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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

Can a baby eat too much?

12 replies

EnglishGirlApproximately · 23/09/2012 12:58

I started weaning ds 3 weeks ago and decided to do a combination of purees and finger food. Started off with porridge for breakfast, then introduced purees at lunch in week 2, and week 3 started offering table food as well. He eats everything and if his food is gone he starts looking around for more. Yesterday he had porridge for breakfast, butternut squash puree and breadstick for lunch, a yoghurt mid afternoon then a bit of fish pie for tea. He is also still having 7oz of formula every 3 hours between 7.30am and 7.30pm.

While I am very glad that he seems to be enjoying his food I am worried that ot's too much. I thought he would mostly play with the finger food for a while. Maybe not relevant but his weight is very steady, he's been on 50th centile since birth and at last weigh in 3 weeks ago was 17lb 3oz so fairly normal for a 6mo. He is slim and never sits still. Not crawling yet but won't relax at all, arms and legs waving constantly!

I suppose I just want to know if his food intake seems a lot? Or is he just so bloody energetic that he needs the food?

OP posts:

Original poster

EnglishGirlApproximately · 23/09/2012 15:33

Anyone? :)

OP posts:

helgaw99 · 23/09/2012 16:20

Mine is exactly the same. Seems to not be able to get enough porridge or fruit. As long as the milk doesn't reduce too quickly I think its fine!

Nevercan · 23/09/2012 17:06

They eat as much as they want too and then visa versa when they don't

CondoleezzaRiceKrispies · 23/09/2012 17:58

My HV's view was that, provided the food was healthy, don't worry about portion size at this stage.

Original poster

EnglishGirlApproximately · 23/09/2012 18:05

Thanks for the reassurance. It's all healthy I just expected more playing and less eating at this stage!

OP posts:

SpottyTeacakes · 23/09/2012 18:08

My HV said that they don't have to ability to over eat, they will stop when they're full. It's lovely that he's getting on so well with his eating don't panic if he suddenly stops. Dd always refused food when she was getting a new tooth or had a cold and it's very frustrating if they're usually excellent eaters!

CondoleezzaRiceKrispies · 23/09/2012 18:09

Yes, DD was a happy chomper too. She had reflux as a baby and the paediatrician also said not to worry about amounts.

spanky2 · 23/09/2012 18:10

Ds1 would eat too much, because he would be sick, so i would have to think about his stomach capacity.

Thaleia · 01/12/2012 11:42

I'll hijack this ....

My DS was on the 9th percentile but was quite a sicky baby, lots of vomitting till it stopped around 5 months. We started weaning at around 6 months and - since the vomitting stopped - he's climbing up the lines and is now on the 75th at 7 months. He is a shorty so looks very chunky. I'm not sure if I overfeed him although you all say it's not possible.

He starts crying in the middle of lunch but when I stop he pulls over to get more. After a one minute break, he'll eat the rest of it ... and wants more. I cook in advance, so he'll have ca. 200 gr (about one jar) plus have a pear. He'll be hungry 2 hrs later anyway.

He has not dropped a feed yet, still on 5 a day. Although I know he doesn't need the last one, but we do it as part of the eve routine.

How does weaning work? When will he drop a feed. I'm still bfeeding, so can't reduce the amount. If I reduce the lenght of his feed I have a grumpy, still hungry baby which is not nice for both of us :(.

I read that if they go up percentiles too much, they'll be a high chance of ending up obesed. My DH is slim but I'm ... well. So I am a bit concerend about this, too.

Btw, all he gets is a mix of meat (chicken, beef, lamb), potatos and veggies and porridge. Not togehter though ;).

LeBFG · 01/12/2012 15:55

Ime, and from some other mothers I speak to, babies go for a real growth spurt about now. My Ds's was pretty fat at 7 months and although height grew well, his weight basically plateaued and didn't start gaining again until 14m!! Perhaps your DS will do the same? I was told repeatedly that bf babies can't get fat - dunno if it's really true of course. Oh, and my DS hadn't dropped any feeds at 7month either. At the time, I kept reading on here about 12mo babies on am and pm feeds only - by 12m my DS had only dropped a few daytime and one night time feed....they are all so different. He did self-wean at 17 months though (incredibly). Hope that helps.

FredFredGeorge · 01/12/2012 17:37

I don't think it's quite as simple as saying they can't overeat

See for example this study that looked at maternal control, and if the mother directed the food the babies had they ate less if they were percieved to have grown lots in the first 6 months, or more if they were percieved not to. Compared to the group where the mothers exercised little control.

So I think it's reasonable to assume that mothers (and presumably fathers or other care givers) can have an impact on the amount that is consumed. Which suggests that it's not purely the baby in control, and this is one of the motivations for BLW.

Mind you it certainly doesn't sounds like a lot of food for a 7mo old.

Thaleia · 02/12/2012 21:16

Fred yes, this study makes sense ... however, I also think that babies differ and you have good and bad eaters. I think if one baby doesn't like veggies and is mostly on fruit and yoghurt, it'll put on differently as a baby who is a good all round eater.

I think I just need to be careful and really tune in when DS seems to be full ... hopefully we'll figure it along the way.

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