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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Can I over feed my baby?

16 replies

linniewith2 · 22/08/2004 08:27

Hi all, I know this may sound daft but can I possibly be over feeding my baby? she is 6wks on tuesday and I ahave upped her feeds to 6oz at a time as she had been taking 5oz feeds every 3 hrs but has now started demanding feeds more often sometimes finishing 5oz and within half an hour wanting more. I changed to hungrier baby sma but didnt make a difference.
She was 5lb14oz at birth and 9lb2oz now so has been piling the weight on!
Her recomended milk volume on the tin is only 4oz x 6 feeds she is now on 6oz x 8/9 feeds, is it possible to have a greedy baby ??????
Thanks

OP posts:

edam · 22/08/2004 08:44

Don't know much about bottles, sorry, but sure someone who does will be along soon. The only thing I remember is that when my sister was a baby she was HUGE and it turned out my father had been giving her an extra scoop for luck when he made the bottles up! So I guess it is possible...

MummyToSteven · 22/08/2004 09:19

Hi not an expert, but DS has always had more than on the tin - at six weeks IIRC he was on 7 0z bottles - anything between 5 and 8 per day. Ignore what it says on the tin - and just him as much as he wants to satisfy him! My personal approach would be to give babies as much as they want and not to worry about overfeeding until a competent health professional says anything otherwise. I don't think that babies stomach muscles are strong enough to let them take much more than they need, anyway.

wellsie · 22/08/2004 09:38

Hi, DS did not do what it said on the tin!! I changed from breast to bottle at 3mths and DS started taking 4 x 9oz bottles when he should've been having 5 x 7oz bottles.
Let your DD take the lead. The only thing I would say is that if you're feeding her to sleep it might be a comfort thing, otherwise she's probably just hungry. A nice HV told me that as long as DS doesn't keep being sick after his feeds then I won't be overfeeding him.

mears · 22/08/2004 11:51

It is possible to overfeed a baby if you do not allow them to decide when to finish. Sometimes she may not want to finish a bottle but you might be tempted to encourage her to take the last 1/2 oz.
As long as you offer the feed and let her stop when she wants, just coninue as you are. You will find that she may want 6oz at one feed, but 4 oz at another. Watch for the signs that she has had enough such as turning her head to the side or lifting her hands up. Over-riding these cues can lead to overfeeding.
If none of the above sounds familiar, then carry on as you are. Better to stay on first milk though if there is no difference - baby tends to get constipated on second milk.

have you seen this site SMA
It might be helpful for you.

Original poster

linniewith2 · 22/08/2004 13:14

thanks for the website very useful, she seems to know when to stop feeding and sometimes there are 1-2 oz left and other times she takes the full 6oz.
She is very rarely sick after a feed, and then only a sml ammount !
Thanks

OP posts:

cathncait · 22/08/2004 14:13

Hi Linnie
There is also the possibility that your dd is having a growth spurt and needs a bit more than usual for a bit. There tends to be one around the 6 week mark as I recall.
hth

chatee · 22/08/2004 15:50

hiya,
my ds was 5lb 14 ozs at birth and at six weeks weighed 9lb 9ozs-don't know how much milk he was having as he is breast fed-so don't worry about the weight gain-babe will take what they want, as long as they are happy that's the main thing!!!

Original poster

linniewith2 · 22/08/2004 17:33

never thought about it that way........people who breastfeed have no idea how many onz their lo is taking..........

OP posts:

Original poster

linniewith2 · 24/08/2004 17:33

Thanks for the replies, it seems to be settling down now and I'm no longer as concerned as I was, during the day she seems to be happy with 4-5 oz every 3 hrs but late evening & early morning takes the full 6oz feeds.

The past 3 nights she has slept between 5-6hrs at a time so I think shes just cluster feeding ready for a good nights sleep.......to get 6hrs unbroken sleep with a 6 wk old baby is bliss so I can't complain.
thanks again

OP posts:

Celou · 25/08/2004 13:23

Mine's 6 weeks old as well and takes 6/7oz (although sometimes a bit less at her 4.00am and 2.00pm feeds.). I'm glad you asked the question as I was beginning to worry too, but as someone said, let your baby guide you. I read somewhere that babies are quite smart that way, they sometimes have more, sometimes less, but somehow always seem to make up the calories they need in a day.
Whilst I'm at it, as you seem to be in the same situation as me, what's your baby's poo like? And how often does she move her bowels? Sorry if it sounds a bit graphic, but when Marie was breastfed she was producing at least 2 dirty nappies a day, and now that I'm weaning her off the breast, it's once every other day.

Tommy · 25/08/2004 13:33

IME if babies take on too much milk, they just sick it back up - that's how I knew they'd had enough! Don't forget LW2 that babies don't read the sides of Sma tins...

Original poster

linniewith2 · 26/08/2004 00:38

Hi Celou, On the poo subject.......it can be up to three times a day
I have noticed that since changing her to hungrier baby milk they have become alot firmer too.
She seems to wee for england, her nappies are soaked after 3hrs.

How are you getting on changing from breast to bottle........ok I hope........should start to settle and go longer between feeds bottle fed babies feed to a routine or so I have read and from experience think it is true. Both dd's bottle fed and you can set a clock by last bottle & night feeds.
hth x

OP posts:

Fairyfly · 26/08/2004 02:56

Original poster

linniewith2 · 26/08/2004 17:22

Think it was a major growth spurt gone from 2nd centle at birth to just below the 50th today.................WOW what a jump !
The same with length & head.

OP posts:

Celou · 30/08/2004 19:19

Marie must have had a growth spurt too as her feeds seem to have settle now, she doesn't take as much.
You're definately right about the routine. At night she wakes up wanting a bottle at exactly 4.00am everytime.

pupuce · 30/08/2004 19:29

My only comment (besides yes you can over-feed) is that taking 5oz and then asking for more 1/2h later does sound like over-feeding..... are you sure it is hunger and not crying for another reason? If this continues I would seriously wonder.... but maybe it was just a growth spurt .
You can overfeed a BF baby too.....

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