My big boy

Purple Lemons

My son will be 9 months old tomorrow. He had his check up with HN yesterday and she was horrified by his weight. He is in the 98 percentile for his height and head size but at 28lbs he's off the scale weight wise. She advised me to start dropping bottles of milk immediately but as it is he only has a 2 or 3 7oz bottles in a 24h period and maybe 2 bottles of water a day. I try to feed him as healthy food as possible, no sugary or salty snacks, all homemade so I know what's in it but his appetite is insatiable. He's very active and strong, just starting to push up on to his knees now when he's on his belly and I can tell he's rearing to go. Someone please advise me on how to improve what I'm doing because she's made me feel like an awful mother without offering any suggestions on how to help him bar dropping a bottle

Zorya

It's a couple of decades since mine were that young but I would say that his weight will change when he starts moving more and walking. Unless he has seriously big rolls of fat I wouldn't be worrying about him. Don't give any sugary stuff, as you say, but if it is just regular homemade food he is lashing into, sounds like a lad with a big appetite and that he will burn weight off over the next few months. Maybe a wee bit less simple carbohydrates? Maybe a walker? Are they still allowed? Or those doorway swing things where he can brace his legs and exercise lots. Sounds like a lovely bonny boy.

linpoo

Purple Lemons wrote: »

My son will be 9 months old tomorrow. He had his check up with HN yesterday and she was horrified by his weight. He is in the 98 percentile for his height and head size but at 28lbs he's off the scale weight wise. She advised me to start dropping bottles of milk immediately but as it is he only has a 2 or 3 7oz bottles in a 24h period and maybe 2 bottles of water a day. I try to feed him as healthy food as possible, no sugary or salty snacks, all homemade so I know what's in it but his appetite is insatiable. He's very active and strong, just starting to push up on to his knees now when he's on his belly and I can tell he's rearing to go. Someone please advise me on how to improve what I'm doing because she's made me feel like an awful mother without offering any suggestions on how to help him bar dropping a bottle

Is he following a curve? 2 or 3 7oz bottles doesn't sound like too much for a 9 month old. Are you giving him big portion sizes maybe? Mummycook has a good guide on portion sizes if you want to double check. Once he is moving more he will burn more

missyb01

Hi. I have to say that I was in exactly the same position as you. My little girl was off the charts for her weight and height from about 6 months. The PHN put me through hell over it without offering any help and guidance. I knew my daughter loved her bottles and loved her grub and I really couldn’t even carry her around as she was soo heavy. At 12 months we were referred to the obesity clinic (W82GO) in temple street and my daughter was the youngest there by at least 6 years. I had to keep food diaries for months and she was weighed regularly. I hated going but as a first time mother, I felt I would be hounded by the PHN if I didn’t keep these appointments. Eventually we were discharged after a about a year with no real change in her diet except to not give her formula milk anymore and to change to regular whole milk!!! Once my daughter started moving, crawling, walking, the weight and height all balanced out. She is 4 now and Is very tall for her age but that is to be expected to a certain degree, her dad is 6”4 and I am about 5’11.

What I say to anybody in your position is please don’t do what I did......worried myself sick, cried and was soo stressed that I was in the wrong and those developmental charts are the be all and end of all of children’s health. Some kids are just bigger and love their bottles and food

shesty

Have a look at the thread below here....my not-so-little girl.What weight was he at birth?My monkey is a whopper of an eater, but was very heavy at birth so he is a buster right now (13 months).He is just starting to walk and I can see it is all balancing out.Crawling and walking will do a lot for that.But if he was big at birth, then he may just be in proportion, along the curves he started.

Purple Lemons

He was 7'7 at birth and already 7'9 when we were allowed home 5 days later. Exclusively breastfed for 5.5months, but then got 4 teeth at once so I had to stop as he was using my nipples as chew toys . Just to add, my little girl will be 3 next month and checking her baby book she weighed 22.6lbs at 8.5months but is in 3-4y clothes with about 6 months as she's very very long and thin. I'm 5'8 and daddy is 6'2 an

Breakfast is normally porridge or a half slice of brown toast with a 7oz water (doesn't finish this bottle with brekky but throughout playtime)

Has a 2.5h nap at about 9:30am and will take a 5-7oz bottle before hand

For lunch he has a genourous bowl of veg, normally brocoli carrot turnip, no salt no butter just plain veg cut to bite size pieces and i leave him at it. If he finishes it all he will only have 1-2oz water with it but if he doesn't finish he'll take 5oz.

