There's possibly nothing better on this earth than a chubby pair of baby legs. As every mom knows, strangers flock to strollers as soon as they see little rolls and dimples kicking from the seat. But is it possible for a baby to have legs that are too plump and is this something parents should be worrying about? That was the concern of one mom on the parenting forum Mumsnet, who was legitimately alarmed that her baby's legs could be considered "too fat." "Everyone always comments on her legs and how fat they are and it's getting to me," the mom admitted.
The anonymous mom wrote in with a picture of her 6-month-old baby, asking other parents if the saw a problem.
She explained that she started to get self-conscious about her daughter's legs after others would make comments about how "fat" they were. "Someone said yesterday, ‘bloody hell how much are you feeding her?’" user Spinnywinny wrote.
The mom clarifies that she does not overfeed her daughter — "she has less than the average amount of formula and never finishes a bottle" — and that baby "only started weaning last week and has so far only had fruit, veg and Weetabix [cereal]."
Not that underfeeding your infant is a good thing…
"Am I doing something wrong?" she wondered.
The mom posted a photo of her daughter's legs to show their chub because she was seriously concerned about whether her baby — who was less than a year old — might be too fat.
Other parents on the forum were confused by the mom's concern.
Chubby baby legs are totally normal, they informed her.
"Have you ever seen a baby before?" one parent asked.
Another parent explained that chubby legs go away once babies become more mobile.
Another parent told her to ignore the haters.
While it might seem like a silly question for this mom to ask, sometimes new moms have a hard time knowing what is "normal" for their baby.
According to Livestrong.com, "Infants need extra fat stores until they are about 2 years old and much of this fat is stored in the legs and thighs."
Because an infant's diet is mostly made up of milk, which is high in fat, they often get that wonderful chub on their legs. And children with stores of fat in their legs are less likely to suffer from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and it may help protect them from illness. Baby legs tend to slim down as infants learn to walk or crawl, so if your youngster has some squish on their body, it doesn't mean you are overfeeding them or feeding them the wrong thing. In fact, it probably means your baby is completely normal.
Dear babies of the world: If you've got it, flaunt it!
But others just aren't here for the shaming.
"Just out of interest, what do you think you could possibly be ‘doing wrong’ to make her legs fat?!" one user wrote.
"And please don’t start thinking about reducing her food, or that what you are doing is ‘wrong,'" another parent added.
