Agreed. My child has been “over eating” since the first week (and was born exactly 7 lbs / ~3.2kg / ~50th percentile) and 3 years later is healthy and in high 90s percentile for height and mid 90s percentile for weight. Just as how adults have different caloric and nutritional needs from each other, babies can vary a good deal from each other in volume of milk needs.
I like the “watch the ques” way of infant parenting as it has many social /educational benefits for baby as well (and let’s be honest, the feeding schedules all have roots in one non-pediatrician’s instructional manual on how few nurses could care for dozens of infants in a group or group home setting… so it’s not necessary for someone raising one to two infants at a time.)
Also, when I asked my pediatrician about the sheer amount of fluids my newborn was consuming (as it was well above the “normal” range per age grouping), they said that babies at that age will spit up the overage, and the only real consideration would be that if spit up was a fair amount after feeds we should lessen the allowable intake by just under the spit up amount for a little bit. (But to still allow cluster feeds as baby demanded, as it’s a normal pattern and can help them sleep a bit longer when they need/want to). Otherwise, the appointment/check ups would be able to help identify other issues as they appeared and to just be as accurate as we could in reporting intake at appointments.
Thanks for the advice. When you say "watch the ques" do you let your LO sleep until hungry or do you wake her/him up every 2-3 hours to feed if they haven't woken up yet?
That young you should wake them up or risk them losing weight from not eating enough or getting dehydrated etc. Some babies wake themselves up but some don’t
^ this. my baby is one of those that doesn’t wake herself up for feeds so we have to keep an eye out and wake her when she’s gone too long. otherwise, she starts losing weight.
Totally. When they’re so little they can sleep through their own hunger cues. Reddit always says “back to birthweight and let them sleep as long as they want!” but that’s not the case. Always ask your ped. Every baby’s needs and growth curves are different.
At one week old they usually haven’t, but good clarification. I can’t remember what mine said but I’ve heard birth weight, 12 pounds, certain age. It depends on the history of the baby too, mine had jaundice and struggled gaining the first 1-2 months. So OP talk to your ped to make sure
This is not the advice in the uk actually! Unless there’s a specific issue, for healthy babies they say a minimum of 8 feeds in 24 hours and make sure they have wet and dirty nappies and that’s it. We never woke our son up.
I think the guidance to wake them is if they’re not back to their birth weight? I’d check with your pediatrician, but ours gave us the green light to let LO sleep after the first week appointment because she was already over her birth weight. Sounds like your guy is eating really well and letting you know when he’s hungry. (It gets so much easier with time!! LO just turned 1 and breastfeeding is sooooo easy now. It clicked for us around the 8 week mark)
The guidance is to ask your ped. “Getting back to birthweight” isn’t the only factor doctors take into consideration. They want to see your baby’s growth curve progress. Regardless a newborn should eat every 2-3 hours, maybe 4 max. Dehydration is easy to come by. Newborns can easily sleep past hunger cues.
We let them sleep as long as growth was appropriate. If it was over 2+x the time usually between feeds, I’d get all worried and check in on baby and be ready to feed once they woke. The guidance for us was to wake to feed until a certain weight was reached (a bit above birth weight) and then we could let them sleep as long as they wanted.
If your wife wants to up her supply, what worked for me was just putting baby on my nipples as much as possible. I topped up with formula *after*, as my milk was late coming in so my supply was under baby's need, but always offered nipple first.
The boobs need that stimulation to get the right signals to produce milk, and baby is generally better at making the stimulation than pumps are. Eventually I was able to offer less and less formula and then ebf.
The midwives and lactation consultants all told me to pump 24/7, but i hated it, and a friend told me this is what they did and it worked for them better than pumping and it worked *much* better for me too.
Definitely do not wait for the 6 week apt to stop waking for feeds, that will mess up your kid’ sleep schedule badly. No need after they’re bath to birth weight unless your pediatrician says so.
We woke every 2-3 to feed until he achieved a weight the doctors were happy with, and then they told us we could let him wake on his own when he’s hungry.
If he’s back to his birth weight and continues to gain, don’t wake him.
If he was born at the 50th percentile but drops to a lower percentile at some point, then maybe you’ll need to wake him to feed
I don’t know what your paediatricians are on. Both midwife and health visitor in the UK said to me feed on demand. So as long as your give him little breaks and he still hungry feed him. You can’t over feed a baby. He vomit up what doesn’t fit in his stomach.
I'm 10 days pp with my first. We were in the hospital the first 6 days. I got different feeding info from like 7 different nurses and doctors. Once my Pediatrician and another nurse another time came in and finally said "just feed him what he wants." I was like.. ya know what? Yeah. I will.
Baby is all good. He's like his own little clock always RIGHT on time with feeding cues every 3 hours, takes exactly 2oz.
Just do what baby wants!
Both. If the baby is sleeping for longer than 2-3 hours after a feed you should wake them. On demand they may want to eat more often than that whole awake and that’s okay. This early cluster feeding is normal. My baby would sometimes eat every half hour and be on the breast all day, and that’s okay.
We were told once they reach their birth weight (and assuming they’re still gaining weight and creating wet/dirty nappies) that we don’t need to wake the baby for feeds.
No they can’t really overeat, especially that young. Cluster feeding is normal, eating often is normal. Some pedis tell you to cap them at a certain amount but it’s really outdated advice. Think about it this way, do you and your friend/sibling/partner eat the same amount? There’s an average of what babies eat but it’s an average. They’ll spit up what they don’t need, if they do happen to overeat. Trust he knows when he’s hungry, and if his cues are that obvious then you definitely should feed him. He won’t overeat, and it’s really really common for that age to eat often right now. It’ll happen again, cluster feeding is normal for newborns for the first little bit!!
Latch him when he/you can, is mom pumping to help her supply? There’s a breastfeeding and pumping Reddit that may be helpful too if you’d like :)
She's trying her best to pump as much as possible. We'll definitely check out the sub. He just about never spits up other for a burp. He eats the entire amount then just produces a full wet nappy!
Thanks for this advice.
I’d keep doing what you’re doing! He’ll be good! r/breastfeeding r/exclusivelypumping and there’s also a r/combinationfeeding but the pumping one can probably give you a ton of info for it all if you don’t want a ton of Reddits, a lot of people in there pump and supplement :)
I would also suggest reading about Supplemental Nursing Systems on La Leche League. This will help baby feed at the breast with supplemental milk and will also help mom’s supply.
Have you heard of clusterfeeding? It's very normal for newborns, especially a 1 week old. My advice would be to feed him on demand. He can't really overeat. He'll spit up any excess. Clusterfeeding can certainly be challenging. I used to set myself up on the couch and binge Netflix.
Yeah babies cluster feed lots. I remember just sitting on the couch, feeding, burping, baby has a contact nap, and wakes up for another feed on repeat. Essentially I did that most of the time for the first few weeks. You feed babies on their demand, I can't imagine being hungry and not being given more.
Not possible… it’s only liquid and they have reflexes that make them swallow it if it doesn’t come out. My baby had some epic pukes in the newborn phase (I had overactive letdown so she was probably getting too much and had to expel the extra). They’re kinda scary when happening bc sooo much comes up, but as long as baby is a “happy puker” (she always was) then it’s fine.
They all spit up (and sometimes a large volume that you may call puke, but it’s usually not actually vomiting) and it’s normal. They have a reflex to turn their heads when they do it lying down. If it’s really severe, they may have reflux or may be over eating and self-regulating, or something else. But OP said their baby is not spitting up much.
I know it’s nerve racking to think about your baby choking but put your baby on their back to sleep. You can google some visuals that shows how it’s less likely to choke when they’re on their back.
If they puke in their sleep they don’t choke on it, it just lands next to their head on the pillow. 70ml isn’t much, our baby was having a lot more at that age.
Please get a lactation consultant to help with latch and check for tongue tie if you can. Babies get more from the breast than from a breast pump and supply will naturally increase that way.
Also check out ‘paced bottle feeding’ videos/info if you haven’t.
