Feeding too much! help!

[NattyThomasandEllen]

my little girl wants to breast feed every 45mins, and it was imposible with a son aged 14months so we started introducing formula to help her go longer between feeds (ie, topping her up when she had drained both breasts)
that WAS working, but decided now shes 4 weeks to cut down breast feeding as shes gaining weight too fast and is chubby now when she was on 25th percentile when born. now shes draining 4oz of formula every 2 hours and would drink more if she could. however at night is more than happy to go 5 hours between each feed.

any tips on how to get her to go longer between feeds during the day?
she just seems SO hungry all the time, and my son is getting next to no attention because im always feeding her.
please help!

[LucyJones]

She's so litte. Bbaies are meant to be chubby.
You just have to feed on demand i'm afraid at this age.
Going 5 hours at night is brilliant.

[ChipButty]

She's so tiny yet! Keep feeding when she wants it - she'll let you know when she's had enough. Speak to your health visitor but I think you are wrong to try and restrict her milk intake at such an early stage.

[NattyThomasandEllen]

my concern is that she is drinking twice the amount of formula than recommended PLUS 4-5 full breast feeds. thats far to much, and if she gets used to eating this volume she may develop a weight problem later. my cousin and my uncle and husband were overweight babies and had to be put on a strict diet to loose the several stone they had put on in the first 6 months. i dont want the same thing to happen to ellen

[Seona1973]

Would your lo take any more than 4oz at a time? If your lo is not properly full on one feed then she will not go very long before the next feed. If she drains what you give her, then increase the amount by 1oz until you get to an amount she is happy with.

I also think your lo is happy to go 5 hours between feeds at night BECAUSE she has fed so well in the day.

You cannot put a 4 week old on a diet just because you think she may have weight problems later on. She could also be going through a growth spurt and is extra hungry. If she is, the feeding will calm down again.

A couple of extra thoughts - Is your lo a very 'sucky' baby and if so, have you tried a dummy to hold her off a bit? Also, could your lo be thirsty and have you tried a little cool boiled water instead of milk?

If neither of these works, then I would just feed her.