Foolishly worrying myself about what to do about breastfeeding my new baby (not yet born!)

[Quis]

Hi I am expecting my 4th (!!) baby and have been worrying about what to do about breastfeeding him/her. My dd who is now 3, was exclusively bf for 7 months but she went from the 25th centile at birth right up to the 98th centile by the time she was 6 months.
I had a terrible time with my HV suggesting I was feeding her too much and that dd was just feeding for comfort.
DD is now a totally normal weight so I know it didn't matter that she liked to feed alot, however I am already worrying that I'll have similar hassles with the HV if my new baby puts on alot of weight.

Should I consider limiting feeds or trying some kind of 'routine' for the new baby? Is it overfeeding if the baby if they are only feeding for comfort? How can I tell if the baby is only comfort feeding?
I need to stop worrying about this!! Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[defineme]

Your hv was talking utter crap, please please relax and enjoy your baby. My twins did exactly the same and were excusively breastfed. You don't need to see a hv you know-there are no laws.

[verylittlecarrot]

A HV who doesn't have proper knowledge of breastfeeding (as evidenced by her inaccurate comments) is not qualified to support breastfeeding.

The problem is not your breastfeeding, it is your HV.

I chose not to see the HV second time around. I know where to find them if I feel they are of any use to me. It has been so much easier and stress free without the HV's input this time. So much nicer.

[Yesmynameis]

Agree that HV was rubbish and it sounds like you did a fantastic job of feeding your baby.

You can't overfeed a breastfed baby :)

IMO birth centiles have very little to do with each baby's ultimate natural size and weight.

Best advice from anyone who knows anything about bf is not to limit feeds, either frequency or time on the breast, particularly in the first month or so. Trust your instincts and your body :o

[WoTmania]

Maybe if the same thing happens (no guarantee it will) you could say 'oh, yes, this happened with DD1. She evened out eventually. Isn't it fabulous that my babies do so well on my milk' smile sweetly and then walk away.

'comfort' feeding is not a bad thing and definitely doesn't count as 'overfeeding' (You can look up non-nitritive sucking.) BF babies can regulate their intake. I'm willing to put money on her being one of these HVs you can't win with. If your baby doesn't follow a given centile religiously either they are failing to thrive or you're over feeding . Maybe she needs some training.

[Zimm]

Good lord, comfort feeding is an essential and lovely part of BF in my view. My 10 monther has had about 6 comfort feeds today in addition to her regular feeds as she is teething and they are bloody lifesaver. She has moved up the centiles from birth also and the HVs here think it is ace. Yours sounds like a moron. Do not restrict feeds, you are obviously a brilliant BF-er, just do what comes naturally.

[camdancer]

Do you have to see your HV? For DC2, I had the 2 compulsory visits and one more just to say hi and that was it. DC3 has had her first visit and the HV just said I could get her weighed if I wanted but didn't really expect to see us again unless there was a problem.

It'll be obvious if your baby isn't growing well otherwise why bother going?

[Quis]

Thank you very much! I know I am needlessly worrying! I think I'll take the advice of steering clear of HVs this time around.