Kids with big appetites...Moms with kids who ate food early.

Rebecca - posted on 02/08/2012

Hi. I just wanted to put a sympathetic note up and ask if he was slow to crawl or walk. My friends daughter was the same with food. She is now a happy healthy 5 year old, albeit taller than average. She was slow to crawl and slow to walk and required therapy. She was always a beautiful loving baby, but I know my friend got some flack from the daycare staff and from some other mothers because of the amount she ate and her weight and size. My son is the exact opposite, which is common in my family. In fact, my son is large for my family, though he is still small and under weight compared to other kids. Good luck and bless you!

Lisa - posted on 05/13/2011

Hi. I had a 7lb. premie born @ 36 weeks. We had problems with projectile vomiting after every feeding, had upper GI scanns, suspected acid reflux. I introduced thinned out rice cereal at 10 days, it helped her so much. I had arguments with the WIC office nutritionist about her diet, but it was working. She was eating baby food 1st stage @ 1 month and table food at 8 months. I had always fed my children early, but it was actually recommended this time. She is almost 4 and looks like a kindergardener. I have another daughter who is 8 that looks like a giant 11 year old facing puberty already,and she was eating Wendy's hamburgers @ 9 months w/ a full set of teeth.

When we go out to eat, we can only go to buffets :) They are not "fat" according to the Dr. but the growth spurts are so frequent. I blame it on hormones in the dairy food I ate when I was pregnant.

Lisa - posted on 03/31/2009

my son was on rice cereal around 2 months and was on table foods by 7 months. he was just that hungry and the dr's said that what i was doing was good. he is now 13 months and 25lbs and 37in long. he is a very healthy eater and eats everything. no pickiness, and the drs are amazed that he eats so well. i don't see anything wrong with what you are/were doing.

Hayley - posted on 03/31/2009

I had the same thing with my son he was 9lb 6oz born and in the hospital ate a full 9oz bottle about a hour after being born, and kept it down and he never stopped eating from then on, i changed his milk to one for hungrier babies at about 2 weeks old and he was still eating 7-8oz bottles every hour and screaming in between. I had to start feeding him solids because he just wasnt gettin full on milk, i never used the baby cereals or baby food i made my own but even then he was eating so much, hes not over weight cause hes so tall for his age. hes 4 now and still eats loads but he loves his fruit and veg which is what he mainly eats when hes hungry so its not too bad.

I wouldnt let people make you feel bad for it you do whats best for your baby and if they are fine then you didnt do anything wrong by them.

Emily - posted on 03/31/2009

I had a big eater too! She was born at only 6 lbs 8 oz (she was actually one of the biggest babies in our family and came at 15 days past her due date- I think we just grow 'em small). Anyway, she was 15 lbs at 2 months. At 4 months she was 20 lbs. I was nursing exclusively. The ped. said I could start her on rice cereal. I asked him why he was telling me something that the AAP didn't recomend. He was slighlty surprised. He said that he wasnt recomending it- just saying I could if I wanted to. I waited until 6 mos. and gave her really soft avacado slices, peaches, ripe pears, sweet potatoes. She was eating everything in sight! Interestingly, she started crawling at 6 mos, was walking at 8 months and was only 22 lbs at her one year check up. She is six now and one of the smallest and skinniest in her class but still a great veggie and fruit eater! Her little sister didn't gain weight like that at all and has always been petite even though she was also nursed on demand ; she started solids at 7 months. She eats all the time too, but just has always been tiny.

Kara - posted on 03/30/2009

hi, My son is 10 months old and a very tall boy and a good eater. He began eating alot of formula as well and pretty much skipped right over to table food around 9 months. He still takes a bottle occasionally but would rather have solids. So I think this occurance is very normal and you are going about it the right way.

Kimberly - posted on 03/30/2009

He didn't have acid reflux either. After the first 2 or 3 times of throwing up like that my son under ate to stop it, and was then miserable since he was never full.

Kimberly - posted on 03/30/2009

Quoting Emily:

RELAX I'M HERE! Honestly, it sounds like your son had acid reflux. I know the past is the past, but there would have been better ways to deal with it rather than putting cereal in a bottle. Especially, ESPECIALLY at only 2 weeeeeks old. hot damn.
I dont really know what youre looking for here. Validation for putting cereal in a bottle? Validation for giving your two week old solids? Because if its validation you want, you have come to the right place. If you know what I mean.

