Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Weaning

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

how can i not stress about my tubby baby's weight?

17 replies

mololoko · 17/02/2009 19:48

i am (very sadly, bf nightmare) almost exclusively ff my dd (pfb, natch).

at 28 weeks she is on the 98th percentile (21 lbs) and looks decidedly tubby (tubby, but gorgeous imo ).

she was born on 50th, and dropped below 9th before i was pressured into topping her up with formula at 4 weeks old.

she now has about 30-33oz formula a day, but she seems to have a very efficient metabolism and is very rarely sick.

she has a small amount of solids - blw.

she pushes the bottle away when she's had enough milk and i don't try to force it on her.

she does appear to love her solids which i'm really happy about.

now, i was a fat child and it caused me no end of grief and misery and i'd hate her to go through that. also, i am terrified of passing on my issues on food and dieting which my mother kindly passed on to me.

so, do fat babies become fat children? am i being ridiculous thinking maybe i should cut her milk down at this point?

or should i start cutting out feeds now she's on solids? she never seems massively hungry until she sees the bottle (then she clamours for it). should i be waiting for her to be really hungry before making a milk feed? should i try to cut out the 11pm dream feed?

or is she storing up energy for when she starts moving?

how can i not stress about her weight? i am much more accepting of my own weight these days.

any advice welcomed, thank you.

OP posts:
ShowOfHands · 17/02/2009 19:49

What's her height?

IAteMakkaPakka · 17/02/2009 19:50

Oooooooooooh, at 28 weeks mine was a porker, he was huge!

For your benefit I have put before and after pictures on my profile - before and after he learned to walk!

Don't worry yourself, stay as relaxed as you can about it. She will soon slim down when she's rushing around taking your house to pieces etc

ShowOfHands · 17/02/2009 19:51

Bear in mind that she's not moving round much. My dd was off the chart for weight and was the tubbiest, roliest little baby. Honestly, she was a little ball. As soon as she started moving round more, she lost the chubbiness. She's still off the chart for weight but the fact that she's on the 99th centile for height too means she's tall and lean.

ShowOfHands · 17/02/2009 19:52

At 28 weeks, my dd weighed more than yours btw. Significantly more!

elsiepiddock · 17/02/2009 19:54

My exclusively bf ds1 was 9lb2oz at birth at got fatter and fatter.

I have just checked and at 24 weeks he was 21.5lbs - a real dough ball.

I hope I can reassure you - he is now a super slim 10 year old and has been slim since he was about 2.5.

AitchTwoOh · 17/02/2009 19:54

she sounds gorgeous. try not to let your understandable issues cloud the fact that you are letting your dd control her appetite.

mololoko · 17/02/2009 19:54

thanks folks

she's about 75th for height last time i tried to measure her. she does have a MASSIVE head...full of brains ...dh reckons that accounts for about 25 percentiles

OP posts:
callmeovercautious · 17/02/2009 19:59

Does she roll about alot yet? My DD was big at this age too and HV said once she was more mobile she would start to shift some of it, she did

iatemakkapakka - was being nosey - can't see your profile

mololoko · 17/02/2009 20:05

i was trying to nose at makkapakka too...

she sits up really well but only really rolls front to back. she loves bouncing and standing up, but isn't terribly mobile yet.

OP posts:
callmeovercautious · 17/02/2009 20:07

DD loved sitting up and watching the world go by Rolling is good though DD was 10m before she rolled anywhere!

CHEQUERSmate · 17/02/2009 20:13

My DD is pretty big too and she's 27 weeks (haven't had her weighed for a while).

One of her NCT friends is a pretty chunky bouy. But he started crawling v v young, around 5 months, and last time I saw him everyone commented how he has lost his little belly, and he has. He doesn't seem chubby to me at all now.

Try not to worry

JRocks · 17/02/2009 20:13

Just to add my voice to what others have said - DS was a real chunk but totally gorgeous. He's now 3.3 and isn't skinny but is very lean, we look back at his baby pictures and laugh. Don't worry too much, just enjoy her and you'll see how much she changes once up and about

IAteMakkaPakka · 17/02/2009 20:18

OK, technical glitch (OK, OK, I'm totally inept) resolved. He was fat.

callmeovercautious · 17/02/2009 20:24

OHH - those lovely chubby fat bangles DD had those

mololoko · 17/02/2009 20:27

awww, makka, he's lovely. be sure to dig out the bath one for future girlfriends

OP posts:
peppapighastakenovermylife · 17/02/2009 21:26

My exclusively breastfed DD was 21 pounds at 20 weeks . They grow out of it as long as you are letting them naturally regulate what they eat and it sounds like you are doing fab. Stop worrying (easier said than done I know) and marvel at those fat little legs!!

Sidge · 17/02/2009 21:39

I wouldn't worry unduly. As long as she is eating on demand and not being forced/encouraged to finish food or a bottle then she is eating what she needs.

The only thing that I would pick up on from your post is the dream feed - does she need it? What happens if you don't offer it? If she is eating well and drinking plenty in the day she might not need it.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page