DC1 weight 3YO

[Peanutbutteryday]

We’ve weighted and measured Dc1 at home so may be slightly out with height and weight. However looks like she’s just above the 75centile line for weight - maybe nearer 91 centile line and exactly on or just below the 25 centile for height. First dc so just wondered if anyone else had similar experience and should we be worried! Or just monitor? Sorry if ott. I try really hard with healthy eating.

Portion sizes are important here. They may be eating healthy foods but can still be overweight if they are eating larger portions than needed and/or snacking a lot. We ended up in this situation with our eldest. We also realised we were giving snacks whenever they whined or were bored etc or to keep them entertained on walks or journeys. Can you post an example of day to day food with amounts?

Sure: @LemonsMakelimes

days not at nursery:

breakfast: overnight oats with banana or 2 weetabix. About 50% split. Usually eats all weetabix - oats varies

snack - fruit or organix bar & fruit

lunch - homemade chilli , pasta , fish. Always with veg
pudding - fruit

snack - fruit or boiled egg

tea - bread/crackers, cheese, cucumber, grapes, boiled egg (example)

milk morning & night

on reflection wondering if too much fruit or milk not needed?

treats - Sunday may have sweet treat for pudding ie crumble. May pop out for baby chino cookie twice a week

nursery - Weetabix, crackers for snack, hot lunch and fruit for pudding, carb heavy tea!! I then do fruit for snack when home and milk for bed

or maybe not enough exercise not sure

Thanks for update, how much milk are we talking? And how big are the portions for lunch and dinner, would his meal fit on a plate the size of an adult side plate?

that is quite a lot of fruit and probably more than is needed - not always great for teeth - but unlikely to be the cause of any excess weight.

Additional milk isn’t needed per se if he’s having milk on cereal as well as yoghurt or cheese most days, and/or other sources of calcium. A cup of milk is ok but if you’re worried about weight then I’d limit it to a small cup just once a day perhaps at bedtime.

Sometimes babies who are bottle fed end up still having large quantities of milk well into toddlerhood especially if they keep a bottle rather than switch to a cup. Cups are better for teeth anyway but they also don’t hold as much as a bottle, and a cup is probably more of an appropriate serving size unless it’s one of those whoppers front Sports Direct 😂

That doesn't look like too much food to me, as a lot of it is fruit, but I would ask a health visitor for advice. I would be worried about limiting food at that age when they are burning so much energy. It might cause temper tantrums and sleep issues if she genuinely does feel hungry but isn't getting enough.

The NHS have a children’s BMI calculator which could give you a clearer picture.
Chn change a lot though, DD was 99 centile for both at one point (age2/3 probably) and now 75 for height and 50 for weight. I don’t think what she eats has changed that greatly.

If you can, move to three meals a day (drop snacks) plus cup of milk morning and evening.

Give very small snack if you feel your DC is actually very hungry at snack time and absolutely can’t wait for the next meal.

I also started walking everywhere with my 3yo - park, school to collect older one, local shops etc…- and always left the car at home. This worked for us. By the time my DC was 4 and ready to start school she was the right weight for her height. She still really loved her food but with moving about more, she could eat more. I’d have to arrive at the school gate with an apple in hand to avoid a meltdown.

This is also true, that’s why in my last post, I said if you can. If OP can’t reduce food as DC is genuinely hungry then keep the food and just add more exercise into daily routine - as I said we walked everywhere which did the trick.

What centiles has she been in growing up?

Sorry just realised I’ve been saying he not she!

All mine started big (smallest was 9lb8 at birth) they were massive big fat babies - all look like a dressed up candlestick now as teens.
Portions are tiny for little kids - the best thing I ever had was a plate which said the portion of meat should be the size and thickness of the palm of their hand. Carbs same amount - veggies as much as you can get into them.
do they walk or scoot as they move around or straight into car?
do they do classes such as swimming or tumbletots or similar?
i would go easy on snacks and puddings - they don’t need a daily snack twice a day. Semi skimmed milk too.