Chubby kids

[Honeysmom]

I know there have been many reports lately on childhood obesity, but I have started thinking about this.

At what age did your kids start to loose that baby look, and start to thin out? Honey was always small and still is short and thin, but Avery is a differnt story.

She'll be 3 in June is weighs just about 40 lbs. (only a 2 lb difference between her and Honey!) She is in the 5th percentile for height and the 95% for weight. That seems a little lopsided to me. The doctor never really said that she was overwieght, but in the last few weeks I noticed that she is getting pretty chubby. She's getting those little rolls on her ankles and wrists that she used to have as a baby, and a definate double chin. I guess I though by this age she'd start to thin out, not get chubbier.

I am just concerned b/c both sides of our familes have serious weight problems, some morbidly obese. Any thought on this??

Becky

[rosyred45]

Not that you are this type of mom, but make sure you aren't penning her up all of the time. My neighbor always wondered why her kids were getting chubby. She never let them outside and she had every room gated. While i agree that gating things is good, the kids had no room to play, always watched tv, and never got told don't touch. So needless to say, as soon as the gates went down, when they were 3, she had to train them to stay out of everything, then put the gates back up because she was tired of yelling at them

I wouldn't worry too much, although you said her ankles are getting chubby. How much milk, juice, and other kinds of drinks are you giving her? does she drink just water every so often. Alot of the sugars will turn to fat, just like adults, if she has too many in her system.

Hope that helped a little for now,
kaiti

[finnmom]

Honeysmom
Every kid is an individual, as you know. I wouldn´t worry too much, 40 lb´s is like 19 kg(?), I dont recall how tall she is. my ds nearly3 is about 98cm/15 kg and very thinn. So it sound´s to me that she is pretty averigde build.

As long as you take care that she eat´s a lot of veggie´s/day, drink´s water every now and then, eat´s candy´s/other delicatie´s only occasionally, not daily and get´s enough running/spinning/jumping... ;D there shouldn´t be anything to worry.

This is ofcourse very mportant thing to care of, but being little chubby is far from being overwieght! My ds5 was like a heavy truck driver at age of 3, now you can count all the ribbon´s in that girl, I changed nothing She just got taller and thinner.

You are such a devided mother that I know you´ll know when and if you have to change some eatinghabbit´s etc. with her.

Marja

[Brenda]

Becky,I was watching a home video of Stephanie from last year.She still had baby fat.She will be 6 next month and now looks like a little girl.Her face is thinner and her features are different.She weighs 49 pounds and I think that is a good weight for her.She's not too thin or chubby.She was always on the 95th percentile.She weighed 35 lbs at 3 years and 40 lbs at 4 years.She has slowed down some.

[mom2tj]

I cant help much DS #1was alway so thin and small... DS #2 is very tall he is in the 80% height and 95% in weight but I really dont worry about him, he is soooo hyper that I know he will thin down...

I think you doctor would have said something if she thought there was concern, we should be carefull with the juice we think we are giving them something good but we are also giving alot of sugar.

[Honeysmom]

I agree abou the juice and suagry snacks. I really so watch those. Actually, If we drink 4 pictures (wrong word I think : of juice a month that would be a streach. My kids are both obsdessed with milk, but she also drinks lots of water.

Maybe it is the time of the year also. Until last week there really was not much opportunity for her to go outside, b/c she refuses to be cold. Now she is out everyday for at least 2-3 hours.

She is having her iron and lead checked at the Co Health Dept tomorrow so I am going to ask there. The WIC ladies are in the same office and they keep pretty close track of that kind of stuff. The cool thing about living in such a small area is that there is really no one elase there when we go so they will anwser questions for as long as you ask them!!

Thanks lots...Becky

[tridlette]

Michael is 13 1/2, 104 lb. and 5' 7"

Patrick is 11 1/2, 83 lbs. and 5' 0"

Shaun is 9 1/2, 108 lbs. and 4' 8"

Michael looks like a twig, and eats like a horse. Shaun looks like a Buddha, and eats like a horse too!

