Page 3 | "Obese" newborn

RoseAndGeranium · 28/08/2021 09:38

This book is really helpful about all things baby food and growth related: www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Food-Matters-science-healthy/dp/1473663172?tag=mumsnetforu03-21 I referred to it a lot first time round and expect to look at it again for my second. it’s by medical professionals and summarises the best available evidence about diet, feeding or weaning approaches, growth rates etc very usefully.
I’m away from home atm so annoyingly I can’t look up for you what they say about growth in the first few months and since it wasn’t a worry for me I don’t remember that section. But I’d really recommend it if you’re concerned and it keeps being useful (and mostly super reassuring about eg baby led v purée weaning) for a couple of years.

AliceW89 · 28/08/2021 10:45

Breastfed babies quite often pile on the weight at the beginning. My DS was a tiny 6lb at birth (~4th centile). By 5 ish months he was 97th centile and has been there since. My MIL tells me my DH and both of his brothers were the same.

DS has been slow to meet gross motor milestones, but that could be completely coincidental.

SamanthaVimes · 28/08/2021 10:47

My baby was born just below 50th percentile, ebf and by 8 weeks had shot up to above 98th where she stayed till she was about 6/7 months and started moving around more. Walked at 10 months and now at 13 months is back around 50th and is in good proportion.
When we look back at photos of her we laugh about what a little chunk she used to be! At the time I found it quite reassuring because I thought if she were to get ill or go off her food for any reason at least she’s got some reserves to burn 🤷‍♀️
You can’t over feed a breast fed baby, they only take what they need. You’re doing a great job.

Polkadots2021 · 28/08/2021 14:15

@Growingyou

Hi everyone, looking for some second opinions. I gave birth exactly 3 months ago - my little one was a very average 3.3.kgs at birth (arrived 2 weeks early). He is now an enormous 8.57kgs (69cm long), so is completely off the charts size wise. Naturally, everyone who meets our little baby is stunned by his size. He is 100% breastfed and definitely has a hearty appetite (still waking 3x nightly for feeds).

My mum commented that it's great to have a big healthy baby, but not so enormous that he won't be able to reach his developmental milestones. Also, she raised concern that he would develop fat cells that are almost impossible to change as this becomes his bodily structure. She said it's very difficult for overweight children not to become overweight adults.

The doctor says breastfeeding protects against obesity and while I should feed on demand, I should also try to stretch him out to a minimum 2 hours between feeds.

I don't know whether I should get a second medical opinion. Anyone have any advice?

Just an anecdote but one of my son's was really big, woke up three times a night for a long time, was described as 'fat' and 'having fat legs' by family members (lovely) and even a stranger in the street. He's a healthy strapping kid now, sporty, definitely going to be taller and more muscular, broad framed, etc, than his school friends so never skinny but very far from fat, really healthy and grew into his size. He was very strong from an early age too. Ignore the silly comments, he's still a baby!

bigTillyMint · 28/08/2021 14:20

My BFFs DS1 was a ginormous Michelin man from birth. He is now a v fit, healthy, tall and broad 21yo!
And another’s DD had great big chubby thighs. She is now a fit, healthy, tall, slim 20yo!

If your DS is exclusively breastfed and the GP says he’s healthy, try not to worry and ignore the commenters.

OnGoldenPond · 29/08/2021 00:30

At 3 months my HV said DS was the biggest baby of his age in the borough!

She wasn't concerned though as his weight was in proportion to his length and he is now a healthy very much non-obese 6ft 3 19 year old.

Babies are meant to be chubby, it gives them fuel for their next growth spurt.

BaronessBomburst · 29/08/2021 00:43

Another one here who had a total chubster. The health visitors used to look at me in horror and panic until they checked their notes and saw that he was exclusively BF. He's now 11, slim and muscley.

terfinginthevoid · 29/08/2021 00:48

Sounds as though you are doing a great job and your baby is thriving. Chubbiness is a sign of good health in babies, he will slim down as he grows and becomes an active toddler.

