Can you have chubby babies on raw??

[moonlovers812]

So, I know I'm getting a head of myself, but here's my question. My son is 1 years old, and was 8 lbs 5 oz when he was born. He was strictly breastfed and by the time he was 2 months old was 14 lbs. He is now around 23 lbs at one year. He eats high raw, mostly fruit, and breastmilk. We are starting 100% raw on friday.

If I go through another pregnancy being raw will my baby be teeny? It really scares me because my son has always been so chubby it will seem so wrong to have such a tiny baby?

BTW, when I first started introducing him to Baby food (SAD) My son would always get constipated and that really worried me. I mean, come on, it was only fruits and veggies, Cooked. Now I only feed him raw fruits, (working on veggies) but he never gets constipated unless we eat a lot of cooked foods in a certain day. I'm convinced!

[cassidy]

Babies are so HUGE these days. I think it is kind of strange sometimes how big they are. It isn't like your baby is going to stop eating... he will probably be a chow hound! He will need to fill his tummy with food even more now that he won't have breast milk. Smoothies are great. Throw in some avocado and coconut meat. These are very fattening things and will help fill him up with healthy fats.
I think as long as your baby's height and weight are in proportion than he is OK. My daughter is high raw and VERY tiny. She is in the 15th percentile. I do however give her a little dairy (yogurt and 1/2 cup of organic milk - we are weening her off of this to rice milk - a day and sometimes cheese) and she has fish or chicken every once in a while.
She sometimes drinks three green smoothies a day! She loves nuts, fruit, carrots... just get creative and feed them as much as they want!
I think your son will be just fine.

[dreamrawalwz]

I've seen and read that babies that are breast fed tend to be "chubbier" than those that are on formula. Part could be because you're getting more nurtrients in the natural form, and the other part could be the mother's diet. Not yours, but others that live off SAD. I don't know, just seems to make sense in my brain that what the mother eats is what the child gets.

[vgloveforlife]

I wasn't raw when I was pregnant but I was a vegetarian and I had a 10 lb baby. I blame this on all the dairy I ate and drank. My body was getting ready for a a baby cow. :)
I breastfed her for 3 yrs and she was always so chubby. She is almost 6 yrs old now and very slim. She's been a vegan her whole life. Lately I've incorporated more raw foods in her diet and I think she's slimming down even more.
Being raw and vegan usually gaurantees that you'll be smaller, which is not a bad thing.

[greeninloanageles1]

Well, your son will naturally become thinner as he grows, because all kids loose baby fat by 4 years old. As for baby born to raw mama, he would probably be smaller, but then again, even to cooked mothers babies sometimes are born smaller. The book Baby Greens features raw baby(breastfed by raw mama) and it is very chubby, just like my son was!

[juliebove]

I don't know that 23 pounds at a year is tiny. My daughter was not quite 20 pounds at a year and tall for her age, yet she was wearing 2T clothing then. She appeared to be a bit chubby. I do know that boys weigh a bit more than girls in general but in checking a height/weight chart, 23 pounds at 12 months is pretty much off the charts. So heavier than average.

http://pediatrics.about.com/library/growth_charts/nboysbirth.htm

Now as for those charts, they are based on children who are fed formula. Formula fed babies are heavier in general than breast fed babies. My daughter had both. I was not producing enough milk so I had to supplement.

[moonlovers812]

Thanks for all your responses, I think perhaps I confused the situation. My son has always been big (and still is) comparitively to other kids his age. My true concern though is not about him, but when I become pregnant again if my next child will be really little if I am raw while pregnant. Now, I don't think that being little is bad or being big for that matter, but I just think it would be hard to have such a tiny baby, such a contrast. I was just curious if there's anyone out there who's been pregnant and raw, and still had a large baby?

Keep the responses coming, thanks

[dreamrawalwz]

Thanks for all your responses, I think perhaps I confused the situation. My son has always been big (and still is) comparitively to other kids his age. My true concern though is not about him, but when I become pregnant again if my next child will be really little if I am raw while pregnant. Now, I don't think that being little is bad or being big for that matter, but I just think it would be hard to have such a tiny baby, such a contrast. I was just curious if there's anyone out there who's been pregnant and raw, and still had a large baby?

Keep the responses coming, thanks

I don't think all of it depends on if you're raw or not. Some mothers have large babies and then a tiny baby or vice versa while their diet is the same. Is this a concern of yours or just curious? I don't see how it would be a problem if you had another child and it is smaller than your son was. Maybe I'm just a little confused. i don't see where the problem lies :confused: So what if it's a smaller child, especially if it's a girl? It may be different, but each child is different and special in their own way, doesn't matter the size. I don't think it would be hard? Just a smaller body that will grow as he/she should in their own time. Ok I'm rambling as I tend to do when I can't get out of my head what I want to say!! I still havn't said what I was trying to, but i'll stop here.