Patrick takes all day to eat one bite. When I asked the doctor about Shaun dieting, she said that he will slim down in his own good time. But it isn't happening, and I am afraid of what he will be like if we don't get it under control. He is built like a linebacker! When the boys were little, their old pediatrician estimated that they will all be between 6' 4" and 6' 6" tall. If Shaun gets that tall and stays the same proportion he is now, he will be 400 lbs. It is scary, but how can you keep a hungry kid from eating?

There is a difference I think between chubby and fat, and Shaun probably has crossed it. But the doctor's don't seem to think it is anything to worry about. I would love to transfer some of his excess to his brother, who looks like he's starved.

[Honeysmom]

See, I think that is what I wonder about, she is starting to cross the line between chubby and fat. I suppose she probably will out grow it also, and I would never but a child as young as she is on a diet, but I would start to watch what she eats more closely.

Out kids are probably ony going to be about 5'5" if they are lucky! I am only 5'2" and Jerry is only 5'5" and 1/2, Heaven forbid we forget that 1/2"!

[TexasMom]

Steven is 5'2" and 136 lbs. He was always thin until we moved to Texas and we were both very depressed. He gained a lot of weight. He's slimmed down a lot, but could stand to lose more. I still haven't put him on a diet. All I have done is encourage him to not eat too much junk food and get more exercize. After all, he's still growing.

[BBW4EVR1]

I am sure we all know this-but it never hurts to be reminded. We can give our kids skim milk or 1% milk. Keep the junk food out of the house and ALWAYS-ALWAYS have fresh fruit and vegetables cut up and ready to eat in the frig. Cutting the fruit and the veggies is the key--at least at our house. I can stock my frig with the healthiest of foods and unless it is cleaned and ready to eat-no one will touch it. We call fruits and veggies at our house "Free Foods." They can be eaten at any time of day or night-without even asking. I don't care if it is right before supper. 'Cuz what is better than fruits or veggies to fill a kid. So they don't eat as much for supper and get hungry later. They can have more fruits and veggies. I have found that if I fill our house with Free food, it sort of empowers the kids-they feel like they are in control of their intake rather than being controled by their intake of food. Last July our son weighed 54 lbs. at 10 years old-it was scary he was so skinny. We had him drinking whole milk at least two cans of Pediasure a day lots of dairy, protein, and carbs--at least we tried. After some med changes he started gaining weight and slowly we have changed his eating over to more low cal. foods and he hasn't even noticed. He has stabilized at 92 lbs. He will be 11 in June. Let me tell you, there is nothing so beautiful as a child with a round face and belly that shakes when he laughs! So, be concerned about your children's weight, but don't obbsess about it and most importantly set a good example by what you eat! By the way, my husband is very thin and I make up the difference!

[Honeysmom]

BBW, that is a wonderful idea! My kids would think it was great that they didn't even have to ask. I am going to try that. I'll just cut up enough for about two servings at first until I know that they can be trusted not to be watseful, they are still pretty little .

I did take her in for her tests on Friday, and they no longer do a weight percentile. They do Body Mass Index percentil. So on that she is above the 95%, but the dietician said that they way she is built it does not look like she is getting fat, but she is just bigger. She is built more like a little boy than Honey is! A lot of her weight is also in her "abnormally large head, inherited from her father." (direct quote from Children's Hosp. of Milwaukee, now I can call DH fat-head and get away with it ;D)

They also tested her iron and it is low again. I have to get her back to the doc. for more tests. She also started to have her seizures again last week. That bums me out b/c she was really doing well with that, but I know the low iron contributes to it.

What would I do with all my spare time if I didn't spend half of the day controling my kids diets??

