Baby gaining too much weight?

[LoloRara]

Hi everyone

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but seemed the closest category!

I had my baby boy in January, I was induced as growth scans showed his weight gain was slowing down (from 50th to 30th centile) when he was born he was actually around 50th centile weighing 7lb 9oz. His head circumference was around 50th centile too.

At 5 days he maintained birth weight, and then continued to gain. By 4 weeks he has gained good weight and was then in 75th centile.

At our 6 week check he was weighing 12lb 12 which put him in the 91st centile, height 75th and head circumference 91st.
The doctor was concerned due to the jump in centile and asked me to bring him back in 2 weeks for weighing again.

When I did this he had gained again to 14lb 7 and is now between 91st and 98th. She’s still concerned and asked me to bring him back in another 2 weeks.

I am exclusively breastfeeding, baby does have the occasional bottle of pumped milk in the evening when I am putting my toddler to bed.
He doesn’t feed for more than 30 minutes, normally during the day every 2 hours and at night can go 4. I offer the second breast if after he’s burped he appears to be hungry still, he doesn’t always accept (normally once a day)
I have tried a dummy to offer but he’s not interested, and he does refuse breast if I offer and he doesn’t want milk.

I’ve been told not to offer the second breast at all, and try to stick to two hours minimum feed gap.
I guess my concern is it goes against my instinct to stick to a feed gap if he is showing signs he’s hungry, or in need of a bit of comfort I know breastfeeding offers more than just milk and sometimes babies need that too.

Has anyone had similar experiences or can offer me any advice?

Sorry this is so long but didn’t want to miss anything! If it’s relevant my toddler was a small baby, got up to 75th centile by 6 months and since she started crawling she’s been in 50th centile consistently.

Thank you!

You can’t really overfeed a breastfed baby. Lots of BF resources will give you info on that.

I’m surprised that given the concerns about growth during the pregnancy your doctor hasn’t considered the possibility that he was always ‘meant’ to be a big boy but something was going on (like mild IUGR) to prevent that. Now he’s born he’s feeding well and going back up to his natural level.

If there are no other concerns about his health then I would just carry on feeding like you are. It might just be a growth spurt and things will even out in a few weeks.

At this age you feed on demand, babies cannot be unnecessarily greedy and you can’t over feed them- I’d carry on as you were.

Ignore, GP is clearly used to formula fed babies and trying to apply the same rules to a breastfed one 🙄. If they induced you he probably just came out nowhere near his actual curve, so it looks like he's Joe's artificially. Keep doing what you're doing.

gaining, rather than Joe's

Eyeroll was for the GP, not you, btw

Ignore your GP both my bf babies were the same, the first always on the 98th centile and the 2nd his iegs were too chubby for jeans!

You are doing an awesome job and doing exactly the right thing in school in draining both breasts regularly and when prompted by your baby.

My babies are no longer babies and there weight is absolutely fine now !

I had this with my DD. Health visitor didn't believe me that she was EBF. She didn't lose any weight after birth and was a chunker from then on.

She was a late mover as well so didn't start to even out until nearly one when she started moving lol.

You can't over feed a breastfed baby.

I am not a doctor but this advice sounds concerning to me. My understanding is that you can’t overfeed a breastfed baby, and as your baby is still so very young I would definitely be feeding on demand. I would be very concerned about trying to limit or control the intake of a breastfed baby as young as yours - maybe he’s just going to be a big baby!

I would be tempted to ignore the GP - or at least discuss with her and ask her to explain her reasoning - and carry on feeding as normal.

My baby was born on the 25th and by 12 weeks was on the 98th. Never lost any weight and was ebf. Baby was under the care of a paediatrician for a different reason. She was thrilled that baby was gaining so well as was my GP and health visitor. They all used to talk about my ‘amazing milk’. My others were very similar as babies and are both very slim now.
I would ignore and carry on as you are.

You're doing fine as you are OP.

Ignore the doctor! My baby was on the 25th centiles when she was born, after a few months was 98th! EBF too. I was the same as a baby, it all evened out after a year or so, some babies just grow fast! Please don't deny your baby milk when they're hungry, I can't believe the Dr said that

Fucking doctors!

You cannot over feed a breastfed baby, period. Stop getting him weighed, and carry on feeding on demand. It’s all well and good them telling you to refuse but they’re not the ones listening to your child scream.

On another note, I had a friend who bottle fed and over fed her baby on purpose to make them go longer between feeds. Poor kid looked like the Michelin man until they were a toddler and able to choose when and what they ate and burn it off.