I'm also wondering if babies that are born to mothers that don't eat raw have too much "baby fat," but taht's just what we're used to and is considered "normal." I dunno. Whatever it is usually they will grow and stretch it out!

[Sharon in Colorado]

It depends on a number of factors. on the SAD my first was very chubby and my second was really scrawny. The doc had me supplement with formula with rice cereal, EVEN THOUGH he was sleeping soundly through the night and there were 5-8 soaking wet diapers a day. My milk dried up soon because of supplementing and he grew fat very qiuckly.

So it doesn't always depend on diet, there are so many factors to consider.

[juliebove]

I can't understand why you'd want a "chubby" baby, raw or otherwise. Chubby is not necessarily healthy. And keep in mind that a lot of those chubby babies are eating junk!

I was a tiny, scrawny baby and a very scrawny child. I could not put on weight no matter what. When my mom had me, some 47 years ago, it was common practice to have expectant women restrict their food intake so they didn't put on my weight. My mom put on something like 10 pounds with me. In those days that was considered a lot so she was put on speed when she had my brother 2 1/2 years later. Sounds horrific today but that's how it was done in those days. A decade earlier women were even told to restrict their intake of liquids. It was felt back then that drinking too much liquid would cause one to retain fluids. Raw fruits and vegetables were encouraged during those times because they are low in calories. Carrots, celery, greens, apples and grapefruit were mentioned in particular. My mom was not on a raw diet but living in farm country much of what she ate was raw, especially during the summer.

I do know that Drs. will tend to freak at a scrawny baby. Even though my daughter was just barely under average weight, she quickly lost weight mainly due to my inability to produce adequate milk and also due to the fact that she got jaundice right after birth. She became dehydrated and lost weight at an alarming weight. So I was pushed to give her formula.

I now realize that a lot of her problems after birth were probably due to her food allergies that went undiagnosed until age 6. But for most of her first year she was underweight. So scrawny that diapers didn't fit her. I can remember having to use diaper liners and hope that I got her changed as soon as she went or it would be leaking out the leg holes. She was long and skinny! Time after time I'd take her to the Dr. and be chastised for not feeding her enough. Yet she ate and ate and anything she could get her hands on!

Then at about a year, she began gaining weight. So much so that the same Dr. who chastised me for not feeding her enough began chastising me for feeding her TOO much. She was put on a strict diet at age 2. Despite the fact that she was very active, the Dr. told me to make her exercise more. At times the poor kid was worked to exhaustion to try to get the weight off.

When I think back on it, it makes me rather angry. All that suffering she went through. And all because of food allergies. Thing is we'd taken her to two different allergies repeatedly. Each time they merely said, "She doesn't have food allergies!", as though we should believe them because they were the experts.

So now I place a lot less stock on a person's weight, regardless of their age and a lot more stock on their lifestyle and their diet. If they are eating a balanced diet, not doing things like skipping meals or binge eating, and getting some exercise, and all other signs point to them being healthy, then their weight should not matter.

[dreamrawalwz]

I can't understand why you'd want a "chubby" baby, raw or otherwise. Chubby is not necessarily healthy. And keep in mind that a lot of those chubby babies are eating junk!

I was a tiny, scrawny baby and a very scrawny child. I could not put on weight no matter what. When my mom had me, some 47 years ago, it was common practice to have expectant women restrict their food intake so they didn't put on my weight. My mom put on something like 10 pounds with me. In those days that was considered a lot so she was put on speed when she had my brother 2 1/2 years later. Sounds horrific today but that's how it was done in those days. A decade earlier women were even told to restrict their intake of liquids. It was felt back then that drinking too much liquid would cause one to retain fluids. Raw fruits and vegetables were encouraged during those times because they are low in calories. Carrots, celery, greens, apples and grapefruit were mentioned in particular. My mom was not on a raw diet but living in farm country much of what she ate was raw, especially during the summer.

I do know that Drs. will tend to freak at a scrawny baby. Even though my daughter was just barely under average weight, she quickly lost weight mainly due to my inability to produce adequate milk and also due to the fact that she got jaundice right after birth. She became dehydrated and lost weight at an alarming weight. So I was pushed to give her formula.

I now realize that a lot of her problems after birth were probably due to her food allergies that went undiagnosed until age 6. But for most of her first year she was underweight. So scrawny that diapers didn't fit her. I can remember having to use diaper liners and hope that I got her changed as soon as she went or it would be leaking out the leg holes. She was long and skinny! Time after time I'd take her to the Dr. and be chastised for not feeding her enough. Yet she ate and ate and anything she could get her hands on!