Becky

[AnneM]

My son was always a little chubby ... and then when he was around 10/11 he became TOO chubby ... and then at 13 he started to grow UP in height and slimmed RIGHT down and in fact got too thin for a bit ... But I would now at 15 say he is a very "normal/correct" weight for his 5'11" ...

[tridlette]

AnneM, thanks for putting Shaun into perspective for me. I have always thought he would correct for his weight, but it so disgusting to look at the rolls in his mid-section right now. Swim suit season is coming and I am trying to figure out what to do, because the neighborhood boys are pretty cruel. Shaun is forever in tears as it is from being teased. I have had them on Fat Free milk since their second birthday. He just eats bread, bread, and bread. Grilled cheese, pizza, and cheeseburgers. I have a lousy diet too, so it is hard to get him to eat things I wouldn't touch!

He is trying to watch what he eats, so I guess that all I can do is be supportive for him, and take him shopping with me, so that we can get what he wants.

[BBW4EVR1]

Tridlette-
Please don't take this the wrong way-but if you find your son's body disgusting, how can/will he be able to accept where he is right now. In order for any change to occur--in children or adults--one must first accept where they are at and learn to love themselves for what they are NOT what they and/or their parents want them to be.

Make healthy foods available to him at all times day and night. Encourage him to get that swimsuit on and swim, swim, swim. In fact, put one on yourself and go to the local pool together. Enroll him in swim classes. If he likes to swim-find everything you can do with swimming and let him do it! But for heaven sakes, please don't be disgusted by his size. Even if you don't say it to him, children can sense these things (as I am sure you know because you are a parent). Encourage his self confidence so that if somebody teases him when he wears a swimsuit he can look at them and say something like, "yeah, well I bet I can float better than you." It is sad, but our children need to be twice as tough as "normal" children. If they are not getting teased about being to fat or too skinny, they get teased about being immature. In our son's case he gets it from all angles. He is very immature, has a speech immpediment, can't tie his shoes, is extemely clumsy (he struggles with fine and gross motor skills) and until just recently he was teased because he was to skinny!! Our response to the teasing he receives, this may sound harsh, but "buck up little camper, this is your life." Then when he doesn't see, I go in my room and cry at how mean other kids are. The positive of all of this is that our son is known as one of the sweetest, kindest children in school. Because as he tells us, "Mama, I won't never tease anyone!"

Please, be patient with your son and encourage him to do what he likes! Again, I did not mean to offend anyone by this and I know being a parent of our children is difficult at best-lets not make it any harder for us or our kids! Hang in there!

[Honeysmom]

For the second time today I am with BBW!!

Being teased really does stink. I remember all too well being teased when I was younger. Now I know I was being teased by boys for reasons they liked, but at the time it hurt. Then many of the girls would tease me b/c I was a little weird or they were jelous. I agree with Shaun that I can never tease anyone. I know how it feels. Espeically if it is about a physical trait. Mine was being bigger chested than the rest of the class, or school rather. After plastic surgery and years of counseling I am feeling much better about it! A little joking with someone you know well is differnt, but teasing or bullying is another story.

If Honey gets teased I always ask him how he feels about it. Sometimes he says that it made him cry. That bugs me since I am his mom, and of course see no physical fault in him. But I always turn it around to show him how someone else would feel if he did it to them. I also make it very clear that I think he is perfect. I tell my kids several times a day how I feel about them.

My DH is very worried about our kids self-esteem. DH has very high self-esteem and I don't. I am getting better, but it takes work. Everyday he makes both of the kids say things like, "I am smart, or I am fun, Kids like me, and I am cute." I know it sounds funny, but I think some of that will stick.

You also have to make it a point to compliment yourself. Even if it is on something small. I always make sure that both kids hear me say that I did a good job on at least 2 or 3 things through out the day. That way it is more natural for them to praise themelves. I am not advocating that they get large egos or think overly highly of themselves, but if they don't like themselves it will be hard for anyone else to like them.

Just my 2 cents....Becky