Breastfed baby gaining too much weight?

[hattyyellow]

I know this sounds odd as I'm obviously delighted that my baby is gaining well. But she's gone up to 13lb3oz at 9 weeks and the 95th centile. She was big at birth, 8lb 9oz and I myself was 9lb at birth and slimmed right down as soon as I started crawling so I'm sure that must be a factor?

The Health Visitor said that I need to cut back on my breastfeeding and that if she continues to gain so rapidly it might be a problem.

I feel very disheartened. She is DD3. DDS1 and 2 are twins and I struggled on with the breastfeeding and they never seemed to gain enough.

This time around I am getting my babe to gain enough and its like I'm doing it all wrong! I've struggled to keep going with the breastfeeding and a lot of the time I've fed DD3 without trying to settle/walk her around etc as I'm so busy with my other two children.

Having had 2 bad nights of sleep isn't helping either - today I feel like I'm doing every thing wrong and if I could read her cues better I'd know she was tired/bored/cross etc rather than assuming she was hungry. I just didn't think it was possible to overbreastfeed a baby!

Any advice much welcomed. I don't have any friends locally who are breastfeeding and putting her onto formula is so tempting just to know she's having the right amounts!

It seems such a silly thing to worry about when I know it would be much worse if she wasn't gaining - I just feel so demotivated today.

Ignore your HV. My breastfed son got really fat at 3-4 months but he slimmed right down once he started crawling and now he's a toddler, he's absolutely normal weight for his height.

I'd stop taking her to be weighed to be honest. And get some sleep when she's sleeping - everything seems worse when you're tired

Your hv is barking.

How demoralising for you though. Is there another one you can see (If you feel you need to see one at all)?

Be prepared for her to go on at you about early weaning and topping up if she does "slim" down later on .

Some hvs just seem so mesmerised by centile charts that they forget to use their eyes and their brains.

Please ask your health visitor to share the evidence she has that your baby is likely to have a problem - you are an intelligent woman, you are more than capable of reading the same texts and research she must have read (surely?) that indicates cutting back on breastfeeding is an appropriate strategy.

hatty - what your HV is telling you is, I am pretty confident, based on a poor understanding of infants, infant feeding in general, breastfeeding in particular, growth and health.

But have a dialogue with her - get her to share her sources , then decide for yourself what you conclude is best for your lovely, healthy, thriving and happy dd

She sounds the same as my dd, who was 9lbs at birth and hovered between the 95th and 98th centile until she started crawling. She was bf for6 months. I have photos of her at 3/4 months and she looked like Jabba the Hut We had to carefully clean between all her folds! She is now 2.5 years and is exactly 75th centile for both height and weight.

You may find in the next few weeks that you are able to space feeds out a bit more...I seem to recall at about 12 weeks I suddenly realised that we into a kind of routine and she was feeding 3 hrly during the days....and it came about entirely of its own accord.

Please don't worry.

Your hv isn't v elderly is she? My mum's hv made her cry when she said my brother was fat and obviously overfed.

My mum said "I thought you couldn't overfeed a bf baby" and the hv said "nonsense, this baby is obviously ff and you are overfeeding him".

Is this perhaps the same hv and they've forgotten to put her out to pasture?

Ask yourself, if you think she is too big ? You are the mother and often know best.

I have a nephew who is bottle fed and the HV have concerns for this child, but are doing absolutely nothing about this child. He weight nearly 30lbs a few months ago, I hate to think what his weight will be when he is a year old.

Some HV seem to have it all wrong and should be actively encouraging you about bf and not being negative to you.

Both DS1 and DS2 bf on demand.

DS2 aboslute bruiser - 98% and a reall fatso! I look back ont he photos with amusement. DS1 always skinny.

DS1 (now 4) is still skinny; DS2 (20m) is still 'chunky' but large for his age all around. Definitely not overweight though.

As someone said - no need to get her weighed. You'll know if there's a problem.

DS was on the 99.8th percentile for most of his first year. HV was totally happy with this, said you can't overfeed a bf baby, and that babies who are used to self regulating their intake (rather than being fed to a schedule, or asked to take certain amounts) are more likely to appropriately self regulate their food intake later too - so less likely to be fat toddlers/children.

DS was also a long baby, so in proportion.

As a toddler, he has slimmed right down, and certainly only ever eats to appetite.

Your HV is a twat. Is there another HV that you can go to?

IMO these centile charts are a pile of crap.

