I know in theory you can't overfeed a breastfed baby

[Emster30]

is this definitely the case?

DS was weighed weekly for the first couple of weeks after having lost 15% of birth weight early on, and was told to have him weighed fortnight;y after that. he regained birth weight at 2 weeks by putting on 280g in a week, and then again the next week put on another 280g. i then got him weighed again today, 16 days later, and he now weighs 5.08kg - he's put on 780g since last time, which averages at 340g per week. when i looked at this page: www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain-metric.html the max average weight gain is 241g per week.

i'm guessing this isn't anything to worry about, but he does seem to be feeding more or less non stop this week. every evening he feeds constantly from about 9pm-2am, getting cross because the milk isn't coming fast enough, pummelling at my breasts. i change hom from one to the other whenever he comes off. it's pretty exhausting and painful. i keep hearing about all these people whose babies want feeding every 3 hours - today it has been approx every 30 mins since we got up at 9am.

people have asked if it's comfort sucking, but he won't take a dummy and if dh gives him a finger to suck when i have a brief loo break during the manic evening feeds it only satisfies him for a moment before he is desperately hungry again. i'm wondering if it's the 6 week growth spurt a week early (i think we had th 4 week growth spurt a week early too).

any advice welcome!

Dont worry too much - every baby is different and I had the same problems with my ds1. He fed continuously particularly through the evening and put on weight like there was no tomorrow!
I know its very hard on you, I felt drained, sore, and squirted milk like a cow but the more I relaxed and just went with it the more relaxed ds became.
I dont know if it was comfort sucking, hunger or what but he finally settled down about 9 weeks and began to go longer between feeds.

He is now a healthy nine year old and very slim! When I look back, those few weeks were difficult to get through, but in the big scheme of things its just a tiny phase. Hang on in there and good luck.

thanks. i know rationally it's fine, i spose. plus (touch wood) he goes 3 hours (and even occasionally 4 hours) at a time at night, once he's finally fallen asleep at 2am, so i should count myself lucky. THhat's co-sleeping - have more or less given up trying to settle him in his crib!

My dd put on 1 lb a week for ages. That's significantly more than 340g if my maths is right.

She started on the 50th centile and by 7 weeks was off the charts.

She's 3.3 now and still at the top of the charts but is also at the top for height. She's tall, slim and v healthy indeed.

She was a prolific feeder too and didn't go longer than 2hrs for the first 7 months.

I just trusted her to know what she needed. I quite miss the chubby little baby she was. Rolls on rolls.

I'm so glad to read this thread - at least I'm not alone!

DS is 4 weeks old and basically, if he's awake and I'm holding him, wants to feed. He also doesn't seem to nap much during the day. He'll sleep in the moby if DH is wearing it, of if we're in the car or on a bus, but otherwise he doesn't seem to sleep more than 20 minute naps after a feed, after which he usually wants to feed again. I'm enjoying the enforced telly-and-MN fest, don't get me wrong, but it is a bit worrying how he'll cope when I go back to work in 2 weeks. He takes a bottle just fine, but I seriously doubt he'll be held quite as much as I hold him - and of course, if he IS comfort-sucking he's going to have to learn to like his dummy a lot more than he does at the moment...

He will spend 10-15 minutes on his playmat staring at things (this is a new development this week) but generally, he wants to eat. He's putting on 8oz a week so far. I'm pleased and proud and generally totally fine with holding and carrying my baby but ... I'm kind of hoping that at SOME stage I get to put him down for a whole hour or two while he sleeps or gurgles at something... If I can't hold out for 6 weeks, I'll try for 8. Then 10. Surely he'll go a while between feeds at 10 weeks?

[naive optimist emoticon]

blackcurrants I can see that must be a worry if you're going back to work in 2 weeks! I'm sure it's just that if he can smell your milk he wants to feed - DS is the same. Mine is also getting better at liking lying on his playmat, but not for too long. He does have a long sleep at this time of day though - he's actually been asleep since 3.30pm, the first hour on me but then I transferred him so I have actually tidied the house for a change. I really want a bath but I know as soon as I run one he'll wake up, and DH isn't back from work yet!

he's still asleep. could have had my bath by now!

Same here. 5 weeks old and gaining minimum of 10oz per week after initial 1lb loss.

Also glad to hear I'm not the only one feeding from 9pm to 2am continuously.

My neices were big rolly polly children. And they are both slim as a pin as young adults now. don't worry!

All three of mine regularly put on that kind of weight. in fact, I'm sure they put on 1lb (450g or so) per week in the early weeks.

My DD podged up very fast when she was ex bf for 4 months.

I have never been as smug as when the snotty HV weighed her and found she never lost any weight after birth and was just gaining.

I am a bit of a feeder though .

it's too late for me to get my head round the numbers, so it may be impossible in this case but, i have heard that the hv scales can be out! Ssshh! Don't tell them i told you...

[Grin]

Both my girls did nothing but feed and get fat in the first few months. DD2 went right up to the 98th centile. All on breast milk. They're completely normal now. Don't worry!

Lovely big podgy babies are yummy.

So are skinny little sweet ones, but the podgy ones are just so squeezable.

I don't get DS2 weighed very often but the last couple of times he has been right at the very top of the charts and he is 5 months old and I have started buying 12-18mth sized clothes, fully BF, he is just a chunker.

Me too LeninGrad DS1 was a long lean baby who was lovely but my god I worried. DS2's thighs are a great delight and reassurance!

I enjoy DS being a chubmonster, I really do. It feels like a reward for the amount of time I spend feeding him, plus it's terribly reassuring that he's ok. Even now BFing is well established I still find myself worrying that he's an inefficient feeder/not getting enough cos of how much time he spends on the breast. The massive weight gain tells me that heck, he just needs that much food to grow this much! and that's nice.

And yes, delicious squeezable adorable pudginess! I love it, I love it, I blow little raspberries on his tiny pot belly (which makes him look very disgruntled)... But yeah. Ahem
[pulls self together]
It's just that he never stops, y'know? And I'd love one of those babies who lies in a moses basket cooing while I work from home and keep a perfect house.

Wait, what do you mean they don't exist? DAMN IT! I saw them on the telly!