Is an 8lb baby big?

Question

Im due to have my 3rd child in 6 weeks time. I saw my midwife a couple of days ago and she has estimated that he is going to around 8lb's when born, my biggest yet. My babies seem to get bigger, my 1st was 7lb 6oz and my 2nd was 7lb 11oz. My family members are saying that an 8lb baby is really big, is it? and what do you think the labour will be like?

Answer 1

An 8lber is NOT big. My grandmother, who is 5'0ft and normally 98lbs had 9 children. All of her children were between 9 and 11lbs. She had them all at home with no complications and no medications.

Mine were all 7'14, 7'14, 5'9, 5'12, and 8'14. The smallest two was a set of twins. BTW, my last birth was SO EASY compared to my others. My grandma seconds that, the larger the baby, the easier the birth.

The average baby is 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches long. 7lbs 14oz is only 2oz from 8lbs. Not at ALL big.

Answer 2

hi the average size for a baby is 7lb 7oz but if the midwife just felt your belly and said it feels like it will be an 8lb baby do not go of this judgement if it was of ultra sound thats not so bad. not to scare you or anything, but with my first i was measuring ok for my dates and i asked the midwife how big she reckoned my baby would be (this was 2 weeks before i was due i asked) and she had a feel and said she thought it would be an 8lb baby. well how wrong was she i ended up having a 10lb 12oz baby, i am now in my second pregnancy and have asked to have growth scans. anyway i think she got it wrong as although my measurments were right for the stage i am a tall woman (nearly 6') so this could hide the fact that my son was bigger than they thought. i would gues that if you are under 5'5" and she told you 8lb then you baby will be smaller than this, if you over 5'7" then it will be over this and any height inbetween u will probably get an 8lb baby (which isnt that big considering it only a few oz over the average). im only going of experience of myself and people who i have had parent craft classes with and what they have been told, so please dont take my comments as a true stated fact its only based on my opinions. you wont know how big or small your baby is until they are born.

Answer 3

Hun, I've only had 1 baby and he was 7lbs. exactly. at first my dr was saying he was gonna be 8lbs or bigger but that changed. no i dont think 8lbs is really big. that is an average size baby for now a days. 9 or 10lbs is really big for a baby. so dont stress it. im sure the labor will be just the same as your first 2. good luck and congratulations on your 3rd baby

Answer 4

No. Babies are being born at bigger birth weights because of all the prenatal care and prenatal vitamins the moms are getting. All 3 of my daughter were in the 8lb range. I'm only 5'5'' 120lbs, small frame. I pushed the last two out without epidural or drugs. You'll be fine. I think now anything over 10lbs is big.

Answer 5

First of all CONGRATULATIONS! second of all, when I was 39 weeks pregnant with my daughter (now 6 months old) my midwife estimated that she was around 8 pound 3. (which is what my husband was when he was born). On Jan 2nd this year..(the day she was due) after an 18 hour 25 minute NATURAL labor, I gave birth to my 9 pound 3 baby girl. I had NO tears, NO stitches. Because I did my smarts! (Perenial massaging) Good luck to you and your family I wish you all the best.

Answer 6

It's not that big. My babies were 7lb 14 oz and 8lb 7oz. I've known several people who had 9 pound babies. I think 7-8 pounds is average.

Answer 7

Im not so sure if its big...more like average. Im 35 weeks and have just been told by my consultatant that my previous 2 children were under average weight and they were 7lb 2 oz and 7lb 3oz....which i had always thought was aerage size. he then told me that he estimates that this one will be average at about 8lb at term. With it being our third babies I wouldnt have thought the little extra will make a lot of difference! Goodluck to us both!!!

Answer 8

You'll be fine, I know women who say they were 10 pounds at birth and grow up to be tall and thin. I also heard that some supplements pregnant women take increase birth weight but it is mentioned as a positive thing, its not something that would result in a 15 pound baby or anything. I recently had a friend give birth to a 10 pound boy and now at 5 months he is still really big (again not bc of he's fat). She actually didn't look like she was going to have such a huge baby and I have never seen her waist smaller in my life! With increase knowledge of better prenatal care, babies are being born healthier, maybe your family is used to smaller and haven't really heard of the growing numbe of larger babies and so they are worried. Its not like its you, you could gain 30 lbs. or 50 lbs. because of your diet and have a baby come out about the same.

Answer 9

Little Bear - that was the same with mine, 1st was 9lb 5oz and the second was 6lb 13oz, thought might be lucky with the 3rd but she was 8lb 13 oz i wouldn't say that 8lb, 8oz was a big baby, perhaps a big average baby. My brother was 9lb, 13oz when he was born naturally!!

Answer 10

A lot of people consider an 8lb baby is big, but it's not. It's a nice size baby, normal nowadays. Just means you don't have to buy a whole wardrobe of "Just Born" outfits and can put him in 0-3 months. You won't even need "Newborn" diapers, can just put him in 1s right away.

I would have loved my son to be 8lbs, but for the first month he was under 8lbs and had to have newborn and just born everything.