Is my 2 month old overweight?

Question

At the pediatrician's office yesterday, the doctor said to be careful feeding my daughter too much as she may be a little on the overweight side. He said that it wasn't an issue now but that if we didn't "get it under control" now that we may have an overweight child. He said that compared to where she was born at that she may be getting too big too fast. My daughter was born exactly a week before her due date ... so earlier than some, but not pre-mature.

My 2 month old is 11lbs10oz and 22inches long. Her weight is in 73 percentile and her height in the 46th.

At 1 month, she was 9lbs8oz and 20.5inches. Weight was 60th percentile, height was 38th.

At birth, she was 7lbs6oz and 18.5inches. Weight was 45 percentile, heigh was 20th.

I feel weird limiting her feedings. I was told that babies will stop eating when they're not hungry. Should I restrict her food intake or is this a healthy growing pattern? This is my first baby. And I was a big baby when I was little

Answer 1

Your doctor is CRAZY to have you concerned about weight factors. My daughter (9 weeks old) is in the 97th percentile. She was born 7lbs 10oz (2 days past due date) and is currently 14lbs 3oz and 23 1/2 inches. Her doctor says she is fine and there is nothing to worry about. He told me these growth charts are just an average estimate. Every child is different.

To give you a little more detail, my baby was already 12 lbs by 6 weeks. She just grew like a weed and has slowed down now. Just because your baby is in a weird spot on the charts now doesn't mean she will stay there!
Relax and just let her grow. No need to worry until she starts solid foods. Just teach her good habits then!

Answer 2

WOW! When my son was born he was 7lb 13 oz, 19 inches long. ONE week later he was 8lb 3oz and 21 inches long. At two months old he was 12lbs 3oz and 24 inches long. It sounds to me that your Dr is worrying way too early. These charts seem so silly to me. Once your daughter is moving around more she will even out in weight. I would look into a different Dr if this one is seriously telling you not to nurse your daughter when she is hungry. I'm not entirely sure if the charts are supposed to be the same for boys and girls, but when I went in for the 2 month check up I was told he was in the 90th percentile for height and 65th percentile for weight...One of them have to be wrong. Our #s are too close to be that much of a difference. Just enjoy your baby. Don't worry about weight right now. As she gets older (1 or 2) introduce healthy living and then go from there. Good Luck

Answer 3

I agree, don't withhold feedings. If she is hungry than feed her. Just make sure that you are not feeding to soothe. Your daughter may have had a growth spurt. Her height seems to be increasing pretty fast as well. Sometimes doctors don't have all of the answers. Her height and weight both seem to be increasing. The percentiles are not a means of diagnosing, they are simply a guide. I think she sounds like she is doing great! My daughter lost alot of weight the first two weeks and it took about a month to catch up to where she should have been, She gained even more than two pounds in one month. That was healthy for her. She was catching up.

Answer 4

Formula or breastmilk (and if breastmilk -from the breast OR from a bottle?)

A breastfed baby can NOT be overfed, getting milk out of a breast is way too much work for a baby to do when they aren't hungry. Many breastfed babies also gain very quickly the first months and then slow down (my son was 20lbs at 4 months, 26lbs at 8 months, and 27lbs at 18months). Bottle-feeding can cause weight problems, but rarely. One cause is not mixing the formula properly. Another cause is CONSTANTLY trying to force a baby to drink more at a sitting, this can cause their stomach to stretch and the baby to like that "overstuffed" feeling (think of thanksgiving). Cereal in a bottle also can override the "full" feeling in babies.

However if your baby is BREASTfed your doctor is using the wrong chart. The new WHO chart based on EXCLUSIVELY breastfed babies shows that your childs growth is completely normal:
Weight: http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/cht_wfa_girls_p_0_6.pdf
Length: http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/cht_lfa_girls_p_0_6.pdf

In metric and WHO percentiles
month 0 = 3.34kg = 55th percentile-ish
month 1 = 4.30kg = 60th percentile-ish
month 2 = 5.27kg = 55th percentile-ish


month 0 = 47cm = just below 15th percentile
month 1 = 52cm = 18th percentile-ish
month 2 = 56cm = 22nd percentile-ish

So her weight is staying more or less on the same percentile and her height is increasing slowly but noticibly in pecentiles.

