Fat baby = lifetime of weight struggles? - Page 2

[NaomiLorelie]

I am no authority as my kids have always been naturally small/skinny. However, I have seen many beautiful, happy, healthy chunky BFed babies, who then grow up to be healthy children. Some babies have "baby fat". If they are getting BM exclusively until they are truly ready for solids, and then mostly healthy solids after that, not forced to clean their plates, or rewarded with food I think no, absolutely not true.

[VisionaryMom]

The biology behind it is correct. Your body does not get rid of fat cells. They shrink, so once they're there, they are there for life. BUT, that doesn't mean a fat baby is prone to fatness.

I read a study a couple of years ago about it that didn't indicate a difference between FF and BF babies but did say that the problem is that many fat babies are fat because they eat (and eat junk) constantly. They have a lifetime of bad eating habits that are hard to break once they're older.

As for my own, DS has always been skinny. DD got a bit chunky. She was a big fan of night-nursing. Now that she's mobile, though, she's really slimmed down.

[Tanlines]

no i dont think so at all. When i was a baby i was FAT! like a buddah baby. I had rolls on rolls! WHen i was a child i was a stick and now i am 5'3 110 pounds ..so i am not fat at all.

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by thismama

I vote an emphatic no.

As a formerly fat baby (who held that baby fat until around age 6), I agree with that vote.

I'm a size 2/4 now (before kids I was a 0) and I eat . . . ummmm . . . excessively.

[lilyka]

not scientific but just what I have noticed . . . .

fat babies - no.
fat toddlers - perhaps.
fat preschoolers - tend to stay fat.

most babies, regardless of completely chubbariffic they are start to slim down when they start moving. crawling and walking and such. two of mine actually lost weight during this time. Most don't lose weight I think (Madleine was extremely chubby and then got sick, Lilyka was just a lunatic who never stopped crawling even in her sleep) but most taper off considerably and get taller without gaining a lot of weight. if however the persist in being chubbier than average (and I am not talking about a nice round baby belly, but more body fat all over) it seems like they tend to stay on the over weight side of life through out childhood .

[lilyka]

and yes the whole fat cells never go away thing is old news but its not like fat people are fat because of the fat cells they got as babies. They are fat because they keep adding more.

[Tigerchild]

Also, if you have a skinny kid, doesn't mean you won't have a fat adult child.

I was always the scrawniest lightweight. Until my mid-twenties and 3 kids in under 2 years. Now I'm fat.

Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I get a secret thrill when I hear parents bragging about how skinny their kid is, and how she (it's never bragged about, with the boys, not in the same way anyway) will get to stay that way forever, and then when they look at me I smile and mention how I was a size 2 (in a dress) or 4 or 6 (I've always had an ass, oh well) until I was 24ish.

Not knocking good nutrition or anything, but you know--feed your kid what's right, because you want them to be healthy NOW, don't congratulate or berate yourself for what they "turn out like" when they're an adult or because you think you can provide some sort of anti-fat insurance.

[2Sweeties1Angel]

I weighed 8lbs 13oz at birth and my brother weighed 9lbs 13oz. Now I'm extremely obese and he looks like a beanpole. Of course he was breastfed and I wasn't...

[Daphnes_mama]

No way! This is one of my personal pet peeves. My in-laws used to give me a hard time about my breastfed son being "overweight" (imagine someone subjecting a two-month old to these issues). Don't we want our babies to be chubby and healthy? It seems to me that if a baby is being exclusively breastfed, then you almost have nothing to worry about. At least, that is what my extremely awesome pediatrician told me.