Health Vistor says my 8 month old boy is over weight.

[Lauracrazygirl]

So last week my HV said my son is over weight and I need to change his diet to make sure he doesn't gain any more.

For the record my son is
8 months old
25.3 lbs
Head to toe measures - 76cm (he is a long baby)
Wear a mix of 6-9 and 9-12 clothes

This is what he eats in a 24 hour period.

5am - 6oz bottle = 115 cal

9am - breakfast -
rusk - 70 cal

4oz - 80 cal

1pm lunch -
one jar - 120g - 70 cal
Yog pouch - 80 cal

3-4pm
4oz - 80 cal

5pm lunch -
one jar - 120g - 70 cal
Yog pouch - 80 cal

6.30pm - bedtime bottle - 6oz - 115 cal

7pm - 5am - sleeps for 10 hours

So all that equals 760 cal per 24 hours for an 8 month old baby.

My HV says I should cut out the 3-4pm bottle. Which I have been trying to do for the last week but my son has been so upset without it so I have just been giving him it.

I feel she was really hard on me, she kept saying "over weight babies struggle to crawl and have all sorts of health problems" she also ended our phone call with "remember I'll be weighing him when I see you next so I hope hes in a better place".

But I googled how many calories an 8 month needs and most sources say between 750 - 900. Also the average weight of an 8 month old boy is apparently between 17 - 22lbs. So he's a little over but not much.

So my question is, do you think she's right?

Should I keeping trying to cut out that 4oz bottle.

Don’t!

He’s a baby, and he wants his food

He may be “overweight in their eyes” but once he starts moving about and walking it will drop off

Keep doing what you’re doing

I think you HV is ridiculous. My son weighed the same at 8 months. As soon as he started really moving around, crawling and then walking, he became a skinny little thing. He's now 23, 6'4" and very fit.

Unless things have drastically changed (my youngest is 8), you don't 'need' to see the HV if you don't want to. If questioned, you can say she was giving advice that you thought was potentially dangerous.

She can't 'threaten' you with weighing him. Take him to the gp for their advice

Apart from extreme and exceptional circumstances I think the whole idea of young babies being overweight is nuts!

Take no notice OP. I've been a mother for 12 years and over time I've learnt to take HV's advice with a pinch of salt.

Carry on as you are, you're doing great!

I've just checked my son's book, as he was a big baby (11lbs at birth) and his measurements are identical to your boy's - 25.3lbs and 76cm at 8 months old. I had him entirely in 9-12m clothes by then though. I never had anything from the midwives and HV other than congratulations that he was such a big happy healthy boy.

You're obviously closely monitoring his intake and no doubt will keep an eye on his movement, crawling, taking steps etc. My boy was incredibly active and never stopped moving for a moment since the second he was born so I never really worried.

I'm not usually one to say ignore medical professionals but in this case I'd take it with a pinch of salt and just keep monitoring him. A healthy weight is important but he's a baby! He's growing!

Btw my DS is now 5 and although he's tall and sturdier than some of his friends, he has not an ounce of fat on him and is very healthy, active and happy.

Totally daft. They spend the first few months worrying you if they dont gain enough weight, then immediately switch to 'dont let them gain too much!'
This is a single snapshot of his size when really kids should be looked at over a period of time to even out the growth spurts.
If you do still feel worried, maybe try blw with solid food instead of a jar at one meal. Allows him to eat a bit more slowly as he has to work a bit harder than eating straight from a spoon.

Maybe give fresh fruit instead of a Yog pouch. And rusk may not be very filling so if he would have porridge instead that might naturally cut out some milk maybe?

I mean, he’s eating a lot of sugar. The milk, rusks, yogurt pouch are full of it.

Why don’t you introduce proper food? Porridge made with milk (blend the oats if you want it smooth), steamed veg and protein (mashed if you still want to spoon feed) natural yogurt with fruit, etc etc.

Babies can’t be overweight in my eyes, but they can have real food.

Agree that is a very sugary diet. Less processed foods might be better for him. He will lose any bulk when he is more mobile,

I agree with others that his diet is processed/sugar heavy. Do you give him any actual food? I didn't ff so not sure if he's having more bottles than normal. What percentile is he on?