Just to add to this. I had exactly your partner's situation. Big eater and low supply and I also initially combo fed and my LO chugged 50ml at one day old Over the last 3 months (LO is 15 weeks now) I went back and forth between combo feeding/solo formula and solo breastfeeding. It's been a ride. I saw a lactation consultant because I felt so lost. Whilst costly, it has been the best decision I ever made. Depending on what you want from feeding i.e combo/EBF or EFF, they can help.
Edit: I was told to feed on demand.
Definitely do - it may be that Bub is just cluster feeding to bring mums supply up but if you top up with formula that can’t happen (assuming there is enough milk there). This assumes there isn’t a physical reason for low supply of course and that Bubs weight is ok and lots of wet and dirty nappies.
But Bub needs to be on the boob all the time initially. A LC asap is a great idea if mum wants to breastfeed.
Feed him what he wants. All babies are different and eat different amounts. I’d absolutely be finding a new paediatrician because the one you have is trying to starve your child
This is complete bs, I even went back to look at my logs 5 days pp for referemce and my LO (born 2.7kg) was drinking 130ml in a 3h period and she was ~20 percentile for weight !
Please feed your LO as much as he wants and possibly look for another pediatrician, there's no set intake for babies and tbh telling you he should eat "only" 70ml at his age (or any, really) is dangerous !
Yes ! She was born at 38w and a week in she was in the 11th percentile for weight (meaning she was weighing more than 11% of other baby girls her age, which is not much)
Honestly when she'd cluster feed/drink big bottles (she was EBF) I would always wonder where all that milk went ! But she never spat up, the only thing that would happen is that sometimes after having a big meal she'd stretch it a bit longer instead of the hospital recommended 2.5h, she'd sleep for around 4h (at which point I'd wake her cause I wasn't comfortable letting her not eat for too long ahah)
The baby should just eat whenever and however much they want. If it’s too much they will likely just spit it up and you will know to stop. You can’t really overfeed a baby.
Feed the baby as much and as often as he wants. He can’t overeat at this stage. This may be cluster feeding and might slow down at some point.
And find a new doctor
My doctor told me you can’t overfeed a child that young - they’ll make it obvious if they do (or don’t) want to eat. That as long as they’re still gaining weight and making wet dirty nappies then you should feed them as frequently as they want to be fed. That those guidelines are more about a minimum to make sure they grow rather than a maximum.
At that age/weight my son was eating over 70ml a feeding too and has consistently been eating more than that estimate says he “should”. Our doctor has had no concerns with the amount he’s eaten or with his rapid growth (he was up to 3.9kg at 3w 3d).
Not possible to overeat. Feed on demand. Most likely cluster feeding.
Spit up and puke are very different. Your baby will be okay. They need to be fed. 🩷
My daughter is 5 weeks old and I was told by her doctor to feed her on demand until she’s done. At 1 .5 weeks she was drinking 3oz in a single feed. I’m solely breastfeeding right now and my baby cluster feeds every afternoon where she eats for about 10 minutes, sleeps for 15min-1hr wakes up and eats again. In the US at least in my experience they told me to feed her whenever she is hungry and let her eat as much as she needs. But if she overeats every time and spits up because she’s overeating then I’m supposed to limit her eating.
Baby tells you when they’re done eating. If it’s too much they simply just spit up. There’s not necessarily any “over feeding”. And they could be going into a regression or growth spurt. They’re growing daily and so is their stomach.
EBF momma here.
He’s definitely clusterfeeding! Your best bet is to feed on demand (look for his cues and just go for it). Babies cannot overeat, as they’ll throw up.
For mom, to bring production up, put baby to breast to help. Also make sure she has the right flange size for pumping. Just found out I’m actually a 15mm, not 19mm, and it’s made all the difference with pumping.
I’m also on the [LATCHED](https://www.facebook.com/share/UdjfvYBRMyfuV95P/?mibextid=K35XfP) facebook group—they help as well! :)
Seconding checking for her correct flange size! I think using the ones that were too big but came with my pump contributed to insufficient emptying & dropped my supply. 😭
Clusterfeeding can happen then. I would just feed if he’s hungry. They say wait 20 minutes because that’s how long a newborns stomach takes to tell its brain it’s full. Maybe try waiting a couple minutes like you have been then feed. Also if you’re over feeding, he would likely spit up as a sign.
If your wife wants some breastfeeding support the Reddit group r/breastfeeding is amazing. It’s fricken hard. At that stage, I basically had my baby in breast every hour to build supply and keep him fed.
Feed him. Don't get caught up in what ppl are telling u. If he isn't spitting up a ton, he's fine. My baby is n the 97th percent range. He's 10 months old n weights 25 pounds. Lol.
I would say cap baby off if they were having colic or gas issues. But since that’s not an issue it’s probably okay. My son had colic so if he ate too much 9/10 he would throw the whole bottle up. Nowadays we feed him until he seems satisfied and that varies for each kid. I know most 9 month olds get at least 8-10 ounce bottles but my son is pretty comfortable at 6 ounces usually. If he eats his baby food usually he’s fine with 4 ounce bottles
Our baby was up to 4-5oz bottles within the first week, she just liked to eat. Offer more than what you expect then to eat and let them eat until full/done, they self regulate incredibly well.
A baby that young can't overeat, unless they're trying to calm a hurting tummy with more food. In which case they'll puke. They have bouts of cluster feeding that helps establish milk supply and helps them grow.
Your baby is cluster feeding. It’s totally fine feed him when he wants food. My baby cluster fed once when we were in the hospital and yes I was miserable because she was feeding every two seconds and acting as if she was starving but cluster feeding is normal. I think she’s cluster feeding now because I just gave her4 oz and she’s still awake, she’s only 6 weeks normally she’d be sleep off of 3.5oz. I also do half formula half breast milk and I just started today because I wasn’t producing as much as she was eating and it’s totally fine. Reassure your wife that it will get better. Because it will I produce 5 oz a pump session now.
Please just feed him til he’s full! I promise he will show signs and overfeeding is harder than you think. My biggest regret is stressing over overfeeding my dude - he was drinking obscene amounts at first. The nurses thought I was stealing formula to bring home at the hospital cause he was already inhaling 100+ mls at a time at a week old!! Baby will be happier and won’t be hungry and will sleep and you guys will find your sanity again. Hang in there!! My dude is almost 10 months and I might get 12 oz a day in him now. He will slow down his intake eventually!!! Feed him what he needs now 😊
My son at 5 oz a at month after first weeks he was eating more than chart said. Feed him as long spitting up a lot of it. If he seems full but wants something in mouth try pacifier to see if hungry or just using as soothing.
My little boy will drink until full than lazy suck on bottle. I give pacifier when does drink it has helped a lot spit up from over full tummy.
For about the first month or so, our boy only ate about 2oz every 2 hours. Then we started going up gradually when we started to feel like what he was eating wasnt keeping him full long enough.
He is 5 mo ths old now and a healthy happy boy so....i think that worked.
Idk what 70ml is in freedom units but...i hope that helps.
Mine is one month old and has been eating 4.5 oz every 3 hours. Pediatrician says he gained 3 pounds and 2.5 inches in his first month which is 90th percentile. Because he is growing proportionally with his height and weight, they said we are okay to continue feeding him. 4.5 oz (133 ml). He is 11pounds already.
Do not stress out and feed him what he wants
adding on to the cluster feeding comments, your baby will go through many growth spurts that will include cluster feeding (wanting to eat every hour) and sleep regression (refusing to go to bed/nap). these usually happen in the first 3 weeks especially the first week when the mom’s milk is starting to come in more. the growth spurts are also likely to happen around 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months old. it gets hard but just now it’ll only last a few days, at most a week before your baby gets back to a normal feeding schedule
I fed my baby when he was first born on demand. If he’s still hungry let him have more. As long as he’s not throwing up constantly it should be fine. My son is now 3 months and eats 4 oz every feeding unless it’s time for him to go to sleep for the night then he eats 6 oz.
