Overfeeding (again)..I really think I have been overfeeding

[ExBanker]

I keep hearing on these threads and from my health visitors that you can't overfeed a breastfed baby. My DD is 13 weeks and went from 50th to 90th percentile in 6 weeks and has continued above the 91st percentile. She isn't very tall and is actually very chubby. I have been breastfeeding on demand. However in the last couple of weeks I've realised that she associates bf with sleep as I mostly feed her to sleep, and she often makes hungry signs when actually she is tired. I've made a real effort to get her napping sorted i.e. putting her down / going out in the pram after she has been up for two hours and we seem to have got into a 3 hour feeding routine whereas previously she would often feed hourly. I still feed her more often if she gets distressed, but she can often be distracted by putting her in front of her playgym. I feel that if I hadn't got the napping sorted then she would be feeding a lot more.

My questions are:

1. Am I deluded in thinking that I was overfeeding and that I have it sorted now?
2. Should people be really giving advice that you can't overfeed a baby without really talking to them about their sleep / routine etc?

Most babies feed to sleep though, and feed for comfort. Doesn't mean they're overfed.

Maybe she just takes more 3 hrly now rather than snacking. I think often they are comfort sucking rather than actively drawing out milk when they are sleepy

I thought babies could feed without feeding IYSWIM. Why the importance of feeding every 3 hours? I eat or drink something more regularly than 3 hours and my stomach is much bigger than a 13 week old baby.
Why would a baby want to overfeed themselves? Surly their thoughts are very simple, I'm hungry, this is nice, I'm full, etc. You probably could teach a baby to overfeed for example, if you continually put a bottle back in their mouth, every time they spat it out, or when you start weaning and the baby loses interest you tell them just one more and you can play.
I think you're looking for a problem that isn't there IMHO.

Thanks for your responses. I guess the reason that I think she is overfeeding is that she has put on so much weight. Also feeds when she is tired and wired not when sleepy if you know what I mean and she always seems to be gulping it down.

I agree scardedycat. Sounds like you're really overthinking this exbanker. It also sounds as if you're doing a fab job. Ignore the percentiles, keep doing what you're doing, and enjoy your baby.

And it's ok to feed to sleep you know...

ds1 went from 50th to 98th centile between 6 and 12 weeks. he was a chunky munky but I did notice he used to grow out, then up. he's now 3, still on 98th centile, and not in the least bit chubby. he also fed to sleep, fed for comfort.

well done for growing your baby, and don't worry. plenty of chubby bf babies go on to be skinny toddlers :)

you can't overfeed a breastfed baby if you feed on demand

they won't take more milk than they want/need. a baby can regulate its own appetite very well, it's only when we start interfering with that process that it can become a problem (and note i say can, not will!)

the vast majority of breastfed babies gain quickly and then even out. they will gain (generally) much faster than a formula fed baby.
so, if you're plotting on old charts which were based on FF babies that may be part of the problem. if you plot her weight on the newer BF baby charts it could well be different. Of course, it may be that you're using the new charts anyway in which case that;'s irrelevant

but it's fine and normal for her to feed to sleep, and for you to feed her for comfort too...

my 3 year old was MASSIVE as a baby. he fed every 45mins-1.5hrs, day and night, til he was around 10 months old!!!
he is now a skinny little 3 yr old who struggles to keep his trousers up

My friend's DD was the same as this, same age as my DS who was on 50th centile. They are both 3 now and both normal weight, her DD is not chubby for her age. Don't worry.

DS grew realy quickly (from 4.8 kg at 2.5 weeks to 7.7 kg at 10 weeks) and was referred to an endocrinologist and for a head scan as he grew so fast (we live abroad so lots of referrals). I was quite upset about it all really, and everyone always commented on how enormous he was - but well, he flirted outrageously with the endocrinologist at her review and her conclusion was that he was just big. Not sure if this helps, but well, that's our experience.

DD went from 50th centile to off the charts in a matter of weeks. She's still on the 98th centile at 3.9. She is perfectly in proportion (turns out she's tall). She fed all the time, to sleep, when sad etc. She regulated her own intake and would change to comfort sucking when full.

They don't overfeed, they self regulate.

My ds(10) and dd2(6) did this - enormous sumo babies - ate and ate. DS went from 25 centile to the 90th in 6 weeks so it's entirely possible. dd1(8) didn't - skinny child who didn't much like food and really wasn't interested. Ds and dd2 are really tall now...and skinny, as is dd1. In essence - it makes no difference with BF...if hungry (or tired, sleepy, want mum etc) they suck, but if it's purely comfort they won't suck hard for long. Don't worry x

you can't over feed a bf baby, honestly. Feeding to sleep is about comfort, they probably won't be getting much milk. Having said that, stopping feeding to sleep isn't necessarily a bad thing, I have stopped doing it as he was getting too reliant on it and it meant if DH has him for the afternoon or evening while I do something else, we were a bit scuppered.

every babies growth curve will be different, the charts are just an average - you may find her growth will even out.

Are you charting her on bf baby chart or the general ones? Might be worth checking, I'll dig out the link to the WHO bf ones later, it's on another computer.

If you are feeding on demand, you can't overfeed a bf baby. Feeding to sleep is really really normal.

I'm charting her on the ones in the red book - I'm guessing that these are general ones.

Thanks everyone, it seems that maybe I should just relax and be glad that I've got the napping sorted and that she doesn't seem to need to need to feed for comfort or to get herself to sleep so much now that she's not getting so overtired. I still am more or less feeding on demand, its just that she demands it much less often now (usually about every 3 hours) and I often see for a minute or two if she can be distracted by a song or playtime first (and in about 50% of cases she can and often doesn't demand food again for an hour afterwards).

I think I was just thinking that it might have been good when I kept saying to health visitors that she was feeding all the time if they maybe had asked me a few more questions and recognised that there was a problem (i.e. her lack of napping and getting overtired) which was causing her to want to feed all the time and not just keep saying to me that she was fine.

I think the ones in the red books are the bf ones now, but even if they are, don't worry.

DD is the same, from 50 to 91st in 6 weeks and now 95th at 20 weeks. It's good storage for when they start getting mobile. I was like you, thinking i was overfeeding, but i have the naps and nighttime without clusterfeeding sorted, but it made no difference.

Don't worry about it, you're doing great. If you overfed your dc would just poo more or spit it up, so it's no problem.

you can overfeed a bf baby, I have been told this by a number of midwives and lactation consultants (I don;t live in the UK btw), however it's quite difficult to do so. I was concerned about my dd going from 70%ile to over 90%ile by 12 weeks. They reassured me that unless I was feeding her all the time/every time she whimpered rather than trying to spot signs of hunger that she would not be overfed.

My EBF baby used to be so fat I thought she'd pop. However her weight gain dropped off a cliff after 9 months. She's now around the 50th - down from 98th - and continuing to gain weight slowly.

I dont think you are deluded at all in thinking you were over bf. Every three hours and not feeding to sleep sounds very sensible to me - I dont think babies need feeding every hour or so and it is possible to over-feed; babies rely too heavily on the comfort factor, and it leaves you with very little time to do anything else! Your new routine sounds good to me.