Can you over feed a baby? Feel in a rut

[Wonderingmum77]

So much conflicting advice online and from different health professionals.

DS was prem. lots of feeding issues, reflux, CMPA. Always a sicky baby.

spoke to consultant about 6 weeks ago who said we were over feeding baby. (DS was 4.5kg and we were giving 27oz a day we were told no more than 24oz). We reduced his feeds and it helped with sickness and reflux…. However never completely eliminated it.

DS is now 5.2kg, and i wondering whether he is being over fed again. However he is 16 weeks (10 corrected).

Yesterday he took 35oz. Much more sicky. Constantly bringing up clear fluid too (according to my searches can be a sign). But then he’s just slept 8hrs, no wake up?

online it says no baby even up to 1yr old should have more than 32oz in a day.

me and DP keep arguing. I was giving him 5oz every 3hrs, DP says I should push it to 4hourly. But DS is crying for bottle, but then will be sick. I’ve looked at our feeding schedule and the sickness has only increased as since he’s fed 3hrly.

DS was always sick, but a month ago changed milk to something called neocate and the sickness went. Now it’s back, which is where the “am I over feeding him” question came out.

just want not to be covered in sick

i would suggest you take note of the formula can be that the formula isnt working for your baby and then check if your preparing it the correct way. Plus it does state on the formula how many feeds a day. Also dont bounce him to much after a feed that always causes baby's food to come back out. If the problem continues i suggest you take him to a pediatrician. Hope you both feel better soon

Is the reflux being treated?
I've never heard of there being an upper limit on the amount of milk they should have; sounds like nonsense

You can overfeed a baby, yes. Sucking is a reflex when a teat hits the top of their mouth, and swallowing is a reflex when fluid hits the back of their mouth. Doesn't mean you are over feeding though. As long as you're not making him take the bottle again when he's spat it out I'd think you were ok but tbh I've got no idea about how much formula they should be drinking at what age. If it's an issue that's previously been dealt with my a doctor then I wouldn't hesitate to go back now that the problem is back, otherwise your HV can probably advise on quantities.

I would speak to your health visitor. Breastfed babies can have whatever much they want, but bottle fed amount has to be monitored. My baby I was told to give water in between feeds as he was gaining too much weight. He was a skinny child, now a skinny adult. My second child was a sickly baby, no matter how much he had, he would always bring some food back up. When you begin to wean, onto food, it does get better.

I'd be inclined to feed him as often, but drop an oz or two at each feed. And speak to the medics again for advice.

It's absolutely not nonsense, you can't overfeed a breastfed baby but babies fed from bottles can and frequently do overfeed.

There's a myth that you can over feed formula fed babies but not BF ones. Not true! A very very few babies gain too much weight, whether BF or FF, but it usually indicates something wrong metabolically, rather than too much going in. If that were the case then the doctor should refer for tests.

How has weight gain been? Tracking the percentile line or not?

You're meant to feed on demand, following the baby's cues so feed when they're hungry and give them as much as they want - you're aiming for a little left in the bottle when they've had as much as they want. It can help to keep them upright during the feed and upright for a while afterwards.

Sometimes refluxy babies will over-feed. Sucking comforts them, so when they’re in pain from reflux they cry for a feed, but end up over-full and reflux gets worse. It certainly sounds like your baby is taking too much at the moment.

I would try the following.

-check with doctor or Health Visitor what his maximum amount should be at his current weight.
-try using a smaller tear to slow down feeds for him.
-try smaller feeds more often.
-ask for review with dr for reflux treatment if the above doesn’t work.

Do you use paced feeding, or could you use a smaller teat so it flows more slowly? Or give him 3/4oz and if he is still hungry, make some more? It sounds like he is guzzling more than he needs and then being sick from over doing it.

OP said the upper limit he read about was 32oz. I still maintain that this is nonsense

She not he

You can work out how much they're meant to have based on weight - 150-200ml per kg body weight per day gives you minimum and maximum amounts. A big baby at the upper end of that range is going to want more milk! And they tend to want more if they're having a growth spurt or playing catch up after a period of wanting less (eg if they've been poorly) so you need to look at the overall context of growth and amounts over time. I found it helpful to look at feeds over a week rather than individual days.

Refluxy babies can drink to try and calm the burning sensation it gives them, rather than being actually hungry and it often works better to feed them small quantities much more frequently than to try and push for several hours between feeds. The five bottles per day suggested on packaging is only a guide and many babies feed more frequently - mine had 6-8 feeds a day until she was 7 months.

So using the above calculation. 32oz is about a litre. I know people who were exclusively pumping and needing to pump more than a litre a day to keep up with their baby so I think the 32oz limit is cobblers.

Doing the calculation a 5kg baby would require between 750ml and a litre of milk a day. Mine got to past 5kg at 2 months old.

So for a 5.2kg baby that would be 780-1040ml per day, divided into how ever many feeds. That equals 26-34oz. It sounds like the amounts are right for the weight?

@Wonderingmum77

“online it says no baby even up to 1yr old should have more than 32oz in a day.” where did you read this?!

I hope it’s not true because my 5.5 month old has been having 6 x 8oz for about a month now. He was around 8kg at 4 months and we’ve always gone on the weight guidance of 150 - 200 ml because he’s large for his age and was quite quickly wanting more than his age range on the back of the formula packets.