When is too much breastmilk?

dphiebeatle · May 2011

I have a 3 1/2 month old and yesterday she had her "I'm hungry feed me more" crying after only an hour and a half which happened twice in a row. My mom suggested offering her 6.5 ounces instead of her normal 6 ounces we have been giving her for the past two weeks. Doctor says when we were at her 2 month well visit that 6 ounces per feeding was the max that we should have her at but obviously she wanted more since we tried 6.5 ounces for her last feeding of the night and she took all of it! We tried again this morning and again she ate all of it! Are we wrong for giving her more than the doctor suggested? It's not like we can tell our LO that she can only have 6 ounces per feeding.

Help! I'm torn with what the doctor said compared to my mom but right now it seems like my mom is the right one!

cougarlicious · May 2011

My 3.5 month old just moved up to 4 ounces, so 6.5 does sound like a lot. (Although if yours STTN she may need that much to make it through the night.). Do you use slow flow nipples? Pace her feedings to be 15-20 minutes long? If so and she still wants more and doesn't spit up afterwards maybe she's going through a growth spurt or simply just needs more than average.

Molluskwrangler · May 2011

kdodge423:
I'm surprised your doctor told you no more than 6. If she's hungry, feed her.

Your doctor's brain would have exploded watching DS take 8 yesterday.

This.

If Molly wants more I let her have it, I'm just sure to burp her really well in between. She will just keep eating 'til she gets sick so I give her a bink after to see if she just wants to suck, if she spits it out crying I give her more. If your LO wasn't spitting it up after or crying from a tummy ache then she needed it.

MomlovesEloise · May 2011

Keep feeding her. You can't overfeed breast milk because the nutrition content changes depending on what the baby needs. If she isn't spitting up, or having tummy issues, she's just hungry. Also, babies on breast milk digest faster and eat more often, so if you're concerned (which I don't think you should be) about the amount she's eating during a feeding, you might want to try feeding less, more often.

Kate621 · May 2011

kdodge423:

I'm surprised your doctor told you no more than 6. If she's hungry, feed her.

Your doctor's brain would have exploded watching DS take 8 yesterday.

Ditto this. I've never heard of a doctor recommending to limit BM. What if you were nursing? You would have no idea how much she was getting. If she's hungry, feed her.

CopperT0p · May 2011

I don't know why they would try to limit the amount of breastmilk at this age. If you weren't pumping and just nursing then you wouldn't have any control on it anyhow and the baby would take as much as they wanted. So I don't see why it should be any different from a bottle. I have never limited L's intake, (we do a combo of pumping and nursing). However he has never drank that much milk! He's a little guy and the most he has ever taken in a feeding, even at 5.5 months is 4oz. Usually he takes 3oz every 2-3 hours during the day.

So I would say just feed whatever they want, unless your doctor gives a more valid medical reason than 6oz is a magical number.

Jenniferk08 · May 2011

Mj is a little over 3 months and he has 7oz per bottle 5 times a day. He STTN so he has his last bottle at 8:30/9pm and then sleeps until 6:30.

I was concerned at first but our ped looked at the number of oz total and how many bottles per day and seems ok with his. As they get older they eat more but less often.

How many bottles a day is she eating? I think they are suppose to get about 30-35oz per day.

izzourclue · May 2011

Every baby is different. I hate it when people try to assign a single value to all of them. No reason to make a baby go hungry.

dphiebeatle · May 2011

She is STTN last bottle around 9pm and wakes up at about 6:30 / 7am. She has 5 bottles a day so she is drinking between 30 to 35 oz a day even if we start to offer her 6.5oz. Feedings last between 15 to 25 min. She is on level 2 nipple with the Dr. Browns bottle.

From what you ladies are telling me makes me feel a lot better on uping her milk intake. She born at 36 weeks and 5 days at 5lbs 3oz so she has been progressing nicely...last weigh in at 2 1/2 months was 9lbs 6oz. Smile

VMRRN23 · May 2011

DS is EBF and gets pumped milk when I work (two 12.5 hour days). Yesterday he ate 2 to 4 ounces at a time on demand-so every 1.5 to 3 hours- (he only had about 11 ounces as of 430 pm). Then DH called me and told me DS ate 7 ounces at 5pm.

I wouldn't worry. Especially since you don't know how much she eats when she nurses. As PP suggested, if you are worried about stretching out her belly, just serve less milk more often.

RAC07 · May 2011

Our doctor told us to "let it hit bottom". So we'll feed him his normal 4 oz or so, take a break, give him the paci, walk around a little or whatever and if he's still not satisfied, feed him more. He usually never takes more than 5 oz.

Nurse122705 · May 2011

Babies can overeat from a bottle, it's not like a breast.... BF babies also just like sucking, may not be hungry. That being said, MOMs know BEST. If you babies hungry then feed!! If she overeats she will sit-up & be cranky.

After a 5oz bottle offer the paci, if that doesn't soothe then I would give another 2oz's.

frankie119 · May 2011

DS has taken 7.5 oz before like it was his job. Gulped down 5 oz and was screaming for more. Just like us, there are times they are going to be hungrier. If he's hungry, let him eat!

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