While chubby cheeks, hands, and legs are adorable, many parents tend to ask, when do babies lose chubby cheeks?
This happens in between the second and fifth years of the child’s life. The questions arise because it is more a matter of health concern rather than looks, which is quite irresistible.
It is normal for a baby’s body weight to fluctuate as they develop. The fat that was stored during their infant stage will be used again once they begin crawling, standing, and eventually start walking. In fact, fat makes up more than half of an infant’s weight.
Infants gain more than 50% of their total weight in very short periods of time which can sometimes confuse parents on when do babies lose chubby cheeks.
It all has to do with them not understanding how fast fat accumulates during those first months and years of life.
Do babies grow out of chubby cheeks?
Yes, babies do grow out of chubby cheeks but remember that each child develops at their own pace.
When born, baby’s are storing some extra fat in their cheeks aka under their skin, due to the quick hit of energy that babies need when developing. This is the reason why your baby is having body rolls and pudgy appeal.
The extra fat in their cheek area is only temporary and it will melt away during the first few months of life, if not sooner.
But, if you are wondering if letting your baby have pudgy or chubby cheeks for long periods of time might cause them to be overweight as a toddler or older child, then worry no more!
You do not need to worry about your kid being overweight because there is no evidence that this fat stored up in their cheeks now, affects them later in life.
Do baby cheeks go away?
Chubby cheeks go away and soon enough you are going to miss those little puffed balloons. What is very typical for baby’s is that their little cheeks, when they are being fed, are dimples.
The dimples are the result of an accumulation of baby fat in its cheeks. In addition to losing facial fat as they grow, babies lose their dimples as well.
It is cute when they are chubby babies but it goes away. About 70 percent of babies have full cheeks in the first few months of life, but fewer than one-third maintain that shape at 12 months.
As they get older babies’ features change. One of those changes is that baby fat gets replaced by lean muscle, and smaller cheekbones become larger ones, which cause a loss of fullness in the face.
Why are baby cheeks so big?
Because baby’s store fat in cheeks for having some extra energy when needed. Their little body and the brain as well are still developing so they are in need of quick hits of energy constantly.
Little puffy cheeks are also related to feeding whether breastfed or bottle-fed. So, it’s not unusual if your baby’s cheeks get larger based on how much the baby eats.
The muscles that pull in milk or formula push out the cheeks creating a bulge on your baby’s face. There’s a chance that they will go away once the baby stops breast or bottle feeding, so the cheeks will not be permanent.
Also, don’t worry if your baby’s cheeks look larger on one side of the face than the other because this is normal. If you find this unevenness still present in your child’s face during their toddler years, talk with their pediatrician about it to make sure everything is ok from its perspective.
Are chubby cheeks genetic?
Whether the mother or the father is having chubby cheeks, there’s a big chance that the baby will inherit it. They are mostly determined by the fat that is stored in one’s cheeks and bone structure.
However, the fat can be reduced while the bone structure is largely determined by genetics.
When do babies lose chubby cheeks? The answer really depends on the baby’s development and genetics as well. So, if both parents have these types of cheeks, the baby will most likely have it even in adulthood.
It is easy to notice that most babies have chubby cheeks, and this usually decreases as they grow. However, those who still retain their childhood plumpness will tend to carry it on as they mature.
The factors determining whether chubby cheeks will be passed on to the next generation are not clearly understood.
It might depend on how much subcutaneous fat is stored in one’s cheeks and the bone structure that determines its presence or absence in the offspring.
So it is quite possible that parents with chubby cheeks can give birth to children without them. But there’s a very high chance for this kind of inheritance to happen!
Summary
When babies are born, they tend to have extra fat on the parts of their bodies like cheeks, hands, stomach, and even legs. But, if parents have chubbier cheeks, they often wonder, will their child inherit it and when do babies lose chubby cheeks?
Baby’s will lose chubby cheeks somewhere in between their second and fifth year. This is not strict and this does not necessarily mean that it will happen in the mentioned period. Each child is different and the child might lose the fat cheeks even earlier.
However, if parents have round-ish faces, with chubby cheeks, there is a big chance that the child will also have it, even in adulthood. This is due to genetics more than the percentage of fat in the cheeks.
Whichever the reason it is, the important thing to remember is that chubby cheeks do not endanger the child’s health in any way.