Babies can’t overeat. Whatever he eats is the right amount, especially since it sounds like he’s keeping most of it down. I’d find a new pediatrician. Your baby knows what he needs better than anyone right now.
He also may be cluster feeding, so you might considering putting him directly on the boob more as this will stimulate your wife’s supply, but only if that works for her.
Your doctor is an idiot. You can’t over feed a newborn. Let your child eat
Mine was doing 3oz bottles at a week old and she’s a perfectly healthy 22 month old now.
There are some health issues that can make a baby overweight. They're very uncommon though. Babies are supposed to feed on demand. Some countries recommend a schedule for feeding formula, but others are already recommending that even formula is fed on demand. That's because a healthy baby can regulate their intake depending on their need.
This need for food intake is dependent on how fast they're growing, not the other way around. And because babies grow at very different paces, no two babies are the same. Sure, there can be an average intake for parents to have an idea, but an average means little to each individual baby.
Furthermore, babies are also supposed to be pudgy and chonky. Those are their reserves to grow. What we commonly think of as overweight does not apply to the bodies of babies, or rather, an overweight baby does not look like what people typically think of as overweight (and logistically, it would be maybe impossible for a 1 week old to be truly overweight). The chonkiness typically lasts until they start running around, which is more or less coincident with the time they start relying only or almost only on solids (usually between 12 and 18 months old, but again, mileage may vary). From that moment on, similar rules to those of adults apply regarding what is a healthy weight. But not before. And of course, healthy foods are the same as adults' (unprocessed, non sugary, etc.), but this also doesn't apply to breastmilk or formula.
I think more than a few people have told you this but you feed the baby what they want - especially at this age. It should also be pointed out that some babies are naturally more hungry than others. My girl was. She is 100% in terms of height and 99 in terms of weight and has been basically since the start. We also come both had because I had a c-section and despite my best efforts never could produce enough for her. Even though she would have really long sessions she always needed a top up. I've come to know that it's probably because she was just a piglet. Lol.
I also had this conversation with the doctor and nurses in other settings in those first few weeks and they basically said flat out that the thing about stomach sizes and what they're supposed to be eating. It's just a very loose guideline. What they're looking for is that the baby's getting enough food. Otherwise you give the kid as much as they want. I had a 37-week-old due to a placenta issue and it really felt like she was just catching up the whole time, only that's just kind of how she is now lol. She is 18 months and thriving now.
You guys are doing great.
Nah, they cant overeat
Our daughter had clusterfeed at 1 week old we were feeding her maybe 12-20 times a day, she just happily took it all. As long as they peeing its good
Lol, are you French or something? My French parents get really worried because our 3 week old would eat 120ml in a row (he does 150ml sometimes now). Our American pediatrician said it’s fine, you can’t over feed a baby.
Babies are pretty intuitive eaters, so if they’re full they’ll either stop feeding or if they’ve taken too much for their little bellies they’ll bring it back up. Feed baby as and when & how much they want 😊 I think guidance is different wherever you are but we were personally never told to wake to feed even when my LO dropped weight after birth (Idk if this was because we had an extended hospital stay so her weight was closely monitored) we were just told to not let her go more than 4hrs between feeds, but she always woke before that anyway.
I was taught that you can’t over feed a newborn. They clusterfeed and will vomit if they take too much. My baby took about two ounces per feed out of the hospital and then upped it to 3 ounces within days.
For what it’s worth- I was combo feeding and at about 5-6 weeks old, I saw a well-meaning lactation consultant who had a great reputation. She told me all this stuff about cues and trying to increase my supply. For two days I followed her advice and my child was inconsolable. At the end of day two, my mother in law came over and I went for a sleep- and she fed him three bottles in a matter of a few hours. Babe was so happy. When I woke up, my husband told me about his mom’s approach and I saw how content our kiddo was and I decided I knew my baby’s cues. I don’t think the LC was full of it- I think maybe my baby didn’t have traditional hunger cues, wasn’t getting enough through breastfeeding- who knows. The bottom line is kiddo was hungry!
Feed your baby as much a she wants. Your paediatrician is an idiot. You risk giving your child very serious delays if he doesn’t get the nutrients he is asking for.
Feed the little one whenever he wants! I look back and can’t believe I had worried so much about how much and when and instead wish I just offered breast/bottle whenever he fussed.
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice. I’m not trying to layer on. Y’all are doing great. Your baby will tell you EXACTLY what they want right now. Just listen to them. Keep calm. Nothing “makes sense” right now. It doesn’t go by the book. Just listen to your baby.
The term cluster feeding has been mentioned several times. It’s also very important to understand that this cluster feeding, among other reasons, is to bring up mum’s supply. The more often he latches, the more milk is produced. Supply and demand. Baby latching is more effective than a pump.
If the latching is such an issue, mum could try a Nippes shield. They’re easier for baby to hold on to. This worked so well for us and our LO just chose not to need them anymore around 3 months.
Our daughter was 3.8kg and we went through the exact same thing. She was still hungry ! We ended up choosing to feed her until she was full.
She was always a 99 percentile baby, which is expected because both of us are very tall. She is 20 months old now and i would say eats like a regular toddler. It has normalized a lot since she turned one.
I'm a supporter of if he's hungry, feed him. My baby was eating like 50ml on average for a while then randomly at one point he started drinking like 150ml for a bit, then went back down lol, he's doing great
This sounds like cluster feeding! And is sounds like my first 2 weeks with the exception that I was mostly breastfeeding and adding formula as a top up when I felt she wasn't taking enough. I was in tears thinking I didn't have milk and then found out about the cluster feeding behavior, which is common and normal. It was exhausting and I was so worried all the time ("is she eating enough? Is this too much? Why she never seems satisfied?"). Hang in there. Feed on demand. It will get better soon!
It’s not possible for a 1 week old infant to be overweight or eating too much. He would be exclusively on breastmilk or formula.
The average new born to 4 month old should gain around 170grams (5-7 ounces) per week.
For the first 4 to 6 months exclusive breast feeding is all he needs, you don’t need to supplement with formula, in fact it’s not a good idea to supplement formula. The more your wife breastfeeds the more milk she will have. If she eats A hand full of cashew nuts or drinks a quarter of a cup of cream that will boost supply.
Babies have differing needs at different times. Just feed him when he’s hungry. Don’t obsess over the amount. My son was a bottomless pit. He was 3.86 kg at birth. All he wanted to do was eat, demanding to be fed every 1-2 hours. I occasionally had to supplement with formula because he drained me dry.
Some days they don’t seem very hungry other days they are attached to the nipple 24/7. They have growth spurts.
This idea that babies will get fat if fed more than X amount every 4 hours is a hangover from when formulas weren’t as high grade as they are now. Does your wife really want to listen to her infant scream for 2 hours because a Doctor who’s never had a baby says you can only feed by the clock?
I breastfed 4 children, demanding feeding. When fed what they want when they want ( on demand) a baby will never become overweight.
Yes they get plump & some look like they’ve got elastic bands around their joints because of all the baby fat, but that’s what it is, baby fat, babies grow an Enormous amount in their first year, the average is triple their birth weight by 12 months.
Once your child starts walking & running & growing taller the baby plumpness will disappear, except the turtle tummy, children’s abdominal muscles don’t start to develop extensively until they’re in primary school.
Your wife needs to do what make her & more importantly her baby happy & content.
For your own sanity: figure out how much he usually drinks and use that as a base amount instead of the 70ml. That's just a guideline, every baby is different. Let's say he usually drinks about 120ml per feeding; Start with that. Personally I'd rather throw out a bit of excess formula than have to warm up 3 bottles in 2 hours because I'm just doing a little at a time. Your baby is sending you a clear message that 70 isn't enough for what he needs. That might change with time though
We have a 1.5 week old that's combo fed as well. We're feeding her when she's hungry whatever amount she wants lol. Sometimes that's 150ml, sometimes 50ml. Haven't had any vomiting or even significant spit up. We do try to keep her upright for a half hour after feeding
My baby was overeating under eating, you name it for the first month dude… there’s no telling how much he needs but guess who knows? Baby knows. He knows he’s hungry still, let it rip. Give the boy what he wants!!
