bottle feeding confusion????????

[pugsmum]

I hve 3 week old and he seems to b feeding a lot I hve been getting contradicting advise from docs and midwifes and not sure wat to do!!! In hospital he wouldn't feed at all breast or bottle I eventually got him to take bottle but now he seems to b carried away he is asking for food every 2 hours and taking a full newborn bottle which is over 4oz 125ml. The midwife said he is eating too much and to limit his food but wasn't clear about how much to give , the health visitor said if he taking a certain amount consistantly for 24 hours add an oz and the doc said feed him wen he wants too b fed!! I am really worried about over feedin I want him to b fat and healthy but bot obese and unhealthy !!! Any ideas wat ti do or similar circomstnces???

[RJandA]

Poor you, it's horrible to have conflicting advice so that you end up feeling guilty whatever you do!

I would follow the doctor's advice, feed on demand.

Feeding on demand doesn't mean jiggling the bottle around in his mouth to get him to finish it, but it doesn't sound like you're doing that anyway. Feeding every 2 hours is COMPLETELY NORMAL at 3 weeks (and waaaaay beyond!). Is it every 2 hours though the night as well? That would be 48oz of milk in 24 hours - I bf so I'm not sure about the amounts but that does sound like a lot.

I think it is pretty rare for babies to overfeed if you are sensitive to when they want to stop i.e. don't force him to finish each bottle (but like I said, it doesn't sound like you are doing this).

How is his weight?

[RJandA]

How's it going pugsmum?

[gourd]

Never restrict food! He's probably making up for the feeding time he missed in hospital and also may be having a growth spurt. Restricting his intake will only make him more likely to demand more frequent feeds as he'll think he has to stock up in case it's taken away from him! It is normal for young babies to feed every two hours or even more frequently! Not surprising when you compare the rate of physical growth in the first weeks with that of, say, 12 weeks plus, when it slows down a bit. My 12 week old now drinks about 180-200ml but at 4 weeks was drinking 125-140 ml. She's always been 50th centile in weight, but was 90th centile in length for a while, so she's growing perfectly normally, but was obviously rather hungry early on as she needed to put some weight on quickly to match her weight with her length!

[gourd]

According to child health and eating disorder specialists, overeating is a learned response, usually linked to emotional wellbeing, and babies and young children have a natural instinct to stop feeding when they are full. Adults may fear a baby will overeat, 'cos the adult has a problem with this themselves, but it's extremely unlikely.