To keep saying it’s impossible to overfeed a bf baby

[bigBigbaby]

To my HV?

My 13 month old is really big!! Jumped up to the top centile line (was on the 25th a birth).

Ebf till 6 m. Eats healthily and actually quite small portions (I think)
Has a small bottle of milk after bath each day as we introduced that as part of bedtime routine from 8 months

Breakfast each day is porridge (1oz milk, dessert spoon oats, chopped berries and 3-4 slices mashed banana )

Lunch is usually a sandwich and veg sticks or a savoury pouch, and a yogurt.

Dinner is a small portion of whatever we have.
Small bottle after bath

She drinks water with meals but is breastfed mid morning and mid afternoon before naps and in the night this is what I’m being told is making her so heavy and that I need to cut the feeds but I’m disagreeing I think there are still benefits to having breastmilk but I’m being told those are cancelled out by the negative effects of being ‘obese’ at a young age

I just don’t agree I think once she’s running about more she will slim down surely ?

Dinner is just whatever we have so for example if we have salmon potatoes and veg she will have 2-3 broccoli florets, 2 new potatoes and a third of a salmon piece
For bolognese she has 1 dessertspoon of bolognese, a dessertspoon of pasta, a dessertspoon of grated cheese and some salad pieces chopped up so that’s some kind of indication of amounts it’s not a huge amount I don’t think

To me they sound like quite big portions. My DS was born on 85th centile, went up to 95th (but matching height) when truly ebf then gradually came down once we started solids. Now 6 ft tall and skinny! At 13 months he would have had a quarter of a sandwich (so half a slice of thin cut bread) with some crudités for lunch followed by a small yogurt or some chopped fruit. He would have small portions of our food for dinner but much smaller than yours. Eg if we have salmon for our dinner we have one salmon fillet each so a third for a 13 month old seems a lot.

DD had even smaller portions but she was (and is) tiny (but healthy).

The biggest concern for me is that an hv recommended a successfully bf baby was given formula. That's shocking advice.

Please don't water down formula. That's not what you are meant to do. Either stop it, or reduce quantity not the amount of powder.

I agree with you OP and would very much ignore the HV. HV should never advise you to cut breastfeed.

It's completely normal and healthy to be breastfeeding a 13 month old baby alongside a mixed diet. As long as you're not constantly encouraging him to overeat ("eat it all up" or "finish your lunch" etc), or mindlessly shovelling baby mush down his neck, he'll be fine.

@wineandcheeseplease

Please don't water down formula. That's not what you are meant to do. Either stop it, or reduce quantity not the amount of powder.

Why?

Urgh health visitors are so obsessed with weight. Mine made me feel really bad as DS had shot up to 99th percentile at about 8 months. He was just a hungry boy. Back down to 75th at the next check and I didn't do anything differently other than follow his appetite. So he was just having a growth spurt at the time. Could be the same for your little one.

If your baby is 12.2kg at 13 months then she is between 98th and 99th centile for weight. You've said she is short so it does sound like she is probably overweight.

What you have described doesnt look like shes being over fed at all. My 13 month old was having 3 meals a day, was still bf on demand anywhere between 4-8 "feeds" in a 24 hour period and had a 10oz bottle of cows milk before bed. He followed the 50th centile until he weaned down to 2 bf feeds a day then shot up to 75th centile after we dropped the milk feeds. Each baby is different, I had friends who ebf until 6 months like myself and our babies weights differed vastly (from 9th to 98th centile) they are all now 2 and similar in size. Id personally ignore the HV and continue what you are doing.

she advised to cut night feeds

This is completely different to telling you to stop Breastfeeding altogether, which is what a lot of posters seem to think you were told.

If a baby has 3 good meals a day, a bottle of milk before bed and then guzzles milk for half the night, then IF there is a weight concern (I don’t think any of us can judge having not seen the child and with no idea of height) then assuming no issue with portion sizes then I don’t think it’s incorrect to conclude the milk drunk through the night could be part of the issue.

No 1 year old needs three meals a day and to feed through the night. Some wake ups at that age are normal, but the OP suggested frequent feeding through the night.

@LadyDanburysCane

*Dinner is just whatever we have so for example if we have salmon potatoes and veg she will have 2-3 broccoli florets, 2 new potatoes and a third of a salmon piece For bolognese she has 1 dessertspoon of bolognese, a dessertspoon of pasta, a dessertspoon of grated cheese and some salad pieces chopped up so that’s some kind of indication of amounts it’s not a huge amount I don’t think*

To me they sound like quite big portions. My DS was born on 85th centile, went up to 95th (but matching height) when truly ebf then gradually came down once we started solids. Now 6 ft tall and skinny! At 13 months he would have had a quarter of a sandwich (so half a slice of thin cut bread) with some crudités for lunch followed by a small yogurt or some chopped fruit. He would have small portions of our food for dinner but much smaller than yours. Eg if we have salmon for our dinner we have one salmon fillet each so a third for a 13 month old seems a lot.

