Big babies

[undecidedowl]

So, I know this sounds stupid, but if you had a really big baby did you ever think maybe you should feed them less?

DS1 wasn't great at breastfeeding at first and gained weight slowly. He was born around the 50th percentile, dropped to 13th for awhile then settled in on the 30th. DH and I are both 50th percentile height and weight. DS2 is big! He was born at 75th percentile and according to my home scale is approaching 95th at 3.5 weeks old. He was very jaundiced so the first two weeks were spent feeding as much as possible but now I'm like uh, maybe I shouldn't stick my boob in his mouth every time he looks my way lol.

I do tend to nurse rather than use any other parent tactic, but still. How can he keep growing at this rate?! Slow down baby!

[bugandbibs]

DS is a 95th percentile baby and until 8.5 months was totally EBF. I wasn't worried and neither was his pediatrician. You really can't over feed with breast milk.

My girls were both 30th percentile kiddos, so DS has been a huge shock. I can relate to wanting them to slow down and stay little.

[badtzmaru22]

DS is a giant baby. He is almost 4 months, and over 16lbs. He doesn't look chunky really, he's just long. DD wasn't tiny, but DS is basically the size she was at 7 months.

DD would eat anytime there was a boob or bottle anywhere near her. Nursing fixed everything. DS, while giant, will not eat unless he's hungry. He eats about 12oz while I'm away from him, sometimes only 8, and he doesn't reverse cycle. DD ate 16-18oz at daycare for the same length of time, and then I'd sit on the couch and nurse her all night when I got home.

Conclusion: babies are weird.

[Deleted]

My kid was born 9.5 lbs. He was between the 95th & 100th for height & weight for his whole first year. Now at 3 he is in the 95th for height & the 80th for weight.

He was ffed but babies need to eat on demand & EBF will not generally over eat ( even my FF baby would not over eat.)

[rootbeerfloat]

DD grew exponentially in her first few months. She was born average-sized, but by 2m had caught up to where her brother had been (and he had a 2lb head start, lol). It was startling, but I just went with it.

[Deleted]

DS was, and always has been, huge. 9lbs 4oz at birth. In 24m clothes by 10 months old. I think he rivals vanillacourage's Megababy in terms of size. I never considered feeding him less. My pedi said he was doing great on his own growth curve, no abnormal jumps or anything. He nursed for an hour at a time for MONTHS. Based on my pumping output, he was getting 5-8 ounces per session, so a LOT of milk. I don't think there's anything wrong with big, healthy babies!

DS is now 33 months old, 40" tall and 40lbs. He's the size of a 4 year old. I still haven't consisted feeding him less.

[hermione]

My kid was huge. We EFF but no, I never really considered feeding her less. She refused when she didn't want more and never threw up from taking too much so I was pretty sure she was just huge.

At 19 months she is comfortably in size 3T so she's still big.

[sjh722]

E was not huge at birth (8 lb 10 oz), but gained well. I think she was 85-90% for weight until after 6 months, then she slowly started dropping. Now she's 50 - 60%. EBF babies, especially, aren't over eating. I'd keep doing what you're doing.

[scribellesam]

I have two monsters, I always nursed on demand.

[kershnic]

One of my babies is somewhere around 70th percentile for weight, but only at 1st for height, so proportionally she's a chunk. The other is around 15th percentile for weight. I try to not offer milk as my first calming strategy for either of them, because that's my parenting m.o. But I would never deny either of them milk if they're hungry.

[anna7602]

DD was off the charts. She hit 20 lbs at the 4 month mark and was EBF. I was never inclined to feed her any less. Now, at age 6, she is something like 80th percentile for height, but is a very average weight (so she's tall and thin).

[cricketwife]

DS is big. I constantly worry that I'm overfeeding him. At every apt the pedi tells me that I am not so I try not to worry about it.

[teatimefor2]

It's very hard too over feed an EBF baby. DS1 was 8lbs 15 oz and 22 inches and ate a ton, but now at 26 months, he's really slimmed down. He was 32 lbs and 36 inches at 24 months and I know he's grown since the because his pants are now too short.

Just feed and don't worry. You'll know if he's not hungry.

