how big is too big for an infant?

[dandilion44]

Not sure where to post this but I wanted to get feedback...what is too big for an infant? My friend has a 9 month old girl who weighs 35 lbs. All other family members are on the small side. She was average size at birth but just began to put weight on very quickly early on (well before introducing solids). Her mom did have gest. diabetes during pregnancy. She breastfeeds on demand and started babyfood around 6 months. I don't think she gets anything in her sippy cup except water. I know she will slim down a bit when she is mobile but of course she doesn't crawl or roll over due to her size (I assume).

It doesn't seem like her pediatrician is overly concerned but she does look alarmingly big so I am a bit concerned for her. Does anyone have any ideas on what could cause this or is this not cause for concern??

Thanks all!

[EricaDoula]

I'm not trying to be rude, but I think 35 lbs is a bit big for a 9 month old. Babies that weight more are more prone to obesity later in life as well as many other health issues. She needs a second opinion to see if something is possibly causing this weight gain.

[Kelly1101]

I'd be concerned not for the weight itself, but for it preventing her from developing her gross motor skills. 9 months is awfully old not to be rolling.

[Pavlovs]

Interesting. Well, I have a friend who has a 10 month old with an obese-looking baby who weighs 30 pounds. He is bottle fed and eats nothing but empty carbs for solids. He wears size 2 toddler clothes. I'd worry about him except his older brothers were similar in size during the baby years but they are fine and healthy now.

I have another friend who exclusively nurses her 5 month old that is also HUGE - extra rolls of fat everywhere! What could change in his diet? Nothing - it's just the way he's built, as was his older brother at that age. Today, his older brother who is 5 years old is ten pounds heavier, but the same height, as my 5 year old son. He's healthy and active and smart (adorable, too!).

So I dunno - much is genetics, but who knows what goes on at home? Is the baby hitting most milestones? Happy? Active? I wonder what the ped says...

[AllyRae]

Since my *6 year old* only weighs 39 lbs, I think that yes, I'd be concerned about a 35 lb nine month old. That's so far above the weight charts that I can't even think that'd be healthy--it seems like it would put undue strain on the joints and heart and lungs at that age, unless the baby is also very long. If the weight was piling on very early on, I'd honestly be requesting some blood sugar & cardiac tests just to make sure everything's ok...

[Conifer]

My first baby was like this and ebf until he was about 9 months before started solids. I think he was about 35lbs at 9 months. He was super chunky and didn't start sitting up on his own until around 6-7 months. He was late on rolling over too. That said...he was walking around 12 months and basically didn't get any heavier. He stayed the same wait for about 2 years after that...he just got taller. He is now 9 years old and is NOT overweight at all!

[boobs4milk]

it may be normal for them but i'd def. request some testing to rule out medical issues. my 4 yr old is just 33 lbs.

[sunshynbaby]

It could be normal if the weight is proportionate to the height. My family has big babies and one of my nephews was monitored for gigantism when he was a baby. He is now shorter than his younger brother!

[paxye]

My 3rd son was like that... he hit 44 lbs at a year... he was EBF, not even one taste of solids or even water until he was about 11 months...

We went and got him checked out at the Children's hospital at about 10 months and they couldn't find anything.. the only thing that they could say was that my "milk was too rich" but then they couldn't explain why ds#2 who was also nursing is on the smaller side...

he also couldn't roll over at 10-11 months, he just couldn't get the momentum... but he was crawling at 6 months and started to walk at 11 months which is later than my other two but completely within the range of normal...

Some kids are just bigger, taller, skinnier or shorter... which is why there is a median weight and height...

Here is his pic gallery if you want to check him out...

btw... he was born at 10 lbs, by 10 weeks he was 20 lbs and by 6 months he was 30lbs then 44 lbs at a year... now he is a bit over three and weighs in at 42 lbs, still "heavy" for his age, but also tall and 100% healthy....

