Can they gain too much weight?

My duo at 6 just over months you can see in my siggy basically 16 lbs...

Today we were at my step moms office (she is a Nurse practitioner) and she had a baby scale.. i was very curious.

They were 20lbs and 19lbs 12oz. The only thing that has changed from now to the 6 months is we have gone to stage 2 foods and added another solid meal. Is it ok that they gained that much weight in such a short time?? They are eating the same amount of formula but i was wondering if they are just chunking up before crawling or something like that..

TIA!!

ETA:: so they are doing 3 solid meals (stage 2 foods) a day now.

 

I was wondering the same thing! My LO's LOVE the solid food and are eating like crazy. They were both 16lbs at their 6 month check up. I would love to know what they are now. I have heard that once they start teething (mine do not have any teeth yet) that they will slow down on the food. Also, that they will start to burn off some of the food once they start crawling.
I have reduced their formula a little bit. I found they were spitting up a lot, and one book I read (The Baby Whisperer) said to reduce the formula a bit when solid food has been introduced. But that seems to be the opposite of a lot of advice I see on this site.

 

I don't remember how much mine weighed at that age, or what "normal" is, but they were both chubby, and Sarah was downright roly-poly. She had creases not just at her wrist & elbow, but in the middle of her forearms and the middle of her upper arms. :ibiggrin: Her highest weight percentile was 75th, at her 9-month appointment. No one ever seemed concerned about it, and they all said she would stretch out when she started walking, which she did. She was still a chubby toddler (they both were), but by age 2 or so, she was smack at 50th percentile and has stayed there ever since.

 

It's been nearly 2 months since their last weight check, it's possible (actually probable) that they went through a growth spurt in between there and put on some chunk! Odds are their next appt their weight will have slowed down again and maybe won't have changed much since their current weight!

I wouldn't worry about it too much, if your ped is worried at the next appt they'll let you know! As you can see, my dd was 19.2 lbs at 6 months, and her curve was no longer "curving", it had turned almost verticle! :lol: My ped asked me to water down her formula a bit and to add more solids in!

 

I think that is ok, but not until late in the FY. My ped recommends 9 months to shift the focus more from formula to food.

:rofl: That is so funny!

Personally, I don't think that a baby can gain too much, too fast. Chances are they are getting ready to stretch out in length, and/or get movin' and burn it off! I always fed mine as much as they wanted.

 

Since they have the same amount of formula, they are getting extra calories from the solids. You could cut down the formula intake that you give before or after the solid meal and give them some water to keep them hydrated. Chunky babies are nice, but it can slow them down on their mobility.

In my native country, the amount of formula in the second and third bottle are gradually reduced while the amount of solid food is increased. Like, you feed the baby the solids and than give him the bottle right after until the baby is full. The baby should gain 750grams/mo in the first 4 months, 500g/mo next 4 months and 125g/mo the last 4 months, so by the end of the first year, a baby that had a normal weight at birth should weigh about 9 kg.

I think that since they aren't that mobile, the formula intake is the same and they are getting extra calories form the solids, they might gain more. You should also ask your pediatrician about this.

 

i think it is totally fine! my DS was/is a super eater and got really chunky, he was up to 24 lbs at his 9 month check up!! but now he is crawling everywhere and when i weighed him the other day, he is still 24 lbs. so he is now burning a lot of what he is taking in. and he has gotten taller and a little slimmer.

i wouldn't worry about it, i think for the most part, babies will eat when they are hungry, they know what their body needs and if they are storing it up that's what they need to be doing.

 

I think its fine. Mine were well over 20 pounds at 6 months and filled out just fine. I fed on demand and didnt have to reduce their formula at all.

 

thank you for the reassurance ladies. I have been soooo worried about this all day yesterday.. you have put my mind at ease!!!

 

Yep - checking in here at 21 and 19 pounds at our 6 month appt.

 

Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to double-check with your pedi but it does sound like it could just be a growth spurt. My boys started drinking a bit less formula when we moved up to 3 meals and actually lost a little weight at first, but they gained very rapidly the first 3 months and have slowed down since then (as you can see in my siggy ). They've been hovering at just over 21 lbs and just over 19 lbs for a month now.