Just too much!

SuperTreesa · July 2013

I love my little sister, but oh my gawd, I'm gonna lose it on her. She has a little boy who just turned 3 last month. This little boy is HUGE. He weighed in at 66 lbs at his 3 yr appointment. He has been way over weight since he was about 1 1/2 years old. My sister is not the least bit worried about his weight because the crap excuse of a pedi hasn't made it clear how bad this is for his health. She just thinks that because his dad is tall/big, that that explains his size. So this is bad enough. But she just posted pictures on Facebook of him riding in their truck. He is no longer in a carseat or even a 5 point booster. It would appear that at most he is in a seat booster. But one picture was clearly taken of him in the window seat, while driving, and there is no shoulder strap on him. So I can't even tell if he is buckled in at all. MI law is okay with him being in a truck, but ALL kids under 4 are supposed to be in car seats. I know she probably doesn't have him in a car seat anymore since he outgrew it. Fucking redicious!

tpeale · July 2013

Every state has different seat belt laws, but NC laws says 4 or 45lbs for just a booster seat. That being said he should still have the shoulder restraint on if the truck has one

SuperTreesa · July 2013

tpeale said:

Every state has different seat belt laws, but NC laws says 4 or 45lbs for just a booster seat. That being said he should still have the shoulder restraint on if the truck has one

Yup, that's why I checked the MI state law. It doesn't specify weights at all. Just carseats required til 4. After that boosters are required til 8 yrs old or 4'9".

jen-and-ryon · July 2013

You need to tell her that all of this upsets you. He is your nephew. My son is almost 4 and weighs 40lbs and is tall and healthy. 66lbs is to much weight for a boy that age.

Wino0920 · July 2013

How tall is he?

Ajoyd · July 2013

I'd be okay with the "he's just big" excuse if she feeds him a really healthy diet and limits snacks, but something tells me this is not the case.

And the car seat thing, yeah, he should at least still be in a booster. Yikes.

As a concerned auntie, I hope there is something you can do to help.

SuperTreesa · July 2013

He is about 36-38 inches. He is tall. No question about it. My 3 1/2 yr old is 35 lb and about 4 inches shorter then him. I just talked to my oldest sister who lives nearby my little sister. I actually live about 2 1/2 hours away and haven't seen the car seat issue first hand. According to my oldest sister, she only doesn't use a car seat if it is short drives and if she doesn't want to fight him in a car seat. I'm calling BS!

Ajoyd · July 2013

My in-laws let my 3 year-old niece buckle herself into her car seat and don't make her use the bottom strap. I find it horrifying and it makes me nervous to ever let our child ride in the car with them once he/she is old enough to know how the straps work.

SuperTreesa · July 2013

Even a booster is illegal at his age in MI. The law requires him in a car seat. And no, his diet is fast food/pizza/candy nearly every night of the week. We had lunch Thursday after we buried my mothers ashes. Before the meal even came, he had 2 20oz cups of chocolate milk.

Jenball717 · July 2013

Sadly she is really setting him up for some difficult battles in life, if he survives childhood and isn't in a car accident that claims his life.
Our relationships with food start at an early age and the habits he already has will be very hard to break later when he wants to be healthy or needs to change to save his own life. This is negligent parenting.

Phalaenopsis · July 2013

SuperTreesa said:

Even a booster is illegal at his age in MI. The law requires him in a car seat. And no, his diet is fast food/pizza/candy nearly every night of the week. We had lunch Thursday after we buried my mothers ashes. Before the meal even came, he had 2 20oz cups of chocolate milk.

His diet is simply awful, and as PP said, his parents are setting him up for a lifetime of major problems. As a result of the obesity epidemic in children, we will probably see more and more heart disease and other consequences of metabolic syndrome/obesity earlier and earlier, starting in their 20's. Heart attacks in 30 year-olds are not unheard of. Parents need to teach children how to make healthy choices. Certain areas in inner cities qualify as food deserts, where fresh fruits and vegetables are not available and kids eat more pre-packaged meals. Consuming cheap, pre-packaged food is partially to blame for the epidemic but in this particular case it sounds like they can afford better food and are just making bad choices.

msronzio · July 2013

Even a booster is illegal at his age in MI. The law requires him in a car seat. And no, his diet is fast food/pizza/candy nearly every night of the week. We had lunch Thursday after we buried my mothers ashes. Before the meal even came, he had 2 20oz cups of chocolate milk.

Wow, even I have trouble drinking 40oz at once. And unfortunately your sister may be able to use the argument "but it's milk so it's healthy." One of obesity's biggest advantages is people who don't realize that the added sugar and flavoring makes a world of difference. You might not be in a place to say something about his diet, depending on your relationship with your sis, but you can at least be an advocate with the seating issue. Just sit her down and show her an article of an accident where a child wasn't properly restrained and got hurt, and open up the conversation with how she feels about this.

yesthisiskim0401 · July 2013

I think a cuntpunt is in order, here.

MangoMama82 · July 2013

If this were a friend it might be tricky, but since it's your sister I feel like you need to be honest with her about this. You need to have your nephew's best interest first and foremost, not her feelings. He needs an adult to help him navigate all this, she needs to step it up

Jenball717 · July 2013

msronzio said:

SuperTreesa said:
Even a booster is illegal at his age in MI. The law requires him in a car seat. And no, his diet is fast food/pizza/candy nearly every night of the week. We had lunch Thursday after we buried my mothers ashes. Before the meal even came, he had 2 20oz cups of chocolate milk.
Wow, even I have trouble drinking 40oz at once. And unfortunately your sister may be able to use the argument "but it's milk so it's healthy." One of obesity's biggest advantages is people who don't realize that the added sugar and flavoring makes a world of difference. You might not be in a place to say something about his diet, depending on your relationship with your sis, but you can at least be an advocate with the seating issue. Just sit her down and show her an article of an accident where a child wasn't properly restrained and got hurt, and open up the conversation with how she feels about this.

Most chocolate milk has as much sugar as an equivalent amount of soda. It's not a health drink, but an occasional treat.

SuperTreesa · July 2013

Thanks everyone! I wrote her an email. I let her know my concerns and reminded her of the law. I'm sure she doesn't think it's a big deal on short distances. But I reminded her that she has to put his safety first. We live about 2 1/2 hours apart so I won't know if she actually makes any changes. The nutrition issue sucks. Obesity is rampant in our family. Seriously, my mother just died 3 weeks ago due to obesity related issues. I've been obese and fighting it since I was in high school. I'm very conscious of my kids nutrition and I work hard to keep them from falling into habits I was raised with. My little sister just refuses to see the problem with her son and honestly doesn't have a support system nearby to make her a better mom. Her husband takes such pride in his "big boy." Its really disgusting that his Ped hasn't brought up how horrible his diet and weight are for his health. Sorry for the lack in paragraphs, the IPad doesn't seem to let me put them in.

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