"Can a baby be too fat?"

[jeanine123]

Found this storyon NPR today.

"Excess or accelerated weight gain even in the first four or six months of life may be setting up kids for overweight, for higher blood pressure, maybe even for asthma over the first years in childhood, " Gillman says

Makes no mention of the fact that breastfed babies tend to gain weight very, very quickly in the first 4-6 months of life or anything of that nature. I plan on writing them a letter both complaing about this story and suggesting they do a story on how breastfed babies gain weight, the crummy education mosts drs get wrt bfing, etc. Here's the contact info and the suggest a story page.

[sapphire_chan]

They didn't mention formula in the article, could they mean weight gain in comparison to the WHO charts?

[jeanine123]

No it doesn't mention either formula or breastmilk. However, since it's very, very common and normal for a breastfed baby to gain weight very rapidly the first 4-6 mo I found that part of the article worrisome. As well as the bit at the very end where it says: The bottom line: Putting on pounds quickly is normal for a baby, but putting on too many pounds too quickly is not. And it can take an expert's eye to know the difference.

Most peds are not experts when it comes to BFing. I know they didn't mention peds specifically but since the person being interviewed is a ped I think the implication is rather clear. I'm thinking it may be a good idea to pitch story ideas that forcus on the lack of BFing education most peds receive and/or why seeing an IBCLC for BFing concerns/problems is a much, much better idea than seeing a ped. Could be a good oppurtunity to get the word out even more.

[annettemarie]

I heard this this morning.

On the one hand, I was impressed because she said something about "whole milk after one year of breastfeeding"-- FF wasn't even mentioned and BF was assumed to be the norm.

On the other hand, I too found the lack of mention of the difference between BF and FF babies to be disturbing.

[Benji'sMom]

Originally Posted by jeanine123

No it doesn't mention either formula or breastmilk. However, since it's very, very common and normal for a breastfed baby to gain weight very rapidly the first 4-6 mo I found that part of the article worrisome. As well as the bit at the very end where it says: The bottom line: Putting on pounds quickly is normal for a baby, but putting on too many pounds too quickly is not. And it can take an expert's eye to know the difference.

Most peds are not experts when it comes to BFing.

That's such a good point. They should really get to the truth of who an "expert" is, if they are going to suggest mothers rely "expert" opinions.

[Mama Poot]

Ugh. I'm so tired of this argument. The TRUTH is that no matter how large an exclusively breastfed baby gets, they are NOT overweight or obese. A formula fed baby CAN become overweight, and quickly. Exclusively breastfed infants are growing to their exact genetic potential. Formula fed babies are not because they are being given an artificial food. Doctors ARE poorly trained regarding breastfeeding and I've heard many stories of moms of large, EBF babies being told to "cut back" on nursing sessions or nightwean at early ages because of this pathological fear of the baby becoming overweight. America has a HUGE problem with weight/being fat, etc... And it sickens me that we are now projecting these fears onto our own children.

:

[2tadpoles]

Originally Posted by Mama Poot

A formula fed baby CAN become overweight, and quickly. Exclusively breastfed infants are growing to their exact genetic potential. Formula fed babies are not because they are being given an artificial food.

When I worked in a doctor's office, we had a patient come in whose 1yo son was almost 40 lbs. He was formula-fed....and cookie-fed, and Kool-Aid-fed, and everything else. It was disgusting. The kid couldn't even pull himself up.

[kaya3]

my ped told me at tess' 4 month apt that she "is getting a little chubby" i kid you not. obviously we are in the process of changing over to a new ped who actually just got back from a bf conference!

[bri276]

yep my mom (alkfdjas;lkdfjlhdsaiuehrahfl;kjalkjfa!!!!!!!!!!) is a ped and told me about telling one of her bf patients who is an EP'er to "water down the milk" in the middle of the night for her baby because he was apparently so huge. and you know, if she watered it down, he'd stop waking up for it.

I don't know how I didn't scream at her.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by jeanine123

No it doesn't mention either formula or breastmilk.

From the article

even after children switch from breast milk to cow's milk, they should continue drinking whole milk

[AuntNi]

Thank goodness I've gotten so much good advice here and from LLL. At 6-8 months, my DD was probably the fattest baby I'd ever seen, LOL! She never had an ounce of formula, and didn't eat solids. But my milk was so rich that it left stains exactly like butter on my shirts - no wonder she was a little butterball! Our ped is very pro-bf, so he never batted an eye when she blew out the top of the weight chart.

Today, she's 4.5, perfectly proportioned, and a very nutritionally-sound eater. So glad I never freaked out about her chubbiness when she was a baby, thanks to you MDC'ers!

[eepster]

If we were looking at the actual study it would probably be very complex and agree with what we are saying. However the article is a very breif look at the study and doesn't talk at all about all the contributing factors. In the original study it may show that this warning about over weight babies only applies to FF ones.

[leila1213]

So what should we DO about it? Here is a link to the article http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=6417869. Could we come up with a letter/email to send them? They often read responses to stories on the air.

Sorry! I don't read carefully enough!!

[leila1213]

So this is what I sent, it probably sounds dumb but I wanted to do something and didn't have much time.

"Does the study on whether babies can be too fat distinguish between breast-fed and artificially-fed infants? Your story is very confusing/misleading without making this distinction. It is impossible to overfeed an infant at the breast, and yet they tend to gain weight faster in the first 6 months than artificially-fed infants. The growth charts that the "experts" rely on do not compare babies to "all others in their age group". They are generally 20-30 years old, primarily based on formula-fed infants, and are supplied to pediatricians by formula-makers. By not making it clear who this study is supposing to warn (breastfeeding or formula-feeding mothers), you are opening up breastfeeding mothers to worry needlessly about their infants' weight gain. And when they consult the "experts" on whether their baby is gaining weight too quickly, all too often they will be dissuaded from breastfeeding by a pediatrician who relies on these faulty growth charts and may not be educated on the growth patterns of breastfed infants. Babies were born to breastfeed, so PLEASE do not add to the difficulties of breastfeeding advocates who try to assure mothers that it is the right thing to do for their babies. There is already too much misleading information out there that promotes artificial-feeding in our society."

[Panserbjorne]

I have read/heard this before. In fact my IBCLC has said the same thing to me which spurred me to look for more research. After reading I believe that it can be true. In cases where the mama has oversupply the baby is growing on lactose and it can in fact set them up for problems like diabetes later in life. Of course there are signs of hyperlactation that you would hopefully catch so that you could correct the situation.

I'm not sure I'd be so quick to dismiss it. It does however need clarification so mothers of perfectly healthy babies don't start freaking out.

[jeanine123]

Could you post any links to information stating that oversupply can set baby up for diabetes later in life? I'd be interested in learning more, especially since I've had oversupply with both kids.

[cappuccinosmom]

I was told at the WIC office yesterday that my 18 mo ds is "at risk for obesity". :
He's always looked "fat", and has never had a drop of formula. I contemplated stripping him down to the guy could see that he's got a perfectly normal, well muscled body for a toddler. :