I am honestly having battles with myself on if I should share this information but since I have documented Jude’s stats since the moment he was born I feel like I have to. Let me start by saying we decided to not do professional birthday pictures this year. This decision was made on a few different reasons; one being that Jude gets his school pictures taken two times a year and the second is that they are expensive. Time to cut back. And now onto Jude 7 year stats…
Jude 7 Year Stats:
53 inches tall = 99 percentile
78 pounds = 99 percentile
This crazy guy has grown a lot over the last year. No wonder why he towers over all of his friends! So tall!
Now here is the reason I struggled with sharing this info this year. During Jude’s wellness exam I was made to feel like a terrible mother. Obviously, as you can see from photos and the stats, Jude is big but proportioned. During this exam, literally the only thing that was discussed was our lifestyle as a family (FOOD and ACTIVITIES). She asked Jude about what he eats and how long he sits during the day over and over. Then she started grilling me.
Look, we eat healthy about 80 percent of the time. Yes my kids eat dessert, sometimes daily. This doctor told me dessert should only happen once a week?!? Really? In additional to the grilling she questioned if we let him drink too much milk after I told her that he literally has juice maybe once a month. Too much milk….1% by the way. It was painful, and it has worried Jude. I hate that. Believe me, I understand the importance of healthy weight and I know I struggle with it. But at this point, Jude eats well and is on the move ALL THE TIME. I know he is happy and healthy and that is what matters. But the part that hurts me is that this doctor looked at him on Friday and decided he was unhealthy. Ugh.
We have a lot to talk about as a family concerning this appointment but for now we are so happy to have this little BIG guy in our family. Happy 7th Jude!
Have you experienced any conversations like this with your pediatrician?
Wow! I'm out of the loop. I didn't even know that professional birthday pictures were a thing. Dessert once a week? That seems insane! In Europe (Denmark specifically) we enjoy cake on the regular and don't apologize for it. He's happy and active and that's what matters. Don't be too hard on yourself. Hugs.
I had a friend have a similar experience recently with her kid. And this kid is perfectly healthy but eats like a kid! Fruits and veggies, yes, but occasional ice cream too. It's summer. My daughter is seven and at the other end of the spectrum- she's in the 3rd percentile for height/weight! I don't like feeling afraid at her check ups.
I remember years ago, when I jogged 5-6 days per week, and I had went from 275 pounds, to around 175. I had to go to the doctor for some reason that now escapes me, and she said I was, and I quote, "morbidly obese"! Because my ideal weight, according to her, was around 160 pounds! REALLY? Even when I told her I exercised DAILY (at that time of my life, I was jogging 4 miles during the weekdays, more than that on weekends), she insisted that I needed to drop 15 more pounds. Needless to say, I got rid of her as my doctor. Jade looks great, and his numbers that you posted don't lie. Keep up the good work with him!
I have a cousin that is going through this with her child. She is trying everything she can think of to feed him healthy foods. I also have never heard of doing birthday pictures, but it sure sounds like a fun idea!
Jude looks just fine. Grrr I hate when you go to the doctor and that happens. They make us moms feel horrible and sometimes it's genes and not eating habits. He is just probably big for his age, but not overweight by any means. Poor kid with all the questioning. I don't think that's right. Dessert once a week!!!!!!!! what!!!!!!!!! I always get the opposite that mine are too small and I don't feed them enough LOL I just have short small kids.
I've been told my son is getting too much milk. (He's four, by the way.) I do agree, but I'm not so sure about the advice to only have dessert once a week. That's just wrong! LOL
Argh! This reminds me of the time my son was a baby. I was a brand new mom and didn't know a lot of things. The pediatrician was old and grumpy and spent most of the time just badgering me! We ended up changing doctor when my son was 1. Sorry this happened to you.
