3 month old eating 8 oz of EBM??

[BeachBaby]

Yes, at one time. Is this normal?? I started to type possible, but she's done it two days in a row now (once each day) so its definitely possible.

Today, I fed her from 6-6:30. DH said she ate about 1.5 oz in the late morning and then fell asleep. She woke up shortly after noon and he fed her a 4 oz bottle. She was still acting hungry, so he offered her 4 more, which she downed. It had obviously been a while since she ate any substantial amount, but are their stomachs this big? She is about 25" and ~16 lbs.

Just curious if anyone else has a big eater. Or (yikes!) should DH not be feeding her so much? I've read that its impossible to overfeed a BF baby, but geez 8 oz??

[lizajane]

you can't overfeed a BF baby. and she will spit it all up if it is really a problem for her. it is very possible that she is having a 3 month growth spurt!

and schuyler was 18 pounds at 16 weeks, but maybe 27 inches, so a similar size. and he could definitely eat 8 oz at a time!!

(and by the way, at 18 months, he is now a skinny guy... so you won't overfeed her and make her fat or anything! don't worry!)

[Momof3Labs]

Another vote for growth spurt, though I do remember that there was a time when Colin would take 8-9oz of EBM in one sitting (sometime before 6 months, I don't remember when, and he was only about 15lbs at 6 months).

[BeachBaby]

This had sort of crossed my mind. It would definitely explain the sleep trouble we are having. She will fall asleep while nursing or being held at night, but the second we lay her down in her bed, she immediately wakes up crying. Luckily, once she stays asleep, she will sleep for 6-7 hours. She is also fussier during the day.

I thought she had had the 3 month spurt a few weeks ago (she's 13w3d), but maybe she's growing again. DH is 6'4", so she will probably be doing a lot of growing!

Anyway, thanks for the advice!

[psophia17]

I have no idea how much DS would've had in EBM, since I never did that enough to figure out, but I do know that he downed more than a cup's worth of solids at a time starting at about 5 months. According to the Ped, a baby's stomach can hold 8-9 oz, so yes, their stomachs are that big :-)

-Petra

DS - Nathan, 12/29/03

[sdbc]

I just wanted to respond to people who are saying that it's impossible to overfeed a breastfed baby. This is true when the baby is nursing from the breast because they get the foremilk first, and only have the fatty hindmilk at the end if they are still hungry. It IS possible to overfeed a baby using expressed breastmilk because the fore- and the hindmilk are homogenized and not sequential (just like with formula).

I'm definitely not suggesting that your baby is being overfed, just that it is possible to overfeed expressed breastmilk (as opposed to directly from the breast). It does sound like your little one is having a growth spurt.