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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Can you overfeed a bf baby?

16 replies

wherethewildthingsare · 21/08/2006 09:37

My friend has just had her first baby six weeks ago. She was 7lb something at birth and is now 12lb something exclusively breastfed (putting on about a pound a week so obviously doing something right!). However her little girl is now near the 100th centile and her HV has told her that if she goes over the 100th she will have to stop bf! Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

OP posts:

LIZS · 21/08/2006 09:39

Sounds like a load of bo !!

Quootiepie · 21/08/2006 09:42

No. Thats one thing ive always been told with every concern I had about the amount DS fed... "You cant overfeed a breastfed baby". Her weihgt gain will slow down... DS went from 0.4th to above 25th, and Ive been told it will tail off. on the WHO website I think there is a growth chart for breastfed babies that takes this in to consideration. If she is concerned about this, tell her to contact a specialist BF organisation, HV are more Jack of all trades, experts in none. DS gained approx a lb a week aswell.

pinkpyjamas · 21/08/2006 09:42

Never heard of a midwife giving this advice before!

pinkpyjamas · 21/08/2006 09:43

(The advice in the original posting, I mean!)

aragon · 21/08/2006 09:56

What a load of tripe. I am a HV too and I see plenty of babies who put on weight rapidly in the early weeks of life. Firstly many babies take a while to even out to their true centile and some will take up to a year to even out. Secondly, bottled milk is associated with a bigger weight gain. Breastmilk is designed for babies and there is even evidence to show that the composition changes to match the needs of each baby. Your friend's HV is (I am ashamed to say but not surprised) talking a load of rubbish.

Babies can overfeed but usually show this in some way ie - tummy upsets or vomiting or greenish poo to name but a few - (and they are not always due to overfeeding). Your friend is doing the right thing - tell her to ignore the HV and speak to her GP if concerned - my guess is that as soon as her baby is moving around the weight will even out.

PigeonPie · 21/08/2006 10:10

Aragon, what can we do about HVs who don't seem to know about bf? I want to do something positive to try to help, but need to know where to start.

aragon · 21/08/2006 12:49

Complain, complain, complain.

Too many HVs out there have never had any breastffeding training beyond a cursory 2 hours at university. The rest is meant to be learned "on the job" but when student HVs are attached to HVs who don't know their a*se from their elbow where bf is concerned (and weaning too for that matter) the situation is hopeless.

There's also the time factor. My area is two full-time HVs down at the moment and we are having to prioritise our work to new birth visits, vulnerable families, child protection work and that's about it. Thankfully we have very able support from two nursery nurses who give far better advice and support for BF than many HVs do. However, with all the Trusts looking to make savings who knows what will go next. So much for a public health agenda eh?

Complain to the Locality manager for Community Care. Your local Trust will have one. Without us parents standing up and saying "we want.... x, y or/and z" they'll keep plucking away at services instead of investing in them.
Breastfeeding workshop? Too much money - it's part of the public health ageneda but not important enough when trying to save the pennies.

ooohhhhh - must get off this soapbox now.

PigeonPie · 21/08/2006 13:19

That's great, thanks Aragon. I'll go and get on my soap box now!

PigeonPie · 21/08/2006 13:19

I should have said

thepoppy · 21/08/2006 17:23

Is your friends baby taller than average? My DS put on about a pound a week for the first couple of months and has put on about 9oz/week since (now 12 weeks) but he was above 100th in height at birth so is now a good weight for is height.
I had people telling me ds was over fed...same people were also recommending supplementing with formula cos bf's not good enough!!!

BrookeandTaylorsmummy · 21/08/2006 17:40

My ds, now 6.5 months, was gaining over 2lbs per week in the early stages up to about 12-14 weeks and is now 12 month old size clothing he weighs 3 lbs less than his big sister (20.5 months), they were both breastfed (ds still is and I have only just introduced solids) and are doing brilliantly, I suggest getting a new hv, mine is fab, a very rare thing these days!

nannymcphee · 21/08/2006 18:43

My second daughter was about 20 lbs at 16 weeks!! The health visitor told me she was over the 100th for weight and that I should take her to see the doctor. I wasn't going to waste the GP (or my) time. My DD was solely breastfed and soon thinned out - I was never concerned at all, but if I had been a 1st time mother, any comment like that can really worry you. Midwives and Health Visitors really need to be careful what they say. Well done for breastfeeding!

purplemonkeydishwasher · 21/08/2006 18:55

My DS put on weight very fast and was always in the 98th centile at least!

Everyone said he was a big baby and he's lose the weight when he started crawling. It took me a long time to realize that he is the size he's supposed to be. He's happy and healthy. He's 11 months now and over 26lbs. The only thing that's a problem is my sore back!!

Some BF babies just put on weight like that. Others put it on more slowly. It's so frustrating because HVs always comment on one or the other. 'Oh, he's not putting on very much weight', 'oh, he;s putting on too much weight'.

You can't overfeed a BF baby. When they are full they come off. or they spit up what they can't handle.

I'm getting into full rant mode, so I digress,,,

Original poster

wherethewildthingsare · 23/08/2006 10:16

Thanks for your responses, it made me really cross too especially as it's her first baby and she is desperate to do everything 'right'. It seems as if we can't do anything right, one minute they're not putting on enough weight, then it's too much...

OP posts:

ghosty · 23/08/2006 10:22

Another big weight gain story here.
My DD was big at birth (10lbs 10oz - 4.8kg) and by six weeks was nearly 6kg ... I don't know how heavy that is in lbs but she definitely put on over a pound a week.
She was fully breastfed and was HUGE ... the midwife was very impressed tbh! Never told me to stop feeding her - actively encouraged me to continue ...
Tell your friend to ignore her HV - if the baby is happy and healthy etc ... she should get on with it ...

fondant4000 · 23/08/2006 10:45

My dd was 7.5 lb at birth and put on over a pound a week for the first few weeks (exclusively bf). She shot from 50th to 99th centile pretty rapidly.

At about 17 weeks she started to even out, and as soon as she was sitting/crawling all the fat went.

HV is talking a load of nonsense. I only got dd weighed twice - and that was to check I was getting the right nappies! When I went to the clinic I'd get her weighed and then avoid all the hvs. They should be a good thing, but often seem to increase anxiety rather than telling us how well we're doing.

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