Oh no, I hope he wasn't in the room to hear it. I'm so terribly sorry. Such bad form on the part of the doc. I remember when my son was little, he was just like Jude in the 99th + percentile for everything. Then, all of a sudden one year in high school he hit a growth spurt and just like that he was pretty darn skinny, and has stayed that way well into adulthood. Bug hugs. x
He looks just perfect to me!! He'll have lots of growth spurts as he gets older too – some doctors just don't know how to be compassionate! He is such a cutie and you sound like a wonderful parent. What kid doesn't love/deserve dessert once in a while?! Sending positive thoughts your way – you're doing great!
I try not to get too worked up about what my kids actually DON'T eat. Whatever they do eat, I make sure it is healthy and most of the time homemade. My daughter finally had a growth spurt and is now super thin and lean (and she was a huge baby, lol!). My son has always been super skinny because he is so active. The important thing is that they are healthy – and they are!
Wow! I'm out of the loop. I didn't even know that professional birthday pictures were a thing. Dessert once a week? That seems insane! In Europe (Denmark specifically) we enjoy cake on the regular and don't apologize for it. He's happy and active and that's what matters. Don't be too hard on yourself. Hugs.
I had a friend have a similar experience recently with her kid. And this kid is perfectly healthy but eats like a kid! Fruits and veggies, yes, but occasional ice cream too. It's summer.
My daughter is seven and at the other end of the spectrum- she's in the 3rd percentile for height/weight! I don't like feeling afraid at her check ups.
I remember years ago, when I jogged 5-6 days per week, and I had went from 275 pounds, to around 175. I had to go to the doctor for some reason that now escapes me, and she said I was, and I quote, "morbidly obese"! Because my ideal weight, according to her, was around 160 pounds! REALLY? Even when I told her I exercised DAILY (at that time of my life, I was jogging 4 miles during the weekdays, more than that on weekends), she insisted that I needed to drop 15 more pounds. Needless to say, I got rid of her as my doctor. Jade looks great, and his numbers that you posted don't lie. Keep up the good work with him!
I have a cousin that is going through this with her child. She is trying everything she can think of to feed him healthy foods. I also have never heard of doing birthday pictures, but it sure sounds like a fun idea!
Jude looks just fine. Grrr I hate when you go to the doctor and that happens. They make us moms feel horrible and sometimes it's genes and not eating habits. He is just probably big for his age, but not overweight by any means. Poor kid with all the questioning. I don't think that's right. Dessert once a week!!!!!!!! what!!!!!!!!! I always get the opposite that mine are too small and I don't feed them enough LOL I just have short small kids.
I've been told my son is getting too much milk. (He's four, by the way.) I do agree, but I'm not so sure about the advice to only have dessert once a week. That's just wrong! LOL
Argh! This reminds me of the time my son was a baby. I was a brand new mom and didn't know a lot of things. The pediatrician was old and grumpy and spent most of the time just badgering me! We ended up changing doctor when my son was 1. Sorry this happened to you.
Oh no, I hope he wasn't in the room to hear it. I'm so terribly sorry. Such bad form on the part of the doc. I remember when my son was little, he was just like Jude in the 99th + percentile for everything. Then, all of a sudden one year in high school he hit a growth spurt and just like that he was pretty darn skinny, and has stayed that way well into adulthood. Bug hugs. x
He looks just perfect to me!! He'll have lots of growth spurts as he gets older too – some doctors just don't know how to be compassionate! He is such a cutie and you sound like a wonderful parent. What kid doesn't love/deserve dessert once in a while?! Sending positive thoughts your way – you're doing great!
I try not to get too worked up about what my kids actually DON'T eat. Whatever they do eat, I make sure it is healthy and most of the time homemade. My daughter finally had a growth spurt and is now super thin and lean (and she was a huge baby, lol!). My son has always been super skinny because he is so active. The important thing is that they are healthy – and they are!
Aw, his birthday seems like it was such an awesome celebrated time!! What a handsome boy. And my kids are total Pokemon fans too!!