Is it possible to overfeed on Breastmilk?

[nickymorris]

The midwife and health visitor have told me that it's not possible to overfeed on breastmilk but my ds is putting on a lot of weight and i'm being a bit paranoid.

At birth he was 10.6 (no nappy weight)
At day 5 he was 10.8 (with nappy weight)
At day 16 he was 12.6 (no nappy weight)

This seems like a huge gain to me - 1lb a week.

I'm feeding on demand which is pretty much every 2 hours (although he does skip one feed in the early evening so I get a 4 hour break - phew!)

Any thoughts?

[SoupDragon]

No, it's not possible

All 3 of mine have been complete porkers when breastfed.

[SoupDragon]

I assume you're breastfeeding rather than expressing and feeding from the bottle?

[WilfSell]

No - not in that sense. Sounds like all of my babies, never lost any weight, just chugged in down and fattened up like chubby little buddhas.

The older two are skinny as beanpoles now and the third chubster who has been crawling and is now cruising is beginning to stretch out too. It's what they do.

There is sometimes a problem with oversupply which causes feeding problems but I don't think you mean that...?

[nickymorris]

I am breastfeeding not expressing (although intend to do that one feed a day after ds is 6 weeks old)

Am also slightly concerned about oversupply/speed of delivery (was going to post separately about that!) Ds has to gulp at my milk to keep up with it coming down at him. Makes him a v. noisy feeder but quick - he's full in 10 mins - and he has to pull off 3/4 times during the feed to catch his breath.

Any advice on that too?

[LadyOfWaffle]

DS was born 10.5 and was 10.10 on day 10, MW didn't say anything about over feeding but I was wondering also (although I don't have a chart yet to see how much of a gain that actually was).

[WilfSell]

It's only really an issue (oversupply) if your baby is unhappy feeding or perhaps having problems with excessive wind, discomfort (though TBH from what I have heard this can be utterly normal anyhow). But if he is pulling away a lot, crying, choking/spluttering etc and perhaps if you see lots of writhing and sometimes (but this can be normal) green foamy poo this might be oversupply...

You can help by feeding from one side only in any 3 hour period - feed as much as they want but only on left side between 12-3 etc... Then right between 3-6... Should take a few days to even up supply.

Then you play it by ear to see if they want both sides after that.

But you do sound like you're worrying about feeding a lot: have you talked to a BF counsellor to help with some of these issues?

[BroccoliSpears]

Your letdown will probably settle down a bit, and your son will get more able to cope with faster delivery.

My little porker most resembles one of those laughing budha statues - all chins and belly. He never lost any birth weight and put on a lb a week at the beginning. I have been repeatedly assured that you can't overfeed a bf baby.

[turtle23]

My (BF) son gained two pounds in first three weeks. He has cruised along at 60th centile since.

[nickymorris]

Am considering seeing a BF counsellor but suspect they'll just think I'm being a slightly paranoid first-time mum and will tell me that everything is fine really!

DS certainly enjoys his food and is pooing/weeing regularly - I change him after most feeds and his nappies are always wet and 3/4 of the time pooey too!

[WilfSell]

sounds fine! try not to worry too much - much better this way round than too little supply?

[taliac]

DD2, BF, jumped from 30th to 70th for a while in the first few months. She was back down to the 30th again by about 6m.

So nothing to worry about I reckon..

[LittleMissBliss]

Ds was born on 25th and jumped to 75th centile he was putting on a pound a week too for a good while in the early days. He's a little budha with a little bot belly very cute, he loves his milk.

[RaggedRobin]

i had a similar problem with one boob which seemed much "jucier" than the other and made my dd2 splutter a bit.

my health visitor had just been on a breastfeeding course and said that if the letdown is too fast for baby to keep up, you can put pressure around your nipple using your fingers in a "c" shape while baby is feeding and it slows down the flow. alternatively push gently against the side of your boob with your hand.

worked for a wee while and then the problem sorted itself out/dd2 just got better at dealing with juicy boob!

she is also a complete porker and put on 14 oz for 2 weeks running. she's on the 92nd centile and most of it seems to be on her cheeks and knees. very kissable!