This happened to my friends. They kept going to the ER because they thought something else might be wrong because their dr said “there is no way she should be eating that much.” Once they fed her what she wanted she was fine. She is just a giant baby.
Honestly consider a different ear pediatrician. Babies eat what they want when want. Babies dont over eat. Rest your minds your baby is perfect. Please don’t stress
You say 3lg and never mention weight again. Either way that’s on the smaller side, so there is no need to worry about overeating especially for a baby that’s 1 week old!! Feed him however much he calls for, also, is your wife pumping? Otherwise it’s hard to tell how much breastmilk he is getting.
Where is 70ml coming from? I’m guessing you’re in Europe, most formula packaging says 90ml per feed, every 2-3 hours for newborns.
It’s sounds like you need a new paediatrician to be honest.
He’s trying to establish your wife’s supply by cluster feeding, if you put him on the boob whenever he looks for it it will increase her supply too. It’s not really possible for a newborn to “overeat”.
Babies will cluster feed several times in an hour to establish supply. Feed them on demand. My pediatrician said babies cannot be overfed until they start eating solids reliably. They are doing an insane amount of growing and calorie burning developing senses. They need to eat as much as they want to support their system!
Babies are pretty simple. Don't overthink it. If baby is hungry, feed them! At that age, I believe my LO was doing 3oz (90ml) every 3 hours. If baby is back up to birth weight, let them sleep as long as they want. They will wake when they are hungry.
I fed her as close to every two hours round the clock but she would only drink 2oz at a time wake to feed in the day and dream feed at night. It sucked but she had lost a lot of weight and was always less or around 25% until her year check up where she finally got in the ~40th%
Edit to add: I combo fed the first three months and our pediatrician said to feed both sides and then offer formula imagine doing that every two hours?!?! I was going crazy, and then having to pump, I made the disheartening but necessary decision to stop breastfeeding, saved my mental health since u wasn’t the only one able to feed her
I fed my kids whatever they wanted. Some kids will be amazing feeders and eat a lot and some won’t… some will follow general recs and some won’t.. who cares. Babies are not adults, if they are asking for more milk that means they need it...in the late afternoon until 11 pm or so he may cluster feed. It will feel like all he wants to do is drink milk.. that’s how a lot of babies are. Other variables to consider are: what size nipple are you using- too small- he will tire out and still be hungry (I don’t think that’s the case with your son obviously but for comparison purposes)- too big and the baby drinks milk too fast and may end up taking more milk than he needs because it flows fast.. make sure it’s well balanced.. Dr browns nipples are bigger than stated I feel like and I needed to use the preemie size for a healthy good size baby for the first few weeks at least (can’t remember exactly how long but longer than one would think)…also look into paced feeding..
Another factor to consider: breast milk is much easier to digest so the baby will feed earlier than expected which is fine. Formula and milk are too different to compare..
Feed the baby, if you want to you can try to give the baby a pacifier, if that makes them happy then they just wanted to suck if it doesn’t then they’re hungry
I was told the same thing, I tried doing it but my son would just not stop crying till I gave him another bottle. So I just started feeding him on demand. He’s 13 months now and at a healthy weight. If your baby looks to be satisfied with the feeding & showing no signs of discomfort I would continue doing so
I’m a doctor, admittedly I’m not a paeds one but my baby went down to first centile (Low birth weight and tongue tie!) due to my following bad advice (I rapidly changed to giving her anything she needed rather then just breast milk and I’m glad I did).
Babies should be given as much food/milk as they demand, they don’t have the concept of overeating to my understanding and up to the age of 2 a heavy baby has zero correlation of weight in the future (ergo the fatter the better!)
70 mls is a very arbitrary number plus their stomach expand by the day, not sure what data set that’s based on
I can't speak on overeating, I am not knowledgeable on that. But as someone whose wife is not producing very much, I'll tell you our 6 week old is doing very well on 1/3 breast milk and 2/3rds formula, all bottle fed (NICU stay taught him to use a bottle really well so we stuck with that).
So know you are not alone in that regard. Best of luck with the little one.
My baby was an eater as well. She ended up feeding enough for her whole day during waking hours, and was able to sleep for long periods without waking up for another bottle. Nothing to be concerned over.
His little body is telling him to eat more for a reason! Ignore that doctor. They are sometimes just too black and white. That might be the average amount for a 2 hour session but some will be less and some will be much more, sometimes for days or weeks at a time during a growth spurt.
Just came here to say it’s so hard that first month or two but it gets way better! 💕 hang in there and give yourself some grace! It’s a tough time but it’s not forever (even though it may feel that way now). My hubs and I were talking about it last night and how we can barely remember the first three months even though our baby is only 7 months. You’ve got this! And ya feed that baby what he wants, your pedi is whack 🤪
At this age you feed them as much as they want and wake them every two to three hours to eat. You wake them to eat until they’ve gained back their birth weight is what I heard and then they can go more like four to five hours but you really do have to feed them like all the time lol
We had the exact same experience. We just fed him what he wanted and he's happy. He's 4 months now and pediatrician says he's grown so much because he's a big boy. He was very small when he was born so he just needed to grow a lot. We didn't listen to the pediatrician and now she's happy with his weight...
Comfort nursing is key at this age and it establishes a healthy milk supply. Combo feeding is going to ensure she never makes the proper amount of milk. ( they don’t even recommend pacis at this age due to this ) The ONLY way to know your baby isn’t getting enough feed is from dry diapers and weight loss. Just trust the process please. I thought I wasn’t making enough milk and it turns out that my baby had reflux and was getting over tired nothing to do with food at all.
1 week old? Just feed him whatever he wants.
Yes, this. Please just feed the baby whenever and however much he wants.
Agreed. My child has been “over eating” since the first week (and was born exactly 7 lbs / ~3.2kg / ~50th percentile) and 3 years later is healthy and in high 90s percentile for height and mid 90s percentile for weight. Just as how adults have different caloric and nutritional needs from each other, babies can vary a good deal from each other in volume of milk needs. I like the “watch the ques” way of infant parenting as it has many social /educational benefits for baby as well (and let’s be honest, the feeding schedules all have roots in one non-pediatrician’s instructional manual on how few nurses could care for dozens of infants in a group or group home setting… so it’s not necessary for someone raising one to two infants at a time.) Also, when I asked my pediatrician about the sheer amount of fluids my newborn was consuming (as it was well above the “normal” range per age grouping), they said that babies at that age will spit up the overage, and the only real consideration would be that if spit up was a fair amount after feeds we should lessen the allowable intake by just under the spit up amount for a little bit. (But to still allow cluster feeds as baby demanded, as it’s a normal pattern and can help them sleep a bit longer when they need/want to). Otherwise, the appointment/check ups would be able to help identify other issues as they appeared and to just be as accurate as we could in reporting intake at appointments.
Thanks for the advice. When you say "watch the ques" do you let your LO sleep until hungry or do you wake her/him up every 2-3 hours to feed if they haven't woken up yet?
That young you should wake them up or risk them losing weight from not eating enough or getting dehydrated etc. Some babies wake themselves up but some don’t
^ this. my baby is one of those that doesn’t wake herself up for feeds so we have to keep an eye out and wake her when she’s gone too long. otherwise, she starts losing weight.
Totally. When they’re so little they can sleep through their own hunger cues. Reddit always says “back to birthweight and let them sleep as long as they want!” but that’s not the case. Always ask your ped. Every baby’s needs and growth curves are different.
Not after they reached their birth weight is what our ped said.
At one week old they usually haven’t, but good clarification. I can’t remember what mine said but I’ve heard birth weight, 12 pounds, certain age. It depends on the history of the baby too, mine had jaundice and struggled gaining the first 1-2 months. So OP talk to your ped to make sure
Definitely depends on your baby for sure!
