Big boy

[WhatASadLittleLifeJane]

Hi all,

My 5.5 month old son weighs 24lbs and I'm worried about this.

He drinks 6 x 210ml bottles a day, 5 in the day and for the last two weeks waking up for a night feed.

We have started weaning and he is on one small puree meal in the afternoon.

Should I try and wean him off of the night feed? I'm just so worried I am over feeding him as he just seems so much bigger than I thought he would be.

He is long too and it the average length of a nine month old but he is one chunky monkey. I'm just worried I'm causing him harm or stretching his belly.

All of this means absolutely nothing, sorry.

It's all dependent on his percentile curve (has he suddenly gone up etc or is it a gradual weight gain)

Its gradual, he was born big at 8lbs and 6oz. He has been gradually gaining weight! I'm just worried that he is so much heavier than he is 'supposed' to be

Is he off the chart?

If I've done the calculation correctly, he is slightly above the 99th centile for weight. How tall is he? Have you spoken to your HV/GP about your concerns? If he's always been on the larger side then it could be nothing to worry about, but I'd get a medical opinion if you're worried

Hi, I could have written the same! Also have a 5.5 month old boy who has gone from the 50-60th gentile to about the 90th for both weight and length. The health visitor wasn't worried at all but I am/was.

I'm not concerned about a medical problem just that I could be overfeeding him but he is hungry and I try hard to pace his feeds/slow him down.

However, over the last couple of weeks and also with starting weaning, he's cut back from 6 to 5 x 210 ml bottles and rarely finishes all of them.

I think it was probably a big growth spurt.

Can you ring your health visitor?

ps are your scales accurate - I assume you are weighing him yourself in lockdown? I bought new ones and tested them using gym weights. On the old ones he was way off the charts but they varied by a kilo or two between readings so were clearly crap.

Babies are very good at regulating their own intake. The amount of milk will gradually decrease as he eats more proper food over the next few months but I wouldn't worry too much - if he was uncomfortable or not hungry, he wouldn't eat.

@rottiemum88 thank you, he is 74cm long, so he is long too. I will speak to the GP. Thank you for your advice.

@Homassy I haven't yet, I wasnt THAT worried as he drinks the milk and cries for it so he is obviously hungry but it's just constantly mentioned by my parents which has lead me to worry. I am going to call them and the GP just to check on him. I have no idea if scales are accurate. They are pretty old and I weigh him by weighing myself and then weighing myself holding him.

Nice to hear your LO's milk intake slowed with weaning, we are a week in and just on a few spoonfuls a day currently.

I think babies tend to chub up before crawling. Also, food is less calorie dense so when he eats more solids he will have some reserves too

Oh yes, we have a big boy too (now 10 months) and I worried the same as you. The size of his last bottle before bed was something to behold but he would cry for more without it and did reach a natural stopping point so in the end we just went with it. We starting very gradually weaning him just after four months and he'd lunge for the food.

He climbed the percentiles gradually but weight was always in line with length. Sure enough, as he started crawling and standing his number of chins has decreased and his growth started to level off. He's still a very decent eater but also incredibly active. He no longer takes mega bottles before bed!

Honestly I think my husband had the right idea all along which was just go with it. Pace his feeds of you can, as you say, but otherwise I think all babies have different appetites and those appetites come and go depending on what's going on with them.

Also see if you can find out what you and his dad were like as babies. It reassured me to remember that I was a super chubby baby and then a whippet thin child and teen despite a huge appetite (sadly no longer applies in my 30s!)

If hes heavy AND long, and hes been big since birth its really not an issue.

If theres a big disconnect between the length and weight then its something to look into.

As PP said though, to make it make sense for everyone to understand you need to say what centiles hes on

@Letsallscreamatthesistene over 99th for weight and 90th for height.

@TheRainbowCollection thank you, that's made me feel a lot better.

My husband has the same mentality and keeps telling me not to worry. He is my first baby and I just want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong, we always fed on demand and he was drinking 6oz bottles at three months old so always had a huge appetite.

Then thats not too bad! It all matches up

Mine was 10lb at birth and has continued to be on the 90-98 percentile. It’s within the range of normal, somebody’s kid has to be at the top end of the scale! He’s just a hefty kid, not fat.

Dd2 was 10lb on the nose when she was born and on 91st centile for both weight and height and still is. She’s seven. My husband is Dutch and tall!

As long as they are on track I wouldn’t bother.

My brother was that size at 5 months, he had been born weighing 4lbs & had spent time in an incubator & special care, but once he knew what his mouth was for he ate for England. He is 6' 5" tall now.

DS is 6 months and about 23lbs. He's been big since birth, born at 10lbs 10oz. If your health visitor isn't concerned and he's in a similar place for length and weight I wouldn't worry.

To be honest, my DS was born on the 9th centile and was up to the 90th by 3 months. Nothing wrong with him, just clearly wasn't getting the nourishment he needed in the womb. He's all totally in proportion now!

I don’t think you need to worry. Try not to let other people’s concerns (e.g. parents) affect you. Babies just do their thing, and they’ll make sure you know if something isn’t ok. My daughter was born under the 1st centile but by 5 months she’d nearly hit the 90th, when she started moving she went back to the 25th (I’m 5’3).

Another one saying don't worry too much! My little boy was born at 8lb9oz and was the same weight as yours at that age, he is now 29lb (99th percentile) and 78cm (99th percentile!!) at 9.5 months. I have come to accept he is just a big baby. My health visitor always told me that babies self regulate, and are all different sizes! Plus those chunky babies are super cute!

No need to worry. My son was long when born and weighed 9lb 6oz. He was a hungry baby and steadily gained weight. He was chubby as a baby but he is 6 now and tall and slim, just like his dad.

He is still big for his age but not overweight at all. He towers above his classmates!

Unless you're making him finish bottles etc (which is very difficult!) Then he's incredibly unlikely to be overeating.

They all even out in the end.

And someone has to be the 100th centile!

Your parents shouldn't be worrying you about his size.