Almost 20 months old, overweight? Still nursing daily...

[@llli*jayvidsmommy2011]

LO was 34 inches tall and 35.13 lbs at his 18 month checkup. Ped told me he weighed a little more than they would like at this age. He's quite a big boy in his size and all. He's chubby, but not "fat". Have thought the possible answer to his steady weight gain is due to him eating normal foods, as well as getting extra calories and fat from BM due to nursing 3 times daily. Is this a possiblity?

I am ready to stop BF. But LO, apparently, is not. I have been having some issues the past week or so with tender nipples. As well as a noticable decrease in supply. Ready to wean, but he's so presistant.

Are these two reasons combined a good enough reason to start being more productive in the weaning process?

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

What two reasons? I am sure that your toddler is not overweight. I can't believe your doctor said that. And if he were overweight, I assume that the answer would be more activity and not less breastfeeding.

However, if you are ready to wean, then that is reason enough to do it. Do you think that if you decreased nursing to once or twice a day that you would be able to hang in there longer? Do you think you might be pregnant? Than can lead to soreness when nursing.

[@llli*djs.mom]

I wouldn't assume he not overweight. 35 lbs at 18months sounds pretty big Tracie. I don't think DJ weighed that much until he was about 3.5 years old and he was consistently in 65-70th% And if he is eating ton of solids I wouldn't wean because of it. I would review what you are feeding him in terms solid foods. What KINDS of solids foods is he eating? And in what kind of QUANTITY.

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

Maybe he's overweight, maybe not. But he was also 34 inches tall. Lilah was 36 inches tall at 3 years old and 24 pounds. She is now 4 years old, 32 pounds and maybe 42 inches, I'm not sure. I think an 18 month old has more chub than a 3 year old - and they NEED that chub. Typically they burn it off when they start moving more. I have a nephew who was 40 pounds at 2 years and is 50 pounds at almost 5 years and he is skinny looking now because he is so tall. And he was never breastfed, so it certainly wasn't the breastfeeding that caused my nephew to be "overweight."

How much physical activity does your DS get, OP? And like Shelly asked, what is he eating?

[@llli*jayvidsmommy2011]

I was told "he weighs a little more than I'd like for him to at this age" on two seperate occassions. The well check-up, and then about 2 weeks later for a "sick" check-up. He weighed the same, but we seen a different doctor. His primary did say to get him to exercise more. Didn't mention anything about BF. But, I'm not sure if they are aware that he is still BF. This check-up, they didn't ask. They asked if he was a picky eater. At the time, I said no, because he wasn't. Now he most definitely has became one. As I have read in some other forums, I feel like he's thinking, "If I don't eat food, I can get mommy juice." His nursing schedule consists of: right when he wakes up OR about 2 hours after, at naptime, then again at bedtime. Bedtime nursing doesn't seem to cause soreness. Maybe he just nurses "harder" during the day.

I just thought maybe he was consuming a lot of calories and fats from a "double dose" of whatever foods are ate. The ped also called him a "grazer". He eats a little, leaves, comes back to eat a little more.

OAN: Pregnancy is out of the question 100%. Been receiving the Depo- Provera shot since my dismissal at L & D.

[@llli*jayvidsmommy2011]

He's a "grazer". Very picky. Loves hot dogs and pastas. But he eats green beans, and other veggies pretty well. Fruit also.

Up until this last check-up, he was staying in the above average range. Height was 95%, weight was 90%. They didn't tell me the precentiles this time. But I assumed it was more like; weight-95% and height 75%. He's a big boy though. His daddy is 6'4". I'm only 5'0". He's half of my size already!

[@llli*jayvidsmommy2011]

Unfortunately, not very much OP. We don't have a back or front yard at our place. He likes for me to chase him around in the house. he runs and plays so hard he sweats. But, maybe not enough. He is also somewhat of a "couch potato"...lol. He loves his Little Einsteins.

To me, it doesn't seem like he eats enough. I have him on a multi vitamin, just in case. He is also lactose intolerent to direct cow's milk. Plus, I dont feel like he enjoys the taste of it. Have tried "Silk". He may only drink 2 oz. and he's done with it.

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

I doubt that your 20 month old is thinking that if he doesn't eat food that he will get to nurse. Is he your first child? My 4 year old didn't start to understand the doing something to get a reward (which is what you're sort of saying) until she was over 2. And I have a 21.5 month old right now. She eats a variety of foods and nurses way more than your son. She nurses on demand, basically, whenever she's with me. When she doesn't eat, it's not because she's trying to hold out for mommy milk. It's because she's either not hungry or she doesn't like what's being offered - we all eat the same thing in our house - and then she can just eat food at the next snack/meal.

I think it's so weird that doctors give mamas with small babies a hard time and congratulate mamas with huge babies - and then when they are in the toddler range, it's all of a sudden not ok for a toddler to be high in the percentiles.

To me it sounds like you have two separate things going on - (1) that you seem like you really want to wean, regardless of what is going on with your son and (2) maybe your son needs to get more exercise

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

How much TV is he watching per day? Don't you have parks that you can go to?

[@llli*mommal]

My DD2 is 2.5 years old, 39 inches, and 35 lbs. She's a big girl, but also an extraordinarily tall girl. When the height and weight percentiles are at the same end of the charts, there's much less reason to worry about a kid's weight- and it sounds like your kid has been matchy-matchy that way right along.

One thing I have noticed with both my kids is that they will chub up right before hitting a major growth spurt. One day they're looking a little pudgy, and the next week all their pants are too short! It may be that your LO went in and got measured right in that chubby window before a height spurt.

If you're ready to wean, that's fine. But don't wean out of fear that nursing just 3x per day is making your kid fat! I don't think that's near enough nursing to cause a huge weight gain. And nursing is a perfect form of nutrition (way better than hot dogs and pasta!), it's so good for your toddler's immune system, and it's a great mothering tool. I had to take my 2.5 year-old in to the ER last night at 3 am. She's fine, but I don't know how I would have made it through the night without being able to comfort her with nursing.

I think that if you're concerned about your kid's weight, the best thing to do is to run him around more, make sure he eats his veggies, try to reduce the amount of fat and simple carbs in his solid food diet. Chicken breast instead of hot dogs. Whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta. Which is not my way of trying to blame you for your kid being on the big side! I know for a fact that you can feed your kid a great diet and have them exercise all the time, and still have them be on the bigger side!

ETA: Tracie nailed it, as usual. When you have a big baby, it's all "WTG, keep nursing!". But the moment you have a toddler or child who's on the larger side, it's all and "Hey, have you heard about the epidemic of childhood obesity?". Can't win for losing!