Close up of baby's face with eyes wincing with a look of discomfort
Jade Small
Jade Small
May 18, 2024 ·  3 min read

Woman gave birth to a baby the size of a ‘toddler’

When I had my son, I was told he was quite big! Weighing in at 3.65kg or 8lb, he was rather large, especially because I am tiny! But then, a story like this one comes along, proving my baby rather tiny in comparison. Why, you may ask? Because this woman claimed over TikTok to have given birth to a baby the size of a toddler! You heard that right! If this, in fact, true, she’s one heck of a brave lady!

So, you think you had a big baby?

According to David Marzano, M.D., an OB-GYN at the University of Michigan Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, I am not too far off. A big baby is considered any child born weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces, or larger. There is actually a medical term for large babies; it’s macrosomia. In 2018, around eight percent of babies born had macrosomia. However, in the same year, just one percent of those babies weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces, or more. Also, it seems the mother’s size has nothing to do with the size of the baby. However, it has been found that obese women and those with uncontrolled diabetes, both pre-existing and gestational, which first develops during pregnancy, have a higher risk of having babies with macrosomia.[1]

I’ve had these tiny women who’ve gained practically no weight and who exercise regularly give birth to large babies. It makes me think, hmm, nature’s weird.”

David Marzano, M.D

So, this mom who gave birth to a baby the size of a toddler, clearly has set the bar pretty high!

Read: Parents Who Regret Having Children Are Anonymously Sharing What It’s Like, And It’s Taboo But Important

A newborn baby the size of a toddler

In the United States, the average weight for a baby boy is around 7lbs 6oz and the average length is about 20 inches (give or take) [2]. So, when this mom gave birth to a baby weighing 14lbs 6oz you can really understand why it was such a big deal.

On her TikTok account, a user known as @shans1588 posted a video that went viral. She was responding to another user on TikTok, who asked other moms to share their big baby stories. So, @shans1588‘s decided to create a video reply, where she’s superimposed herself in front of a picture of her baby the size of a toddler. She can be heard describing the day her son was born:[3]

baby the size of a toddler
TikTok/Shans1588

Oh, you want to play the biggest baby? I got you. At 38 weeks and one day, I had my second son via C-section with two doctors assisting because he came in at a whopping 14 pounds, point six ounces.

That’s right. I gave birth to a toddler, who then spent 11 days in the NICU where clearly, he was the biggest baby in there. The NICU didn’t even have diapers for him or clothes. They had to go upstairs to pediatrics and get size three diapers and he came home in clothing, sized six to nine months.”

@shans1588

Here’s the video, which has managed to rack up an insane 8.4 million likes!

@shans1588

#stitch with @tawnee117 #greenscreen Meet my 14lb .06 oz baby boy!

♬ original sound – Shans1588

Let us know in the comments how big your baby was!

Keep Reading: Mom dragged for using Play-Doh to demonstrate C-section surgery to son

Sources

  1. “Busting ‘Big Baby’ Myths: An OB-GYN Eases Fears with Facts.” Health Blog. Rene Wisely April 12, 2018
  2. “Data Table for Boys Length-for-age and Weight-for-age Charts”. CDC. September 9, 2010
  3. Shans1588 “Meet my 14lb .06 oz baby boy!”. TikTok. March 31st, 2021