Can a newborn eat too much?

[sidmand]

I know breastfeeding can be in spurts and until your supply gets going it can be an all day thing, but we're doing EBM and a bit of formula so I know how much DD is eating...she's not even a week old and often doing 2-3 oz. at one feeding! According to the Kelly Mom website, her stomach should only hold about 1.5 to 2 oz right now. I know that's just an average though, but it seems like she's eating more and more by the feeding/hour? We're feeding on demand, I'm just wondering if we're thinking other cues are feeding cues when they're not? But so far she's not really spitting up much and I would think if she took more than she could handle, that would be what happens.

If she's just a hungry little thing, that's fine. I was just reading that between one and six months they average about 25 ounces a day and I think she exceeded that already!

[codex57]

You're prolly ok. How big are you and DH? How big is baby? Born early or late? It's likely your baby's eating habits are just on the outliers. Doctors look at the growth rate more than they do the actual amount eaten to see if there's a problem. It's a little hard for your baby to become obese at 1 week of age due to eating too much.

[elephantmeg]

my experience is that if they overeat they spit up, so I wouldn't worry

[JBaxter]

Originally Posted by elephantmeg

my experience is that if they overeat they spit up, so I wouldn't worry

After 3 babies this is what I found also. My first son was a little piglet and ate and ate my second who was bigger was average eater. At a week keep feeding on demand it will even out. All babies are different there are some great guide books but trust your mommy instinct on if she is hungry or not.

[ahrimie]

i would only be concerned if your baby is getting too big and your doctor says something about too much weight gain. on that note, however, if you're supplementing BM with formula.. i think it could be possible to overfeed or at least give too many calories. your BM and formula don't have the same nutrition/fat content. also, it might not taste as fulfilling to your baby (either one) so they may feel the need to have more.

if obesity runs in your family, i'd be a lot more concerned though... trust your mama instincts

[SnuggleBuggles]

Well, my ds is a spitter just b/c I believe his system isn't fully developed (esophagial sphincter) so I wouldn't totally gauge it on that.

Keep up with that nursing on demand and trust that she is getting enough that way. You'll make the right amount for her.


Beth

[sidmand]

Thanks for the reassurance. She was a peanut (by my estimation!) at birth and weighed 7 lbs 2 oz. I know that's not tiny tiny, but she seemed so small. She did lose a lot of weight (more than they recommended/expected) by the 3rd day although when she went home, she was back up a little and we had to have her bilirubin levels checked. At that point she had gained a bit more weight and her levels were going down, so we were good for the moment.

My son ate a good amount (and was a spitter upper! so I know that's not necessarily a correlation, but I figured if she was taking too much, it had to go somewhere) and I know he increased amounts fast, I just couldn't remember if it was this fast.

I'm not too worried about being too fat (can a newborn be too fat?). I was more worried that we were giving her a bottle when that's not what she was really looking for, but she seems to be rooting around and telling us pretty well that she's not finished! She still looks a bit yellow to me, so maybe she's just trying to get everything out of her system. We do still need to wake her up once in awhile to eat, but she's getting better about that too.

I like to find things to worry about ...hopefully that's all this is.

Thanks again.

[egoldber]

Newborns have a very strong drive to suck, but some more than others. If she's still rooting, I'd put her back on the breast. That's how she brings in your milk and gets that supply established. The more time at the breast the better, at least for the first 6-8 weeks.

[codex57]

Yes, she's barely just born. Don't worry about obesity at all. Worry about getting your milk supply in. After a month, then check her weight to see if obesity might be a problem. Almost certainly won't be, and that's like 3 weeks away.

[sidmand]

Originally Posted by egoldber

Newborns have a very strong drive to suck, but some more than others. If she's still rooting, I'd put her back on the breast. That's how she brings in your milk and gets that supply established. The more time at the breast the better, at least for the first 6-8 weeks.

The only problem there is that I'm exclusively pumping, not nursing directly from the breast (long story, but so far so good) so that was my main concern there. I know a lot of babies have a strong desire to suck and she hadn't been using a pacifier yet at all, but I wasn't sure if that's what she was looking for instead...just something to suck on.