So I Have the BIGGEST Baby Around--Need Reassurance

[MommytoDylan]

My DD is just HUGE according to everyone we meet! She does seem much bigger than other babies her age--even bigger than her 7 month old cousin and she is not even 3 months old yet. At her two month visit, which was at 2 months, 1 week of age, she weighed 16 lbs., 9 oz.

Are there any mothers out there that had big babies? Is everything o.k.? My ped. was out of town for her last visit and the doctor I saw said, "Well, there's nothing we can do" when I asked if she was too big. I'm starting to wonder if everything is o.k.

Thanks,
Meredith

ETA: Thanks for your stories and reassurance! DD is exclusively breastfed and on no solids--we won't start those until about six months, I think. She also sleeps about 10 hours at night without feeding and feeds 5-6 times a day. She just must eat alot during each of her feedings :)

[redhookmom]

I just had to laugh- "Well, there's nothing we can do" Of course there isn't. Didn't the doc realize you just wanted some reassurance that everything was fine. My friend has a very big 3 month old. Bigger then another friends 1 year old! The doc assures her that everything is fine.

She sure is sick of people pointing out that the baby is big. She told me she felt like saying to a woman recently "Wow, your boobs are sagging!"

[geochick]

My son was huge (literally off the charts). Old ladies would stop me in the grocery store and tell me he was too fat and that I should feed him less often. At 5 months he was in size 5 diapers. He is now 19 months and is still in size 5 diapers. Everything turned out fine! His growth curve has flattened out. I wouldn't worry about anything. See what your doctor says on the next visit. Hang in there - Buddha babies are beautiful!

[COElizabeth]

My niece was over 20 pounds at 4 months and is still off the charts in both height and weight. She's completely healthy, though. No need to worry. She may stay big forever, or she may be like my DS, who became really chubby for his length and now is super skinny.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
and Charlotte, 11-04-04

[bluej]

I am quite certain that everything is okay with your DD. Caden was 18 lbs at 2 months and then 22 lbs at 4 months. He pretty much stayed at that weight until he was 1 and he gained another two lbs. Now he's a very lean 43 lb 7 year old :)

[smilequeen]

I am positive everything is fine too. My son was only a little bit smaller than that...I think he was that size right before 4 months maybe? Anyway, after he hit 6 months it slowed down and he went from off the charts for weight to just above 50 %ile (he's just under 21 lbs at 9 months). I know my ped just said she expects that breastfed babies will bulk up fast and then slim down...

[daisymommy]

Joshua was off the charts for both weight and height ever since he turned 1 or 2 months old (can't remember now, but I can look it up for you later). Everyone was telling me that I needed to stop giving him a bottle and start solids--and this was at 3 months old!!! ARGH. He has always been a big boy, but once he turned a year old and started walking, he really started to loose some of the baby fat, and things evened out as he grew taller. He is still big for his age, but not chubby--more just tall and built like a football player :) I'd say don't worry about it, his body knows what it's doing. It's not like you can put a baby on a diet! He will trim down once he starts walking, as most kids do.

[starrynight]

My son was a moose. He was 11lbs at his two week visit and he was 8lbs 11oz at birth. Everyone always thought he was older than he was, he is finally slowing down a bit at almost 7 and some of his peers are the same size. For a long time he was the biggest kid in the neighborhood, including taller than kids older than him.

As long as you aren't stuffing her full of rice cereal and she is just growing then she is fine. There really isn't anything you can do about it, she is just healthy and growing. When she gets older she will probably slow down a lot. Ds did, he grew taller instead of gaining so much weight in his second year.

[Momof3Labs]

Well, your first lesson should be "how to ignore everyone you meet"! She's not the biggest baby they've ever seen. Most people have no ability to compare babies of different sizes unless they are side by side at that moment. Memories of how big their children or grandbabies were are often clouded. Babies run the spectrum on height and weight - you can look at the growth charts at www.cdc.gov to see that your DD is in a top percentile for weight, and there is nothing wrong with that.

So, learn to smile and nod when people comment on it. As long as your ped isn't worried, you probably shouldn't be either!

[AngelaS]

My third is a chunk too---25% for height and off the chart for weight! And that was BEFORE she started solids! :D

She's 10 months now and just starting to not look QUITE so chunky! But chunky is adorable on babies and sooner or later they'll slim down a bit. Contrary to my MIL's worry of "I wonder if she'll always be heavy". (I did NOT say, "Well fat is genetic and since you are....") :D

[charleneand2]

I just wanted to add another perspective. I have twins and they were always and still are small. I have equated "big" babies with healthy babies. I am always trying to fatten my guys up and help them catch up. When I see a big squeezable baby I am so impressed with the moms for getting them there. So if someone says to you "wow she is so big!", they may mean...fantastic job mom!

give that cutie a squeeze for me,
Charlene

[kijip]

Toby is pretty big...tall especially, with a giagantic head. We get all sorts of people thinking he is 3. I know normal sized 3 and 4 year olds that are smaller than him.

Everything is FINE. Babies come in all sizes. One thing a hear from a lot of parents with big babies is that they sleep longer. So that could be nice...

