Do big babies run in families?

ErikaLynn75 · March 2014

After everyone telling me how huge I am at my shower this weekend, and talking to my mom about her pregnancies, I'm starting to worry that this baby is going to be a big boy! I was just over 9 lbs when I was born, and my 3 siblings were over 8 lbs. My mom also said I had a huge head and talked about all the damage I did on the way out. *cringe* Does anyone know if this sort of family history make it more likely that I'll have a big baby also?

Veittobe · March 2014

They seem to run in my family. I have 2 brothers and all 3 of us were over 9 lbs. My first baby 9lbs 8oz. We'll see how big this baby is but so far I'm feeling huge. SO, my guess is yes. But there's nothing scientific behind that answer.

TheBeeCharmer · March 2014

I personally think it does. I was 9 lbs 10 oz but DH was only 7/3. DD was 8 even and DS was 10 pounds 3 oz. This baby is measuring large too. On DH's side, his mom and all her siblings were at least 9 pounds.

In many cases, your body usually grows the size baby it can handle. I know this isn't always the case, but try to relax.

whitneymarie003 · March 2014

My doctor said it's usually genetic. Big babies definitely run in my family. My grandma had 4 big babies. My older brother was 8 lbs, I was 9 lbs, and my younger brother was 10 lbs. All around 3 weeks early. Based on my LO's measurements he is on track to be just as big. They're monitoring his size every other week because of babies being big / coming early for almost everyone in my family. I don't think it's anything to worry about though!

manderdoll · March 2014

I'm pretty convinced that it does. I was only 7lb 13oz, but DH was 9lb 2oz with a large head (common on his side of the family), but my mom and her 8 siblings were all 10-11 lb babies. DS1 was 10lb 2oz at 41 weeks and DS2 was 9lbs 2oz at 39 weeks. Not all, but a lot of my cousins on my moms side had larger babies.

ErikaLynn75 · March 2014

My mom and I are pretty much the same size/body structure, and she was only 23 when she had me (I'm 29). So I figure if she could handle it, I can too. But my philosophy is "the smaller the better" when it comes to squeezing things through my vag.

I'm also second guessing the clothing/diaper situation. My mom said she didn't really use newborn sizes with any of us. So I'm going to keep the shopping to a minimum until after he's born. Luckily, we got a lot of hand-me-downs so we'll have something for him to wear no matter what size he starts out at. I just don't know if the sizes will match the seasons for what we have.

toadstool · March 2014

My Dr. says it can be genetic. My father's side has large babies (10-11lbs for him and his 6 siblings.) My mother had an 8.5 and 10.5 pounder. She had trouble delivering my brother, the bigger of us two. My DD was 9lbs, 1oz. at 39 weeks. The nurses had to manually manipulate her shoulders to get her out because she became stuck. If I want to attempt a vaginal birth again, the dr. wants to induce this one at 39 weeks as well since with all the factors involved, I am likely to have another big one.

With that said, it is not very common for mothers to have babies that are bigger than they can handle. Eating healthy and keeping your weight gain within the recommended limits are the only things you can do to try to influence the size of your baby if you are concerned about it. You can talk to your dr. about your concerns but I doubt family history alone would make them worry. It is very, very rare for a mother to produce more baby than she can handle.

Crazijewel · March 2014

Yes! I was only 7 lbs, but my DH was 10.2 and his dad 12.2!! My DS1 was 9.2 born via c/s bc he was high risk for shoulder dystocia. Anyway, this little guy is also measuring large. My boys both seem to take after my DH. I will have another sizing u/s at 37 weeks as he was already measuring 4 lbs at 30 weeks.

Ladiebug30 · March 2014

I think not purchasing a ton of newborn clothes is an excellent idea. @erikalynn75 My son lived in those little gown things because they made diaper changes super easy and they had the fold over mitten hands. He was also 8lb 3oz when he was born. I think the newborn clothing only really fits until about 10lbs. The 0-3 month stuff will get way more use.

Also, my DH was over 10lbs when he was born. I was 7lb 11oz. DS was much closer to my size than DH.

ho11yday · March 2014

I was 6lbs when born (born 2 weeks late) and DH was a little under 8lbs. DS was 7lbs 11 oz. Hoping this one stays around the 7-8lb range.

