Am I overfeeding my newborn?

[12cheese]

Baby is 7 weeks today and was 12lb 4.5oz yesterday when weighed. Birth weight was 7lb 12oz. HV said weight is no problem (he has moved from 50th to 75th percentile). Asked about his feeds, he's on 6oz every 3-4 hours which I was a bit concerned about although she said it is fine and just keep following baby and not worry as he'll just be sick if has too much. Said he will plateau at some point and some babies go up the bottle volumes really quick.

However baby has issues with wind and trying to poo where he's crying and uncomfortable until he goes which can be several hours. He is taking dentinox to help and it does 75% of the time. I was reading yesterday that overfeeding can cause tummy discomfort. Now I'm worried we've overfeed him all along and that is what's causing the discomfort.

I try to follow his lead on feeding but maybe I've got it all wrong and am confusing cries for food when it's something else and he's just feeding for comfort.

For example most recent feed today he has only taken 3oz. Maybe I'm forcing the bottle on him to encourage him to take more although I'm keeping it horizontal to pace him and taking bottle away to wind then offering. 9/10 he will want bottle back.

We have Dr's appt next week so will ask them but just wanted to gauge what others think or have had similar experience.

He wouldn’t eat if he wasn’t hungry. Listen to the midwife and avoid googling, you will always find negative answers when googling. The medical profession said to carry on as you are so do that.

Agree with previous poster, carry on unless told otherwise by a medical professional. Babies go through fazes of eating more when going through growth spurts, then slow own again. You could try gripe water to help with digestion. Worked with my son.

I always thought I was overfeeding my son, he would drink a lot. Kept increasing the milk by 30ml if he consistently finished the bottles. By 5 months he was on 300ml and still sucking at the end wanting more. He did then bring a bit of milk back typically so was likely taking a bit too much. He was born on the 50th, moved to 90th by 8 weeks old and stayed there. He also loved food and by 9-10 months he was on the three meals a day and would eat anything I gave him which again was another worry but it was nice that he ate well when most others were not interested. He’s now 2.5 and looks quite slender. Now I struggle to get him to eat dinner after turning 2.

Your baby will likely even out once they start moving. That said seek advice if you are worried.

I'd check you have no symptoms of silent reflux and if not keep feeding based on his needs

There are a couple of situations where a baby will overfeed but most babies will only take what they need. silent reflux is one situation where you might get overfeeding- feeding sooths the discomfort from reflux but then the feed triggers more reflux so they want to feed again for comfort.