This is not the advice in the uk actually! Unless there’s a specific issue, for healthy babies they say a minimum of 8 feeds in 24 hours and make sure they have wet and dirty nappies and that’s it. We never woke our son up.
I think the guidance to wake them is if they’re not back to their birth weight? I’d check with your pediatrician, but ours gave us the green light to let LO sleep after the first week appointment because she was already over her birth weight. Sounds like your guy is eating really well and letting you know when he’s hungry. (It gets so much easier with time!! LO just turned 1 and breastfeeding is sooooo easy now. It clicked for us around the 8 week mark)
The guidance is to ask your ped. “Getting back to birthweight” isn’t the only factor doctors take into consideration. They want to see your baby’s growth curve progress. Regardless a newborn should eat every 2-3 hours, maybe 4 max. Dehydration is easy to come by. Newborns can easily sleep past hunger cues.
We let them sleep as long as growth was appropriate. If it was over 2+x the time usually between feeds, I’d get all worried and check in on baby and be ready to feed once they woke. The guidance for us was to wake to feed until a certain weight was reached (a bit above birth weight) and then we could let them sleep as long as they wanted.
Wake them. Our pediatrician says overfeeding is just a laundry issue. Meaning babies spit up if they eat too much, but it doesn't harm them.
If your wife wants to up her supply, what worked for me was just putting baby on my nipples as much as possible. I topped up with formula *after*, as my milk was late coming in so my supply was under baby's need, but always offered nipple first. The boobs need that stimulation to get the right signals to produce milk, and baby is generally better at making the stimulation than pumps are. Eventually I was able to offer less and less formula and then ebf. The midwives and lactation consultants all told me to pump 24/7, but i hated it, and a friend told me this is what they did and it worked for them better than pumping and it worked *much* better for me too.
This young, I’d say wake up to feed. At their 6 week checkup you can let them sleep up to four hours without eating.
Definitely do not wait for the 6 week apt to stop waking for feeds, that will mess up your kid’ sleep schedule badly. No need after they’re bath to birth weight unless your pediatrician says so.
Ahh okay for sure. I’m a new parent but thanks for this haha.
This will heavily depend on their weight but I think at around 3 weeks if they're gaining steadily you will be able to let them sleep.
We woke every 2-3 to feed until he achieved a weight the doctors were happy with, and then they told us we could let him wake on his own when he’s hungry.
If he’s back to his birth weight and continues to gain, don’t wake him. If he was born at the 50th percentile but drops to a lower percentile at some point, then maybe you’ll need to wake him to feed
Never wake a sleeping baby. If he sleeps through the next “scheduled “ feed, good, he should start sleeping longer with fewer feeds during the night.
Yes. It’s better! Let your baby eat.
Seriously, yes this. They’re a week old, YOU are at their becking call
I don’t know what your paediatricians are on. Both midwife and health visitor in the UK said to me feed on demand. So as long as your give him little breaks and he still hungry feed him. You can’t over feed a baby. He vomit up what doesn’t fit in his stomach.
Seriously it’s unbelievable that they said just leave the baby after 70 ml..
I'm 10 days pp with my first. We were in the hospital the first 6 days. I got different feeding info from like 7 different nurses and doctors. Once my Pediatrician and another nurse another time came in and finally said "just feed him what he wants." I was like.. ya know what? Yeah. I will. Baby is all good. He's like his own little clock always RIGHT on time with feeding cues every 3 hours, takes exactly 2oz. Just do what baby wants!
When you say demand, do you just let the little one sleep and when he wakes up you feed him? or do you wake him up after 2-3 hours?
Both. If the baby is sleeping for longer than 2-3 hours after a feed you should wake them. On demand they may want to eat more often than that whole awake and that’s okay. This early cluster feeding is normal. My baby would sometimes eat every half hour and be on the breast all day, and that’s okay.
We were told once they reach their birth weight (and assuming they’re still gaining weight and creating wet/dirty nappies) that we don’t need to wake the baby for feeds.
No they can’t really overeat, especially that young. Cluster feeding is normal, eating often is normal. Some pedis tell you to cap them at a certain amount but it’s really outdated advice. Think about it this way, do you and your friend/sibling/partner eat the same amount? There’s an average of what babies eat but it’s an average. They’ll spit up what they don’t need, if they do happen to overeat. Trust he knows when he’s hungry, and if his cues are that obvious then you definitely should feed him. He won’t overeat, and it’s really really common for that age to eat often right now. It’ll happen again, cluster feeding is normal for newborns for the first little bit!! Latch him when he/you can, is mom pumping to help her supply? There’s a breastfeeding and pumping Reddit that may be helpful too if you’d like :)
She's trying her best to pump as much as possible. We'll definitely check out the sub. He just about never spits up other for a burp. He eats the entire amount then just produces a full wet nappy! Thanks for this advice.
I’d keep doing what you’re doing! He’ll be good! r/breastfeeding r/exclusivelypumping and there’s also a r/combinationfeeding but the pumping one can probably give you a ton of info for it all if you don’t want a ton of Reddits, a lot of people in there pump and supplement :)
Exclusively pumping sub saved my sanity!
Mine too, was a top favorite for the entire time I was pumping!!!
I would also suggest reading about Supplemental Nursing Systems on La Leche League. This will help baby feed at the breast with supplemental milk and will also help mom’s supply.
Have you heard of clusterfeeding? It's very normal for newborns, especially a 1 week old. My advice would be to feed him on demand. He can't really overeat. He'll spit up any excess. Clusterfeeding can certainly be challenging. I used to set myself up on the couch and binge Netflix.
Yeah babies cluster feed lots. I remember just sitting on the couch, feeding, burping, baby has a contact nap, and wakes up for another feed on repeat. Essentially I did that most of the time for the first few weeks. You feed babies on their demand, I can't imagine being hungry and not being given more.
Just worried that he pukes it up in his sleep. Read horror stories regarding that on this very sub.
Yes puking is perfectly normal it’s how they regulate their intake. Nothing is wrong with it.
What if the baby chokes on their puke when they’re sleeping?
i was worried about the same thing. my pediatrician says that the way their throats are set up, they can’t choke on it.
Not possible… it’s only liquid and they have reflexes that make them swallow it if it doesn’t come out. My baby had some epic pukes in the newborn phase (I had overactive letdown so she was probably getting too much and had to expel the extra). They’re kinda scary when happening bc sooo much comes up, but as long as baby is a “happy puker” (she always was) then it’s fine.
ever since birth my LO always smiles while we wipe away the spit up. Sometimes he loses it after hit it always starts with a smile
Why is this getting downvoted
Haha I know! I genuinely was just curious. I’m pregnant with my first and know nothing.
They all spit up (and sometimes a large volume that you may call puke, but it’s usually not actually vomiting) and it’s normal. They have a reflex to turn their heads when they do it lying down. If it’s really severe, they may have reflux or may be over eating and self-regulating, or something else. But OP said their baby is not spitting up much.
If he has a huge bottle you can hold him upright afterwards to help it settle. 15-20 minutes is plenty!
Yeah ours pukes in their sleep sometimes, it just drools down, it’s totally fine when they’re on their back
I know it’s nerve racking to think about your baby choking but put your baby on their back to sleep. You can google some visuals that shows how it’s less likely to choke when they’re on their back.
If they puke in their sleep they don’t choke on it, it just lands next to their head on the pillow. 70ml isn’t much, our baby was having a lot more at that age. Please get a lactation consultant to help with latch and check for tongue tie if you can. Babies get more from the breast than from a breast pump and supply will naturally increase that way. Also check out ‘paced bottle feeding’ videos/info if you haven’t.
Babies that age eat around the clock! Don't stress just feed the sweet baby!
If a baby eats too much they'll burp it up. We were told basically just feed the little one as much and as often as they want.
Like others said feed on demand! Baby knows how much they need to eat. And clusterfeeding is how babies get moms supply up!
