Insatiable hunger-5 month old

[Inapickle123]

Hi

Due to bottle refusal which started at week 13 (and is still rearing its hellish head at week 21-it's been a looonnngggg 8 weeks), DS was weaned onto solids at bang on 16 weeks. Not a choice I would have made had I had my way, but his weight loss and general misery meant the GP recommended early weaning.

Anyway, he bloody loves food and is so much more content but I'm starting to worry about his weight gain. When people ask how old he is and we respond with five months, the general reply is "he's a big boy, isn't he?". I'd say he's probably around the 17lb mark but he hasn't been weighed in a while.

This is what his day looks like:

Morning: bottle (3-4oz which can take upwards of 40minutes to get down him due to the inevitable tantrum)
Large bowl (1 heaped tablespoon with a lot of water to keep his fluids up) of baby porridge.

Lunch-bottle (4-5oz) followed by a full baby pouch (Ella's kitchen etc) then fruit (2-4teaspoons).

Afternoon-bottle (3-4 oz) followed by baby rice pot with fruit or mashed 1/2 banana with 1/2 avacado

Bed-bottle (4-5 oz)
Dreamfeed (5-6oz)

Milk totals around about 20-25oz on a good day; 14-18 on a bad.

Is he eating too much for his age? We started off by limiting his portions but he seemed hungry all the time. Now, we just let him eat until he's full.

We've got another few weeks before paediatric referral to discover the cause behind his bottle phobia. Strangely, he's gotten a big better at taking it since he started on solids. Prior to this, we were lucky to get 6oz in him in a 24 hour period.

He is a super active baby (constantly bouncing or -his new favourite-pulling himself up from sitting to standing ) so I guess he needs the food but I'm worried he's going to dwarf other babies.

[ExBrightonBell]

tbh, I think the normal guidelines might not apply, given how early you were told to wean. If a baby had no underlying issues, and you had started weaning at 5 months, it would be small amounts concentrating on giving a wide range of flavours within the fruit/veg range. Maybe literally only 2 or 3 teaspoons.

In your situation I would just feed to his appetite, and give him as much as he wants. My ds, at about 9 to 12 months, seemed to eat a huge amount more than the average portion. He eventually calmed down and now eats a more typical amount. If you stop when he shows signs of being full, and don't try and coax more food into him, then I can't see there being an issue.

Clearly you can raise this with the paediatrician when you see them as well.