Then at about a year, she began gaining weight. So much so that the same Dr. who chastised me for not feeding her enough began chastising me for feeding her TOO much. She was put on a strict diet at age 2. Despite the fact that she was very active, the Dr. told me to make her exercise more. At times the poor kid was worked to exhaustion to try to get the weight off.

When I think back on it, it makes me rather angry. All that suffering she went through. And all because of food allergies. Thing is we'd taken her to two different allergies repeatedly. Each time they merely said, "She doesn't have food allergies!", as though we should believe them because they were the experts.

So now I place a lot less stock on a person's weight, regardless of their age and a lot more stock on their lifestyle and their diet. If they are eating a balanced diet, not doing things like skipping meals or binge eating, and getting some exercise, and all other signs point to them being healthy, then their weight should not matter.

I was extremely scrawny. I was 3.5 months premature though. I was also 3.5 pounds and had to wear gauze pads as diapers because the premi ones wouldn't fit. I grew and gained weight properly and eventually caught up. I was a thin child though, but a healthy thin back then is now probably considered "too skinny" now :(

[moonlovers812]

Who really knows my thought process. Perhaps its being ridiculed for a small having such a small baby or that I feel people will compare my first and second child and ...i don't know, i wish there was some one who understands my concern b/c I'm not doing a very good job expressing it. Now as for my son. He's beautiful!! He isn't fat or overweight. His height and weight are in accordance with each other. I'm kind of regretting my thread, it seemed to come out wrong. I'm not hoping for a fat baby or kid, it'll just be so different. When I would hold my son and then hold someone elses who was super skinny, I don't I didn't like it. Sorry I'm just rambling. Mostly I'm wondering out of curiosity. Everything I read is that "my babies/kids are so small, not gaining weight, etc..." I don't think if your raw you have to be extremely thin (look at Alissa, she's slender for sure, but there's more to her than skin and bones) So I'm just wanting to know the outcomes of people who have had a raw pregnancy if ALL the babies are tiny?

I posted my sons photo in the 30 day challenge just in case you wanted to see how beautiful he is. I tried to put it here, but I couldn't figure out how.

Thanks again for your responses

[dreamrawalwz]

Who really knows my thought process. Perhaps its being ridiculed for a small having such a small baby or that I feel people will compare my first and second child and ...i don't know, i wish there was some one who understands my concern b/c I'm not doing a very good job expressing it. Now as for my son. He's beautiful!! He isn't fat or overweight. His height and weight are in accordance with each other. I'm kind of regretting my thread, it seemed to come out wrong. I'm not hoping for a fat baby or kid, it'll just be so different. When I would hold my son and then hold someone elses who was super skinny, I don't I didn't like it. Sorry I'm just rambling. Mostly I'm wondering out of curiosity. Everything I read is that "my babies/kids are so small, not gaining weight, etc..." I don't think if your raw you have to be extremely thin (look at Alissa, she's slender for sure, but there's more to her than skin and bones) So I'm just wanting to know the outcomes of people who have had a raw pregnancy if ALL the babies are tiny?

I posted my sons photo in the 30 day challenge just in case you wanted to see how beautiful he is. I tried to put it here, but I couldn't figure out how.

Thanks again for your responses

I don't think you can base your opinion on anyone elses experience. I think there are a number of factors and not all raw babies are scrawny. You'll never know until you try it ;) Do you think the younger one will get teased for being smaller if he/she is? Being born small doesn't mean he or she will stay that way for long. I guess I am still a little lost. Don't regret the thread! Usually they go off topic a bit and wander, but we always get back some how.

[juliebove]

I was extremely scrawny. I was 3.5 months premature though. I was also 3.5 pounds and had to wear gauze pads as diapers because the premi ones wouldn't fit. I grew and gained weight properly and eventually caught up. I was a thin child though, but a healthy thin back then is now probably considered "too skinny" now :(

That is small! I think I was something like 5 pounds, 10 oz. Not a preemie though.

[Rawkinlocs]

Moonlover,

Don't feel regretful about what you posted...it was an honest question/concern that I can certainly understand because it has been and still is ingrained in us to view certain sizes as healthy. I think Nora Lenz made a very valid point about how animals in the wild, if you take away the fur or feathers, they are very thin with just lean amount of muscle covering their bones. Same with our family friends...the dogs and cats...give 'em a bath and see how "skinny" they get! :)

But due to the bulk of our society being...well...bulky, we've adapted to a way of thinking when it comes to what is the "normal" size for a human being to be.