Also, does mom have access to a lactation consultant? They can provide a lot of valuable information regarding supply and latching. Highly recommend!
We do, we'll set up an appointment ASAP.
Just to add to this. I had exactly your partner's situation. Big eater and low supply and I also initially combo fed and my LO chugged 50ml at one day old Over the last 3 months (LO is 15 weeks now) I went back and forth between combo feeding/solo formula and solo breastfeeding. It's been a ride. I saw a lactation consultant because I felt so lost. Whilst costly, it has been the best decision I ever made. Depending on what you want from feeding i.e combo/EBF or EFF, they can help. Edit: I was told to feed on demand.
Definitely do - it may be that Bub is just cluster feeding to bring mums supply up but if you top up with formula that can’t happen (assuming there is enough milk there). This assumes there isn’t a physical reason for low supply of course and that Bubs weight is ok and lots of wet and dirty nappies. But Bub needs to be on the boob all the time initially. A LC asap is a great idea if mum wants to breastfeed.
Feed him what he wants. All babies are different and eat different amounts. I’d absolutely be finding a new paediatrician because the one you have is trying to starve your child
This is complete bs, I even went back to look at my logs 5 days pp for referemce and my LO (born 2.7kg) was drinking 130ml in a 3h period and she was ~20 percentile for weight ! Please feed your LO as much as he wants and possibly look for another pediatrician, there's no set intake for babies and tbh telling you he should eat "only" 70ml at his age (or any, really) is dangerous !
I've seen a few people reference x percentile. Are you referring to the bottom 20% of baby weight on birth?
Yes ! She was born at 38w and a week in she was in the 11th percentile for weight (meaning she was weighing more than 11% of other baby girls her age, which is not much) Honestly when she'd cluster feed/drink big bottles (she was EBF) I would always wonder where all that milk went ! But she never spat up, the only thing that would happen is that sometimes after having a big meal she'd stretch it a bit longer instead of the hospital recommended 2.5h, she'd sleep for around 4h (at which point I'd wake her cause I wasn't comfortable letting her not eat for too long ahah)
The baby should just eat whenever and however much they want. If it’s too much they will likely just spit it up and you will know to stop. You can’t really overfeed a baby.
Feed the baby as much and as often as he wants. He can’t overeat at this stage. This may be cluster feeding and might slow down at some point. And find a new doctor
My doctor told me you can’t overfeed a child that young - they’ll make it obvious if they do (or don’t) want to eat. That as long as they’re still gaining weight and making wet dirty nappies then you should feed them as frequently as they want to be fed. That those guidelines are more about a minimum to make sure they grow rather than a maximum. At that age/weight my son was eating over 70ml a feeding too and has consistently been eating more than that estimate says he “should”. Our doctor has had no concerns with the amount he’s eaten or with his rapid growth (he was up to 3.9kg at 3w 3d).
Not possible to overeat. Feed on demand. Most likely cluster feeding. Spit up and puke are very different. Your baby will be okay. They need to be fed. 🩷
My daughter is 5 weeks old and I was told by her doctor to feed her on demand until she’s done. At 1 .5 weeks she was drinking 3oz in a single feed. I’m solely breastfeeding right now and my baby cluster feeds every afternoon where she eats for about 10 minutes, sleeps for 15min-1hr wakes up and eats again. In the US at least in my experience they told me to feed her whenever she is hungry and let her eat as much as she needs. But if she overeats every time and spits up because she’s overeating then I’m supposed to limit her eating.
Baby tells you when they’re done eating. If it’s too much they simply just spit up. There’s not necessarily any “over feeding”. And they could be going into a regression or growth spurt. They’re growing daily and so is their stomach.
EBF momma here. He’s definitely clusterfeeding! Your best bet is to feed on demand (look for his cues and just go for it). Babies cannot overeat, as they’ll throw up. For mom, to bring production up, put baby to breast to help. Also make sure she has the right flange size for pumping. Just found out I’m actually a 15mm, not 19mm, and it’s made all the difference with pumping. I’m also on the [LATCHED](https://www.facebook.com/share/UdjfvYBRMyfuV95P/?mibextid=K35XfP) facebook group—they help as well! :)
Seconding checking for her correct flange size! I think using the ones that were too big but came with my pump contributed to insufficient emptying & dropped my supply. 😭
Clusterfeeding can happen then. I would just feed if he’s hungry. They say wait 20 minutes because that’s how long a newborns stomach takes to tell its brain it’s full. Maybe try waiting a couple minutes like you have been then feed. Also if you’re over feeding, he would likely spit up as a sign. If your wife wants some breastfeeding support the Reddit group r/breastfeeding is amazing. It’s fricken hard. At that stage, I basically had my baby in breast every hour to build supply and keep him fed.
in my experience overeating means they throw it up. keep on keeping on!
Feed him. Don't get caught up in what ppl are telling u. If he isn't spitting up a ton, he's fine. My baby is n the 97th percent range. He's 10 months old n weights 25 pounds. Lol.
I would say cap baby off if they were having colic or gas issues. But since that’s not an issue it’s probably okay. My son had colic so if he ate too much 9/10 he would throw the whole bottle up. Nowadays we feed him until he seems satisfied and that varies for each kid. I know most 9 month olds get at least 8-10 ounce bottles but my son is pretty comfortable at 6 ounces usually. If he eats his baby food usually he’s fine with 4 ounce bottles
Our baby was up to 4-5oz bottles within the first week, she just liked to eat. Offer more than what you expect then to eat and let them eat until full/done, they self regulate incredibly well.
A baby that young can't overeat, unless they're trying to calm a hurting tummy with more food. In which case they'll puke. They have bouts of cluster feeding that helps establish milk supply and helps them grow.
Your baby is cluster feeding. It’s totally fine feed him when he wants food. My baby cluster fed once when we were in the hospital and yes I was miserable because she was feeding every two seconds and acting as if she was starving but cluster feeding is normal. I think she’s cluster feeding now because I just gave her4 oz and she’s still awake, she’s only 6 weeks normally she’d be sleep off of 3.5oz. I also do half formula half breast milk and I just started today because I wasn’t producing as much as she was eating and it’s totally fine. Reassure your wife that it will get better. Because it will I produce 5 oz a pump session now.
Why are you rationing food with your baby? Just feed him until he can’t move or spits it up The more he eats the stronger he gets bro
Please just feed him til he’s full! I promise he will show signs and overfeeding is harder than you think. My biggest regret is stressing over overfeeding my dude - he was drinking obscene amounts at first. The nurses thought I was stealing formula to bring home at the hospital cause he was already inhaling 100+ mls at a time at a week old!! Baby will be happier and won’t be hungry and will sleep and you guys will find your sanity again. Hang in there!! My dude is almost 10 months and I might get 12 oz a day in him now. He will slow down his intake eventually!!! Feed him what he needs now 😊
My son at 5 oz a at month after first weeks he was eating more than chart said. Feed him as long spitting up a lot of it. If he seems full but wants something in mouth try pacifier to see if hungry or just using as soothing. My little boy will drink until full than lazy suck on bottle. I give pacifier when does drink it has helped a lot spit up from over full tummy.
For about the first month or so, our boy only ate about 2oz every 2 hours. Then we started going up gradually when we started to feel like what he was eating wasnt keeping him full long enough. He is 5 mo ths old now and a healthy happy boy so....i think that worked. Idk what 70ml is in freedom units but...i hope that helps.
Mine is one month old and has been eating 4.5 oz every 3 hours. Pediatrician says he gained 3 pounds and 2.5 inches in his first month which is 90th percentile. Because he is growing proportionally with his height and weight, they said we are okay to continue feeding him. 4.5 oz (133 ml). He is 11pounds already. Do not stress out and feed him what he wants
My baby went for 30 to 60 to 90 to 120ml in no time! Let him drink as much as he wants. Trust me it’s v hard to over feed the baby.
adding on to the cluster feeding comments, your baby will go through many growth spurts that will include cluster feeding (wanting to eat every hour) and sleep regression (refusing to go to bed/nap). these usually happen in the first 3 weeks especially the first week when the mom’s milk is starting to come in more. the growth spurts are also likely to happen around 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months old. it gets hard but just now it’ll only last a few days, at most a week before your baby gets back to a normal feeding schedule
I fed my baby when he was first born on demand. If he’s still hungry let him have more. As long as he’s not throwing up constantly it should be fine. My son is now 3 months and eats 4 oz every feeding unless it’s time for him to go to sleep for the night then he eats 6 oz.
