Am I feeding my baby too much?

[Vespar7]

I am FF my 10 week old DD after giving up on mixed feeding after 6 weeks. She was born weighing 2.5kgs and when she was weighed a week ago was 4.7. We were in Switzerland for Christmas and the in-laws insisted she see an Austrian dr about her colic. The doctor said she is putting on too much weight and will be fat if she continues like this. He said we should feed her only every 4 hours. She normally takes between 2 and 4 ozs every 2 and a half to 4 and a half hours but since Saturday she seems to want to eat ALL the time. She is crying, eating her hands, looking for the breast and smacking her lips almost every 90 minutes. Is this a growth spurt? I am worried especially after what the Austrian doctor said. I was wondering if she was teething but I guess it's too early for that?

Am I feeding her too much/often?

Thanks

2-4oz is hardly anything. Does she finish the bottles? If so add extra to the bottle. She could be having a growth spurt and be wanting to eat extra because of it. You are supposed to feed on demand even if formula feeding and I would not expect a 10 week old to have to wait 4 hours for a feed if they are hungry earlier. I wonder if the Dr waits 4 hours before having a drink/something to eat!

She finishes the bottle about half the time. The doctor asked me if I fed the baby everytime she cries as if I am overfeeding her. I got a bit annoyed but DP told me I was being oversensitive. Am seeing the HV tomorrow so will ask her but am wondering what to do today when she seems hungry every 2 hours.

its either hunger it if she is colicy it could be a sympton of reflux and the feeding helps soothe the pain. I also found it easy to confuse hunger cries with tiredness at that age - how is she napping?

You can't force feed a baby. They eat when hungry and stop when full so I don't see how you can over feed them. Feeding every 4 hours is a rather out-dated and old fashioned idea.

Now I respect doctors have a great deal of medical knowledge and I'm not dismissing that, but did this doctor have specific, up-to-date training on feeding infants? Probably not.

2 to 4oz sounds about average. DD takes around 3oz, roughly every 3 hours I think (she is breast fed but this is what we worked out she takes when I am at college and she is bottle fed expressed milk).

You can overfeed on formula, but I believe as a guide you're supposed to feed 2.5oz per lb of bodyweight in 24 hours. I would make that just over 25 oz a day. So if your DD is averaging 3oz roughly every 3 hours that's more or less bang on.

Your hv will have a good idea of the normal needs of healthy babies and you can share with her what the doctor said.

Nothing you say here sounds unusual or worrying or a reason for medical input either. The hv should be able to say if the crying is colic or reflux. If your baby cries for the breast btw it is fine to put her on even if not to actually feed. She may get cross if she wants milk or be happy and comforted - youd just have to try and judge the result :)