Can you feed a breastfed baby too much?

Question

I'm a mom who works outside of the home. I nurse my baby in the mornings and at night, and my mother-in-law feeds him bottles of expressed milk during the day. Is it possible to feed him too much when he's taking the bottle? Is there a way to determine if the amount he is eating from the bottle is about the same as the amount he gets when he breastfeeds?

Answer 1

Short of weighing wet diapers (yes, there is a method, but I'm not terribly familiar with it), you can't really tell if he is getting the same amount from the bottle as he is from you. Even if you could, it's probably irrelevant, since babies don't always eat the same amount at every meal any more than adults do. Breastfeeding babies who take expressed milk from bottles during the day while their mommies are at work have been known to "reverse cycle", or take less milk during the day so that they can nurse more from the breast (sounds like the oppositie of your quandry). While I doubt you could feed him "too much" from the bottle, there has been speculation that bottle-fed babies can be more easily overfed than breastfed (from the breast) babies, when their caregivers try to get the baby to "finish the bottle" whether or not they want it all. Just make sure your MIL isn't pushing your son to finish the bottle if he doesn't want to, and try to store small amounts so that she can prepare exactly what he needs without having to waste your milk (I know how precious that stuff can be when you're trying to pump enough!) If you feel you're having a hard time keeping up the demand with pumping, try reading the article below about pumping. Good luck!

Answer 2

I breastfed my baby for 6 months and around the 4 month period he went through a growth spurt and was feeding constantly. If you feel your baby is eating more than usual, this could be the case.

I don't think you are overfeeding him when he's taking the bottle. If he is'nt hungrey he will refuse it...we used to call it boobie lock down..lol. My son would press his lips together and not let anything through!

I also worried about the amount my son was getting from me. I did alot of research online and found alot of other moms with the same concern. When i would pump I could get 4-6 ounces so that was reasuring and also at times i could see it running down the sides of his face while he was eating. But my best advice was from a women I called from la lecha league. She was so helpful with all of my questions. I have attached their websites link. They have a page on thier site that can put you in contact with someone in your area that you can call directly at their home. They are there to answer all of your questions for free and give you facts & reassurance for BFing. It really helped me and made me so much more confident and empowered for what I was doing for my baby! Good Luck!
http://www.lalecheleague.org

Answer 3

No, no, and no. You cannot breastfeed a baby too much, babies are very smart and know when they have had their share of the boob. Even from a bottle, a baby will not take more than they wish to have. Overeating is typically a learned behavior or a medical issue, both of which are rarely seen in babies. Your breasts produce more milk when your baby is sucking than when you pump. Most likely, he is getting more from your breast than bottle. Babies often get more from breast because they also like sucking for comfort.

I'm sure he's getting enough, or he'd let you know.

BIG KUDOS to you for working and pumping and nursing. It's difficult I'm sure, but it's so worth it. WAY TO GO!!!!

Answer 4

It is possible to give a baby more breastmilk from a bottle than they need. However this will not cause them to become obese the worst it will do is cause the baby to drink less from mom -which is bad for supply and bad for proper development of the jaw etc.

How much Expressed Milk WIll My Baby Need?
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

If your baby is taking substantially more than the average amounts, consider the possibility that baby is being given too much milk while you are away. Things that can contribute to overfeeding include:

Fast flow bottles. Always use the lowest flow bottle nipple that baby will tolerate.
Using bottle feeding as the primary way to comfort baby. Some well-meaning caregivers feed baby the bottle every time he makes a sound. Use the calculator above to estimate the amount of milk that baby needs, and start with that amount. If baby still seems to be hungry, have your caregiver first check to see whether baby will settle with walking, rocking, holding, etc. before offering another ounce or two.
Baby's need to suck. Babies have a very strong need to suck, and the need may be greater while mom is away (sucking is comforting to baby). A baby can control the flow of milk at the breast and will get minimal milk when he mainly needs to suck. When drinking from a bottle, baby gets a larger constant flow of milk as long as he is sucking. If baby is taking large amounts of expressed milk while you are away, you might consider encouraging baby to suck fingers or thumb, or consider using a pacifier for the times when mom is not available, to give baby something besides the bottle to satisfy his sucking needs.
If, after trying these suggestions, you're still having a hard time pumping enough milk, see I'm not pumping enough milk. What can I do?
If baby is taking significantly less expressed milk than the average, it could be that baby is reverse-cycling, where baby takes just enough milk to "take the edge off" his hunger, then waits for mom to return to get the bulk of his calories. Baby will typically nurse more often and/or longer than usual once mom returns. Some mothers encourage reverse cycling so they won't need to pump as much milk. Reverse cycling is common for breastfed babies, especially those just starting out with the bottle.

If your baby is reverse cycling, here are a few tips:

Be patient. Try not to stress about it. Consider it a compliment - baby prefers you!
Use small amounts of expressed milk per bottle so there is less waste.
If you're worrying that baby can't go that long without more milk, keep in mind that some babies sleep through the night for 8 hours or so without mom needing to worry that baby is not eating during that time period. Keep an eye on wet diapers and weight gain to assure yourself that baby is getting enough milk.
Ensure that baby has ample chance to nurse when you're together.

Other ways of estimating milk intake
There are various ways of estimating the amount of milk intake related to the weight of the baby and the age of the baby, based upon formula intake - research has shown that after the early weeks these methods overestimate the amount of milk that baby actually needs. These are the estimates that we used for breastfed babies for years, with the caveat that most breastfed babies don't take as much expressed milk as estimated by these methods. Current research tells us that breastmilk intake is quite constant after the first month and does not appreciably increase with age or weight, so the current findings are validating what moms and lactation counselors have observed all along.

Here are a couple of links to these estimations:

Breastmilk Intake Guidelines and Formulas from the BFAR.org website
Milk Calculator from the Adoptive Breastfeeding Resource Website

Page last modified: 10/04/2006
Written: 07/14/03

Answer 5

No. Breastmilk is so efficiently metabolised, not only that, a baby knows how to self regulate. If he is drinking a lot, it's because he's hungry, regardless of it's the bottle or the breast. The only way to truly guage how much he's getting at the breast is to take a weight pre feed and then post feed and see the difference using a baby scale. Don't worry about it, he's needs those calories!!

Answer 6

I dont think there is a way to determine how much he is getting while nursing. I always used to wonder that when I nursed mine. I would go by the baby. If he seems full then don't push. If he is spitting up when he normally doesn't he may be getting too much or maybe just too fast.

Answer 7

Babies will know when they've had too much. I had to pump for 10 months because my son never took it straight from the source. What he gets from the bottle will be more at a time because it flows quicker than from the breast.

Answer 8

i think we are the same person!! If he eats one serving, ie - one pump session for you, then he should be fine. not too much, not too little. of course, if you are like me - can only pump three times at work, not four - and the pump seems to draw less than nursing, you may have to do one bottle of formula. my daughter is three months and eats about 4-5 oz per feeding.

Answer 9

Babies self-regulate when it comes to eating. Don't force a baby to eat more than they want and you'll be fine. Don't worry about measurement of the milk, just be sure the baby is eating regularly and eating the amount he or she wants. Your regular visits to the pediatrician will tell you that the baby's weight gain is on target.

Answer 10

No, you really can't feed him too much from the bottle; babies stop drinking when they are done. If he wants it, and keeps most of it down, then it's good.