Would this offend you?

ashbee0223

This is a rant and I'm trying to let it go but it has really gotten under my skin.

My dad posted a photo of my son on Facebook and one of his friends said, "dang what are y'all feeding him? Looks like he needs to be on a diet!"

My baby is 10 months and was born 5 weeks early weighing just over 5 pounds. He stayed around 5 percentile or less for a while but is 30 percentile in weight now and finally 25 percentile in height after being less than 3 percentile since birth. He has a lot of rolls but is not fat nor near overweight.

But who says that a baby needs to be on a diet?! Joking or not I don't believe it is ever ok to joke about someone's weight. It would be very hurtful and wrong to say this to an adult so why is it ok to say it about a baby?

I don't know I guess I'm just being immature in getting upset and letting it bother me. Maybe it's because I'm a first time mom or just too sensitive. But wanted to know what others felt about the open comments from others about babies and their size. Thank you for reading.

brachysira

Well...when you are a preemie mom, I think you might just love it if someone says your baby is big and fat...but if not, you can just chalk it up to the fat that old guys don't have much to say about babies in many cases, he was probably just being nice in his mind, and anyway older men aren't necessarily the most sensitive to young moms' feelings...  Worse comments will arise in your child's life, so I'd just roll with it.

ashbee0223

brachysira said:

Well...when you are a preemie mom, I think you might just love it if someone says your baby is big and fat...but if not, you can just chalk it up to the fat that old guys don't have much to say about babies in many cases, he was probably just being nice in his mind, and anyway older men aren't necessarily the most sensitive to young moms' feelings...  Worse comments will arise in your child's life, so I'd just roll with it.

Yea I guess it was the fact that he said it looks like he needs to be on a diet. After all the hard work to get him gaining weight now someone is telling me he needs to be on a diet?

Throw3ks

I'm a snarky kind of gal and would say something along the lines of "thanks for noticing how healthy my baby is now seeing he was a preemie and was only 5lbs". But if not let it go and tell him he needs to go on a word diet.

Kelly_12

I think you're being a bit too sensitive about it. People say dumb things when it comes to babies.. Personally I love it when people call my LO chunky, he's healthy! We call him chunky monkey all the time lol. I get the "going on a diet" was the part that bothered you.. But clearly that person is just an idiot. That's how I'd look at it, ha.

BLPL101

Everyone (strangers) are always telling me how little DD is (born at 35 weeks just over 5 lbs too) and she's in the 38th percentile so certainly not tiny or big. I dislike those comments...I would love to hear someone say she's big.

Pips09

I don't think it would bother me to hear that my baby is big or chubby. But saying he needs to go on a diet implies that you are not doing your job as a parent to keep your baby healthy. That would really annoy me, and, yes, probably offend me.

Eshirley26

I would just let it go. I'm quickly learning that most people don't know what to say to NICU parents, or have any clue what it is like to hold your breath every day when finding out LOs weight. However, I also know that these same people have no ill will towards me or my child. People just say stupid things. He probably thought he was being funny. It's not funny, but don't let his silly comment steal your joy.

LaciJaxx

I'd just chalk it up to one more stupid thing you'll hear. The list gets longer every day. I'd probably let it bother me for a week and then is be over it. Our LO is in the 3rd percentile so I'm always gearing about how tiny he is. He's up to 13 lbs from 3.5 so he's not tiny anymore to me. But I just let it go. If I'm in the talking mood I'll mention he's a preemie. Otherwise, I just roll with it.

firefliesandfjords

I'd love to hear about DD being fat, and I love it when people point out her little rolls, but the diet comment, yeah, that would rub me the wrong way. I'm not exactly sure why, but it would. I'd probably get a little snarky, too. Everyone thinks they're an expert. It's irritating.