Guess you failed to read the explanation, didn't you. Hence the point of me saying READ it. I'm actually wanting to talk to other mothers who have kids like mine, that is big eaters. So back off and butt out. Please. You've gone from bitchy to down right evil, obnoxious, and annoying. Come to think of it, the trend you have is that you like pissing people off and making them feel like crap to feel better. Nice, internet bully to moms looking for support. Good one. And I do pray to all the gods for your kids. I hope your neuroticism doesn't bleed onto them. I wish you the best of luck.

Emily - posted on 03/30/2009

RELAX I'M HERE! Honestly, it sounds like your son had acid reflux. I know the past is the past, but there would have been better ways to deal with it rather than putting cereal in a bottle. Especially, ESPECIALLY at only 2 weeeeeks old. hot damn.
I dont really know what youre looking for here. Validation for putting cereal in a bottle? Validation for giving your two week old solids? Because if its validation you want, you have come to the right place. If you know what I mean.

Anna-Marie - posted on 03/30/2009

Hey...I think I may top the cake for big kids! My son was not too big at birth, 8lbs5oz... He would want to eat ALL the time though, I had to quit breastfeeding. At 2 months old he weighed 17lbs and was eating an 8oz bottle every 1.5-2hrs. We started rice cereal then and soon after started solids. He is now 6 months old and weighs close to 30lbs, he is very long as well. He eats stage 2 foods, and some stage 3 foods already. 3 solid meals a day and growing...I am so sick of people getting on my back for feeding my son solids early, I did what was right for my baby...He would have starved if not! I feel that people who listen to every "rule" to the tee forget to listen to what their child is telling them.

Amanda - posted on 03/30/2009

I have experienced something like this with my son who is now 2. My son was born about 6 lbs 11 oz. He got so hungry and at 2 months old cried about every 2 hours, he too threw up alot when I started to put rice cereal in his bottle. By 3 months he was on jar food already and was also completely on table food by 8 months. He was a really big baby but grew out of the chubyness and now is just really tall. I know this is normal and I just consider it growth spirts that happen faster than most babies! Most people find it crazy, but if your baby wants more food you can't starve him to death. :) I hope this makes you feel better. :)

Jen - posted on 03/30/2009

Well my daughter didn't eat that much, but she did start eating earlier than suggested. She was breast and formula fed for the first 6 months so she was getting plenty. She would nurse for 45 mins and when she had formula she usually drank between 6 and 8 oz from the time she was about 3 months old. I gave her cereal about a week or so before she turned 4 months old because I wanted to get her started before she started day care. Then we started 1st stage foods at 4.5 months and quickly went to 2nd stage around 5 months. She would eat 2 jars a day, 2 cereal feedings, 3 6 oz bottles, and 1 or 2 8 oz bottles a day from the time she was about 6 months old. That continued until about 11.5 months of age and she went to table food. She eats 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. She's a healthy little girl, but since she's active she doesn't actually gain weight very fast anymore. She's 16 months old and weighs 23 lbs.

Cheryl-Lee - posted on 03/30/2009

You are absolutely in the right. My son who is now 9 was eating solids at three weeks of age. By the time he was nine months he was eating table food and having his milk drinks from a sipper cup. He still has an enourmous appetite and eats the same size meals as his parents, including fruit vegetables and salad. When a baby I was told that he was morbidly obese but he soon grew to a very tall young man who is incredibly active and a very good solid build. He is not overweight at all anymore and incredibly healthy. So cheer up, take if from someone that has been through all of the mean comments and judgemental behaviour from other moms and health specialists. Every child is different and let them guide you as to what they need and require.

Jamie - posted on 03/30/2009

Hi, My son is just over 9 months and he's a big boy. He's 24 pounds and 29 to 30 inches long. He eats a lot and has always been that way. He was eating every 2 hours for the first 5 months and now he eats four 9 oz bottles a day. He has been eating cereal since 4 months and has been eating table food since 8 months and he's on homo milk. Regardless of what other people say about it, if he's hungry and a bigger baby give him what he needs. People are so paranoid now a days, and this whole not feeding your kid on solid foods til like 6 or 9 months is rediculous, and formula until a year old is not always needed. It's all to make money in the stores. We never did all that when we were infants and we grew up fine. If my son only ate strained foods and cereal he would starve. I think you are doing the right thing. Do what youn feels right and don't let other people or the media run YOUR child's life. Keep up the good work!