GP says five week old formula fed baby is being overfed

[Mybaby2027]

I really need some advice as my Husband and I have left the GP feeling confused. Baby girl is 5 weeks old, taking between 100-120ml of Aptamil every 2 hours, so 4-4.5oz. If we are out in the car or pram she will go longer. Once each night she goes 3 hours usually between 3-5am kind of time, I am guessing she must get into a deep sleep around then.

I had to take her to see the doctor yesterday about something and they came to the conclusion that she is big for her age and is overfed. She got out her calculator and calculated the amount of formula she should be having for her weight, which is 5.255kg. She said 65ml every 2 hours, and that I am way over feeding her. I have checked with my friends and family who all say their babies were on over 4oz at 5 weeks old and weighed the same roughly. The GP told me I must reduce her milk down to 65ml every 2 hours, she said she will scream, cry and hate you for it but you have to do it.

I obviously didn’t listen and I reduced it down a little bit, so yesterday after we got home she was having 90ml. She was crying and crying with her hands in her mouth constantly licking and sucking them. Today I have given in and put it back up to 120ml. Some of the bottles she’s sucked dry completely, some she only takes about 100ml. I am instead going to slowly try to extend the 2 hours and see if we can get her to go a bit longer instead, but keep offering her 120ml. My Mum is saying the advice is ridiculous and to feed the baby when she shows hunger signs and to let her have whatever amount I feel she needs right now, which is between 100-120ml.

The GP said she is greedy and is only drinking it because it is there… this logic makes no sense because when I make her up a 90ml bottle she is not satisfied at all… she is not burping a lot which is an issue we have been focusing on. We have been getting into all sorts of positions to get her to burp and I have noticed a big improvement after trying some tips my family gave me. But still… she wants the higher amount of formula so the theory about her being in discomfort because of wind and trying to sooth herself with the milk can’t be true in her case either.

She was 8.2 pounds at birth, now she is 11.5 pounds or 5.255kg. I pointed out that I have been asking every health professional since the day she was born that we have come into contact with, how much to feed? None would give me an answer and just said every baby is different and to follow their cues, like hands in mouth etc. but suddenly this lady comes out with a calculated answer. I don’t know what calculation she is using and where it is from or if recommended. She didn’t tell me which website she was referencing this info from. I don’t know what to believe.

What a horrible woman!

The GP told me I must reduce her milk down to 65ml every 2 hours, she said she will scream, cry and hate you for it but you have to do it.

I would be making a complaint about this comment and the fact she said your baby is 'greedy' as it is really concerning a medical professional would say that in this day and age.Lucky you have the common sense not to listen, but sadly not everyone would, and who knows who else she has said similar to.

The 'only feed so much, so many hours' attitude is very old fashioned.She clearly doesn't know what she is talking about and needs educating about babies feeding on demand! Only a baby knows if they are hungry or not, just like anyone else, and also people often forget it is about thirst too!

Her 'advice' especially in the warmer weather and for such a tiny baby is really dangerous and neglectful of babies needs 😡

Some NHS staff are way to bothered about everyone's weight, and in a child that age it's ridiculous.

Keep on doing your own great job using your mother's instinct and ignore the crazy bat.

It's really hard to overfeed a baby, they will generally puke out what they don't need in my experience or just stop drinking when they get full. Not saying it's impossible but you would have to be giving them a lot more consistently.

If a baby goes from being fairly content and you cut their feeds down (like op) and they start draining bottles, making hunger cues like sucking their hands and screaming and crying more frequently than they are probably hungry.
I would just keep going for now as before and see what the hv says. A gp isn't specialised in baby centiles and the tin is an average not a rule, babies are not "greedy" and that advice alone is concerning.

I can understand your frustration. One of my babies was also a big baby and was similarly hungry. She became a chubby child and has spent her lifetime battling weight problems. Not great, and I feel guilty every day. From my admittedly subjective experience, I can only say that an 8lb+ baby shouldn't need feeding every 2 hours - this is a frequency you might expect with smaller or preemie babies. Would it be worth trying to distract her/play with her when she wakes, to stretch out the intervals a bit? Good luck

I don't want to derail thread, but bottle fed babies feed quicker with much less effort on their part than breast fed babies, and they are often encouraged to finish a bottle. Bottle fed infants are more susceptible to rapid weight gain in their first year, and this is a known risk factor for later childhood obesity. Currently, more than 1 in 5 children in Year 6 in England are obese. That is a very sobering statistic. And obese children often become obese adults.

This does not mean that all bottle fed infants are overfed, and does not mean that all bottle fed infants are prone to obesity. But as a group, they are at increased risk hence feeding guidelines and growth being monitored closely if any concerns.

DD was a very hungry baby, far hungrier than DS (3 years older). With DS I was too scared to question things, but I bottle fed DD as and when she needed it, and weaned her as early as possible. Now a tall skinny 12yo, with a much lower appetite weirdly, but she seemed to do okay and wasn't overweight later.

My daughter has a 14 week old born 5lb 15oz now 12lb he is on 6oz and fed on demand, ignore the gp, your baby will cry when hungry.

