Does a baby's growth pattern influence childhood obesity?

Question

Hello doctor,

My daughter was born at 41 weeks and weighed 8.36 pounds, at 8 weeks she was 11.90 pounds, at 9 weeks 12.65 pounds, at 15 weeks 15.87 pounds, at 17 weeks 17.20 pounds, at 18 weeks 16.87 pounds, at 19 weeks 16.98 pounds, at 21 weeks 17.64 pounds, at 25 weeks 18.19 pounds, at 31 weeks 19.40 pounds.

Is there any risk of childhood obesity from this growth pattern?
If not, please explain why.
I am concerned overfeeding early on (during month 2/3) and nonresponsive feeding may have affected her appetite as often fullness cues were possibly missed.
Is this something that goes back to normal if disrupted, especially because it was in such a critical stage of development for her?

Please help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have gone through your query and understand your concern.

As mentioned, your daughter is now 8 months old and weighs 19.4 pounds; this is perfectly normal for her age. Normal weight for age needs to be checked on a percentile chart. There is a big range of normal, from the 5th percentile to the 95th percentile, and the mean is at the 50th percentile.

She is between 75th and 80th percentile which is very good. She is having a perfect weight for her age.

At this age, she needs at least three feeds of solid food and 3 to 4 feeds of milk, preferably breastfeeding. I always recommend a demand feeding. Let her decide how much she wants to eat. Do not force her to eat, and do not stop her to eat. Make a routine, though not a very tight one. For example, starting in the morning with milk (preferably breastfeeding if she is on breast milk), approximately after 2 to 3 hrs of breastfeeding, give her breakfast and then lunch after a gap of 2 to 3 hrs, then again breastfeeding, then dinner, and lastly breastfeeding before sleep. So alternately give milk feeding and solid food. At night, kids of this age usually sleep for about 6 to 8 hours, but some kids may get up in between, and you can give breastfeeding if needed.

In summary, there is nothing to worry about; your daughter is normal weight-wise. Feed her on demand. She prefers breastfeeding if she is breastfeeding and enjoys watching her grow and keeping a record of her milestones and achievements. Continue vitamin D drops.

I hope I have answered your question.

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

As her present age was not mentioned, I thought the last weight was of the current age.

In the initial months, when babies are only on milk feeding, and if overfeeding is done, it may change their habits related to milk. Once solid food is started, it regulates on its own. I have mentioned how you can try to regulate the timing. Daily milk requirement by 1 year or so is approximately 500 ml, so you can say about 120 ml per feed 4 times in 24 hrs. Other times, let her take solid food (homemade).

It is usually not seen that the feeding during first few months will change the appetite programming. It gets regulated of its own more so when child start walking and having more activity.

Weight gain during first year of life is more and may have fluctuations. It may be more in one week and may be less in other week. For the first few weeks babies have fastest growth. After 6 months it slows down. This you can see from week 21 to week 31, she gained 800 gms. Better to check the weight monthly to have an average weight gain.

In short, over feeding during first few months of life is not going change future appetite . For your baby it is absolutely normal.

At 31 weeks of age, she has absolutely normal weight, so do not worry.

I hope I have answered your question.

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Thank you.