We are just back from The Girl's 15 month check up at our new pediatrician's shiny and clean office. Good Lord, I can't tell you how much nicer this doctor's office was than our one at home. They had separate sick and well patient waiting rooms, clean toys and books, and a general air of competence. This may be reason enough to love the suburbs.
The appointment was fine, but I was finally forced to have a real conversation about an issue I've been wanting to avoid: The Girl's size.
As I've
noted before, she's big. At 15 months, she's 33 inches and 32 lbs. According to the pediatrician and
this chart, that puts her above the 95th percentile for height and weight, but of course it's the weight that's getting the attention.
The Boy was big too--although not quite this big--back in the days that he was a happy go lucky young toddler who would eat just about anything that I put down in front of him. He quickly became a picky older toddler who ate almost nothing and was constantly on the move. He lost his toddler tummy soon enough.
So, on the one hand, since I've BTDT with The Boy, I wonder if I shouldn't just give The Girl more time. She started to walk 2 months later than The Boy and is only just now becoming truly frenzied in her physical activity. She hasn't become a picky eater and still eats just about anything (which may be exactly the problem), but if she's anything like The Boy, that window will close soon.
But on the other hand, as a person who has struggled with her weight for most of her life (or more to the point, not really done enough about it to struggle), I want to do anything I can to help my daughter now so that she doesn't have to worry about it later. The pediatrician suggests being more diligent about portion size, really pushing the vegetables and fruits ahead of anything else, and switching from whole milk to 2%. None of those changes are earth shattering or particularly difficult (at least in theory), but the milk recommendation gives me pause.
This study seems to say that lower fat milk doesn't jeopardize neurological development, but I've heard the whole milk until age 2 recommendation for so long that I worry maybe I'm somehow prioritizing thinness above brain function. Would I have worried the same way about The Girl if she was a boy? What' next? Giving her a talking Barbie to tell her that math is hard?
I need advice here, people. Personal stories welcome--and I'd be especially appreciative of any resources about nutrition in toddlers (beyond Ellyn Satter whose books I'm consulting as soon as I press "Save").