As you can see by looking at my sidebar, my children are really, really FAT. Especially Patrick. At 6ft 2, he weighs a whopping 160 pounds! The other high schoolers have to sit on the other side of the bus when he gets on, I'm telling ya. New shocks every week.
But seriously? He used to have big, lolloping fat rolls on his legs and wear Onesies to avoid that Pooh-bear look tummy-wise. At the age of 2 months, he was over 17 pounds. Round, I tell you. But see, that was normal for him. He ate allll the time. No way I would ever listen to a doctor if he wanted to put Patrick on a diet.
A diet? For an infant? I know. It's nuts, I tell you! And yet it seems to be the new trend some doctors are pushing to "prevent" obesity. I didn't think it was even possible for an infant to BE obese or have eating disorders like anorexia or bullemia. I mean, come on. If your kid is a little stick, he isn't getting enough food or he has a medical problem. If he is as big as a house, he's probably meant to be big or just mayyybe he has a really odd medical problem. Mayyybe.
But barring said really odd medical problem, you just can't overfeed an infant. I'm sorry. Maybe I'm old school on this. But no way. Overfeeding is only possible after puberty.
I think that we are so blessed in this country that we have to make up problems like "childhood obesity" to worry about instead of polio, starvation, or as is currently the case in much of the world, war. You watch, soon there will also be a government grant so poor people like me who can't afford/don't even know what to do with Ipads, Ipods, nanotechnology and silicone implants can get new ones at taxpayer expense.
PS. I also would like one of those blackberry blue tooth things that listens to my thoughts and scans entire books and can go "beep" after scanning odd codes on ketchup bottles and coded signs around town. I am feeling left out and it is hurting my self-esteem and thus must be bad for national health and the economy. Thanks.
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Sydney's pediatrician wanted her to get a bottle of water in between feedings at 6 months old because she was 20 pounds...she was also 9 weeks premature and preemies tend to pack on weight once they get growing. We didn't follow his advice, I couldn't imagine doing that to an infant. She's healthy and at a good weight for her age, always has been.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I don't agree with you. I think it is possible to overfeed an infant. I've known women who put their baby to the breast or put a bottle in their mouth at every little squawk. When possibly the baby may just want a change of position or scenery, or burping, or want to be played with and cuddled a bit. I wouldn't ever underfeed an infant, but having a very young baby who is rolling in fat just seems wrong to me. Plump is fine, cuddly is fine, 20 pounds at three months is overweight. My babies were chubby once they started on solid foods and before they learned to crawl. Once they started getting around the chubbiness lessened a bit, once they were walking, it lessened even more, because they were using more energy.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. None of my kids have had the overweight issue. It's the opposite for me even though they are well fed. I can't put weight on Chaz no matter how hard I try. Including Caleb. Then again, I was a stick all growing up.
ReplyDeleteOur (breastfed) boys all gained fast and early. The midwife jokingly referred to my milk as "power milk" after the first couple of weigh ins. And, yes, I was eating carefully too. I gave them nothing but breast milk and, after three months, occasionally watered down juice, until they were ready for solids (around six months). Until they were around nine months the bulk of their calories came from nursing. Had WIC and the doctor been in the business of predicting weight problems in those days (instead of pushing formula--that one never ceased to amaze me), I'm sure I'd have heard about it.
ReplyDeleteAll of them were in the 95%--big babies--with chubby legs and round faces, thick shoulders, and big heads. Their father is 6'5 and genetics predicted tall and broad. We simply got a head start. These days one of the four struggles with his weight a little and that didn't become a problem for him until he hit adolescence and began eating away from home. Genetics has a lot to do with that too. The majority of the people on my side of the family are overweight to varying degrees. He has finally learned that he can't eat the way other people do and maintain a healthy weight and is now shedding those pounds. The other three are slender to the point of willowy.
I think a "one size fits all" approach to deciding whether an infant is overweight or not is asinine. Nursing an infant on demand (naturally teaching them to eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full), not offering too much juice, and encouraging young parents to wait to introduce solids until it's very clear the baby is ready for them (also introducing fruits and vegetables first with cereals and meats last) is a better solution. I don't know about you, but I've seen plenty of skinny, unhealthy babies too. Educating instead of labeling is going to be far more useful in the long run.
My babies were big and tubby, breastfed mostly on demand. They are all normal to slim now. Only have one who would eat till he explodes, and we just watch him and tell him he's had enough, LOL. He's not overweight now, just a big boy for his age. I think it's extremely difficult to overfeed a breastfed baby, but formula is different. It's not as easily digested, so doesn't need to be given in unlimited quantities. (That stuff's nasty anyway, IMHO!)
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