Obese baby

[Campania]

Ds is 9 months old and weighs about 10.7kg ie he's on the 95th centile. He's on a similar centile for height (90th if I remember his length correctly from the last measurement). He definitely looks like a chunky baby too with massive thighs, etc. He only fits into clothes for 12-18 month old children.

He was born on the 75th and is combination fed though these days he only has formula before a nap, probably not more than 200ml a day. I don't think I produce a lot of breastmilk either and he only drinks from one side. I think most of his calories are coming from solids.

He absolutely loves his solids. He's on 3 meals a day and never seems to stop. He has about half a bowl full for every meal. We are renovating the kitchen so for the last two months he's mostly been having ready made baby food like hipp organic jars. If anyone is familiar with them he'll happily have 1.5 jars of the ones labelled 7+ month. I'm trying now again to make more fresh food but he hasn't got the hang of finger food at all.

My older DD has severe weight gain issues so initially we were very happy and relieved that he's putting on weight so nicely but now I worry that this will set him up for problems later. Apparently babies who are obese (on 95th centile or higher) at 9 months are likely to be obese as toddlers and then as adults with all the related health issues. Also I've read on several places that being too heavy can delay milestones like crawling and then walking, ie gross motor skills.

He isn't crawling yet or using any other method of moving forwards but he just rolls wherever he wants to go. (These days most of the time he just wants to be held.) We try to give him as much floor time as possible.

When I asked the health visitor a few months ago she wasnt too worried. She said they don't worry about excess weight gain in babies. I am now a bit worried though. I don't want to set him up for problems later.

I don't think you can restrict food or milk at this age and I'm trying to get him as much tummy time as possible but he's been quite cranky lately, always wanting to be carried. Maybe he's teething.

im.jweight gain will slow down when he starts crawling or becomes more mobile but should I be worried?.should I be doing something about it and if yes then what?

Apologies for the length of this post and thanks for reading..

I have a just turned ten month old, who's the same size, he's perfectly in proportion, obese my ass. 95th for length, 98th for weight, 10.6kg and there's nothing wrong with him. He's not obese AT ALL. If his height and weight are roughly on the same percentiles then he's not obese in the slightest, he's just a big lad.

Can you even call a baby obese? It's just a chunky baby surely. Obese seems like a word for teens and adults.

There is some fetishism with obesity today

Babies aren’t obese.

Yes, I was surprised too. I thought most of my friends said they had babies at a similar centile but lately everyone we meet has been commenting on what a "big lad" he is and they seem really surprised.

I've also read that babies who are heavy tend to grown quicker in length (and then later their height plateaus earlier) so the weight is driving the length rather than them being jist proportional if that makes sense.

I wouldn't have called a baby obese or overweight either but apparently > 95 centile is obese and > 85 centile is overweight. I'll try to dig out the links where I read it and post them.

Is obese baby a thing?

It means nothing OP.

my son was huge and 99% on everything

he is 5’8 at 11 and really skinny like needs to put on weight

he has v tall genes and was never fat at any stage but going by his numbers you would expect a big lad

however if you’re worried about food, make sure he gets his water/milk in too

OP your baby is not obese! My son was 11kg at 9 months and also didn’t crawl - like yours he rolled everywhere! He was EBF though, and not really into solids. Still isn’t that keen at 22 months. He crawled at 11 months and walked at 15 months, and has dropped down the centiles from 99th to 80th.

The only thing I would say is that prior to 12 months, a baby’s primary source of nutrition is milk. Do you offer the breast before solids? It’s also possibly harder for baby to moderate his intake with purée/spoon but obviously you’re renovating etc and this limits what you can do. I appreciate that every baby is different, too.

Really I just wanted to say that your baby isn’t obese; he’s chunky! :)

our son had various medical issues requiring him to be tube fed which meant regulating his weight gain could be tricky. According to his consultants, babies can in fact be obese - obese babies are more likely to be obese children and that comes with increased risks for a whole host of health issues. However, it is normal for babies to be a bit fat and if his weight and length are in proportion that sounds about right doesn’t it? If you were saying he was on the 95th centile for weight but 50th for height then I’d consider that more of an issue.

My son was 9lb 2oz born and continued on the 98th percentile forever. He was such a chubby baby, rolls everywhere just like a Michelin man. I worried because he struggled to move like the other babies but he learned to do everything they could just a bit slower. He has always worn clothes for children older than him. As he became a toddler he started to grow taller and everything stretched out. Lots of growth spurts used up all that excess. His appetite has never dropped. He has spent most of his childhood tall and skinny, he's now 18 and has been over 6ft since about 15/16yrs and doesn't carry any excess weight still. He still eats so much. It's funny to think back at how chunky he was as a baby. I'm sure your little one will stretch out to. If there was an issue I'm sure someone would of raised it with you. I used to feel sorry for the scrawny little babies (and their parents) who struggled to eat and thrive.

