Big baby? Warning: long

My DS is 14 weeks. He has his 3 month check up tomorrow, so I will ask the PED about this but I was curious if anyone else has experience with a big, hungry baby. At his 2 month appt he was 25" long already. Last week we went to the PED because he had a cold and was 14 1/2 lbs He was almost 9 lbs when he was born.

My side of the family is tall (I'm 5'10") so I'm not surprised he is long. But obesity runs in the other side of the family (as well as diabetes) so I worry about him eating too much.

Up until a few weeks ago, he was EBF. I'm not exaggerating when I say he nursed ever 1 1/2 hrs all day long. All the time, not just a growth spurt. We started adding in a little bit of formula since my supply took a dip when I went back to work. So now I pump, nurse and supplement with some formula.

He eats 7oz bottles during the day every 3 hours, four bottles total. Then he nurses twice at home before bed. So I'm guessing he's eating around 35oz total. Does that sound ok? Is this normal? I think going from nursing to bottle feeding has been an adjustment for me as well just to actually SEE how much he's eating. So it feels like a lot. Sorry this is so long!

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

Totally normal. Most babies triple their birth weight by 1 year, my ds did it by four months. He doubled his weight at 6 weeks. He was such a huge baby. I inquired that I though he was too heavy but the doctor said he was absolutely normal. Now at 3 he is thin and tall.

I honestly believe you cant overfeed a baby.

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

I wouldn't worry! My first was taking of formula early on, but my second is still only taking 7 ounces and is 10 months. They do go through growth spurts, and as long as the height climbs at the same rate as the weight, I wouldn't even be concerned!

DS1 was 15lbs, 25" at his 2 months appt
DS2 was 14lbs, 24" at his 2 months appt

You just have a big boy!!

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

I personally wouldn't be concerned at all. I dont think his weight is high, especially for,his height!

I just looked at DSs growth and at 3 months he was 13lbs 6 oz and only 22.75in long

At 4 months he was 14bs 11 oz and 24.5 in

DS has always been in the low percentiles varying between 10-25 percentile for height and weight.

Hth

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

My first DS was huge! He was ravenous and was eating about 38 oz a day at that age. He was 21 pounds at 6 months, 28 pounds at a year! Always above 95th percentile for height and weight until he was about 2.

Don't worry- I know that some experts say a heavy infant will be obese- but I don't agree. I think their food choices and activity as a child will dictate that.

My son is 4 now- and a string bean- though he is still quite tall for his age (he is about the same height as many 5 and 6 year olds we see).

Just keep feeding him if he's hungry.

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

This is how all three of my DSs were, too.
Youngest DS has his 4mo checkup tomorrow, but at his 10wk checkup he weighed 15lbs and was 26"!! He nurses frequently and never seems full, but he's just a growing boy.

I'm not worried about him being fat/overweight as a child or adult. Older boys were chunkers, too, as infants and now they're very lean but active pre-schoolers.

I say keep feeding him.

Big baby? Warning: long

Thanks everyone! I feel a little silly worrying about this stuff but you know how those comments can mess with your head. "He's huge!" "He's a hungry boy!" I know it's not meant the way I take it. And all I want at the end of the day is for him to be healthy and happy.

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

my ds1 was always off the charts for length, and ate a ton. the ped said to start him earlier on cereal, but dont do that unless rec by ped

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

DS was 25½" at his 2 month, and 13½ lbs. i was a little worried about the same things, but also really happy he was such a big, healthy boy. he also ate every hour and a half at that point, and the ped told me to try and space it out for my own sake, but that a baby so young can't over-eat. he also started bottles shortly after that, and if i remember correctly, i'm pretty sure he was doing around 5 oz every 2 hours between bottles and nursing...so that would've been around 35-40 oz a day.

your big lil' guy is fine!

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

both my babies were big and big eaters. We started cereal at 3 months which helped space out one of the bottles. We just introduced baby food this week (he will be 4 mos in a few days). We did the same with DS #1.

DS#2 eats .75 jar of food, serving of baby cereal and about 4-5 8oz bottles a day. But he does slep from 930pm-6ish too. He is again almost 4 mos. At 3 mos, he was 24.5 inches long and 16.4lbs!!

Don't worry about obesity yet. My DS #1 was a big eater baby, now at 3.5 there are days all he has is a banana & yougurt.

If you are ok starting food early I HIGHLY recommend it.

Message edited 7/24/2012 9:44:59 AM.

Re: Big baby? Warning: long

I don't think you can feed a baby too much - at 3 weeks old they are eating b/c they are hungry - it's not b/c they are bored, or had a bad day, or just b/c that chocolate cake is starring @ them -
Obviously thos are eating habits that can easily develop as they get older ......but not at 3 weeks old KWIM?