Over Feeding Baby???

It is sweet that your concerned, but this one really isn't your place to say anything. Some babies are bigger and eat more and as long as she is healthy there is nothing to worry about. I agree with all the other comments that the pediatricain (SP?) will catch any problems and try not to worry. Also remeber she could be getting ready for a growth spurt and thats why shes packing away the calories.

Our daughter never ate anything really as a baby... she only weighed 18 lbs at 2 years old. Now at 3 she is 28 lbs (healthy as can be). Our son on the other hand would/will just eat and eat and eat. He is 27 lbs at 15 months old. Yes they are two years apart in age and weigh the same! CRAZY! But according to the doctors he is just fine for hight weight ratio. She sounds like she is eating just like our son did. He has slowed down since then...he weighted 24lbs at 9 months and now at 15months he is only 3 lbs heavier just slimming down. So I would say she is doing fine and the little go is just a healthy eater.

Okay! You have touched a nerve. I am writing from personal experience. Please do not say anything to your friend. Let me tell you my story.

I had a boy, 10 lbs 6oz at birth, 23 lbs at 6 months, 36 lbs at a year...etc. and I got nothing but grief about it. And the kid ate hardly anything. By 5 he was the tallest in his class but not the skinniest. Now he is 6ft 2in and handsome as all get out. And just right in his weight. (So there!)

My granddaughter is following in her father's footsteps. I told my daughter-in-law. And I showed her the weight and height chart graph I kept of my son. (She is right on track.) Now that she is walking she has slimmed down a lot.

Basic thought----don't worry. Every child is who they are supposed to be.

And never call a baby fat to the child's mother. She'll remember it for a long time.

As a mom of a big kiddo - dad 6 4 she eats a lot - She's super tall and is way bigger than her peers. And she needed the food because she was always taller. Considering your friend dad is way taller she probably needs more food than your kid. (I checked out the growth charts and she's not even off the charts). I'd not say anything - I wouldn't worry about it - my daughter is now 2 and still hasn't slowed down on eating - we don't force her to eat - but she just eats a lot - she's fine and active - but the size of a four year old - but then her dad tracked just as tall as she did at her age.

Believe me - I have lots of friends whose kids don't eat - and are small - they are very surprised that my kid eats - I really don't like the comments that my daughter is big and it really isn't your place to tell your friend. If it is a problem her doctor will say so.

You said that she weighed 20.5 lbs at her 4 month check up. There is the key. She is getting seen by a doctor/pediatrician and although there are some sub-par Dr.s out there, it really isn't your place to say anything to your friend about her. That doesn't prevent you from being concerned, especially with the childhood obesity problems we have as a nation. Just give that worry up to the professionals. As you know, she will be asked at each check up about her daughter's eating habits and be guided to the healthy range. what could you do but offend your friend anyway really?

We have the opposite problem with a teeny-tiny girl (she just had a weight check at 2 3/4 years old and FINALLY came in just under 24lbs - woo hoo!!). So it's always been funny to see her with her friends or cousins that are huge. All of the BIG babies/toddlers we know have had tall parents and are off the charts on the big end (while our girl is off the chart on the small end for her weight). They are all within a 1-3 months of each other in age, and while she still has trouble filling out some 2T clothes, they are all wearing 4T-5T in size. They are all big eaters and many of them rival adults in the amount they'll put away at meals. The thing that all of them have in common, it that even the biggest, chubbiest rolls seem to melt away once they start walking and by the time they are 3, they are really tall and solid, but not fat/chubby anymore.

If you feel they have a good pediatrician and they are going to their regular wellness checks, then I wouldn't worry. If she is still really chubby when she's nearing 2 years old, then you might want to talk to your friend about what their doctor says. Our pediatrician had told us many times that an overweight 2 year old is an issue, but at this age you just can't tell. I'm guessing she's going to be VERY tall just like dad. :-)

I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think you should say anythng; it isn't your business. If your friend wants your parenting advice, I am sure she will ask for it. I would be offended if someone told me how to feed my child, other than a doctor, which I am sure she has. If there is a problem, the family and the doctor will figure it out and work on it.

Hi J.,
I would so very much mention to my friend or anyone that a baby's stomach is only as big as his or her fist, really tiny. My son is 7 months old and doesn't eat nearly that much, he has half a stage 2 jar with a 4-6oz bottle of formula for breakfast, 4 hours later he has a 6-8oz bottle for lunch, then a full jar for dinner then a 6 oz bottle before bed. He only cries for his morning meal like any baby would, but I keep to 4 hours between each meal and he seems to know his meal is coming. Suggest to her a schedule like that if she asks, and maybe just make a comment about the size of her baby's tummy, that's scary to hear of how much that baby eats.

I would suggest having the child tested for celiac disease which is an intolerance of gluten. Although, symptoms of the disease can vary widely, one symptoms is never feeling satisfied. If the child never feels full then she will continue to eat at this rate which, of course, would not be good. Being tested for celiac disease is a simple blood test. Just ask your peditrician. However, celiac disease is just becoming well known. If he says no, insist. What can it hurt? At least they have ruled something out.

Chances are, if the baby is overweight, the pediatrician will say something. They have always asked me how much my child eats at each check-up. If they thought it was too much, they'd say so.
And while the baby never cries for food, if she wasn't hungry she would refuse to eat.
We, as mothers, always think we know best, but I'd keep your advice to yourself on this one. You may just end up offending your friend, who probably knows her baby the best.

