't a huge difference and had a lot to do with nutrition, so I hope I'm not worrying people with slim babies). Anyway, hurrah for lovely chubby babies with tweakable thighs!

peanut, my ds is 19 mo and weighs 24lbs. He is not skinny at all or even chubby. I think he is just right for his height. Usually the weight gain will slow down when they are really on the move. Especially when they are walking. My sons weight has really slowed down since he started walking.

Peanut,
Your baby sounds lovely,I dont think babies can be too chubby.Chubby babies are lovely especially their Chunky little legs,much better than being scrawney.

Peanut-my ds1 is 19mo and weighs in at 23.5lbs. 25th centile for weight, and 75th for height. He's always been on the slim side and caused great concerns for me during his first year that he wasn't putting on enough weight. I wouldn't worry about it. I'm a little envious, I would have had a far less stressful first year with ds1 if he'd been a chubby chap!

Peanut, I have had similar concerns to you, my ds is 6 months and 20lbs 6ozs, and seems to be the most chubby baby in our village, but he seems to even more loved for being chubby!

I'm now calling him sausage, as dh keeps going on about his pork sausage legs! Have to admit I don't what I would do if he was skinny, he feels just right to me, and I'm sure your dd is just as lovely - don't worry!

Thanks to all of you its good to know mine is not the only chublet. And your right she is georgous I have never actually managed to go out without someone pushing me to one side to get to her so I will stop worrying.

Thanks again
xx

Definately nothing to worry about my 22 week old daughter is a very healthy 24 lbs, she has been on 98th line since she was born. Very chunky legs and very kissable. My son was the same and he is now 4 and very skinny, his weight slowed down once he started to walk.

i have the oppasite problem with my dd she is 4 and a half and weighs only 27lbs she is now below the lowest centile i worry so much about what she eats,sometimes virtully nothing for days.She has never been a big child,.My first ds was a big baby in fact he weighed 27lb at 9 months old. And my last ds who was 11 weeks prem and is now 4 months old now weighs over 11lbs.

My ds is 23 months and weighs 35 lbs.... and he weighed in at only 5lb 8oz at birth. It's like lifting a sack of potatoes. He was a tiny baby but packed on the weight very quickly. Thankfully his weight is in line with his height, I think he's around 95cm tall so he's probably just going to be a very big boy - people already mistake him for about 3 yrs old. He does have a big appetite and admittedly I have to keep an eye on his food consumption. Ariel I'm sorry about your daughter not eating, a woman I go to playgroup with has the same problem - her daughter refuses to eat just about everything, and she's very distressed by it. Are you able to give her a milk drink with fruit or egg mixed in with it? (In a blender). I've heard that some fussy children will drink something like this, and at least it's nutritious. Good luck.

after reading all you other mums with 98th percentile babies I can now stop panicking, my son is 9 weeks old and weighs 15lb, although he was 10 lb at birth and 61cm long(off the chart and no percentile for that!!!!) the health visitor keeps telling me not to up his feeds!!! she dosent have children obviously!

My dd was 22lbs at 9 months which is 90th centile. She is a very chubby solid baby which I have to say I love! She is nearly walking, so I assume she will skinny up a bit once she does.

Hurrah for podgy babes!

my 1yr old daughter is off the percentile charts. she is lovely and chunky and very tall with it. i had some people telling me i should cut down her milk, give her water instead of milk etc, but she is in proportion so who cares.

Dd was a "sturdy" baby I loved the way she felt when I held her, you knew you'd got her it was great.

Mil fretted that she'd be fat or that she was fat but after telling her that if she didn't stop saying that I'd stop visiting she ceased.

I second a big cheer for chubby babies. They're all bonnie!

Hi Peanut, i got my dd weighed last week and at 7 months she is now 21 lbs. The health visitor told me that the next time i get her weighed they dont want any increase. I am so scared to get her weighed now incase she has put on because i really dont dont know what they will say. They have already gave me a list of do's and don'ts with her diet and i really feel like it is just too harsh. I am on the large side so i think they look at me and think thats what my dd will look like, but i dont feed her any more than average. They told me to stop yoghurts which i hate cos my dd loves them and stop the baby brekfasts. Sorry if i have waffled on but i could really do with some feedback on this because i am not sure whether i want to follow the health visitor or not.

jennyjen - ignore your health visitor! That sounds a ridiculous thing to say. It might be 6 months before you get your baby weighed again. I think as long as they are eating healthy foods, and not filling up on sugary biscuits etc. then there is NO problem at all. Ds was the opposite - I was scared to get him weighed in case they decreed he hadn't put on enough. They all slim off when they're toddlers anyway.

DS1 was very nearly 21lbs at 7 months and my HV never said anything negative about his weight. He was on his growth curve and had stuck to it.

Yes, watch what your DD eats but as long as she's eating sensibly & healthily then what's the problem?

Hi, thanks for your replys but can i just say my dd has not stuck to her growth curve. She was 7lbs at birth and in 7 months she has jumped 3 centile lines!

jenny, has she jumped 3 lines in height (length) as well as weight?

I think she has gone up 2. She is 74 cm at 7 months so i think that is quite long.

I was going to say the same thing. Is she in proportion (roughly) to height? If she's getting v tall then she'll obviously get heavy. If not, then it might we worth cutting the sugar out of her diet as it is nutritionally worthless, but a good source of calories for many babies, but not really chubby ones. Readybrek is a great breakfast for babies with no added sugar or salt. How many yoghurts do you give a day?

Jennyjen, just read your post, she sounds really tall! My ds is short and only 83 cms at age 2 (tomorrow!). If she's as tall as she's heavy then no worries, surely.