Dannii Minogue struggles to carry her son because he is so big.

The 40-year-old singer has two-year-old Ethan with former partner Kris Smith and thinks it is ''funny'' that he is already above-average size for his age.

She said: ''He is sooo big. He's as big as a three year old.

''It's funny, because he's still just a little baby and he needs mummy to pick him up but it's getting harder. He's heavy but he's just a complete and utter bundle of joy. Ethan has been my rock.''

Dannii also struggled to lift Ethan when he was just a few months old as a thyroid condition left her zapped of all energy.

She said: ''It was a scary time because I didn't know what was wrong with me. I remember looking at Ethan in the cot and thinking, 'I don't know how I'm going to pick him up' - I had that little energy.''

Following the thyroid problem, Dannii then contracted appendicitis and admits it is only now that she feels back to full health again.

She told Britain's Glamour magazine: ''To have the thyroid condition and then the appendicitis, it was a lot for my body to take because only 10 months earlier I'd had a C-section to have Ethan.

''Now, for the first time in ages, I really feel like I'm back in my body. I have to take tablets every day for my thyroid and I have regular blood tests to monitor it, but I finally feel good again.''