Dinner is meat potatoes and veg or rice meat veg but a smaller amount as I find he gets gassier in the evenings.

We do a lot of play and wriggling rolling around and I know he'll slim down when he sets off but I'm anxious to get his weight down a bit because she wants us back in 4 weeks to check him again and refer him to paediatrician if necessary

Hooked

Hi OP

I'm not a parent... an uncle to 6 nieces and nephews on my side and 4 more on the wife's. Just stumbled across this thread when I logged in. And I used to be a baby... so I'm qualified to reply.

Firstly - your HN seems more concerned about metrics that she/he does about what you're feeding your son... which sounds to me like a very healthy, balanced, diet... so give yourself credit there!

Looking at various charts online - the weight for a 9 month old boy varies from 7 - 11 kg. Anywhere from 16-25 pounds. And your lad is in the 98 percentile. So should be in the mid-20s at least! 16 pounds at 9 months old??? My baby brother was nearly 13 pounds - when he was BORN!

You've just confirmed via your daughters growth that she was also (according to these metrics) too big at 8.5 months. And is now fine at 3 years old. You're actually describing my niece. She was a BUSTER as a baby. Fed great quality grub, but simply took after her daddy. And now at 5 years old, she's the fittest kid on the block! Her sister was always skinny. Comparing the two as 9 month olds, your HN would have had the parents locked up!

Forget about charts. They are GUIDES. Sure, I'm obese at 17 stone and 6 foot 2. Yet I have a 34 inch waist, 44 inch chest and play ball 3 days a week... at 40! According to BMI charts - I'm supposed to be 4 stone lighter... Am I ****!

anndub

I was in a similar position to you a year ago.
My little girl was in the 98th percentile for height from birth and still is but from about three month was off the charts for weight. She loved her milk so we weaned at 4 months based on the advice of the phn. She was very hungry and was well able for solids. She still stayed quite plump up until recently.

She's 2 now and still looks "solid". She's much taller than the other 2 year olds in her crèche and many of the three year olds. She's going to be a tall child. She no longer looks chubby though and is very active. We only feed her healthy food with an occasional treat now she's figured out what treats are. We held off until she got to the point of knowing what sweets were.

There was no mention of an issue at her 2 Yr phn check and neither myself or my husband are concerned despite her still technically being slightly overweight according to the charts. I fully believe she was hungry because shes tall. She ate what she needed and she will continue to grow into it providing we continue providing her with a healthy diet.

I do remember the guilt of it though. We became slightly overanalytical of her milk intake for awhile after the initial reaction of the phn but time gave us perspective.

Keep up what you're doing. It sounds like you're doing everything right.

jonnybravo

Purple Lemons wrote: »

My son will be 9 months old tomorrow. He had his check up with HN yesterday and she was horrified by his weight. He is in the 98 percentile for his height and head size but at 28lbs he's off the scale weight wise. She advised me to start dropping bottles of milk immediately but as it is he only has a 2 or 3 7oz bottles in a 24h period and maybe 2 bottles of water a day. I try to feed him as healthy food as possible, no sugary or salty snacks, all homemade so I know what's in it but his appetite is insatiable. He's very active and strong, just starting to push up on to his knees now when he's on his belly and I can tell he's rearing to go. Someone please advise me on how to improve what I'm doing because she's made me feel like an awful mother without offering any suggestions on how to help him bar dropping a bottle

I'd be careful of what PHN tell you. They're quality varies a lot. I'd speak to your GP before you'd do anything.