Ozanj · 29/08/2021 00:58

Are you feeding expressed breastmilk? If not then don’t worry. If you are feeding expressed then you probably are overfeeding & you need to work with the pediatrician to find out how to manage going forwards.

Rangoon · 29/08/2021 07:37

I was an enormously fat baby - born at nearly 10 pounds - and packed on the weight from there. As a teenager, people worried that I was anorexic when I was just naturally very thin. In my 50s I'm still a size 8. My eldest son had to have extra paper added to his baby weight chart as he soared above the percentiles. I didnt worry about the weight as I knew about my trajectory. He is normal weight in his twenties. My other son was always fairly thin despite knocking back gallons of formula. He's a bit underweight at 20 and can't really put weight on. Both of them walked at 10 months. Almost all of my family are thin. We've obviously never been troubled by the extra fat cells.

Ozanj · 29/08/2021 15:04

@Rangoon

I was an enormously fat baby - born at nearly 10 pounds - and packed on the weight from there. As a teenager, people worried that I was anorexic when I was just naturally very thin. In my 50s I'm still a size 8. My eldest son had to have extra paper added to his baby weight chart as he soared above the percentiles. I didnt worry about the weight as I knew about my trajectory. He is normal weight in his twenties. My other son was always fairly thin despite knocking back gallons of formula. He's a bit underweight at 20 and can't really put weight on. Both of them walked at 10 months. Almost all of my family are thin. We've obviously never been troubled by the extra fat cells.

Unfortunately babies of obese mums tend to have more fat / weight on them too. And once it’s on it’s really hard to then shift.

Larryyourwaiter · 29/08/2021 15:35

DD was a proper fat baby. Especially compared to all the other tiny girl babies at playgroup. A childminder came up to me and said she’d had dozens of babies and the fat ones always turned out tall, including her own children. DD is tall and slim.

Original poster

Growingyou · 31/08/2021 20:41

Thanks everyone for the reassurance and your personal experiences. I'm bombarded every day with comments from everyone from the grandparents (oh we've never had a big baby in our side of the family!), to other mums (oh look, he's longer than DC who's 2 months older!... , no-one's going to bully him, he's a bruiser!), to various friends with such stereotypical comments along the lines of "well, he certainly won't be a ballet dancer", "michelin man" etc. I must admit, I wasn't anticipating these types of comments for a little human who is only 92 days old. At this stage, I am mostly fixated on his enormous gummy smile and joy at reaching for things (mostly my nose) so I'm trying to let the comments pass by, but did second guess myself on whether the breastmilk was somehow problematic or too much. Thanks for the encouragement to just keep going on as is.

OP posts:

Ohsoquiiieeetttttt454333 · 31/08/2021 20:48

Honestly OP no matter what the shape or size of your DC everyone has an opinion, my DD is a dinky Dora and my DS was too. My DD is 2 and 23lbs, so 10.4kg… but i pre kids was v v slim and DH was too. She’s just small.
We get all the small comments from everyone out there, but ultimately she follows her centile 0.04. Just ignore everyone OPyour DC is happy and healthy

TheVolturi · 31/08/2021 20:55

My first was 6lb born. Then he really packed it on, he always had a bottle in his mouth and would really scream with hunger! I can't remember exactly what he weighed but I used to take him to the weight clinic and he was 16 weeks old and the hv there said he needs to start on solids now because he's having too many calories in the milk. I did what I was told but it was a fight to feed him tbh (turned out he's autistic) but he stayed really chunky until he started walking at about 13 months. It all fell off. He never rolled, and only crawled a month before he walked so he was literally stationary the whole time. He did go in a walker though. He's 8 now and still very slim.

Jujujuly · 31/08/2021 21:04

I had the opposite in that I gave birth to 2 whoppers (98th centile) who both slimmed down to 50th centile (ebf) and I had everyone telling me I was starving them! People love to comment and size is an easy one.

I’ve met so many babies through my own 2 and have come across 2 or 3 little boys who were absolute giants when ebf but it all evened out and they slimmed down once they started moving. Now at 3.5 they’re basically the same size as my DD.

FloconDeNeige · 02/09/2021 10:58

It’s almost impossible to over-feed a baby, regardless of how they are fed (although it’s easier to do with a bottle as the flow is less easily controlled).

