BLW and 'overfeeding'

[belindarose]

I'm BLWing my 7 month old DD. The whole hog, not even loaded spoons. She took to it really well and is thoroughly eating, not playing or investigating! My mother (who thought I was underfeeding her when exclusively BF) thinks I'm letting her eat too much, will 'stretch her tummy' and make her have too big an appetite. I admit, she eats A LOT, but has only gone from 2nd to 9th centile since beginning BLW and is very active. She has 4 -5 breastfeeds per day as well as 3 meals.
I want to be confident in saying that I'm not overfeeding, but could I be, do you think? DD makes it clear when she's finished, but this is usually after quite a lot of food! My mum says she's eating toddler portions. HELP! I thought we were doing so well.

it's baby led

YOU aren't overfeeding her at all. she is taking what she wants' it's fine!

Thank you! Why couldn't I just see that?

The thing about breastfeeding, and BLW, they both encourage independence. That means that your baby will only eat what she wants. She is not having food put into her mouth, she is choosing to put it there. A baby does not yet have the capacity for over-indulging, she eats what she needs. And clearly she needs a lot of food!

DS is 16 wks I am looking forward to starting the weaning process with him !

plus anyway, she'll dial it back in all probability. my dd1 ate ridiculous amounts for a while, then less, then more, then less etc. everything is a phase at that age.

DD was the same - ate with tremendous gusto - absolutely absurd amounts and also went up over 2 centiles!

She's calmed down a lot now (10 months) and is even getting a rather picky and fussy ( I am trying to stay chilled and look forward to getting my little piggy back soon) so just go with it and enjoy it for now.

I think I must be having a low confidence day! Feeling better already. Haven't been on mumsnet for about a month (no internet) and had almost forgotten how great it is!

My DD was the same, couldn't believe the amounts she put away right from the get go. Have just started with 6 month old DS and he just is not interested in the same way, despite being on the 75th centile. He'll give stuff a good gumming, but he really isn't interested in eating.

dd2 was the same, lionstar, it's amazing how different they are. she really eats when she wants to, or utterly ignores when she doesn't. still a chunky little eighteen monther though.

Just another voice here to say 'don't worry'.

My dd2 started off eating the most extraordinary amounts - more than her 5yo sister - but now that she is 17 months old she seems to exist on thin air. It doesn't stop her looking healthy and walking miles every day though. I really wouldn't worry. I work on the assumption that if I provide healthy food she will take what she needs. Seems to work OK.

yyy, that's one of the blessings of blw imo. you see them wolfing adn trust it's okay, so this gives you confidence when they don't wolf.