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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

ok, I know we're not supposed to create ishooos around food, but I would like some advice re a chunky toddler

27 replies

PerkinWarbeck · 27/02/2008 09:05

my DD is one, and very chubby. She is of course beautiful, but has a very large belly, and very chubby arms and legs. she now needs clothes aged 18mo-2 to fit her belly, but these are long on the arms and legs.

the not entirely helpful centile charts tell me she is between 75-91st for height, and 98 for weight.

she was BLWed, and now has normal dinners. She eats a lot, and doesn't seem capable of leaving anything on the plate! she also has 7oz milk am and pm, plus a cup of milk (full fat cows milk) in the afternoon. no juice, cakes, biscuits.

She is very active, crawling and cruising non-stop all day.

If it's of any relevance, I broadly feed her what I feed myself, and I'm a tall size 14-16.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here - I guess some reassurance that I'm doing all I can to support DD to be healthy. Any tips gratefully appreciated.

I've stuck this in "health" as well, as I'm feeling particularly sensitive and neurotic today .

that was longer than i thought it would be wink. thanks to those reading!

OP posts:
TinkerbellesMum · 27/02/2008 10:16

Sounds like you're doing well. A BLW child should eat to their hunger and have a better understanding of their own hunger than a puree weaned baby, so I would just assume that she is eating what she needs.

The fact that she is on similar lines for weight and height is good as that means her BMI is about right.

Once she gets more mobile her weight will settle down a bit.

Kewcumber · 27/02/2008 10:23

I broadly feed her what I feed myself - do you mean type of food (not volume) I assume.

otehrwise the only thing I would suggest is reducing the volume of food you give her on a plate and see if she seems hungry afterwards before giving her more.

I know nothing about BLW vs puree imvho whether a child keeps eating as much as you give them seems more down to the temperment of the child than how they were weaned. However Tinkerbellesmum is probably right she may well slim down once she's walking, my friends DD (very similar) did.

Kewcumber · 27/02/2008 10:24

and you don't need to bother putting a thread in more than one area - most people just look at active convos so will pick it up where ever it is.

Nooname · 27/02/2008 10:27

Hi,
my ds was very chunky too at this stage but now he's 21mo has lengthened out and is no-where near as chunky. I find with him that he will go through phases of eating for England and then other phases of not being that interested.
I think at your dd's age she is probably building up reserves so she can do a lot of growing. I would try not to worry about it.
I got a lot of comments from my family about ds being chunky but over time his shape has changed.
hths

RedJools · 27/02/2008 10:28

I don't think I would worry- she sounds perfectly healthy, and its not as if she's eating rubbish!! Both of mine slimmed down in their 2nd/3rd years, and now I worry dd1 is too skinny! Keep going as you are, I think! And thank your lucky stars she eats- my 2 dds used to be great eaters as babies, ate what we ate etc, now are soo difficult!

wheelsonthebus · 27/02/2008 10:30

seems a lot of milk to me. why not moved to semi-skimmed or switch more to water? when my dd was a bit chubby, the health visitor said to cut out all desserts (we just had a savoury course) and walk with her everywhere and it did help.

dirtygertiefromnumber30 · 27/02/2008 10:37

she sounds very similar to my dd perkin, she is 15 months and is off the scale on those centile charts, also wears age 2 clothes and was BLW'd.

Im not concerned about her AT ALL. I know I feed her well (homecooked meals, fresh fruit and veg, limited biscuits, crisps etc)

I think its fab that she's got a good appetite and enjoys her food, some days she'll eat for britain, other days she's not fussed on eating much at all and thats fine. I never make an issue either way.

I may be more relaxed about it because ds was the same. He was GIGANTIC when he was a toddler (the GP wanted to test him for a growth disorder at one point!!) and now he is a tall, slim, healthy 5 year old.

I think at that age they cant over eat 'good food' iykwim, so as long as your limiting 'unhealthy food' then im sure she is absolutely fine.

FWIW, imo, fat toddlers are much cuter than skinny little runts (but then i am biased!)

trockodile · 27/02/2008 10:42

Sounds ok to me -I would keep on with what you are doing(no rubbish) and not try to restrict food. See what she is like in a year-most toddlers i know go through a fussy stage then and often eat less than when they are little.
She will also exercise more as she gets older.
Milk seems ok and i don't think it is advised to switch to semi till 2 years. Maybe move on to a cup for all feeds (am first if nec) and she will probably naturally take less.

newgirl · 27/02/2008 11:03

i think i would phase out the milk in the day at one - water is probably sufficient - she will be thirsty rather than hungry

also she will need stores of fat for when she starts walking/running - they burn off loads of energy then

Seona1973 · 27/02/2008 12:44

I would prbably switch the am and pm milk into a beaker too and leave out the afternoon milk and maybe replace with a healthy snack and a drink of water. Semi-skimmed isnt recommended before the age of 2 so I wouldnt switch to that just yet. Apart from that she sounds as if she is doing great. Once she gets more mobile her shape will change and you will find her weight gain slows down a lot.

