Is my baby being over fed?

[Mrbumpoid]

She seems to have a lot more than the normal. She is 3 months. Online and health visitors say: 4-5oz every 3 to 4 hours. She has about 6-7oz every 2-3 hours - she usually is wanting more after 2 hours. We had her weighed 2 weeks ago (10 weeks) and she was 16lbs. She was born 8lbs.

Thanks

Forgot to mention GP said perhaps we are over feeding her bc she was 45 on percentile and is now 95. Last health visitor (we have someone different every time) said to give her what she wants.

According to Baby Centre - Most full-term babies need between 150ml and 200ml of formula per kilogram of their body weight every day. So, if your baby weighs 3kg, he'll probably need between 450ml and 600ml of formula over a 24-hour period to satisfy his hunger.

So she could be drinking 1400ml and be within 🧐

She'll drink it if offered but what if you don't offer it, does she go mad? Or not really care? It sounds a lot but maybe growth spurt?

How does she sleep overnight?

Hi, we had similar concerns. We have boy/girl twins born at 36+5 weeks and weighed 6lb 4 and 6lb 3. They initially lost some weight but at 10 weeks weighed 14lb 14oz and 13lb 10oz which is around the 99th percentile for both.

At the time we were feeding them 5-6oz every 3-4 hours so somewhere between 30 and 36oz a day. We had been doing this for quite a few weeks before this as well which is well above the recommended amount.

At 11 weeks they have dropped a feed at night so we are generally feeding 5 or 6 times a day and because they have dropped a feed are taking between 5 and 7oz each time.

I was worried at first that we were over feeding them but they only take what they want. We don’t force them to finish bottles and they very rarely spit up any milk so I can’t see that we are over feeding them. We follow their lead and I’m not prepared to leave them to cry when they are clearly hungry!

3 month olds won't over feed! Don't panic. So long as once she pulls away you don't try to keep giving it its fine. It's really healthy for them to self regulate. If it was breast milk you wouldn't have a clue what she was drinking!

Of course 3 month old bottle fed babies can be overfed Why would you think they can't be?

OP, do you give her a dummy? And have you looked at paced bottle feeding with lots of breaks so she doesn't drink too quickly?

Well every health visitor and midwife I've met has told me you can't over feed a baby which is why I thought that. Maybe it's a personal belief and coincidence they all had it!

My understanding is that you can’t overfeed a breastfed baby (not a judgement to formula feeding, just what I’ve been told by HVs)

Well every health visitor and midwife I've met has told me you can't over feed a baby

Did you breast feed? Because that's held as true for breast fed babies but not bottle-fed.

You can't overfeed a baby directly from the breast, but once you introduce bottles (regardless of formula or breastmilk) you can overfeed.

I could have written this myself (and actually did post an almost identical post over the weekend). My baby is 9 weeks, and drinks 6-8oz every 2 hours or so. He weighed in at over 16lb (which is 99th percentile) a couple of days ago, and the nurse made a comment about overfeeding. But we have tried everything - delaying feeds, dummy, etc etc. Nothing works, he goes crazy if I don't feed him when he wants it! Full on screaming. Do you know what your baby's length is, and how that percentile compares to their weight? I found out he is 91st percentile for height, which the HV just never bothered to tell me! My view is that babies stop when they are full, and if your baby is going mad for food then they obviously need it.

You can't over feed a BF baby. You can over feed a FF baby. I think your GP is right to be concerned with such a percentile jump.

Look at paced feeding.

Interesting. Lesson learned. I bottle fed and was told this when I brought the same concerns to them!

@OlderthenYoungerNow
She cries/shouts out for it. I never need to offer it so just going on what she wants 😬

@dementedpixie
She sleeps through the night (altho last night randomly woke for a 2am feed).

@TwinMum89 I agree. If we don't feed her then she'll cry and that's not fair on her. Plus she goes mad if we try to take it away without her finishing it 😂 She never lost weight after she was born.

@MsChatterbox good point!!!

@thegingerbreadlady no but I'll try it right now as she's feeding! 🤣 Yes she has a dummy but is furious if we stick in quickly to replace the bottle 😬

@hodgepodge21 wow, that really does sound the same! I've got no idea about her length but I shall measure tomorrow! Do you think it makes a difference?

So I took the bottle away and she stared at it, leaning forward and sucking air 😂 But then I tried again and she fell asleep so maybe I can try this pacing thing!

Does everyone go by the body weight thing?

How much does she take in 24 hours? This is a prime growth spurt age so feeding may calm down again

@dementedpixie maybe about 1600ml?

Is there an online chart to see what the average of baby's weight and height is? How do I know where 65cm length at 3 months is on the percentile? No one has ever measured her length - not even at birth.

You can look on the chart in your red book.

There are online calculators which tell you the percentile. I used a baby centre one and based on exactly 3 months (assuming your little one was born on 19th July) - 65cm is actually 99th percentile for height. Worth going and entering your exact details, but I guess that shows your baby is long as well as heavy!

@hodgepodge21 at least she isn't just growing outward then 😂

How often does she nap? Babies should be awake for 90 minutes this age and want to suck for comfort so she could be feeding when the issue is she is tired not hungry.