weight for a 3 year old

[susia]

Hi my sister is really worried about her daughter. She is 3.10 and is really tall, as tall - taller than most 5 year old boys. She has a size 12 and a half feet and weighs 4 stone. She is also amazingly advanced physically for her age, she can ride a bike, swim without armbands etc.

My sister is anorexic and worries alot about weight/size etc.

I don't really know how much she feeds her but when I am with her I can see she will eat everything she is given.

Do you think she has cause for concern or could be overfeeding her or do you think it'll all even out?

feet won't grow big from over feeding - if she isn't over weight don't worry.
souds like she's a "big" child, in te most harmless meaning of teh word. my DS is 3.9, has size 10.5 feet, but is nowhere near the physical confidence your niece shows.

If she feels stressed now, it will show more when she is older, and still bigger (thoug it may even out). If she is raised to feel confident and happy about her size, this will be relfected when she is older. hard i know in her family situation - but maybe you need to take teh role of reassuring aunt.

You don't get tall from over-feeding. 4st sounds quite heavy for a 3.10 year old, but not one who has size 12 feet and is the size of a 5 yr old.

Hopefully you can help your sister to stop worrying and make sure that her daughter grows up with a healthy attitude to food.

thankyou, its funny but I have the opposite problem with my son. He is skinny and doesn't like food much. He is quite tall but not as tall as her though. I do reassure my sister and I say that when she's 12 or 13 she will even out etc.

Susia,

Any HV would be able to offer guidance re) height/weight ratios.

However, does your niece look overweight or fat? If she looks OK, then she probably is!

At the risk of offending you, is your sister projecting her weight issues onto her daughter because that would really be damaging. I am assuming that your sister would 'prefer' a skinny child as opposed to a larger one given her problems with anorexia and she may not be able to contain her disappointment!

I really do speak from experience - my own mum is a petite person and would have loved to have had a petite girly skinny daughter but she got me instead - big frame, very tall - like my Dad's family.

I mean, girls suffer enough now with all this size zero crap and I really, really feel for girls who are naturally bigger.

tryharder - you're right, I think my sister would definately prefer a petite child and finds it really hard.

Her daughter does look quite overweight to be honest but she does also look like she is about 6 or 7. I really feel for her because she is three but will be treated as though she is much older. I sometimes wonder if she feeds her too much as there is a boy in my son's class who will literally eat everything he is given and his mum has to stop him.

I just imagine it as my son is the complete opposite, he really doesn't like food much and I wish he would eat more.