Lurker coming out - need kid advice re: weight

[periwinkle]

Sept 10, 2013 14:18:27 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

What if her height doesn't "catch up"? What's his plan then? Why does he suspect a medical problem? It's not like she's off the charts.

Right now the plan is to maintain her current weight.  If it goes up at the 3 month check then it would be either a weight loss plan and/or tests to check thyroid, etc to see if her metabolism is off.  I explained everything we do regarding her diet/activity to the doctor so that is why she would defer to testing if she keeps gaining.

[periwinkle]

Sept 10, 2013 14:25:28 GMT -5 thebuddhagouda said:

My kid weighs 40 lbs, and he's only 3. My doctor has never suggested even the slightest worry. That seems awfully gun jumpy to me, but he has also been in the 85-95% pretty much since his 3m well visit. Was there a drastic shift in her percentage between 2y and 3y?

She was a little chunker from 2 months till about 1 year.  After she started walking she thinned out but has still stayed higher in the weight range.  She jumped out of the "curve" in this visit so I think that's why the doc brought it up.

[formerlyak]

Each year at ds' school they do a BMI assessment. In kinder, I got a note saying ds was "obese." If you saw ds you'd be like, "WTF? That kid is like the tiniest in his class!" I was super upset about it and so we went to the doctor. The doc said with kids who are still going through growth spurts on a regular basis, you can't put a lot of weight on the BMI unless it is a pattern over time (i.e. every year when ds gets this assessment it comes back as obese). Kids tend to bulk up and then sprout up. So they grow out and then up. About a month later, I was at Old Navy buying all new pants for ds because his old ones were too short, so doc was right -- growth spurt. Last year I got the assessment and it said he was borderline overweight. That was in October. By March he was two pants sizes bigger than in October simply because he became too tall for the older ones. So unless it's a pattern over time, it's hard to use those at this age because of the growth spurt issue.

[mmmomof2]

My older DD has a small frame, so I worry that BMI won't catch any weight gain problems. She'd have to be really overweight for the DD to comment on a problem just looking at BMI. Some kids have large frames and they might always be overweight on paper. We're not meant to be the same size.

That being said my kids tend to grow wider before they grow taller. A weight check in a few months might give you a totally different BMI and peace of mind!

[ECB]

Sept 10, 2013 14:27:05 GMT -5 thebuddhagouda said:

I understand that childhood obesity is such a problem, and doctors are trying to be proactive, but it seems like something you can't really address with a kid under 5. There is still so much baby pudge at that age.

So completely this.  When DS was diagnosed w/ celiac, he was SO underweight, it was scary .  For awhile there, it was kind of "he can eat whatever he wants/ whenever he wants".  We changed doctors and the new doctor was so on us for his weight.  Which was NOT bad!!!  I remember her being concerned, then we went to see his pedi GI - who saw us through the diagnosis and kind of "got it" - and he was like "whatever - he's fine".

He had seen the other extreme, and DS WAS in a normal range- I really pretty much blew the normal doc off.  I knew he'd "grow into" his weight - and guess waht?  In the past year (he's now 4.5) - he has.  She hasn't expressed concern since.

[adamantium]

Sept 10, 2013 16:05:13 GMT -5 periwinkle said:

Sept 10, 2013 14:25:28 GMT -5 thebuddhagouda said:

My kid weighs 40 lbs, and he's only 3. My doctor has never suggested even the slightest worry. That seems awfully gun jumpy to me, but he has also been in the 85-95% pretty much since his 3m well visit. Was there a drastic shift in her percentage between 2y and 3y?

She was a little chunker from 2 months till about 1 year.  After she started walking she thinned out but has still stayed higher in the weight range.  She jumped out of the "curve" in this visit so I think that's why the doc brought it up.

From this it sounds like the recheck is because it is out of her normal pattern, not because of the numbers. My friend had to do something similar with her daughter, it was b/c of the jump not the weight. We use the same pedi and I have never had to do a recheck and my son is regularly off the charts. At 5.5 he's 52 lbs and just shy of 50 inches, people assume he's 7 all the time. He's built very athletic like my husband so no one is concerned. 

[Deleted]

My kid just turned 4 and is a square. 40" and 40#. Her doc said nothing about her weight or height or BMI. She was pleased DD is growing and healthy.

You need a new pedi.

[mirandahobbes]

This is probably unhelpful, but since when is 39" and 40#s a concern? Years and years ago, I worked at a peds office and the nurses were always talking about kid who were 40-squared (40 lbs, 40 inches) and no one was concerned. Seems a bit much to me, but I don't have a medical or nutrition degree.

[SusanBAnthony]

I think pedis want to err on the side of saying something and following up, since many, many parents are not feeding their kids healthy food. That is a good thing! And that doesn't apply to you- so just keep doing what you are doing.

My kids love them some snacks, but if I think they are not really hungry, or it is an hour before a meal, they get veggies only. We always have frozen mixed veggies in the freezer, and that is a popular snack. If they eat a whole serving of veggies, and ask for more, I figure they are justifiably hungry.

DS also had slow height growth, and they did a growth hormone check. He was fine, and his growth picked back up. Kids do that ll the time, but better to check and make sure.

[jenna]

Geez. My 33 mo old is about 36" and just shy of 40lb.

He's fine.

E's been >97th percentile most of his life.