Answer 5

These charts really get my goat. I was in the same boat with my son. When he was born he was 8lb 2oz, just over the 50th percentile. When he was 26 weeks he was 24lb 5oz - that is about 1 cm above the 99.6th percentile on the doctors charts. The health visitor got me all worked up saying I was feeding to much etc. but he is a healthy, happy baby.

Yes - he may weigh alot for his age, but he his also very tall for his age. Don't let the doctors and their stupid "charts" upset you.

Answer 6

Granted it's what a doctor said, but I would feel like a bad mom denying my children food at that age where growth and weight are crutial in keeping them healthy.My Son was 7lb14oz 22 in long when born and at 2 months was 12lbs and 24in long so I don't think your baby is really looking at becoming overweight. My son is now 16 months and he's 23lbs and 331/2 in long. And he's not overweight and he's in the 90th precentile

Answer 7

Your baby is NOT overweight! I can't believe your doctor would tell you something so ridiculous! For one, she's not a very big baby right now, and secondly, chubbiness in babies is not an indicator that they will grow up to be overweight children or obese adults. Anyone who thinks that has to be out of the mind.

Childhood obesity is a product of bad parenting, not chubby infanthood! Children need lots of excercise, in the form of energetic playing, and they need to eat nutritious food, not chips and sodas and candies. Today's children are fat because of the way they are fed, and the modern tendency toward sedentarism.

Babies, on the other hand, don't do much of anything but eat, sleep and lay around/be held. They naturally have extra fat on their bodies because they aren't engaging in the vigorous, calorie-burning playtime activities that older children do, and have very little muscular development due to the fact that they aren't mobile, and aren't building muscles until they are strong enough to use their limbs. Babies are pretty much just fat, skin and bones for the first year of their life, and that is natural.

Babies need all of that 'extra fat' as a stockpile energy reserve for all the growing that they are doing, and unless you have a baby that is morbidly obese - and we ALL can tell the difference between a normal baby and one that is grossly fat - then you shouldn't be worried about your child's current weight. As long as she is behaving normally, is growing steadily and is healthy with no illness, then rejoice in your good fortune and don't pay any attention to that moron of a doctor.

My son is 7 weeks old, weighs 12 lbs. and is 23" long. He was 8 lbs. 20.5" long at birth - so you can see he has grown a lot! We exclusively breastfeed, and he is as healthy as he could be. If anyone ever told me that my baby was growing to much or was too heavy, or would likely be fat when he got older, I'd probably tell them to "stick it..." because he's perfect.

Babies don't eat themselves fat... that's something that adults do, and a behavior that they teach their children. Your 2 month old baby is not at risk for being fat because she only eats when she needs to... As she gets older, and when she begins eating solids, as long as you feed her healthy food in correct portions, you will have no problem with weight issues.

Don't limit her feedings, and you are right for thinking that it would be weird to do so. Let your baby be happy and healthy, and even chubby! Don't give in to this obesity hysteria.

Answer 8

dont worry this is completely normal ; my son was 3 weeks old and eating 5 ounces every 2 hours ; and now hes 5 1/2 months eatinq 7 ounces every 3 hours and solids twice a day ; he weighs 20 lbs and is 27 inches long ; his pediatrician said hes the size of a 1 year old ; but once he starts crawling and walking they will thin out ; dont restrict her feedings but only feed her when she is crying or cranky ; after you figure out that shes not tired ; not wet ; and still cranky then shes hungry ; i was giving my son a bottle every time he cried lol

Answer 9

Two weeks ago my 4 month old son was 19.6 pounds and 27 inches. My doctor didn't say anything negative about his weight. He only said that he's a big boy and that he wasn't rolling over yet because it takes quite a bit of strength to roll over at that weight. (He was right - not rolling over yet.) When your baby is hungry, she will eat. If she isn't, she won't or she'll spit up the excess.

Answer 10

Being that she was born at 7 lb 6 oz, I don't think that 11 lb 10 oz is really that bad, especially since she's grown so much. The benchmarks that are truly important should be: She should be double her birthweight @ 6 mos. (15lb. +/-), and no more than 20lb. by her 1st birthday. That's when you start introducing healthy choices into her diet (i.e. fresh fruits/vegs. water instead of juice. Plus, if you're nursing, you shouldn't cut back on feedings, since that is how her brain develops.