[dragonfly08]

Nov 21, 2014 16:21:47 GMT -5 undecidedowl said:

How can he keep growing at this rate?! Slow down baby!

He will, most likely.  I wouldn't worry about it.

DD #1 was in the 95th% for height and weight when she was born.  I fed her when/how much she wanted.  At around 12-15 months old, she suddenly dropped down to the 25th%.  Where she has stayed ever since...she's 11 now.

FWIW, DD #2 was much smaller at birth, closer to 50th% IIRC.  She's 8 now and above the 90th%.  In other words, where they are as an infant doesn't necessarily have much to do with where they end up.  :-) 

[undecidedowl]

@supergreen what shocks me is that DS2 spends much less time actually nursing than DS1 did but he is SO much bigger. I guess he is just very efficient. I know he is drinking a lot because he pees a ton!

I think I am just surprised that he is so different than the rest of the family.

[Deleted]

undecidedowl, sounds like you're blessed with an ample supply. That's great! I'm so glad he's doing well.

[shellbear09]

Ha no I fed what she wanted. Feeding less was not an option. I didn't bf though.

[redpenmama]

My kids were average sized (7.5 lb) babies but shot up the charts rapidly. Both were in the 95th+ percentile for height/weight for their first year. DD was 24 lb at 1 and 27 lb at 2 -- she was way taller and lost all of her baby fat (and I nursed her until 18m). She's long and lean now. DS is still a chunk but I notice him losing the baby fat already. I think they naturally slow down once they start moving. DS was like 19 lb at 6 mo, and I was convinced I was going to have a 30 lb 1-year-old. He's 25 lbs now at 11 mo.

FWIW, I EBF on demand and nurse pretty much all of the time to soothe mostly due to laziness/it fixes everything.

And when DD lost that last thigh roll, I shed a tear.

[vanillacourage]

Feed when they are hungry. They skinny up when they start walking and begin prowling your house for trouble. It all works out.

[jena]

Unless the kid is puking up milk, sticking a boob in is ALWAYS a viable parenting tactic.

Also, being 95th %tile for height isn't the same as being overweight - especially if your kid is also 95%tile for length/height. I also feel like the charts seem off for kids who don't have their growth spurts at the typical times... if your kid is an "early bloomer" (or whatever the infant equivalent of that would be), they might just be big before everyone else, not necessarily bigger than everyone else in the long run.

[vanillacourage]

Oh yes - and 90th% or whatever, don't let that get to your head. Out of 100 kids, someone's gotta be on the big end and someone's gotta be on the small end, but neither of them has anything wrong with them or necessarily needs special tricks.

[lilac05]

Nov 22, 2014 0:33:42 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

Oh yes - and 90th% or whatever, don't let that get to your head. Out of 100 kids, someone's gotta be on the big end and someone's gotta be on the small end, but neither of them has anything wrong with them or necessarily needs special tricks.

Agreed! 

My boys were 10 lb 3 oz and 9 lb 6 oz.  My oldest continues to be above the 90th percentile for height and weight and is quite thin looking...I swear his bones are filled with lead!  My youngest has dropped pretty significantly, starting around 12 months, and is now my skinny minnie...also with lead-filled bones!  

I never worried about feeling them too much (I bf, but when my oldest took a bottle at daycare in the afternoons, he'd down 8oz!!)  They're happy and healthy, so I didn't worry.  Unless baby is acting uncomfortable or your doctor is concerned, you shouldn't worry about it, either. 

[Ashley&Scott]

Nov 22, 2014 0:33:42 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

Oh yes - and 90th% or whatever, don't let that get to your head. Out of 100 kids, someone's gotta be on the big end and someone's gotta be on the small end, but neither of them has anything wrong with them or necessarily needs special tricks.

Our pedi said exactly this. I always fed on demand. As others said it evened out when he became mobile.

[statlerwaldorf]

DS was 11 lbs 6 oz when he was born. I never thought about feeding him less. Actually his doctor talked about him needing more calories because of his size. He hasn't gained weight as fast as his 7 lbs 3 oz at birth sister.

[jeaniebueller]

My DD is almost 6 months and is 18 pounds. I am not worried. DS had a similar growth curve and now at age 6, he is long and lean.