Am I overfeeding 11 month old?

[ebmummy]

Quick question-DS 11 months and on 3 meals a day with 2 snacks in between (snacks may either be a small pot of petit filous/half a small avocado/fruit and meals are 4-5 tablespoons of whatever I may be cooking for him that day). He's still bf, and has on average 4-5 feeds of about 30secs-1 min max and has about 5oz of ebm for his nightbottle. His weight up until 8 months was in between the 75th and 91st centile (as was his height). Have been bad, and not had him weighed for about 3 months (we were on hols for 1 month, and ill for the other 2 with various flu/cold/generally feeling shit scenarios). Now my SIL over from the US has a dd who's 3 weeks younger than my DS, and she eats very very little food. She's still mostly on milk, and by little food I mean no more than 4 teaspoons, if that. DS is a bit of a giant in comparison to her dn, and my SIL keeps hinting that I'm overfeeding DS. Should I cut back?

Well my dd is 11 months. She has 400mls formula a day and
B: 1/2 weetabix with fruit
Snack: 2-3 rice cakes
L: cheese on toast / small jacket potato/ mini pitta with tuna. Some veg sticks. Fruit
or some natural yog
Snack: raisins / sugar free muffin / banana
D: 2-3 ice cube portions of a main meal plus some finger food.

She eats like a horse at the moment!

Sounds fine to me - if you were giving him loads of bottles it might be a problem, but just letting him have as many breastfeeds and as much food as he wants is fine, they regulate their own appetites.

I haven't had ds weighed since he was 5/6 months (about a year ago) - weighing isn't compulsory!

I'm a firm believer that you can't overfeed a baby of this age - you can give them too much sugar of course, but if you are giving them good healthy food (which it sounds like you are) then you can trust them to refuse if they are not hungry.

You can't compare with your SIL's baby because

1. It sounds like she is having much more milk (which is probably a lot higher in calories than the food your DS is eating)

1. If your DS is bigger and more active then he needs more food.

My DS1 ate like a horse at that age too - he's 6 now and still does! Not overweight at all, tall and skinny. It's great to have a good eater as so many kids are so fussy. Ignore your SIL!

DS is also 11 months and eats a lot! I have just counted how many tablespoons he has in his bowl and its about 10-15 per meal! He also has one snack a day, two breast feeds and two formula feeds. He is between the 91st and 98th for weight and between the 75th and 91st for height. He is a big boy but everything I have read says that it is important to let babies eat as much as they want, as long as it is healthy food, as they have the ability to self regulate and we should not interfere with this. Although DS does eat a lot he is also very mobile, having taken his first steps at 10 months he is storming around the place now.

Thanks so much ladies-mn always makes me feel much better! DS not crawling, but cruising around on furniture/in his cot. We have a lot of obesity on my side of the family, so am always conscious not to overfeed DS. All his food is freshly cooked and healthy-the only sugary thing he has is either his small pot of fromage frais, or freshly squeezed tangerine juice which I water down. My in-laws are always commenting on DS's size, which makes me worried (they're really anti-fat). But good to know that DS is eating as much as his peers. x

What your 11month old eats sounds fine. Also as both his weight and height are in the 75th to 91at centime line he's in proportion.