Calling all mothers of big baby boys re: feeding time/amounts

[charleyfarleycat]

Hi
I have a rather scrummy DS of 17 weeks who weighs in at around 19lbs. He's been breastfed until about 7 days ago when I made a big mistake. He was getting incredibly fussy, wouldn't feed on the breast without major coaxing or lying down and it was simply becoming impractical spending so much time with him when my DD (3yo) was needing attention too. So I decided to switch to bottles so see if feeding improved. I am now seriously regretting this as I'm guessing he didn't actually need as much feeding as I thought and was just economising. I still bf the nightfeeds but my supply is going down which I feel very guilty about.
Anyway, I guess the question is, could he be a big boy, even though he doesn't eat a great deal? I mean, he NEVER drains a whole bottle and at times only has a couple of ounces.
He was always a quick feeder on the breast, over and done with in 10 mins or less,even from birth but as you can see from his weight, he didn't suffer!
Has anyone with a big baby got any experience?

I put my 98th centile dd onto formula at 16 weeks because I went back to work and struggled to express. She used to drink 5 or 6 9oz feeds per day (didn't feed at night). so she was in line with what was recommended for her weight. Often big babies are heavy because they are tall?

She was a quick feeder too.

If you feed every night your body will still produce what he needs don't worry about your supply dwindling.

Thanks CarGirl. You see, I'd expect DS to be drinking larger quantities too but he just isn't. Weird. Re supply, I guess I'm feeling really guilty and thinking of getting my supply back up to where it was before I started interfering. Will take a lot of hard work and time and not sure I can do it with another DD in tow. What a wally I am.
I'm completely at a loss as to why DS is so big, both me and DH are little squirts!

Hi Starlight. I realise now that he's at the same age my daughter was when she started faffing about on the boob. I wish I'd remembered instead of worrying about how much he was getting. Think sleep deprivation is probably playing its role here!
Definitely in the last couple of days I've noticed a real decline in supply as I have not done any daytime breastfeeds.

You should be able to get your supply back up fairly easily, feed whenever he wants it. Remember as you bf more gets produced so keep it up. He might not "like" the formula as much so won't drink as much also. Bf is very different from bottlefeeding in the way they suck so he might just be confused at it as he's used to bf. Let him suck as much as he wants as that will stimulate your milk supply too. My sons have been big too, didn't last long once they started walking etc though.

Thanks guys. What happens if he just ends up feeding at night, cos the reason we ended up on the bottle was he was feeding only 2-3 times during the day. While I have adored breastfeeding this time round, I don't have endless supplies of stamina! To be honest, I'm fairly impressed with myself that I've been up 2-3 times a night for 4 months and I haven't cracked up. First time round with DD I would have been in The Priory!

I second feeding on demand, DS2 is 17lb ish at 18w and has been on some solids for a week or so, but he went completely BF again this week after his jabs, and my supply has picked up again.

It sounds dumb but are you drinking enough water in this hot weather? It might help?

Thanks Laumiere. Poor little mite had a fever last night and now has runny nose and cough which probably explains a lot.
What was your reason for introducing solids? Even though I've been through this before with my daughter I find the whole thing confusing. And my son is twice the size of my daughter at the same age!

We had to introduce solids early with DS1 (under the care of his paed) as he had accelerated growth and cerebral palsy, which meant he was burning calories really fast. At one point he was 91st for height but 25th for weight (at 3 he's well over a metre tal

With DS2 he again grew very fast, he's in 9-12 mo clothes already, and I was losing 1lb a day BFing so it was a way to keep BF without me getting sick. Should stress though, check with your HV first if not sure. We started them both on fruit then veg and they've both been fine, DS1 has no allergies or intolerances and now will only refuse junk food (hooray!).