[Icehockey18]

My ds is 7 mo and ~22 lbs and EBFed. He is chunky, but also long (almost 29 inches). He is not crawling yet but rolls like crazy and has recently started pulling himself up to a squating position... I did have gest diabetes (although I'm very petite) but my pedi is not concerned with his size. Dh is very tall, so we figure ds has his 'size genes' ( I would be stretching the truth if I said I were 5'4" )
I've had other family members and friends with 'fat' babies, but once they got mobile they lost the baby fat.... If most of her calories are from breast milk, I would think she is ok, but I would be concerned if she is too big to be mobile.... I guess I would get a 'second opinion'

[Cherry Alive]

35 pounds is large, but it's really no one's business, but the mother's. Some kids are built bigger. Some are built smaller. I'm sure there's women on other forums obsessing about someone else's baby being "too small" (I've been on the receiving end of that ).

There are so many factors that cause childhood obesity, I really think people should leave babies' weight alone.

[Auraji]

I'd be concerned because you said no one else in the family is like that and she still doesnt roll over at 9 months. Maybe it's nothing, but I think is better to be on the safe side and look into it.

I mean my dss is 4 years old and he weights 35 pounds!

[Serenyd]

[QUOTE=paxye;14935315]
We went and got him checked out at the Children's hospital at about 10 months and they couldn't find anything.. the only thing that they could say was that my "milk was too rich" but then they couldn't explain why ds#2 who was also nursing is on the smaller side... [QUOTE]

[YayJennie]

Originally Posted by paxye

My 3rd son was like that... he hit 44 lbs at a year... he was EBF, not even one taste of solids or even water until he was about 11 months...

We went and got him checked out at the Children's hospital at about 10 months and they couldn't find anything.. the only thing that they could say was that my "milk was too rich" but then they couldn't explain why ds#2 who was also nursing is on the smaller side...

he also couldn't roll over at 10-11 months, he just couldn't get the momentum... but he was crawling at 6 months and started to walk at 11 months which is later than my other two but completely within the range of normal...

Some kids are just bigger, taller, skinnier or shorter... which is why there is a median weight and height...

Here is his pic gallery if you want to check him out...

btw... he was born at 10 lbs, by 10 weeks he was 20 lbs and by 6 months he was 30lbs then 44 lbs at a year... now he is a bit over three and weighs in at 42 lbs, still "heavy" for his age, but also tall and 100% healthy....

May I just say that you have such a BEAUTIFUL family. I just spent half an hour looking through pics of your little one! All of your boys are gorgeous, and you're right, he was a beast of a baby (And I mean that in the MOST affectionate way!), but grew into a good sized kid. He looks healthy and happy and I would be proud if I were you!

On topic: I don't think an exclusively breast fed on demand infant can be "too big". Once babies are on solids, or if they are formula fed or fed on a schedule, I think it can cause a problem, but rarely and I wouldn't worry about a baby's weight unless the parent was feeding a baby sugar or something like that. Some babies are just big, some or just small. Same with kids, same with adults. There is no one size fits all body type.

[oolongtea]

I've wondered about this too, as my 8.5 month-old is 25 lbs! It's weird too, because I am exactly average (5'4" 130#) and DH is on the small side (5'7" 135#), and DS was normal at birth (7 lbs 9 oz). So how did this happen?! We only started solids 2 weeks ago.

However DS does easily roll and sit and is working hard on his crawling, so I don't worry about his health. Just that he is the fattest baby at library storytime...

But still I wonder how it happened! One thing is that I had a rocky start breastfeeding and had to supplement with formula for the first 3 weeks. But I didn't want it to impact the baby's future successful breastfeeding so even though he was on bottles, we fed him "on demand" so maybe he got used to eating too much? He got back on the breast at 7 weeks so maybe by then he was used to the feeling of a really full belly? Also I ended up with over-supply because I took a ton of herbs to get my supply up -- didn't correct that till he was 3 months old. So what probably happened is that he gained a lot of weight fast around 3 months old, and then tapered off but still added weight on top of that big leap, which leads him to be chubby now.

[annekh23]

Originally Posted by Cherry Alive

35 pounds is large, but it's really no one's business, but the mother's. Some kids are built bigger. Some are built smaller. I'm sure there's women on other forums obsessing about someone else's baby being "too small" (I've been on the receiving end of that ).

There are so many factors that cause childhood obesity, I really think people should leave babies' weight alone.