It’s a long time since I’ve had to deal with this but my eldest had awful reflux and a cows milk allergy. She was breastfed so in theory couldn’t overfeed but in retrospect I think a lot of the feeding was for comfort because of the silent reflux. She was also 91st/99th centile! The blueness on her lips is also familiar.

I wouldn’t panic, but I think focusing very much on breaks and burping her well is an excellent step and just observe her signs. A very experienced former nanny was the push to me finally getting dd diagnosed at four months because she interpreted all her little faces for me after I fed her and basically told me she could tell by her she has silent reflux.

GPs can be totally different, I had one that was useless and said crazy things to me. I think the main thing is to watch her and wait and see, and maybe keep your eyes peeled to see if there is a burping/reflux type issue. If she had antibiotics in hospital which happened to my DD I think it can also increase likelihood of digestive troubles, so it may take a while for that to settle down.

The main thing is to enjoy her and take care of both of you, it sounds like she’s doing great.

In my experience, GPs aren’t great with very young babies, I don’t think they get loads of training. for things like feeding I’d always go to the HV in the first instance.

I had to go to the GP a couple of times with mine, and the advice was always duff, although a personal fave was when they said I was being dramatic, refused to do any obs and said she had a cold, before she was blue lighted to hospital with RSV and very low oxygen not 2 hours later.

If she’s keeping to her centile, crack on as your are I think. You’ll soon know if she’s having too much!

Just thinking how hot it’s been. Do you offer cool boiled water as an alternative, sometimes?

You wouldn’t let a baby be hungry though - go with your instincts.

Also there is a obesity problem which is why the gp was being overkill but that tends to be much older babies (5 weeks is absolutely tiny and barely out of the fourth trimester so she’s only just reaching her true size and routine!) there are parents who force feed absolutely loads (making them finish bottles, waiting for spit ups every single time, feed for literally any cry). OP doesnt sound like this at all.

Too young

GP is misreading feeding advice. You should only feed her 65ml in one go. Burp her. If she’s still hungry then feed another 65ml then burp her again and keep going in 65ml portions. She’ll have less reflux too. Suggest you stop going to the GP and go to a health visitor instead

How is LO today OP and how are you coping?

HV here and ex nurse and midwife.
The feed calculations you have been given are correct but not always easy to follow and we do advocate responsive feeding, ie - following your baby’s requests.
it is possible to overfeed a ff baby but this is often when parent misread cues and offers milk when baby actually is asking for something else. As long as your baby is following their centile curve, then all is well.
What strikes me about your posts…
A blue tinge above the top lip is often a sign of trapped wind and you mention you are using a No 0 teat and your baby is difficult to wind. I would say a No 0 teat is far too restrictive for a 5 week baby who is at the larger end of the centile chart. You need a No1 and could possibly move to a No2 before long? obviously we don’t want milk coming out like a hose pipe, but if the flow is too slow, baby may get tired mid feed because they are working so hard to get the milk and may get trapped air.
I would advise trying a No1 and see how you go. Your HV should be out to see you in the next 2 weeks for the 6-8 week contact. But call them on Monday if you are still struggling. Don’t reduce the feed amounts.

Also while I’m here, there are a couple of things I’ve read that I’d like to comment on.
Babies can’t tell the time, they just know when they are hungry. 2 -3 hours feeding patterns tend to be the norm now. Modern formula milks are much lighter and easier to digest so babies often want to feed more frequently. Just respond to your baby’s cues and if they are following their growth curve on the chart then all is well.
The hungry infant formula can be given from birth but it is casein dominant instead of whey dominant (like breast milk). It’s a more old fashioned milk and takes longer to digest. I would only suggest this if a baby is crossing centiles and growth could do with slowing down, or they are not quite old enough for weaning onto solid foods, but appear desperate for some pie and chips. Neither of those scenarios are common.
Babies can have cooled boiled water but don’t need it generally. Feeds are made with water obviously so the feeds will provide all baby needs. And we don’t want to fill tummies with water which could reduce milk intake and impact on growth.

This is the same thing people come out with when they start solids early.

Every baby is different, yes. Their bodies work the same however.

They'd have said you can't overfeed a breastfed baby.

Completely crazy of the GP. Babies aren’t greedy, feed them when they’re hungry. The guidelines on formula are just that, no one knows how much bf babies are getting so I feel this is a stick to beat ff babies parents with because you can say they have x y z amount of oz. No one in their right mind puts a 5 week old baby on a diet, that GP needs reeducating! A baby who drinks too much would just spit it back up.

Babies with decent oral function do not need size 2 teats!!!!!!! honestly a size 2 teat on a 5 week old is for babies on thickened feeds. Teat flow varies according to brand but unless your baby is taking significantly more than 5 minutes an oz to feed, the teat isn't too slow. Gas is caused by too fast teats and gulping.

Think of yourself, do you get wind from drinking too slowly? no you get it from gulping down a drink fast. Babies are human and exactly the same. If it sounds like they're gulping, feeding technique and possibly teat size and shape often needs a tweak. This is the bread and butter work of a good lactation consultant.

The NHs says FF babies under 6 months may need cooled boiled water sips on hot weather. The idea that they should not have water is not borne out by referring to the NHs. Obviously not to replace a feed but it’s not harmful to offer some water. Also if baby starts to sleep during feeding, she’s had enough.