So rest easy OP and ignore the comments!

minipie · 02/09/2021 11:08

Michelin EBF baby here too

DD was at one point 9th centile height wise and 91st weight wise. So basically she was round. We used to say I produced butter instead of milk.

Bonus, she learned to sit up early as her tummy rested on her thighs!

Since then she has got longer and thinner and at age 6 she is 25th centile for height, maybe 50th-75th for weight, strong and muscular but definitely not fat.

By all means try to stretch the time between feeds if you want, but more for your sake than any sort of diet!

Nc4post99 · 02/09/2021 15:22

Unless your mum is a doctor I’d ignore her.

But has baby crossed more than 2 centile lines going up? I do think of a rapid period of growth that crosses more than 2 centile lines is grounds for a paediatric referral. Has your HV mentioned that to you? Although 9/10 this is purely precautionary.

i absolutely wouldn’t change anything that you’re doing as it looks spot on. I also would second guess anyone who recommends limiting baby or early weaning (unless a paediatric dietitian) x

Crazycatlady83 · 02/09/2021 18:55

Ignore your mum - she is bonkers!

My DS1 was born Mr Average on the 50th percentile. EBF. Was on the 99.6th percentile by 8 weeks and was a chubby little thing throughout babyhood! The minute he started to walk, he lost the baby fat. He is now a Uber thin 6 year old who is amazing at self regulating his food intake (think being given a bag of chocolate buttons and only having two, saving the rest - I wish I had such self control)

GPs have some funny ideas about breastfeeding - I had my 6 week check last week (at 9 weeks - cos of Covid ) for DS2 I asked about having the coil fitted and she said that I couldn't because of breastfeeding. Risk of womb puncture apparently. She said I should stop BF at 6 months because BF doesn't have any nutritional value after 6 months anyway. I laughed at her!

Forstarters · 02/09/2021 19:10

A top paediatrician at Kings told me it was rubbish that you couldn’t overfeed a breast fed baby and that you could do so exactly like a bottle fed baby. Then my HV told me he was talking rubbish. But she was rubbish too. So I’ve never got to the bottom of that one…

Bellaphant · 02/09/2021 22:08

My Ds was off the chart in the womb for growth from week 28! He was 4.5kg when born and was, frankly, massive: we had to get rid of his newborn clothes and first size nappies in two weeks. The HV fussed about it for a while, as at a certain point they have to monitor it, to make sure nothing genetic is causing it, but ended up agreeing that at he was on the 90 somethingth percentile for height, he was fine. I used to get all the 'big boy' and 'bruiser' comments, which I found hurtful and stressful too.

He's two now and just... solid? He is super tall and agile for his age, and although he occasionally gathers 'podge' on his face and stomach, he's weighed the same for the last three months!

Snowpaw · 02/09/2021 22:25

My daughter was 99th percentile for height and weight when born - she’s now a very active, normally proportioned nearly three year old. She’s tall and strong. She goes through phases of wanting to eat lots / second portions etc then has a growth spurt every so often and everything just evens out. She was exclusively breastfed too.

BakewellGin1 · 02/09/2021 22:32

My oldest DS was both long and heavy as a baby... He was round
HV referred us to consultant as they were convinced I was over feeding. Consultant happy he was just a chunk of a baby.

By age 2 when he was active he dropped a lot of weight, evened out and was just average.

Now 12 years old, tall, probably the leanest in his friendship group as he is so active... 100% no rolls on him now.

Just because you have a big baby doesn't mean they will stay like that forever. Ignore your mum and whoever.. Enjoy your baby

nocluemummy · 02/09/2021 22:33

My DS was small baby and DD is chunky i think same as your lo. It doesnt matter, i think they all even out and your lo is only breastfed! Dont listen to them, its all BS
My SIL was big baby but shes like petite now. I was big baby but now not keeping weight for some reason. DH was tiny baby and hes a big man 🤷🏽‍♀️ All i can say just enjoy baby rolls 😁 while they last as they grow up and time flies 🥲

"Obese" newborn

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