Sure there are many factors that cause childhood obesity, but 35lb at 9mths, having been average birthweight, along with no family history, to me is suggesting that childhood obesity may well be the least of her worries.

I might notice a size variation but keep my mouth shut, but 35lb is so off the scales, that particularly knowing the child is breastfed on demand with a normal intake of solids, I'd be worried, because I'd doubt very much that it's "just" obesity. Even if I saw her with a extra large bottle of formula and a chocolate bar, this weight still seems beyond normal.

Sometimes parents and doctors who see a child regularly don't see the change as starkly as an outsider. In this instance, I'd say something and I'd say it very carefully, because it really wouldn't be meant as any kind of judgement about what the parents are doing, but that I was really concerned that this child had a metabolic or other disorder that needs to be diagnosed and treated.

Way better to check it out, even if the conclusion is that it's ok. Even if it is ok, the child may still benefit from PT because not rolling at 9mths is very late.

[CookAMH]

Originally Posted by annekh23

Sure there are many factors that cause childhood obesity, but 35lb at 9mths, having been average birthweight, along with no family history, to me is suggesting that childhood obesity may well be the least of her worries.

I might notice a size variation but keep my mouth shut, but 35lb is so off the scales, that particularly knowing the child is breastfed on demand with a normal intake of solids, I'd be worried, because I'd doubt very much that it's "just" obesity. Even if I saw her with a extra large bottle of formula and a chocolate bar, this weight still seems beyond normal.

Sometimes parents and doctors who see a child regularly don't see the change as starkly as an outsider. In this instance, I'd say something and I'd say it very carefully, because it really wouldn't be meant as any kind of judgement about what the parents are doing, but that I was really concerned that this child had a metabolic or other disorder that needs to be diagnosed and treated.

This is my thought too. I think of newborns who are huge (15+) and how it's NOT good for their organs to be so big. It's unsafe for newborns to be abnormally large. I would think the same is true to some extent for such a large infant, it's a large toll on their bodies to have that much weight, and I too would wonder about a metabolic issue, especially those who are ebf.

[dandilion44]

[QUOTE=annekh23;14938490]Sure there are many factors that cause childhood obesity, but 35lb at 9mths, having been average birthweight, along with no family history, to me is suggesting that childhood obesity may well be the least of her worries.

Yes, thank you - I was about to post that. Childhood obesity wasn't even a thought of mine...I was concerned that there might be some type of medical disorder causing this, something her ped is missing.

I appreciate all the posts and I do feel a bit better hearing a few of your experiences. Thanks for the pix, Paxye, very beautiful indeed!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

If she dosnt eat much solid food and is mostly bfed I wouldnt think anything of her being that large. Both my kids hit 20pds by 6mo.

I know a little girl at the church we go to she was every bit that big at that age and she was bfed. Now she is a perfectly avg size little girl.

[annekh23]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

If she dosnt eat much solid food and is mostly bfed I wouldnt think anything of her being that large. Both my kids hit 20pds by 6mo.

So what weight would cause you to think there was a problem? It seems like you are assuming that exclusively breastfed means cannot be overweight, but that doesn't mean that exclusively breastfed plus undiagnosed medical condition can't result in overweight being the flag that gets the condition diagnosed.

I have my DDs chart right here, it's not a breastfed only chart, but then at the extremes that doesn't really matter, most charts don't plot a line below the 3rd or 5th centile, or above the 95th or 97th.

This chart happens to have 98th and 99.6th marked, 20lb at 6mths is pretty much right on the 98th, i.e. big, but nothing remarkable, a full 2% of girls would be bigger. However 35lb at 9mths is just off the top of the page, the highest number you can plot is 30lb, with 27.5lb being the 99.6th centile at 1 year.

I have the continuation of the same chart for age 1-5yrs, this child was average birth weight and according to this chart, the average child reaches this weight between 3.5 and 4yrs old.

Just roughly tracking with my fingers how much this growth has diverged from average, at the opposite end of the scale this would mean a 7 something baby being around 10lb at 9mths, would you not see that as a flag for investigation?

It might all be normal, but currently her weight is so abnormal, it needs investigating.