My ds was really big as well- 9lb8 oz at birth and 14lb at 5 weeks. He has always been off the top of the growth charts. I fully breast fed and got loads of the same comments from HVs (I think there are sme threads on her from me saying the same, they also suggested he might have some health problems that were causing the weight gain) but by and by I ignored them all and he is now a healthy 12 month old, albeit weighing 29lbs but longer and leaner. I am still bfing and it is working for us

My advice is to ignore the HVs, feed your baby when she's hungry (or if you THINK she's hungry!) and stop worrying. There is plenty of time to worry about getting into routines and recognising when you should and shouldn't be feeding. I too was told on several occasions that you can't overfeed a breastfed baby

A friend of mine dd2 started at a reasonable 8.5lbs I think, but then proceeded to put on about a lb a week for about 5 weeks!!!! In contrast, my son was 10lbs 5oz when he was born, lost 1lb and a bit, but then put on weight much slower, dropping from the 95th/98th to the 75th and sticking there. TBH, health visitor saw me at about 4 or 5 weeks and said that she didn't need to see me again unless I had any worries - I was welcome to make an appointment or to go in and get him weighed, but apart from jabs, no need for it...

Don't listen, don't bother with the weighing!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=breast_and_bottle_feeding&threadid=641011-Can-my-dippy-HV-really-be-rig ht#13048101

See my thread her on the same topic

DS2 was a large baby and BF. He put on 6 pounds in the first 8 weeks. He's perfectly healthy and fine.

Sounds like your DD is doing marvellously

What tiktok said.

With bells on.

My dd was born on the 50th centile, put on a lb a week and shot up so she was off the charts. My hv did nothing but smile and congratulate.

She remains off the charts now at 21 months. She's tall and lean and there is the key thing for my dd. She's also on the 98th centile for height. She was long and not crawling/walking so was necessarily a little (a lot) chubby.

Breastfed babies are clever little self regulators. let your baby feed as much as she wants to.

Why on earth would you compromise your supply/your baby's happiness/a system that works for you at this stage?

Well done you. I love a chubby baby.

Please relax! You sound like you're doing a brilliant job and your HV sounds mad as a hatter.

My DD was similar to yours by the sound of it. Started off at 8lb 4oz, gained around a pound a week for a good few weeks and was on the 98th centile for ages. Looking at her baby photos, she was very chubby until around six months when she started to crawl and grew longer and longer!

I breastfed on demand until she was 2.5 yrs and now, aged almost 8, she's tall and skinny!

Breastfed babies regulate their food intake and get great benefits from the milk. Please reassure yourself that your baby is doing brilliantly and don't feel that formula is the answer. I'd ask the HV if she can actually provide any proof that her 'advice' is right.

Keep up the good work

Sadly I am not as measured, eloquent or diplomatic as many posters on here:

Your HV is talking out her bum.

Thank you all so much for your help and support, I really appreciate it! I feel very reassured and not so silly for worrying. Will keep on enjoying my little buddha!

Thank you for making me laugh as well .

Sorry I have only read OP so don't know what else has been said. I can't believe your HV would say something like this to you. It's crazy. I had a similar experience, except my DD1 was smallish at birth (6lb 14 oz) and by 9 / 10 weeks was over the 95th centile - so her chart looked truly exponential. I wasn't even feeding her that often (she slept through at 8 weeks so only had 5 bfs in a 24 hr period by this stage. I thought the HV should be congratulating me on her fabulous weight gain and on her miraculous 12 hour sleeping at such a young age, but no - apparently both were wrong!! Luckily I ignored the HV and just got on with what seemed to suit my very happy baby. By the time I started her on solids she was practically as wide as she was round. She started walking at 11 months and was (is) a HUGELY active child. By the time she was 2 she was tall for her age and a perfectly normal build although still on the chubby side. Now at 4 she is very tall (most people think she is at least a year older) and very sinuous and lean (rather than skinny) - she's very strong and athletic, it is impossible to believe she could ever have been that chubby baby / toddler!

I truly do not believe that you can over bf a baby. Putting her on formula won't help you - how do you know that the average daily amount recommended on the packet is right for her - it's just as random as bf, and anyway, if she is a big eater even on formula she'll just be crying for more bottles if you try and cut back on what you give her.

So pleased you have had the benefit of MN wisdom. She's obviously a loopy old bag. Ignore, ignore, ignore.

I had the opposite problem - HV who tried to pressure me into FF because DS (skinny minny just like his dad and myself) wasn't gaining "enough". But he was hugely happy energetic and smiley and I just KNEW there wasn't really anything wrong but it's so demoralising when a HV is telling you to be worried, isn't it.

Anyway, I did loads of research online about those centile charts and one of the best things I read was a US paed who said the first rule should be "Check the child, not the chart" and to only worry about weight gain issues (in either direction) if the child seems unwell.

someone's got to be on the 95th, haven't they?!

sorry, got distracted - I mean all babies can't fit on the 50th or we'd have no such thing as charts (now there's an idea...)