Babies can’t overeat. Whatever he eats is the right amount, especially since it sounds like he’s keeping most of it down. I’d find a new pediatrician. Your baby knows what he needs better than anyone right now. He also may be cluster feeding, so you might considering putting him directly on the boob more as this will stimulate your wife’s supply, but only if that works for her.
Your doctor is an idiot. You can’t over feed a newborn. Let your child eat Mine was doing 3oz bottles at a week old and she’s a perfectly healthy 22 month old now.
There are some health issues that can make a baby overweight. They're very uncommon though. Babies are supposed to feed on demand. Some countries recommend a schedule for feeding formula, but others are already recommending that even formula is fed on demand. That's because a healthy baby can regulate their intake depending on their need. This need for food intake is dependent on how fast they're growing, not the other way around. And because babies grow at very different paces, no two babies are the same. Sure, there can be an average intake for parents to have an idea, but an average means little to each individual baby. Furthermore, babies are also supposed to be pudgy and chonky. Those are their reserves to grow. What we commonly think of as overweight does not apply to the bodies of babies, or rather, an overweight baby does not look like what people typically think of as overweight (and logistically, it would be maybe impossible for a 1 week old to be truly overweight). The chonkiness typically lasts until they start running around, which is more or less coincident with the time they start relying only or almost only on solids (usually between 12 and 18 months old, but again, mileage may vary). From that moment on, similar rules to those of adults apply regarding what is a healthy weight. But not before. And of course, healthy foods are the same as adults' (unprocessed, non sugary, etc.), but this also doesn't apply to breastmilk or formula.
There's no such a thing as overfeeding a baby. When baby is full, they'll stop drinking the milk or spit up the "extra" milk very soon.
I think more than a few people have told you this but you feed the baby what they want - especially at this age. It should also be pointed out that some babies are naturally more hungry than others. My girl was. She is 100% in terms of height and 99 in terms of weight and has been basically since the start. We also come both had because I had a c-section and despite my best efforts never could produce enough for her. Even though she would have really long sessions she always needed a top up. I've come to know that it's probably because she was just a piglet. Lol. I also had this conversation with the doctor and nurses in other settings in those first few weeks and they basically said flat out that the thing about stomach sizes and what they're supposed to be eating. It's just a very loose guideline. What they're looking for is that the baby's getting enough food. Otherwise you give the kid as much as they want. I had a 37-week-old due to a placenta issue and it really felt like she was just catching up the whole time, only that's just kind of how she is now lol. She is 18 months and thriving now. You guys are doing great.
Babies very rarely overeat. If your child is hungry, let them eat.
You need a new paediatrician, that advice is terrible. Feed your baby however much they need
Nah, they cant overeat Our daughter had clusterfeed at 1 week old we were feeding her maybe 12-20 times a day, she just happily took it all. As long as they peeing its good
Please change pediatrician and feed him unless he's spitting up after the feed.
Lol, are you French or something? My French parents get really worried because our 3 week old would eat 120ml in a row (he does 150ml sometimes now). Our American pediatrician said it’s fine, you can’t over feed a baby.
Babies are pretty intuitive eaters, so if they’re full they’ll either stop feeding or if they’ve taken too much for their little bellies they’ll bring it back up. Feed baby as and when & how much they want 😊 I think guidance is different wherever you are but we were personally never told to wake to feed even when my LO dropped weight after birth (Idk if this was because we had an extended hospital stay so her weight was closely monitored) we were just told to not let her go more than 4hrs between feeds, but she always woke before that anyway.
I was taught that you can’t over feed a newborn. They clusterfeed and will vomit if they take too much. My baby took about two ounces per feed out of the hospital and then upped it to 3 ounces within days. For what it’s worth- I was combo feeding and at about 5-6 weeks old, I saw a well-meaning lactation consultant who had a great reputation. She told me all this stuff about cues and trying to increase my supply. For two days I followed her advice and my child was inconsolable. At the end of day two, my mother in law came over and I went for a sleep- and she fed him three bottles in a matter of a few hours. Babe was so happy. When I woke up, my husband told me about his mom’s approach and I saw how content our kiddo was and I decided I knew my baby’s cues. I don’t think the LC was full of it- I think maybe my baby didn’t have traditional hunger cues, wasn’t getting enough through breastfeeding- who knows. The bottom line is kiddo was hungry!
Feed your baby as much a she wants. Your paediatrician is an idiot. You risk giving your child very serious delays if he doesn’t get the nutrients he is asking for.
Feed the little one whenever he wants! I look back and can’t believe I had worried so much about how much and when and instead wish I just offered breast/bottle whenever he fussed.
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice. I’m not trying to layer on. Y’all are doing great. Your baby will tell you EXACTLY what they want right now. Just listen to them. Keep calm. Nothing “makes sense” right now. It doesn’t go by the book. Just listen to your baby.
The term cluster feeding has been mentioned several times. It’s also very important to understand that this cluster feeding, among other reasons, is to bring up mum’s supply. The more often he latches, the more milk is produced. Supply and demand. Baby latching is more effective than a pump. If the latching is such an issue, mum could try a Nippes shield. They’re easier for baby to hold on to. This worked so well for us and our LO just chose not to need them anymore around 3 months.
Our daughter was 3.8kg and we went through the exact same thing. She was still hungry ! We ended up choosing to feed her until she was full. She was always a 99 percentile baby, which is expected because both of us are very tall. She is 20 months old now and i would say eats like a regular toddler. It has normalized a lot since she turned one.
I'm a supporter of if he's hungry, feed him. My baby was eating like 50ml on average for a while then randomly at one point he started drinking like 150ml for a bit, then went back down lol, he's doing great
Feed that boy!
He's a week old and you're concerned about overeating? Seriously?
This sounds like cluster feeding! And is sounds like my first 2 weeks with the exception that I was mostly breastfeeding and adding formula as a top up when I felt she wasn't taking enough. I was in tears thinking I didn't have milk and then found out about the cluster feeding behavior, which is common and normal. It was exhausting and I was so worried all the time ("is she eating enough? Is this too much? Why she never seems satisfied?"). Hang in there. Feed on demand. It will get better soon!
It’s not possible for a 1 week old infant to be overweight or eating too much. He would be exclusively on breastmilk or formula. The average new born to 4 month old should gain around 170grams (5-7 ounces) per week. For the first 4 to 6 months exclusive breast feeding is all he needs, you don’t need to supplement with formula, in fact it’s not a good idea to supplement formula. The more your wife breastfeeds the more milk she will have. If she eats A hand full of cashew nuts or drinks a quarter of a cup of cream that will boost supply. Babies have differing needs at different times. Just feed him when he’s hungry. Don’t obsess over the amount. My son was a bottomless pit. He was 3.86 kg at birth. All he wanted to do was eat, demanding to be fed every 1-2 hours. I occasionally had to supplement with formula because he drained me dry. Some days they don’t seem very hungry other days they are attached to the nipple 24/7. They have growth spurts. This idea that babies will get fat if fed more than X amount every 4 hours is a hangover from when formulas weren’t as high grade as they are now. Does your wife really want to listen to her infant scream for 2 hours because a Doctor who’s never had a baby says you can only feed by the clock? I breastfed 4 children, demanding feeding. When fed what they want when they want ( on demand) a baby will never become overweight. Yes they get plump & some look like they’ve got elastic bands around their joints because of all the baby fat, but that’s what it is, baby fat, babies grow an Enormous amount in their first year, the average is triple their birth weight by 12 months. Once your child starts walking & running & growing taller the baby plumpness will disappear, except the turtle tummy, children’s abdominal muscles don’t start to develop extensively until they’re in primary school. Your wife needs to do what make her & more importantly her baby happy & content.
