At birth, Atlas McHugh was an average size, weighing 7lbs 14oz. However, as he reached two months of age, he experienced an unexpected growth spurt.
Now standing at 80cm tall, 10-month-old baby Atlas weighs an impressive 13kg (over two stone) and continues to grow steadily – so much so that he now fits into two-year-old clothing. Even his mother, 30-year-old Nabille McHugh, has to readjust her hold on him frequently and use her leg for support.
Nabille shares, "Whenever anyone holds him, there's always a comment about his size – whether it's their back hurting or their arms not being able to handle it. Most non-family members comment on my 'toddler' and are shocked when I tell them he is still an infant."
The baby's rapid growth also means he outgrows his clothes at an incredible rate. Nabille adds, "He is currently in 24-month clothes, and this is the longest stretch we've gone with this size, but he was never in newborn size. The doctors have no concerns as his weight and height are proportional on the growth chart – he is just bigger overall, but there are no weight issues whatsoever."
Atlas has even become a viral sensation due to his size, with Nabille posting a video of him on TikTok to the song 'Big and Chunky' from Madagascar.
Nabille says, "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 nasty comments about my son or accusing me of bad parenting because of his size. 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, discovered she was pregnant with her second child with husband Tyler McHugh when she was just three weeks along. Despite Atlas measuring two weeks ahead, her pregnancy was stress-free, and her bump remained a normal size. However, she had to have a C-section due to her petite size.
"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 an average size 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 encourage people to realize that babies come in all shapes and sizes. 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 automatically unhealthy or something is wrong with them. Babies come in all shapes and sizes; I would know since I have two kids – one was tiny, and one big."
