Do I need to be worried?

miami85

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 9:26 pm

I tend to agree with most things my pediatrician says, but I've been in a situation 2 times and I'm wondering if the dr. is over reacting.

My older son was born big, but then basically followed the growth curve at the 50th percentile for most of his life. He was a milk-guzzler, barely ate food and only occasional nosh--and mostly crackers, and bamba, chocolate was a special shabbos treat. He also ate whole grain bread and pasta, and liked some vegetables I thought his diet was limited but overall balanced--and we TRIED and TRIED to no avail to limit his milk intake. At his 2 year old check up his weight was over the 75th percentile and my pediatrician was like "let's talk about healthy eating choices." I was thinking--of course his weight is high--he's been on whole milk, now that he's 2 and switching to skim/1% and he is more and more active his weight should moderate a bit, and a year and half later it has, with similar eating habits.

My younger son just turned 2, and has been in the upper 90 percentile his whole life, he is SOLID with a BIG head (it's over 85 percentile). He doesn't look very "chubby" and he's very active. Knowing that he is on the heavier side we even started giving him 2% milk 2 months or so ago. He has more variety in his diet, but he is a nibbler--a few bites and he's done. He also drinks a lot of milk, though we are trying to force him to cut back. But it has been noticeable that he "slimmed down" recently. His babysitter is always telling me that my son didn't eat lunch (she's known him from a baby and that he's not a big eater)
I thought for sure at his 2 year-old check up he would be 70-80th percentile--but no still, he's still at 96th percentile. My pediatrician said "he's eating too much"--and I'm like that's a joke right? He barely eats and she's like "whatever it is, it's too much for his metabolism".

I've been trying to encourage him to EAT so that he's not drinking milk as much, but now that he's switching from whole to low-fat milk--he won't be getting as many calories and he doesn't stop moving. I'm pretty sure that his weight will moderate more.

My husband is tall, so I suspect that my younger son will be tall as well, but should I be worried? Any mothers have experience in this area?

Plonis

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 9:40 pm

Yes, I do think you need to be worried about your pediatrician. It doesn't sound like she is taking you seriously. It sounds like she is looking at the scale and not at the child.

If your child is built solid, active, and eating moderately balanced meals and not too much nosh, there is nothing about his weight that is worrying. She does know that muscle weighs more than fat, right?

The growth curve is a CURVE, of NORMAL. If he went from the 96th percentile to the 70th percentile I'd be more likely to be concerned, or if he went from the 96th to off the charts.

I don't think you should be putting your 2 year old on a diet because he isn't built "average." if your pediatrician suggests such a thing, I'd be worried about the reliability of her advice.

amother

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 9:52 pm

My DS was the same way. He was always in the 90+ percentile for HEIGHT AND WEIGHT (even 99+ for a bit). We looked at his growth chart to monitor his progress.

At age 7 the DR started monitoring his BMI. He wanted it to be under 20. DS only eats whole wheat, doesnt like pasta and eats two 110 calorie snacks a day. DS will eat a yogurt if he is still hungry, it has zero fat and 80 calories. DS hates fruits and only eats romaine lettuce, purple onions and cucumbers. We were told fruits arent good, and vegetables are "free", he can eat it as much as he wants.

We signed up DS for sports, put him on the treadmill, and it is keeping his weight under control. DS by nature is a book worm.

At age 9 we took him to an endocrinologist because his height dropped in percentile (he didnt grow alot) and his weight is still high. All blood work BH came back ok. I just took DS to the doctor recently because he was sick and they did the height and weight. He grew enough for his BMI to be 20.2.

Right now its a life struggle. I hope his metabolism will change once he hits puberty. Regardless we are teaching him healthy eating habits and trying to get him to exercise 30 minutes a day.

miami85

Wed, Jul 16 2014, 11:21 am

This pediatrician is very highly regarded and I do like her overall. When I mentioned to her my observation with my kids' growth pattern she referenced his height/weight ratio and that he's gone down from 80th percentile to 48th percentile for height. But, I'm more confused b/c we had this conversation at both 2 year-old checkups so far (none others).

I'm not into the anti-milk campaign. I would rather a kid be hooked on milk which does provide protein and calcium and less juice which is has very limited nutritional value, and I can hear that kids wouldn't be satisfied with just water. He drinks very little juice, and I'd like him to drink more water but he mostly just spills it.

granolamom

Wed, Jul 16 2014, 12:27 pm

somethings not adding up.

two of my kids were in the 90th %ile for height and weight at age two and not only did they not look chubby at all, but my ped never said anything but 's/he's a good weight for her/his height'.

is it possible that you dont recognize that your child is too heavy? or that your perception of how much he's eating is based on his own former eating habits and not the typical eating habits of kids his age?
or is it possible that the ped has a serious hangup about weight and you should consider another pediatrician? or a nutritionist to just be sure you arent missing anything.

my kids are not big milk drinkers, never were. they weaned from breastmilk to water and food. food contains all the protein and calcium your child needs and fills them up too.
we have only dilute juice on occasion, otherwise they are very much satisfied with water.

I cant really speak on advice for helping a small child drink less and eat more other than offer less milk and more food.

MaBelleVie

Wed, Jul 16 2014, 12:34 pm

This is not about being anti milk, it's about having a child obtain nutrition from food sources mainly and milk secondarily. A two year old who is drinking so much milk that he is refusing food is a problem, regardless of weight. He ia getting a lot of calcium and protein, more than he needs actually, but he is going to be deficient in many other nutrient sources. You mentioned that iron deficiency has been noted. The point of a healthy diet is a balance. When one food or drink becomes the main source of sustenance, that balance is thrown off. Milk as a drink a few times a day is fine.