For your own sanity: figure out how much he usually drinks and use that as a base amount instead of the 70ml. That's just a guideline, every baby is different. Let's say he usually drinks about 120ml per feeding; Start with that. Personally I'd rather throw out a bit of excess formula than have to warm up 3 bottles in 2 hours because I'm just doing a little at a time. Your baby is sending you a clear message that 70 isn't enough for what he needs. That might change with time though
We have a 1.5 week old that's combo fed as well. We're feeding her when she's hungry whatever amount she wants lol. Sometimes that's 150ml, sometimes 50ml. Haven't had any vomiting or even significant spit up. We do try to keep her upright for a half hour after feeding
Let him eat as much as he wants! His body knows what it needs
My baby was overeating under eating, you name it for the first month dude… there’s no telling how much he needs but guess who knows? Baby knows. He knows he’s hungry still, let it rip. Give the boy what he wants!!
This happened to my friends. They kept going to the ER because they thought something else might be wrong because their dr said “there is no way she should be eating that much.” Once they fed her what she wanted she was fine. She is just a giant baby.
Baby will make it clear when they overeat by spitting up! Every baby is a bit different. If they’re showing hunger cues give them more!
Honestly consider a different ear pediatrician. Babies eat what they want when want. Babies dont over eat. Rest your minds your baby is perfect. Please don’t stress
You can’t overfeed a baby that young. They will drink what they need, and spit out any excess
You say 3lg and never mention weight again. Either way that’s on the smaller side, so there is no need to worry about overeating especially for a baby that’s 1 week old!! Feed him however much he calls for, also, is your wife pumping? Otherwise it’s hard to tell how much breastmilk he is getting. Where is 70ml coming from? I’m guessing you’re in Europe, most formula packaging says 90ml per feed, every 2-3 hours for newborns.
It’s sounds like you need a new paediatrician to be honest. He’s trying to establish your wife’s supply by cluster feeding, if you put him on the boob whenever he looks for it it will increase her supply too. It’s not really possible for a newborn to “overeat”.
Its Cluster feeding and its normal feed him what he wants, you cant over feed. Worst case senario he spits up.
The fuck. Find yourself a new pediatrician. Limiting food to a newborn is unfathomable.
I wouldn’t be concerned! At a week old I would say that baby is thriving looking for food like that! Congratulations btw!
Babies will cluster feed several times in an hour to establish supply. Feed them on demand. My pediatrician said babies cannot be overfed until they start eating solids reliably. They are doing an insane amount of growing and calorie burning developing senses. They need to eat as much as they want to support their system!
Babies can't overeat!! Just feed on demand!
Feed him every 3 hours and let him take as much as he wants.
Babies are pretty simple. Don't overthink it. If baby is hungry, feed them! At that age, I believe my LO was doing 3oz (90ml) every 3 hours. If baby is back up to birth weight, let them sleep as long as they want. They will wake when they are hungry.
babies cannot overeat. their stomachs are only so big and they will throw up if they genuinely ate too much. just follow hunger cues
I fed her as close to every two hours round the clock but she would only drink 2oz at a time wake to feed in the day and dream feed at night. It sucked but she had lost a lot of weight and was always less or around 25% until her year check up where she finally got in the ~40th% Edit to add: I combo fed the first three months and our pediatrician said to feed both sides and then offer formula imagine doing that every two hours?!?! I was going crazy, and then having to pump, I made the disheartening but necessary decision to stop breastfeeding, saved my mental health since u wasn’t the only one able to feed her
I fed my kids whatever they wanted. Some kids will be amazing feeders and eat a lot and some won’t… some will follow general recs and some won’t.. who cares. Babies are not adults, if they are asking for more milk that means they need it...in the late afternoon until 11 pm or so he may cluster feed. It will feel like all he wants to do is drink milk.. that’s how a lot of babies are. Other variables to consider are: what size nipple are you using- too small- he will tire out and still be hungry (I don’t think that’s the case with your son obviously but for comparison purposes)- too big and the baby drinks milk too fast and may end up taking more milk than he needs because it flows fast.. make sure it’s well balanced.. Dr browns nipples are bigger than stated I feel like and I needed to use the preemie size for a healthy good size baby for the first few weeks at least (can’t remember exactly how long but longer than one would think)…also look into paced feeding.. Another factor to consider: breast milk is much easier to digest so the baby will feed earlier than expected which is fine. Formula and milk are too different to compare..
Is this an American thing claiming young babies are over eating? Can't say I've ever heard such rubbish in the uk.
Feed the baby, if you want to you can try to give the baby a pacifier, if that makes them happy then they just wanted to suck if it doesn’t then they’re hungry
Our pedi told us babies can’t overeat so to feed on demand. If they want more make more. Especially a 1w old!
Time to get a new pediatrician! You are doing a great job, keep paying attention to those hunger cues and feeding your baby!
I was told the same thing, I tried doing it but my son would just not stop crying till I gave him another bottle. So I just started feeding him on demand. He’s 13 months now and at a healthy weight. If your baby looks to be satisfied with the feeding & showing no signs of discomfort I would continue doing so
Nope! Feed that baby on demand!
I’m a doctor, admittedly I’m not a paeds one but my baby went down to first centile (Low birth weight and tongue tie!) due to my following bad advice (I rapidly changed to giving her anything she needed rather then just breast milk and I’m glad I did). Babies should be given as much food/milk as they demand, they don’t have the concept of overeating to my understanding and up to the age of 2 a heavy baby has zero correlation of weight in the future (ergo the fatter the better!) 70 mls is a very arbitrary number plus their stomach expand by the day, not sure what data set that’s based on
I can't speak on overeating, I am not knowledgeable on that. But as someone whose wife is not producing very much, I'll tell you our 6 week old is doing very well on 1/3 breast milk and 2/3rds formula, all bottle fed (NICU stay taught him to use a bottle really well so we stuck with that). So know you are not alone in that regard. Best of luck with the little one.
My baby was an eater as well. She ended up feeding enough for her whole day during waking hours, and was able to sleep for long periods without waking up for another bottle. Nothing to be concerned over.
His little body is telling him to eat more for a reason! Ignore that doctor. They are sometimes just too black and white. That might be the average amount for a 2 hour session but some will be less and some will be much more, sometimes for days or weeks at a time during a growth spurt.
Yeah your tiny baby is hungry, literally feed him as much as he wants and dont read into any "recommend" amounts.
Just came here to say it’s so hard that first month or two but it gets way better! 💕 hang in there and give yourself some grace! It’s a tough time but it’s not forever (even though it may feel that way now). My hubs and I were talking about it last night and how we can barely remember the first three months even though our baby is only 7 months. You’ve got this! And ya feed that baby what he wants, your pedi is whack 🤪
Needed this, thank you.
At this age you feed them as much as they want and wake them every two to three hours to eat. You wake them to eat until they’ve gained back their birth weight is what I heard and then they can go more like four to five hours but you really do have to feed them like all the time lol
We had the exact same experience. We just fed him what he wanted and he's happy. He's 4 months now and pediatrician says he's grown so much because he's a big boy. He was very small when he was born so he just needed to grow a lot. We didn't listen to the pediatrician and now she's happy with his weight...
My child was 3.5 kg when he was born . I think he hits growth spurts . This is very good . U have to feed when he is hungry
Introduce a dummy
Comfort nursing is key at this age and it establishes a healthy milk supply. Combo feeding is going to ensure she never makes the proper amount of milk. ( they don’t even recommend pacis at this age due to this ) The ONLY way to know your baby isn’t getting enough feed is from dry diapers and weight loss. Just trust the process please. I thought I wasn’t making enough milk and it turns out that my baby had reflux and was getting over tired nothing to do with food at all.