The food you outline above seems very reasonable to me. Our 9 month boy is 98th% for weight and 75th% for height and our PHN said she loves seeing big babies as they'll all lose it when they start walking.

shesty

To be honest I would agree with jonnybravo.There is nothing unreasonable about what you are feeding him, and equally there has to be a balance with how much milk he is supposed to get up to about 1 year....I think it is 400-600ml?...for iron and nutrition.I don't see anything you could cut out and if your daughter and his length, are anything to go by, he will be tall.
Look if she does refer you, the most the paed can do is check him out, then sign him off as normal.I would be wary enough of centile charts too.

Purple Lemons

Thank you all so much for your input, glad to hear similar situations! I already get so much stick from family for not allowing him treats like a nibble of a biscuit or some chocolate (I'm not Hitler I swear, he's still only a baba and can't want or crave what he's never had, he can enjoy that new experience when he's older) so I was a bit shocked that I was being told off for leaving him have his fill of healthy foods. I only feed him if it's yoghurt or porridge or something similarly messy and the rest he feeds himself as he has 8 teeth now and his motor skills are fab so I think he just genuinely has a big appetite. Have decided not to drop to 14oz per 24h like she advised. Again thank you all so much because you've saved this lady from 4 weeks of stressing the feck out

anndub

We got lots of stick over not giving chocolate etc from our families too but the decision would have been the same had she been in the bottom 5th percentile weight wise. She's well able to demand whatever wrapper catches her eye if we pop to the shop for milk now so glad I avoided that bottle for as long as possible!

On the referral, I had a similar situation at the 9month mark. After I got home I realised it was pretty much impossible for my daughter to drop enough weight to fit snugly in the chart in the space of a month so I called the clinic and explained the the nurse we wouldn't be accepting a referral and would rather wait until the next scheduled check to see how she was getting on ( 18 months to 2yrs). She was happy with that. I got the impression she was just following a set series of steps and was happy once she could tick the box showing she had attempted to fulfil her obligations.

lazygal

Someone has to be on the 98th centile! The PHNs are obsessed with those charts.
You can't not feed a hungry baby or child. I wouldn't worry too much. I found once they start moving more easily and walking their shape and weight changes a lot.

You’re doing a great job OP. Stick with it. You know your baby best. Everything seems to be going the right way. Once he starts to move more, it’ll soon level out.

shesty

Anndub you said it spot on.There is no way you can cut out enough food to get a 9 month old to fit into a chart, especially in the space of four weeks, without compromising their nutritional intake in some way.That was a really good approach.

Eireog1

Hi Purple Lemons I had to reply to your post because I was in the exact same situation as you. My big boy was 9lbs when born and 9.5 before leaving the hospital. He was always loved his food and bottles and will roar the place down until he gets feed. At his 9 month check up he was off the charts for both height and weight at a guess 120 to 130 percentile phn couldnt even map him. She was concerned but as his was in proportion she just asked me to come back at 12 month to see how he was doing then. She consulted some other Phns and when we came back at 12 months he was still off the scales but still in proportion so she used her common sense and said he was just a big child. He is 15 months now and just starting to walk along furniture so I'm sure he will be off soon. I felt like a crap mum at the 9 month check up but I thought about it for a few days and realised that I had a healthy happy child who is bigger that average for his age. They grow into themselves and dont worry too much about it.

fits

You have to feed him if he is hungry! And some kids have to be in the high centiles by their very nature. If there is some underlying issue, its no bad thing to be referred to paediatrician. Ignore phn and keep doing what you are doing. His diet sounds excellent.

firebird84

Agree with everyone saying that the PHNs are obsessed with charts, my fella is 9 months too and dropping/adding percentiles every time they look at him, she made me go to the GP over his head dropping down but there's not a thing wrong with him, it's a lot of fuss over nothing. Just follow your gut and if he is happy and healthy then you've nothing to worry about, they change so much through the first few years. If you're worried have the GP check him over. Mine nearly laughed me out the door over his head "we treat patients, not measurements".

mirrorwall14

My PHN seems fairly chill. Our lad just jumped from 50th at the start of May with the dietician (for Cows milk protein allergy not weight issues) and 50th at his PHN appointments before this to near the 90th in length this week. She just shrugged and said well he was 75th at birth so he's fine!