When he was born, Atlas McHugh was average sɪᴢᴇ at 7lb 14oz. But two months later, he had a rather ᴜɴᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ growth sᴘᴜʀᴛ.
Now at 80cm tall, 10-month-old baby Atlas weighs 13kg (just over two stone) and is steadily growing – so much so, he now has to wear two-year-old clothes. Even his mum, 30-year-old Nabille McHugh, has to frequently switch sides when she holds him – and use her leg for support.
Nabille says: ‘Whenever anyone holds him, everyone has something to say about his sɪᴢᴇ – whether it’s their ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʜᴜʀᴛs, ᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴀʀᴍs ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ʜᴀɴᴅʟᴇ it, there’s always a comment. Most non-family members comment on my “toddler” and are sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ when I tell them he is still an infant.’
He’s also growing out of his clothes at an incredible rate. The 30-year-old mum adds: ‘He is currently in 24-month clothes and this is the longest stretch we have gone with this sɪᴢᴇ, but he was never in newborn sɪᴢᴇ. The doctors have no concern as his weight and height are proportional on the growth chart – he is just bigger overall, but no weight issues whatsoever.’
The tot has even gone viral, due to his sɪᴢᴇ, after Nabille posted a video of him on TikTok to the song ‘Big and Chunky’ from Madagascar.
She adds: ‘Honestly I was scared, I woke up to so many notifications, friend requests, and emails all over my social media. Seeing some of the comments was very overwhelming. Every now and then there are negative and ɴᴀsᴛʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛs about my son or ᴀᴄᴄᴜsɪɴɢ me of ʙᴀᴅ parenting because of his sɪᴢᴇ. I get so many people telling me that I used a filter to make him look that big, I think that’s just hilarious.’
Nabille, from Denver, found out she was pregnant with her second child with husband Tyler McHugh when she was just three weeks along. She adds that her pregnancy was sᴛʀᴇss-Fʀᴇᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇʀ ʙᴜᴍᴘ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴᴇᴅ a normal sɪᴢᴇ – even though Atlas was measuring two weeks ahead. Although she had planned to give birth naturally, Nᴀʙɪʟʟᴇ had a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ due to her ᴘᴇᴛɪᴛᴇ sɪᴢᴇ.
‘I was in love when I first saw him. His large stature definitely comes from dad’s side of the family, my side of the family is short, and my husband’s side is all six foot and up. He was average sɪᴢᴇ for a newborn, but he kind of started hitting his growth spurt between two and four months and has been steadily growing since then.’ she adds.
Nabille hopes that her TikTok videos will make people realize that babies come in all shapes and sɪᴢᴇs. She continues: ‘I would just like to normalize bigger babies, big babies have always been around but social media hasn’t. Not because a baby is bigger or smaller than average means that they are ᴀᴜᴛᴏᴍᴀᴛɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴜɴʜᴇᴀʟᴛʜʏ or something is wrong with them. Babies come in all shapes and sɪᴢᴇs, I would know since I have two kids – one was tiny and one big.’