So, even if he is overweight, he will lose it naturally when he starts moving.

Also, this is the age when they lay the foundations for how big or small they are on the outside. My baby was born on the 91st centile and dropped to below the 25th. There they have stayed! Big in me, small out.

Your son could be middle in, big out. Or it still might change. I’ve had friends whose kids got chunky during the toddler years then slimmed out again. The weight obsession drives me insane.

Also, leaving baby to cry for food might well affect attachment later down the line. Tbh, it might be worth complaining.

If you were induced early your baby could well have been born at the centile he's on now and that's just his normal, but he wasn't allowed to get there

Thank you all so much for your replies and reassurance. I really appreciate all the comments.

There’s no other health concerns as far as I’m aware, his heel prick was clear and he had prolonged jaundice so he had blood tests then and they were clear too.

In regards to induction, my thought was that that could have been the case! My daughter had IUGR so I was being monitored with this pregnancy so does make sense that maybe he didn’t reach his full potential size when I was pregnant and he’s just catching up now! I will mention this to her even though she should have thought of that I guess!

I’ll carry on as I was before the appointment, listening to my baby and to my instinct too.

I exclusively breastfed my dd and I was told to breastfeed on demand and that only formula fed babies were fed at set intervals. I’m not a doctor. Could you get a second opinion? Maybe see a paediatrician instead.

My baby was an exclusive bf chubster too. The Gp told me to not feed him overnight and I eyerolled massively how else am I going to put him to sleep! DS was 99 centile and I got really worried! Luckily he's started walking now so has slimmed down and looking much more in proportion

Thank you for the replies.

@Oceanbliss I have called and booked to speak to my health visitor next week. She’s been really good, so will get a second opinion from her to begin with.

@babychange12 I can’t believe you were told not to feed overnight that’s crazy advice!

Yes trust yourself, you are completely doing the right thing on every level. Baby is fed, satisfied and loved.

Breastfeeding studies show the amount of milk fats a breastfed baby is incredibly similar, regardless of the milk volume they take or the frequency of feeds. A thirsty baby that has huge feeds will have exactly the same fat content as a baby that takes less volume/less feeds.

So even if you were to reduce feeds, your breastmilk would adjust to be higher fat/calorie content. This is how your baby is meant to be. And someone has to be on every centile to make the graph work. They won't all be the same.

Awful advice from the GP. I would be making a complaint. This is well been in their remit and they shouldn’t be giving out advice in an area they don’t know enough about.

Oh dear God, another thread where faceless internet posters urge OP to ignore medical advice 🤦🏼‍♀️

Doubling birth weight in 2 months or so does seem a massive jump. There is absolutely no harm in taking baby back just for it to be kept an eye on, while still breastfeeding as normal. Please don’t disengage with your GP on the advice of people here. I just had a look at Kellymom which said:

‘Rarely, too-rapid weight gain can be related to health problems, such as congestive heart failure, renal anomalies, and/or endocrine disorders. If baby has health problems, continued breastfeeding is even more important.’

Congrats on your baby OP 💐

@Wondermule I’m sure that if the Gp suspected any of those then there would be further tests. And no one has suggested disengaging completely with medical advice? But GPs generally do not have a good understanding of breastfeeding or breastfed baby behaviour.

My two sons were both born at a similar weight to yours both EBF and both never follower a line in the book until they got to the 98th. So ignore!

My son was born spot on 50th for all measurements, EBF furiously for six weeks, by which time he had reached 91st. Has stayed there throughout a very healthy childhood and adolescence. He's now a strapping 6ft 4 adult, has barely had a day's illness in his life. Just feed him when he wants it, he will be fine!

@Wondermule

Oh dear God, another thread where faceless internet posters urge OP to ignore medical advice 🤦🏼‍♀️

Doubling birth weight in 2 months or so does seem a massive jump. There is absolutely no harm in taking baby back just for it to be kept an eye on, while still breastfeeding as normal. Please don’t disengage with your GP on the advice of people here. I just had a look at Kellymom which said:

‘Rarely, too-rapid weight gain can be related to health problems, such as congestive heart failure, renal anomalies, and/or endocrine disorders. If baby has health problems, continued breastfeeding is even more important.’

Congrats on your baby OP 💐

And how would not feeding a baby with congestive heart failure help it, pray tell? If anything it'd mask a problem by reducing the weight gain. If the GP thinks heart failure is an issue they're going about getting it diagnosed in a bloody strange way.