Ladies, I need your help and suggestions. At 20 months and few weeks my son is a whopping 36 lbs. That’s a bit over weight for his age, umm okay a lot overweight. I need your suggestion as to how to control his weight gain/diet. My son loveeeeees food. He eats pretty much everything. I personally don’t think that he eats a lot of food, he drinks a lot of milk. He is still on formula because the regular milk doesn’t suit his tummy. I need advice from parents who went through this and had to at some point check their kid’s diet. What did you do to make sure your kid falls in a healthy weight chart? I know I need to cut down on his milk but other then that what else can I do. Ideally I would like him to lose at least 5 lbs by his second birthday, which is in March. Not sure if that’s doable.
Re: Overweight kids
First step is like you said, cut back on his milk pronto!!! The formula has a higher caloric count because its meant to be the main form of nutrition…at 20 months, he doesn’t need it!!
Second, make sure he’s not mindlessly eating ( like out if boardom or grazing)…he should have regular meal times, with just one or two tiny snacks.
Im not sure how much exercise you can give a toddler, so I’d check with your ped or a nutritionist who specializes in pediatrics and see if they can suggest a plan for you
Btw, I had the opposite problem…at the age of 6, my twins were still stuck at 34 lbs (-5% percentile :hinna:)
Re: Overweight kids
What r u feeding him? How much of it is processed or ready made? What do u cook at home?
Re: Overweight kids
What is his eating schedule like…?..How many meals,how many snacks and what does he eat…??..That would give a better idea to others and let them answer your query better.
Firstly stop using formula.Pediatricians usually tell to start using low fat dairy products after the kid turns 2…maybe you can switch to low fat cheese and milk etc.Also at his age you can cut down on milk as it is no longer the primary source of nutrition.
Re: Overweight kids
I had the same problem with my older kid too. He was heavy ever since he was 8 months and it was so tough to carry him around. Could never move around without a stroller! The doc first advised us blood tests to ensure his thyroid levels were OK and they were fine by god’s grace. We shifted him from formula to cow milk, introduced finger foods like boiled carrots, cauliflowers, broccoli, with yoghurt dip. We also introduced him to some whole fruits around this time - slightly cooked guava without the seeds, apples without the skin, poached apricots, poached plums. His khichri was made with 2:1 proportion of moong daal and rice and we started using unsalted fresh butter instead of ghee. Another thing that helped me was we’d got a new puppy around that time and they used to play so much together. Earlier he was just sleeping as he did not have any company to play with but with the puppy around he turned into one active fella. He dropped abt 7 pounds in 4 months. And another feather in the cap was I lost some 7-8 pounds too along with him as I too started eating “healthy” 
People did curse me for making the kid “diet” but then I decided to give a deaf ear. We as educated mothers, obviously know that golu-molu-ness isn’t healthy in the long run.
Re: Overweight kids
ok so my baby and your baby are same age n same problem, wht my doctor suggested was to take her in play area so she had some physical exercise , n yes ofcourse dont giver her more than 24 ounces milk in 1 day, cut butter and cheeze n potato from his food. it hepled me alot allhumdullah now things are under control.
Some great advice there. So I am not the only one. His doctor says you should be happy that your son likes food and eats everything, it’s just the matter of eating healthy. Childhood obesity leads to obese adults. It worries me. My son hardly ever eats processed food. It’s mainly home cooked desi food. For bkfast he likes scrambled egg fried in 1/4 tsp butter with few sips ofeither milk or juice (yes sips). And then at around 11 he wants milk… and some more milk. At 2 he eats his lunch. It’s either done kind of pasta, or any leftover food from last night. He eats this in moderation, maybe a small bowl of pasta etc. He takes a nap, with more milk. Wakes up. We usually have dinner by 6. When he goes to bed he wants milk again, then the whole night he drinks milk. Because of long gaps btw his meals he gets hungry and asks for milk. He hates chips, crackers, kid’s snack, cereal etc. He would take a bite of fruit here and there but not enough. Dilemma with milk is, he kicks me, cries, scratches me if he doesn’t get his milk.
Yes, his doctor says that too. Take him out, keep him active. Make him walk everywhere. Only problem is is too cold to even step outside 
Re: Overweight kids
U gotta take him somewhere indoors…it’s very hard with the billion amt of clothing they need…but u gotta do what u gotta do…even at home… Work him out… Best is swimming.. I take my kids even in winter…not fun but hey… It keeps them active.
If he eats proper food for dinner…a milk bottle before bed and that should keep him good till next morning… Water at night if he wants…but u will have to put rue foot down… He will cry the first few days… But will learn soon enough?..drinking milk throughout the night isn’t great.
Limit the rice, pasta, white bread… And use of butter.
Re: Overweight kids
Yep. Exercise! loads and loads of it.