It's tough, I was born on the 95th centile and remained on it my whole childhood. I was always big and as an adult struggle with my weight. My sister was born slim and still is. Im not sure what could have been done differently though, I was EBF and my parents fed me very healthy food, and they are both slim themselves.

My dc are the same, one was born slim and still is, one was born 95th centile+ and still is. I do restrict her food but it hasn't helped.

If I were you, I'd cut down on the jars as they do go down very easily, and give some of what you are eating. It doesn't matter if he doesn't eat much at first.

Once he starts crawling he will likely lose a bit around top of legs and tummy. Just make sure he gets plenty of veg to help fill him up.

Thanks. Both dh and me are fairly tall so we'd expect him to be on the bigger side but maybe because DD is so thin Ds just seems huge in comparison and well it's just everyone commenting about it. And though ds is tall as well he does look chunky with big rolls of fat everywhere. Adorable of course but is it healthy? I really don't know and I've read some worrying things that it can be an indicator of future health problems or that it can prime your lipids (fat cells) which against sets you up for weight issues in later life.

I have a 9 mo too, OP, he's not been weighed recently but I suspect he's approx a kilo lighter than your LO and seems to follow somewhere between 50 and 75th centile height and weight wise. Your LO doesn't sound obese at all and in any event it's too young to be 'obese'. He might just be solid build?

FWIW, my DS has 3 meals a day now (and can it for Britain, top appetite!) plus approx 600ml of milk per day. He moves a lot now, rolling, nearly crawling and pulling himself up, desperate to stand up.

Do you offer your LO opportunities to move? He might not be interested yet but I find once they become interested, they don't stop and must be burning lots of energy on trying to move! Please don't be too worried! xx

*eat not it, sorry

He was BF until recently with some formula in the evenings, but currently is on formula milk and solids which made it easier to measure how much milk he gets. xx

I had a very skinny DC1 and a very very chubby DC2. Fat rolls on thighs and arms and belly etc - it was a shock after DC1. DC2 remained a chunky toddler and preschooler, to the point that I (probably irrationally with hindsight) really worried the school Reception age weight check would come back as obese for DC2. (It didn’t!) So I understand.

But DC1 is a teen now and actually the one I’m currently having to keep an eye on with weight. DC2 slimmed up and out at around 5-6 and remains lean and healthy with not an ounce spare right now.

Please try not to worry. Don’t Google!

Now is really the time to get the hang of finger foods, trying with resistive food like a mango pit or corn on the cob is the best thing to do! They help the brain to map the mouth which makes the transition from purée to solids much easier and safer!

And they keep getting younger! Wonder if we'll make it past an obese foetus and start analysing fat eggs and sperm by morning.

My DS was similar, right at the top of the centile and always hungry and had rolls of fat. However, things changed once he started moving around and he was a tall but slim child. He's a 6'4" adult now and a normal, healthy weight. Don't worry, sure your DS will be fine.

Babies can't be obese. If his centile for weight and height are similar he is just a bigger baby. People love to comment on babies saying they're big/small/tall/bald/hairy whatever else. They probably sound surprised because it sounds like your first child was on the smaller side.

[Grin]

Please don’t worry! My eldest was born and stayed on the 99th centile for the first few months, then went way off the chart (total milk monster) - he was a chunky monkey. He’s now 10, 5ft 3 (tall parents), slim and healthy / happy.

My eldest was a huge baby, he was so hungry all the time and he had rolls and rolls.
He was a chubby toddler, I checked his BMI when he was three and he was technically overweight. I mentioned it to the GP and she told me not to worry, he was perfectly healthy.

Then as he grew older he became really skinny, and for the last few years he's been borderline underweight. He's 14 now and eats about 5 huge meals a day plus huge amounts of junk food but he's still only in the 3rd percentile for BMI.

So I wouldn't worry at all. It means nothing.

Haha everyone calls him the Michelin man. Is that a polite way of saying your baby is fat? 😄

Funnily enough (well not funny at all actually) I also have one of those scrawny little kids who is severely underweight. What am I doing wrong when it comes to kids' nutrition?😥

Thanks. Yes, I put him on the floor and get down with him to play as much as possible. We've never used a rocker or similar. The only restriction is that lately he always just wants to be picked up. He has started getting frustrated if he can't reach things but hasn't figured out how to move forwards. He just rolls.