Sputnik · 27/02/2008 13:06

As mother of 2 very chubby babies I've been told you shouldn't worry about it at all until they're 3. My DD is now 3 1/2 and still a bit chubby, but the paed said, as she has always been that way and she doesn't eat crap then not to limit food. She said better to start some activity like swimming when she gets to 4ish. I really wouldn't worry at 1yo, they need reserves for growth spurts and illness.

Original poster
PerkinWarbeck · 27/02/2008 13:22

thank-you all for you advice and reassurance. I might think about slowly reducing her morning and afternoon milk intake. her bedtime bottle really soothes and settles her for a nice long sleep, so we'll leave that one until last .

OP posts:
mawbroon · 27/02/2008 13:24

I was on the verge of putting away some of ds's trousers when he was around 18 months as they were too tight round the middle. He started walking at 20 months and is now 2.4 and these same trousers are too big round the middle now!!

What I am trying to say is that they do change shape and as long as you are not feeding her rubbish (which it seems you are not) then you should try to relax about it a bit.

My ds used to hoover up food like nobody's business and has now become a more moderate eater in his old age

If I was ever wavering about it at all, I reassured myself that he was regulating his own intake as we also did blw.

HTH

AitchTwoOh · 27/02/2008 13:26

sputnik makes a very good point about them needing reserves for illness, imo. dd has a good covering of fat but it just melts if she gets a d&v thing. it's actually frightening how quickly it goes.

hecate · 27/02/2008 13:28

Apparently, your average toddler needs approx 40 calories for each inch (height), so it might be worth keeping a diary for a fortnight to see how many calories you are feeding her.

Beauregard · 27/02/2008 13:31

My dd2(2.2) is very 'chunky' but she is tall with it and wears some 3-4 clothes.
She will eat practically anything as she was babyled weaned.My visitor said that she was off the scale for her age and height yet she doesn't have rolls or fat or anything,she is just stocky.
It does concern me tbh despite her having a healthy diet.

Beauregard · 27/02/2008 13:31

my health visitor

dividedself · 27/02/2008 13:34

I really think that until they are very actively burning off calories, i.e. confidently walking, then you needn't worry massively.

If she struggles to limit quantity then make the stuff she eats lower calorie - upping veg and fruit and limiting carbs. That way she can eat to satisfaction without gaining too much weight.

Kewcumber · 27/02/2008 13:45

is blw known for children to self regulate food better then? DS was puree babyfood fed (no choice) and doesn't seem to have any obvious problems stopping eating when he's full.

AitchTwoOh · 27/02/2008 13:51

probably because you didn't have any problems letting him stop, Kew. all it does, really, is remove the 'just one more teeny spoonful for mummy' variable.
it follows, to me, that if the parent isn't involved in the process then the child has total control over amounts. that's not the same as saying that if the parent is involved in the process that the child has no control, iykwim? it's just another factor, that's all.

Kewcumber · 27/02/2008 14:05

oh god Aitch he was so underweight the temptation to stuff him was ENORMOUS! But I'd seen him force fed one day . It was really the only really distressing aspect to his care that I saw and probably wasn't really that common, but I couldn't ever bring myself to be anything other than very relaxed about food with him as a result. I just stuffed his food with the most number of healthy calories I could find. He ate a LOT of avocados initially. Surprising he isn;t gree really.

Interesting thought about the blw thing though, hadn't thought of it that way.

AitchTwoOh · 27/02/2008 14:07

dd hates avocados, she actually spits them out. it's very galling as they're so bleeding expensive and healthy etc.

mawbroon · 27/02/2008 14:15

My ds hates avocadoes too. He reluctantly ate them when his choice of foods was limited but now he absolutely detests them. He will spit out a mouthful of food if there is even the tiniest hint of avocado in there!

Our consultant for his allergies did say though that a response like that to a certain food may be because they are allergic and can feel it tingling in the mouth so I haven't forced the issue at all.

lennygrrl · 27/02/2008 14:21

Message withdrawn

EachPeachPearMum · 27/02/2008 14:47

my dd (just turned 2) was like this- she is still wearing tops that I was going to put away at 15 months because she was too fet for them!

Once she was more active, the chub dropped off- she is now quite svelte, though still has a little pot belly after eating.

btw- re volume -she can eat as much as a 12 year old...e v e r y day!

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