Absolutely agree with PP that babies can't really be overweight. My DS was an absolute chub til about 15 months when he was a lot more active and it just fell off. HV told me off at his 9month review because he had jumped yet another percentile or two since his last weigh in

I also think that although the amounts of foods you're feeding him looks fine, giving him less processed sugar might help. Porridge or weetabix with fruit in the morning, drop the rusk. Some of your dinner instead of a jar, soft veg/mash/peas and sweetcorn that he can pick up with his hand will help him to develop fine motor skills too. Good luck, you're doing fine

I wouldn't worry about his weight but he does does sound sugar heavy. Porridge toast fresh fruit and veg might be a good place to start. My large boys both done better with real food rather than just jars and pouches.

DS weighed about the same if not more at 8 months, was a couple of cm taller. He crawled at 8.5 months and walked at 10 months. Absolutely no gross motor delays at all. I can't remember how much he ate and I didn't calculate his calories either. He's now 2.5 and on the 90th centile for weight and 95th for height. Absolutely fine and I never restricted his food intake

Thank you everyone!

Yes I do give him some natural food.

Tonight (for dinner) I am giving him home made,
100g of blended sweet potato
And 50g of raspberry and banana puree

This morning he had
Weetabix & 4oz

Lunch
120g jar & yog pouch.

But your points are valid, those pouches/jars are just too convenient sometimes.
I need to remember to give him home made food.

I am sure it's me not reading it right, but isn't 25.3 lbs equal to about 11,5 kg?
If so, accordingly to the growth chart in my red book the baby is well over the percentile chart for weight/lenght at 8 months, more like a big 36 months baby.
The chart says weight goes from like 4 to 7,5kgs at 8 months and lenght 52 to 63cm.
As weight/lenght are proportionate, I think you just a big baby, but not overweight.
But that's my reading and I could be completely wrong!

p.s. my baby is 10,5 kg/84cm and 2 years old. I am on the other side of the scale.

Yes 11.5kgs. My son was just over that at 8 months. He was almost 5kgs at birth though. He was always above the top line of the charts.

My DD is 2 years old and is 95cm.

Have you looked into blw? It’s so much easier than blending etc.

What centile was he on at birth? I.e. has he always been big? If not, she may have a point that his diet needs an overhaul.

Agree with blw, just chuck him some of what you are having.

As others have said, that’s a helluva sweet diet for a baby!
Even the reduced sugar Rusks have more sugar in than digestive biscuits!
Seems like he needs actual food....food that looks like food (meat & veg, pasta, rice, soups, etc).

I remember someone saying to me after a similar experience they can’t accurately do height till they are standing so she could of under estimated his height by a couple of cms which would affect his percentile

I think they're pushing down on this because of the evidence that overweight toddlers are more likely to become obese adults, with all the health difficulties that can bring. Not sure if there is the same likelihood from 8 months but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a link.

Hey,

My son was 23lbs at 8 months old, he was born big and just stayed that way. We did baby led weaning and never fed him anything with high sugars, just healthy food with his 3 bottles of 7oz formula per day. He was just BIG.

Started sitting at 4.5 months, crawling at 8 months and took his first steps at 10.5 months. He has now slimmed down considerably now that he moves and weighs a lot less now than he did.

Please don't panic. Some babies are just big. As long as you're not feeding him loads of crap you have nothing to worry about.

You also need to make sure he doesn't only have natural sugars too, even in homemade food, if it is being supplemented with processed. I see he's had plain weetabix too, that's good.

Which centiles is he following for height and weight? If he's on the 25th for height and the 90th for weight it does make sense to look at how to balance it a bit better. You want him on roughly the same centiles for both.

It would probably be easiest if you just make him a little plate up for meals. I used to give DS a plate with olives, frozen peas and sweetcorn, blueberries, breadsticks and cheese - that kind of thing. You can mix it up with maybe some pasta and chicken, broccoli, Cheerios and strawberries, whatever. Babies won't stuff themselves but if you're only giving purée stuff, a lot of sugar can be packed into a small amount of fruit or yoghurt.

This thread has been far more helpful than my health visitor.

Yes, my son was born big 8lb 11 and a 38inch head.

I have a few more questions

Should I only use jar/pouches if travelling to family?
Should give my son a fresh fruit puree as a pudding or a meal?
How many grams of food should I give at lunch/dinner? Right now I give 100g.

Thanks