Am I feeding my baby too much?

V

vivianhui

Registered User
My baby is 5 weeks' old now, tried breastfeeding in the beginning but couldn't sustain after 3 weeks because of lack of support (and I still feel very sorry). So he is 90% on formula now. He will take 4oz every 3 hours. At times he will cry even before 3 hours is up and it just breaks my heart hearing how he cries for milk so I will give in. In total he is taking ~30-32oz every 24 hours. The pd said it's okay, my baby is slightly above average in terms of weight on the grow chart, though he is also surprised by the amount of milk he is taking. He is now 5kg.

Am I over-feeding him?
 
Sounds like your boy has apetite of a 6-month old! My boy is almost 7 months, 8kg and he drinks between 20 to 27 oz a day. If the pd says it's ok to feed him that much and he is healthy and not overweight, then it should be alright. Each baby is different, perhaps yours need to take that much to grow. What is growth percentile of your baby's weight and length anyway?
 
Why not reduce the 4 oz to 3.5 oz each time? This will reduce the total number of ounces he gets in 24 hours by 4 oz and allow you to increase the frequency. Babies often like to have lots of small feeds rather than fewer big ones.
 
wow.. my baby is 4 months (8kgs) and has about 30 oz of milk a day! Your 5 week old eats a lot! I think he will become a big boy when he grows up!:cheerlead :cheerlead
 
our baby is 5 months old also exclusively bootle fed and drinks between 20-22 oz which we feel is less but the pd says as long as he is putting on weight and his height is going up there is no problem. 1st 3 months affter their birth a child normally puts on 1 kilo every month so in 5 weeks if your baby has put on 1.25 kilos then he is fine. As long as he is happy cheerful u shouldnt freak out . u should be glad that your baby drinks his milk. Some of us wish our baby also drank as much.We might start semi solids next week as our baby doesnt seem to like his formula too much
 
Thanks for your replies!! Yea, my baby boy loves his milk, and he is becoming really chubby now...

If I reduce the milk he takes every time, he will start crying after 2 hours. So I would rather keep him satisfied every time so we don't need to feed him so often.

I will try to maintain the current milk level, hope it will keep him satisfied for another month or so.
 
I wouldn't worry about it. I absolutely don't believe in feeding according to a schedule or worrying if your baby has a good appetite/too good an appetite etc. Babies are wired to listen to their bodies, so if they want more milk they need more milk.

And so what if your baby is a bit chubby now, it doesn't mean anything. If your child is fat at 2 or 3 (and not before that) that's a sign they will be overweight as an adult. You can verify this with your doctor or online.

My son was formula fed, on demand from 6 weeks and always had a great appetite. Today he is a healthy, strong 14 month old and he didn't have to ever feel hungry because I held back feeds. If your doctor says it's ok it really is.
 
Thanks aussiegal! It's reassuing! My other friends also told me that once they start teething, their weights can drop quite a lot, so I am happy to allow my baby to build up his reserve for now...
 
It's ok to feed your baby as much as he wants as long as you are not forcing the milk down. each baby is diffrent my 1st son had 8oz every 4-5 hours in his 1 week! while my bboy now only had 4oz at birth also baboes are also equiped with an internal system that tells them when they are full and hungry.

Kambo :crib
 
Please don't worry you can't overfeed a baby. He obviously needs the milk he's taking because if not he'd be posseting it all back. They only take what they need at this age and your little boy obviously needs those extra oz's.

How much did he weigh at birth? My two were both 8lbs 8 and 10ozs and fed exactly the same and they're both healthy toddlers now and definitely not overweight.

HTH
 
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