Well I can't really speak for your friend but when my daughter was really getting into baby foods at some feedings she would eat 2-3 jars, or she would eat 2 jars and have a whole banana and then still nurse. Now she is 20 mos. old and she can still pack the food away. It just depends on the kid and if they are having a growth spurt.

J.,

I think that she is overfeeding this child. At 6 months her little tummy isn't really ready for the chunks and all that that is in the 2nd foods. She needs to go back to the 1st foods and get a solid base in all the veggies and fruits. They are single fruit/veggie and will give her an idea if her daughter is allergic to anything. This is important.

When my 4 1/2 year old son was a baby he had a reaction to sweet potatoes. We had to stop giving that to him for a couple of months until he got older. If we had been giving him the 2nd foods I don't know what might have happened.

When my 16 month old daughter started 1st food at 5 months she reacted to almost every fruit. We had to wait on those until she was almost a year old. Again, with the 1st foods it's easier to figure out what the reaction is to.

I'm glad that the pediatrician is telling her that she's feeding too much. At 6 months this little girl should be eating *Maybe* one fruit and one veggie of 1st foods at a meal.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

My breasts got anime-huge when my milk came in so we went to see a lactation consultant...nothing wrong (ahem! reeeally? how about not being able to wear a shirt???) It did turn out my son was nursing an average between 21oz to 23oz per feeding! (i THINK the average is 4-6oz.) We nursed for 9mo. and then switched to formula...& I've never seen such a look of confusion as to when he got to the end of the bottle!! It's EMPTY??? At that point he was drinking at least one can in addition to what he ate. He never fussed for food either, BUT he'd do bambi-eyes and this lip thing. If we ignored that, THEN he'd fuss. Since he was "asking" we gave it to him.

Long story short, all the wrinkles and rolls melted away as he started to shoot up around a year to a year and a half...and his doc and we have to keep an eye that his body fat % doesn't get too low. About half the time he eats twice as much as I do, and the other half of the time he eats less then half what I do. This is all pretty par for course for my nordic/scottish family.

I should add....
My son was 10lb 4oz when born, and 23 inches long
He is now the size of an average 8 year old (at 6)
I'm the "shrimp" in the family @ 6'1"

While there's "average" there's also average for culture & ethnicity. We're off the charts as far as america is concerned but happily in the middle of "average" in Norway. If your friend's male contributer to the gene pool wasn't 6'9" I might worry. As it is....I'd wait a year and see. :)

-anecdotally- my sister is the only one of us the pediatrician at the time put on a diet as an infant(we had different peds, navy family)...she's also the only one of us with a significant weight problem.

May peace always find you, even if you're hiding :)
Z.

It seems like too much, but I wonder if you should let the doctor be the one to say so. My daughter's pediatrician was always very proactive about her weight and growth. I just think you have to be pretty careful about how you say something so it doesn't sound like, "your kid is going to obese because of you" (even if that is the truth).

I just had my one year old in for an appointment. She is just over 27 inches and weighs 17.5 pounds. For her age my daughter is only in about the 5th percentile for both height and weight. However her weight is about the 40th percentile for the height that she is. From this, looking at your concerns for your friend's baby, the weight is about average for the height. My step brother grew like that and is over six feet tall now. One thing I've learned with my kids is that somewhere between 6 months and a year they start to follow the growth pattern that they continue to follow later in life as well. My kids all start out at eight pounds but by a year old have only barely doubled their birth weight. At first peiatricians were concerned they weren't thriving but now they all say its just how they're going to grow. Some kids grow quickly the first year and then slim down. My girls just stay tiny. Other kids are just destined to be tall and continue to grow quickly and a lot. Most kids are growing just right for them.

J.:
Funny you mention this, my sister-in-law is doing the same with my nephew and I am concerned too but not sure if I should stick my nose in her business. At 6 months he weighed 22 lbs- more than my daughter who is one! Yikes!!!! She feeds him a 6-7 oz bottle along with 2 jars of baby food at each meal.

-Steph

My son at 6 months old weighed about the same. He ate 64 oz of formula and ate 2-3 jars each meal. My son did demand it thouhg. The only way I could have pared that down would be to make him go hungry which is not okay. The most important thing is not how much she eats or how much she weighs, but how her growth curve looks. Family kept telling me my baby was too fat and that I needed to limit him, but each time I talked to the pediatrician about it, he insisted that my son was on the same growth curve he was born on and that he was perfectly healthy. Basically, he eats so much because he weighs so much, not the other way around. Now, at two, my son is really slimming down all on his own.
One thing to keep in mind is that because a mother is with her baby day in and day out, she can recognise hunger cues long before anyone else, and often without baby needing to get fussy.
There is a chance that your friend is overfeeding, but I'd leave that to the doctor to decide. I have had a few relationships strained because well meaning family members have tried so hard to convince me that my baby was too fat or that he was eating too much.

I agree with Wenda C. My son is 9 months old and weighs 23 lbs, he doesn't eat much at all either. His doctor said that a large infant does not gaurantee an obese adult, as the child usually thins out when they start walking etc. I do think that is alot of food to give a 6 month old though! My oldest son will be 2 next Wednesday and he ate alot as a baby and only weighs 25lbs. All children are different and all grow differently. I would just let her take her pediatrician's advice.

It does sound like she just might be a big baby, but eating 2-3 jars that is alot, my lil man eats one jar a day once in the morning and another time in the evening, if i was you just don't say to much but keep a good eye on it, because you never know they could be doing her a disservice in the long run. Also chunky can be cute but too chunky is not. My little one is chunky but he is 8 months and is about 20lbs, i have big babies that grow up slim.