Shell+Bell · March 2014

In my case, it did not run in the family, yet I still had big babies. I was 8.5 lbs, my brother was 7 ish. My DH And his sister were both 7ish as well. I had a 10 lb 12 oz, and a 9 lb 12 oz. I had GD with my second preg, but very well controlled.

mrt · March 2014

I had read somewhere that the best indicator of birth size was the mother's birth size. They certainly seem to run in my family.
My sisters ob does not usually do a 3rd trimester ultrasound, but knowing that she was 10lbs7oz, he scheduled one to check growth. That makes me think that drs see a correlation.

dwnslde · March 2014

Both my husband and I were over 8.5lbs. He was a c-section due to size. I was not. His mom has bigger hips than I do. Our DS was born vaginally, I also have smaller hips than my MIL but he was only 7lb 1oz at birth and a week late.

LeeLee86 · March 2014

@toadstool that is my mantra! "my baby is the perfect size for my body". It is helping me keep fears away.

I was 41wks and was 10.4lbs!! My DH was 9.2lbs. We both have small mothers but we are both pretty tall. LO is already measuring long but on track and my OB said based on my belly size and my weight gain she would put her around 7lbs at birth.

SO @erikalynn75 I think it is hereditary but we shall see! If my petite 5'2" mother can handle a late natural birth at 10.4lb we'll all be alright!

Storrmys · March 2014

My first was a little over 6 lbs and she was right on time. However my sister had 2 kids which were both over 9 lbs each. So im hoping that I keep the small baby gene.
Im pretty sure that I was an average baby also.

deanna1313 · March 2014

It makes sense. Taller people will have taller kids, right?

My family has big babies and we've always said it runs in the family. All babies were in the high 8lb range to over 9lbs. Me and my siblings were all 20 1/2 inches long. I have some tiny friends who have had some tiny babies, too.

spacepotatoes · March 2014

Kimbus22 said:

According to my doc the best indication of what birth weight will be is the birth weight of the parents. In our case, my son was smack in between what I was and what DH was at birth so it was true.

I am counting on this. I was 5 lbs, but I was born somewhere between 34 and 36 weeks. If I'd gone full term, I think I probably would have been pretty average. My DH was on the larger side. He seems to think that larger = healthier but I'm with @ErikaLynn75 - smaller/average is good enough for me when it's coming out my vag!

On my side of the family, the tendency does seem to be smaller/average while they tend to be larger on DH's side.

ksyknelvr73 · March 2014

I really don't know - I think it can. DS1 was born 3 days early and was 7lb 13oz which is pretty average, but I was a big baby (almost 9 lbs) and DH was a little over 8 lbs. So it was actually weird to me, I was expecting a bigger baby. He did have a huge head though - and that definitely runs in our families.

sparklingdiamond · March 2014

I am worried about this because I was over 9 lbs when born and DH was over 8. I hope he is more around the 8 lb than the 9 lb size :-p

sisterjanet · March 2014

It seems like big babies run in DH's family. He was one of five and I'm not sure if any of them were less than nine pounds. I was about eight, which I guess is on the high side, and Benjamin was 9 lb 7 oz with a big giant melon. (90 something percentile head his whole life, but when he was born I only had a very small tear sort of on the side, possibly because he was facing my hip. Try not to borrow too many worries about having a large baby. You might do just fine.)

ErikaLynn75 · March 2014

kitchencolors said:

ErikaLynn75 said:

I'm also second guessing the clothing/diaper situation. My mom said she didn't really use newborn sizes with any of us. So I'm going to keep the shopping to a minimum until after he's born. Luckily, we got a lot of hand-me-downs so we'll have something for him to wear no matter what size he starts out at. I just don't know if the sizes will match the seasons for what we have.

Careful with this logic... I have some newborn sized clothes my mom saved from when I was a baby and they're smaller than newborn clothes now. She was busting out of a newborn sleeper from when I was born on our way home from the hospital but fit in new newborn sleepers for a few weeks. I think it's vanity sizing so parents can think their kid is growing faster.

That's good to know. Thank you!

And thanks to everyone else for your input. I'm sure I will be just fine. Of course, all I really care about is that baby is healthy. I just wish I knew what to expect!

Divine0chaos · March 2014

For me, my mom had us 3 girls at 9+(<---me),10+, and 8+(all three different fathers. For my mother in law a total of 5 kids 3 different fathers she had all 9+ and her last two from one man were both 10+. My son was 9.7.....and I expect nothing less from this one >.<

awknyc · March 2014

DH was a 10lb baby and his mom is only 5'0"! My OB said I was measuring on track but on the smaller side so there was a sense of relief until she asked how much I weighed at birth and I told her 6lb, and she was was like 'oh that's small'. I then followed up with 'but I was a twin and my sister was 4lb' and then she was like "ohh..." I'm prepared for a butterball all right.

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