[calebsmama03]

You know, I think people just say that no matter what, even if your kid ISN"T "huge". C was always teeny (3% for wt and 10 for ht, if you believe those charts) and I cannot tell you the number of times people - friends, family, pure strangers in the mall - would say, "he's such a big boy" or "he's so big for his age". For some reason it's bugging me more with Sophie, maybe because I have a niece who freaked out when my other SIL made a comment about how she had grown since the last time she saw her. Said niece was 5 (FIVE!!) at the time so I'm concerned with implanting these body image things early on. That and a friend who seems to think it's a contest to have the "skinniest" baby girl!
Lynne
Mommy to C 3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
And Miss Purple, 5/05

[mommy_someday]

Meredith, I felt the exact same concerns about MY big ol' buddha baby! He was average at birth and when we took him home from the hospital, he was 6-15. Less than two weeks later, he was 8-3! He's been on his own little rapid-growth schedule pretty much from the start and has been off the weight charts for awhile. He's at the top of the growth charts (above 95th percentile). I didn't worry about it until the comments started happening in earnest. But DS's doc assured us that he is perfectly healthy and that it's 'just his constitution' to be a big boy. He is 7.5 months old, exclusively breastfed (not interested in solids!) and has been in size 5 diapers for several weeks. He weighs close to 25 pounds. His two-year-old cousing weighs 27-28 pounds. So I know what you're going through. There is *nothing* wrong with your DD. Babies grow at different rates - yours is just doing a lot of hers early. :) I know a lot of people through BBB and IRL who have/had babies who were off the charts. I think babies may just be bigger these days and perhaps a reevaluation of the averages on those charts is in order... Bottom line: don't worry about it! Just keep doing what you're doing...and maybe see a chiropractor or PT on occasion. I don't know about you, but my back is KILLING me! ;)

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

I feel for you and am in the same boat, people never fail to comment on the HUGENESS of my son. Why people feel free to say about babies what they would NEVER say about adults is beyond me. Can you imagine walking up to some strange large woman in the grocery store ( probably on her Amigo) , grabbing her chin and saying " My,my, what do they feed you". ARGHHH!!

Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04

[g-mama]

Meredith - just to offer another perspective, I'll tell you that my Benjamin is and has been for awhile *below* the charts for weight. At 24 months, he is the size of a 12-month old. People comment constantly on how tiny he is or how he's light as a feather. It is tough to always be fielding questions related to the size of your child as it somehow feels like fingers are being pointed at you for doing something wrong. It's not hard to induce mommy-guilt!

Try not to worry!


Kristen
Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
and a *THIRD BOY* coming in December '05

[JBaxter]

DS 2 was 22lb 10oz at 6 months he is now 77lbs at 11 yrs old. Sounds like you have some high powered breast milk ! Go MOMMA.

[ykc]

Your baby sounds nice and healthy! My daughter started out 50-75th percentile on the growth chart at birth; was 20 lbs by 4 mos, and 95th percentile for weight, length and head circumference, and stayed at the 95th %ile until she was nearly 3yo. Now she's nearly 5 and has been trying for an entire year to hit 40 lbs (I don't mean we're actually trying to make her gain weight--just that she's hovered at 38-39 lbs all year), and she's grown at least 3 inches.

You know, it's really not possible (or, it's extremely difficult) to overfeed an exclusively breastfed baby. There really is nothing you can do about it, except to tell the doctor to be a little more tactful! ;) And it is very typical for breastfed babies to be big--even off the charts big--in their first year. Their size usually settles down in the 2nd year or so. Unless, of course, they come from a big family and are meant to be big.

BTW, the growth charts were revised in 2000, but the biggest changes were in height.

BTW #2, I comment all the time on the size of the babies I see, but I think I might need to change that, judging from the reactions of the folks on this board! I don't mean to induce guilt in a mom for a big or a small baby--it's just the way they are. Actually, I usually mean it in a complimentary way. But I'll have to pay attention next time I come across an especially big or small baby. Anyway, I'd say, try not to take it personally (that is, so long as people aren't telling you to change a perfectly healthy diet). Sometimes it's just small talk.

[linsei]

I have a little linebacker! He's tall and really, really solid. He's been 90-95th percentile in both height and weight consistantly since birth. It never ceases to amaze me how people take it upon themselves to say such insensitive things. Some lady told me he was fat. Whatever lady, he doesn't have any rolls! And even if he did, you don't just tell somebody their baby is fat.

Like others have said, if your ped isn't worried and she is develpmentally on track, I wouldn't worry. People just need to say something nice or butt out!

Linda



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[mamamayi]

My sister's baby boy was one of those huge babies and nothing was wrong with him. She said she would sometimes be embarrassed, like you, though it was because he looked old enough to "do something" but all he did was lay there and make baby sounds. He's still a big boy, but I mean tall. He's always been big for his age and now he's in high school. I think your baby is probably just fine. :o)

[amp]

I must be weird. I used to love that I had a huge baby! I got a lot of attention for carrying around and having him! It was like a war wound or something! I must admit that a little tiny part of me was sad when he started evening out w/ his peers around age 1. It was like the one special thing we had going for us that everyone could notice. I know, weird.