DD had even smaller portions but she was (and is) tiny (but healthy).

My 10 month old is 50th centile weight, 75th height and easily eats a whole salmon fillet, plus potato and greens for dinner. He also breastfeeds throughout the day and 3 times at night. But has been crawling fast since 6 months.

The portion sizes don’t sound problematic to me at all, nor the bf. If I were you I’d drop the formula and just wait until she’s been walking a month or so and reassess. Not crawling or bum shuffling by 13 months is pretty late.

Keep the bf, cut down on the bottle/other stuff
Breast milk is still really important up to age 2 - has the HV heard of the WHO?!

Why?

That’s the advice given for small babies when all nutrients come from milk. If you water down the formula they fill up on liquid with less nutrients. I don’t see how it’s really that relevant for older babies eating three meals a day and having breast milk but I’m no expert.

I breastfed my son at night until he was 2.5 and he was never overweight. He mainly fed for comfort at night so I don’t think he ever took that much milk anyway. I would take the formula out rather than stop breastfeeding if feeding is working well for you both. Alternatively you can night wean and just offer cuddles and water at night.

She said I need to be aware that she is in the obese category

I’m wondering how she could say that without a height.

Surely you have some kind of measuring tape, ruler, etc that you could measure her height?

I read somewhere that kids are good at regulating food intake until about the age of 3. Then they lose the ability to understand when they’ve had enough.

So a 13 month old that isn’t moving much yet, I wouldn’t worry about in the slightest.

I think some hvs have their own personal opinions that are not quite what is recommended. Recommending you stop bf as your child is on top centiles is insane! And she’s not even walking! Sounds to me like she’s fine and just at the chunky stage. Centiles represent the healthy population - someone has to be at the top and bottom, and its moving off the chart either way that is concerning. Yes you can check height and keep track now but you have no idea how soon your child jumped the centiles - that commonly happens very early on and they may well have followed the line thereafter. Both my kids were born mid centiles and got to high ones quickly while bf, but followed their lines, never any concern. I think this hv is worrying you for nothing.

Yes ! She said I need to be aware that she is in the obese category and that could affect her long term and she advised to cut night feeds as tbey aren’t needed after 9m and she will re weigh her and see where she is in 4 weeks

I just don’t understand her comments. I didn’t think there was an ‘obese category’ for children under 2. If you look in the red book and on the NHS website it’s very clear that BMI isn’t suitable for use on under-twos. And some children - like my own - are born on the 99th centile or above it. They aren’t obese.

If she’d said she was concerned about how your daughter had crossed multiple centile lines in a year that might make a bit more sense, but that isn’t what she said.

For everyone criticising about vitamins, it's NHS guidance to give babies and small children multivitamins unless having over 500ml a day of formula.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/vitamins-for-children/

I've read all your posts, op, and honestly can't see anything wrong with the amount of food and milk (bf and bottle), your daughter is having. It seems quite normal to me and mine was having a lot more to eat at that time but was running around and inclined towards being skinny (not so skinny as an adult), so not a problem.

All babies are individuals. What were you and husband like as babies? I know I was very chubby and didn't walk until 15 months, neither did I crawl. My husband was a big one too.

A daughter of a cousin was quite fat, didn't walk until 18 months and grew into a gorgeous, normally sized and clever little girl; her mother was apparently the same. Her sister was quite the opposite size wise.

One thing that stood out from your posts was 'HV'. Honestly, the health visitors come out with all sorts of conflicting information based on what they read (and even worse if they have children of their own). If your girl is happy and healthy, not clinically obese, don't worry too much. Follow your instincts.

Regarding bottle - I have seen children far older than yours with a bottle and sometimes a dummy. They outgrow it, one day she will reach for a cup or glass.

You don’t need to see a HV. Most are useless, I was lucky with mine as they ignore the charts here and rarely weigh.
DD went from 0.4 centile at birth to 95th centile at 18 months. But she was a late walker. Once she got more active she’s back to 50th.
Centiles are largely bollocks.

Is she wanting to be bf as much as she is in the day or are you offering due to habit?

My DS was quite clear by 13 months when he wanted a feed!

She may not actually want all the milk she gets and whilst the formula should be first to go perhaps see if she asks for feeds (if this isn’t what you’re already doing)

@FuckPilledLatteplus

Vary the diet more instead of giving sugary vitamins to your dd. I’d leave the bread out of the diet. The chicken or hummus is fine as a meal on its own for a 1 year old.

I was giving her seeded bread as she loved it but the hv said no I had to switch to white bread as under 2 seeded or brown bread has too much fibre and she needs carbs from white bread ?? Is this not ok then or not correct I’m so confused !

It doesn’t seem like your giving too much good. My similar age DC eats a lot more than yours in a day and weighs 10kg. It’s probably the not crawling, if she’s just sat there not active then she won’t be burning it off. She’ll likely slim right down when she starts walking.

Too much food, not good