Re: Overweight kids
Spiral… I hate to advertise for McDonads but see if there is any nearby with an indoor play area, join the Y (they have a kiddie indoor pool), childrens museums have lots of activities and exhibits for toddlers, indoor skating, soccer, etc are great in winter too. We have an indoor rock climbing place in town that has lots of activities for toddlers too.
Its coming from a mother who takes her child out everyday even in a 30 degree weather.. and sometimes it’s just a walking trip to the mall 
for outdoor, I make sure I have those baby legs warmer on him too under his pants and a sleeveless sweater on a body suit to keep his chest warm!
Re: Overweight kids
He drinks milk the whole night? He should be sleeping through the night at this age. My son was like this too (though very skiing and scrawny) but I started offering him water instaed of milki at night and he was sleeping through the night in a week even though he cried and kicked . It was a tough few nights but then it was worth it!
Re: Overweight kids
How did you solve the thin problem. My kids are the same.
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Re: Overweight kids
at 5 months of age my daughter was termed as “over weight” by her doctor. What he suggested was that it is not easy to cut down on child’s milk intake so if u r feeding formula for example 200 ml requires 3 spoon of formula then cut down 1 and just add 2 spoons in the same quantity of water. But he told me to take advice from a different dr on this I think it was an OT doctor. Anyway , you can have this discussed with a nutritionist and as per his/her advice reduce the quantity off formula in same amount of water.
Also , have play time with him for like 20-30 mins . Play with ball , cars etc etc make him walk.
He will be just fine In sha allah …he is just a baby right now !
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Still working on it :hinna:
They are now 7 1/2 yrs old and still wear a size 6, some times even a size 5, depending on the store. They eat a very healthy diet, Mashallah..no problems with fruits and veggies, so I don’t curb their snacking or worry about them indulging in junk food like I do with my 9 yr old.
They have now reached 40lbs (finally!) and are in the 3% percentile for their age 
I’ve quit stressing about it…as long as they are eating healthy and getting lots of physical activity, I don’t worry anymore. I’m sure they’ll hit a growth spurt soon, and I’d rather they be lean with muscle.
Re: Overweight kids
I don’t currently have a car actually so taking him out except for walks around the neighborhood is out of question. Summers was fun, I used to take him to parks and for long walks and I do think it was helping. Although he likes to walk in any weather outside but I avoid taking him for long walks because of cold and windy weather.
I know his milk at night is what’s really making him gain weight. I wish it was easy to just take his bottle away. But I will try it now since not only is it making him gain weight, it can also ruin his teeth.
And Diamond, I don’t remember last time I gave him milk according to what’s written on the box. He never gets more than 2 scoops in 8 ounce milk. I’ve cut down on that. Since he eats very good doctors have told me that cutting down on milk shouldn’t affect his growth.
My son was only 6 lbs 12 oz at birth. He was tall though, he still is taller then other kids his age but obviously his weight is a lot more. He started gaining weight when he started eating plus drinking same amount of milk.. at about 8 months.
Re: Overweight kids
Instead of making sceambled eggs daily give h twice a week n rest give oats or something secondly pasta avoid it instead give him some roti salan whtever you made same goes for dinner or grill some nuggets for him
Since Its cold there make some vegie soup for him.
Sometimes it was not possible for me to take my baby out wht I used to play was jumping jumping we had tht cartoons on baby tv tht sing this song n thn I started jumping wth them n baby used to copy me n thn play wth ball thriw it n ask him to bring back the ball
But once a week do take him to some indoor play area.
Re: Overweight kids
And yes reduce the amount of milk like if he is taking 8 ounces every time reduce it to 7 ounces n yes my doctor said not more than 24 ounces in a day so calculate number of feeder per day n slowly reduce ounces
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Spiral, your son is just Mashallah.
And you’ve seen Bilal…he’s a chunker.
He was actually heavier. But as of lately, he’s been slowwwwwwwwwwly slimming down.
I think its because he’s getting oatmeal in the mornings with fruit. He does still take a bottle but he’s switched over to regular milk now so no more formula. When he was on formula, he was heavier and I noticed he gained weight fast. She has him snacking on things like bananas, crackers, apples, etc. Bottle with his nap. Lunch is ghar ka khana…rice with chicken usually. Another snack and then dinner. Bottle at bed time.
During the week, he goes to the mall play areas to run around and tire out. This is working slowly but surely.
Re: Overweight kids
Thanks ladies for awesome advices. And yes Reha everyone tells me he’ll be fine because he is just a baby and he’ll lose all the weight. But it does concern me because of how much food he eats and milk he drinks.
My son will never like oatmeal I know this. I’ve tried it in the past and he hated it. I can try it again but I am sure he won’t like it. I am cutting down on milk.. actually a success. He got no milk last night and he did just fine. I was so scared that he’ll wake up and cry but he was fine. All these replies have given me hopes that he’ll be fine if I do all the right things