I want you to consider, though, that we're all different and have different metabolic rates, etc. Some (SAD-eating) families will have two or more children and perhaps the parents and 2 out of 3 of their children may be overweight, but one of those three children might be thinner or maybe two children in the household and one is heavier than the other yet, they're all eating the same foods. In fact, now that I think about it...I was a thin child growing up and into early adulthood but my younger brother, however, was and is overweight.

So, I said all of that to say, some raw fooders get thin and that is just their body's normal range of weight while others are meatier.

As long as baby is happy, healthy, and growing, I wouldn't be too overly concerned. My 3 1/2-year old son is at the 5th percentile on the charts compared to other children his age. For a second, this did bother me and concern me...but my boy is happy, healthy, growing height-wise, has a healthy appetite and rarely ever gets sick with a cold, etc. So, I stopped worrying about it. He's not skin and bones, but he's just smaller than typical 3-year olds. My niece who is the same age is only a couple of pounds heavier than he is, but to look at them, they both look exactly the same except she's a half an inch taller than he.

I know it's hard to let go of those old thoughts when it comes to things like size and chubbier babies looking so cute and "healthy"...but like others here have said, consider what those babies are taking in...formula, formula with rice cereal added, jarred baby foods and whatever (cooked) table foods they get once they begin eating table foods. They are chubby, but many (and perhaps not yours but generally speaking) of them are always having runny noses, little ones fussy and colicky, etc.

You're doing good, Mom! Don't worry!

[greeninloanageles1]

Actually I hope that my second baby won't be as big as my first one -9 lbs 2 oz. Not that it disturbs me(my birth was pretty easy and without drugs), but doctors took blood from him to check for diabetes, which I did not like. But hopefully next baby will be born at home.

[vgloveforlife]

My two sisters just had babies. The meat eater one had a very scrawny tiny baby and the vegetarian (not raw or vegan though) had a chubby baby. This proves that you just never know.

I understand your concerns. Eat only high raw if it makes you feel better. I don't think pregnancy is a time to be on a very strict diet anyway.

[NuttyRawMom]

Are you trying to say that you are worried about the comparison between the two if you go 100% raw for the second? I mean, here you are, trying your hardest to do your best, live the healthiest lifestyle possible, and then ***IF*** your baby turns out to be so much smaller than the first, you or other people might think it is due to the "diet" and be horrified that you did that to a child??? Is that the line of thinking? That it might be the end of this attempt at 100%?

If so, I understand your fears. It is hard to wonder if what you are doing is truly good for the babies and children when it feels like the rest of the world is different. Use the support of this forum, books on the subject, and your own resolve to keep in focus. What is your goal with raw? Optimum health? Then do nothing but that. As others have already said, a small baby is not necessarily a sign of deficiency. Genetics plays a big part in it, and still siblings turn out so different it is amazing. You can't let yourself compare the 2 children like that. It is no different than having 1 child who is extremely intelligent and one that is just average. Can you say that by going raw your second isn't smart enough? If your baby is healthy, satisfied, growing, and content, it is ok to be small.

You must just be smart...recognizing concerns if need be, which is what we must all do no matter what diet we follow. Just like if adults see something wrong in themselves, it is not all simply explained away by calling it detox. At the same time, when we see detox symptoms, we can't just jump ship and quit raw in fear that we are doing something wrong.

Am I hitting the point here or just going off on something that isn't what you are really talking about?! :)

Hoping this helps!

[moonlovers812]

NuttyRawMom
Yes, I'd say that has a lot to do with it. Thanks for your support!

[Mookie]

I think the size of the baby depends on many factors - not just diet.
SAD eaters have babies in all sizes and so do vegetarians and vegans...

My niece just had an 8 pound 5 ounce baby girl. Her other two children
were only 6 pounds. She did not changer her diet.

Genetics may be a factor too. My Asian (Chinese) friends have small babies.

I can understand why you would be concerned though... there will be people who will compare them at the same stages and note of the second child is smaller - so what though! If the second child is bigger, they will probably just keep quiet.

[luckitri]

Babies need to be chubbie in case they are dropped and to protect them while learning to walk until they are agile enough to protect themselves somewhat. I was always concerned about the protein. We always hear that children need to get all complete protein in each meal - meaning that adults bodies will take the corn from one meal and the beans from another and make a complete protein - but children are growing so fast that they need it all in the same meal. Now that I am learning about raw I don't know if this applies - haven't found that yet. Trust your mothers intuition. I knew that my son was severely constipated and they kept blowing me off but he was so sick that I kept insisting for help and they took an xray - he was so full of poop rocks that I cried when I saw it! We battled this for years and he would bleed anally - he has finally outgrown it. Mothers really do know best.