Can you 'overfeed' an EBF baby?

bandwife · November 2009

Is it possible? I see this term of overfeeding a lot in reference to comfort sucking and the use of pacifiers debate.

I nurse on demand. Henry just gained almost 2 lbs in two weeks (wow, guess that was why we had the long nights of nursing nonstop...). My midwives were shocked/delighted at his gain. He's nursing a lot less the last few days, averaging once every 3-4 hours for 30 minutes, sleeping better than when he was on the nursing 'bonanza' and his BMs have been regular but a lot smaller.

Curious if some people think I overfed him. My DH and I are both tall (I'm 6ft, he is 6'5") so we are anticipating Henry will be big like us.

PaisleyDuke · November 2009

I don't think so. Sounds like he just had a growth spurt! DS will sometimes spit up a bit if he's eaten too much but you can't force a BF baby to eat, so I really don't think so.

flutiefrostie · November 2009

I think you can if they have reflux because they will want to eat more to soothe their throat, and then spit up more, etc. It becomes a vicious cycle. In your case, however, I don't think you did. If he wanted to suck but not eat, you'd know because he'd keep popping off your breast and would probably get upset.

PizzaBride · November 2009

PaisleyDuke:
I don't think so. Sounds like he just had a growth spurt! DS will sometimes spit up a bit if he's eaten too much but you can't force a BF baby to eat, so I really don't think so.

Agreed. There is a growth spurt at 3 weeks, so that's probably what happened. My little guy is in a growth spurt right now. If you could overfeed him, he'd just end up spitting it up anyways.

thomas930 · November 2009

I agree with the pp, in your case it is probably a growth spurt. When my DD was around a month old she would gain 2lbs in a week and nursed every 1 - 1 1/2 hours. She would spit up if she ate to much.

anna7602 · November 2009

DD more than doubled her birth weight by 9 weeks (went from 7 lbs, 10 oz at birth to 16 lbs) and the doctor told me that since she was EBF, she wasn't concerned that I was "overfeeding" her. Her logic was that sometimes bottle fed babies drink more than their bodies need because of fast-flow nipples (the milk keeps coming even if they're not hungry anymore), and thus can end up gaining more weight this way. She said this doesn't happen for BF babies- they can continue to comfort suck without actually getting much milk after they've satisfied their hunger.

stever · November 2009

My pedi said no.

pinksweetpea2 · November 2009

No.

You have many more growth spurts to look forward to- 6 weeks was a doozy for us.

lemen99 · November 2009

Babies with reflux tend to overfeed or underfeed for comfort.

emathis2 · November 2009

I think if they are overfed they spit up. Its probably a growth spurt or comfort sucking. We just started to go 3-4 hours and at 1 month he was nursing every 1.5 or 2 so that sounds like you are doing fine. Every baby has a different nursing style though so its hard to compare notes sometimes. My LO gained weight very quickly in the begining and has just started to gain a little slower in the past month.

OneSimpleMom · November 2009

DD had issues with reflux & spitting up because she sucked so vigorously and nursed so often. However, to go back and do it all over again I would still let her nurse whenever she wanted. Giving your baby "too much" (is there such a thing? I doubt it!) breastmilk is not going to be damaging like overfeeding formula would be. If he's gaining and he's happy, keep doing what you're doing! :-)

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