Overfeeding recently switched to ff- 6 week old?

[evelynj]

hi all

My dd has switched from breast to bottle over last few weeks, (posterior tongue tie made bf too hard). I was expressing for a couple of weeks , exclusively then phasing it out to stick to formula. So far she's still basically fed on demand.

She put 1lb on in a week in last EBF week but still feeds loads & has gon e from 50th percentile to 90th in a couple of weeks! She seems happy, isn't sick & is tried with water, dummy, distraction if she's had a recent feed. Every 3-4 hours she usually has about 5oz. My question is should I be concerned?

I don't think I could listen to her cry if she's hungry but I'm worried the health visitor will be cross at how much weight she has put on. Will she does anyone know?

Many thanks

Evelyn & Florence (6weeks, 5 days)

I wouldn't worry too much all babies are different and you certainly can't let her cry out of hunger. You're her mother, go with your instinct to feed her.

Babies usually need around 2.5oz of formula for every lb of weight per 24 hours - so a 10lb baby would drink something like 25oz. Is she having vastly more than her weight suggests?

Are you waiting for feeding queues or just feeding on a schedule?

Are you encouraging her to finish bottles?

Are you adding anything to the milk?

If you feed her on demand, and only as much as she wants to take, and you're not putting Smash or baby rice in the bottle, then you're not over feeding her.

You shouldn't have to give her water at this age.

Your HV won't be cross. Your baby is growing. It may be a growth spurt.

I have no idea about the volume she "should" be taking, but remember that if she were ebf you'd have no idea!

Thanks for feedback. She was feeding loads on boob, then loads of ebm from bottle so carried on feeding on demand from there & same now we've moved to formula.

We wait for cues to feed & dont encourage her to finish bottles so occasionally she snacks on a bottle &'doesn't finish it, (when this happens it just means that she doesnt go as long until the next feed)

Hetienne - she maybe has up to 5-6oz more than this equation. She took 3 weeks+ to regain birth weight & seems to be making up for it! Feeling less worries now so will wait and see what hv says on weds.

Thanks for the help!

DS did something similar. If I recall correctly, he had a growth spurt at 6wo as well. A friend or two thought we were overfeeding him, but we did just as you - waited for cues, fed on demand, never forced or encouraged. He was fine and just seemed to want more. He is currently on 75th percentile for weight (9mo) but had only crept up to around the 60th before being weaned at 6mo - he was about 30th at birth. So I had no concerns about him being too big.

Fwiw, you don't have to worry about HVs I have been to the baby clinic three times - once for 6wk check, once for a weigh-in around 2mo, and recently for his 8mo check. The only times I have actually spoken to a HV were at his 10 day check at home and at the 8mo check. They're there to help, that's all. And if you disagree with them, that's fine too! You can always seek a second opinion from another HV/community MW/GP etc if you have a concern.