Overfeeding?

Question

My friend and I are both first-time mums, and so I'm not sure whether I'm right but it seems to me that she is overfeeding her baby. She breastfed for the first week but found it too demanding. He is now bottle fed but she also started him on baby food at 3 months - saying that he was ready to start having solids because 'he woke during the night meaning he was hungry and the bottles weren't enough'. In the space of 3 hours that I spent with her recently, she gave him a 9oz bottle, followed by a large jar of baby macaroni cheese, a large jar of baby rice pudding, then another 9oz bottle straight after (I'm just brestfeeding so have no idea if this is a lot of formula or not) and then he had another bottle half hour later, and pooped 3 times during this time that absolutely stank! I don't want to lecture her, because I too am a first time mum, and I'm breastfeeding so not too sure about how much you should bottle feed but don't want her little boys health to suffer.

Answer 1

I'm sure she doesnt mean any harm and is a wonderful mum, you can buy baby milk in stages i.e newborn milk then hungrier baby milk then stage 3 milk and so on - why dont you get your friend one tub or carton of the hungrier baby milk and just ask her to try it and see if her baby fills up quicker. you may find she saves money this way because the milk will fill the baby up quicker and will sleep through. food is fine so long as it is well pureed at this stage, I'm not sure from your question whether the food was pureed or not, but any food so long as free from salt and sugar etc wil be ok and can even be mixed with the milk to make it porridgy. - bottle fed baby poo does smell bad but so long as it's the right colour and consistency they should be ok.

Babies dont normally let you over feed them either so dont worry too much.

you could even try getting her a baby food book or look on the cow and gate website cos thats really helpful.

Answer 2

you are right to be concerned. Not only is there a risk of the child becoming overweight, but there is also the chance of increasing the risk of allergies in this little bub. Food guidelines are put out for a reason, as science has revealed when certain foods can be tolerated by the little digestive systems of babies. There is also the very real risk that the baby could choke as he is getting quite mature-age infant food very early in his life.

It is a sensitive thing to bring up a conversation which can be seen as direct criticism of her skills as a mother, but, as an idea, you may be able to gently broach the subject by subtly reading out articles out of magazines..."Hey, listen to this, I was considering starting solids too [bit of a white lie here!], but it says here.. blah blah blah.....what do you think?" This way it isn't a direct criticism, but keeps away from you being personally involved, or of you showing your true feelings. It will be hard however you do it, but if she still insists on feeding the baby these foods after trying the above, then it may be best to leave the subject alone and let her be "talked to" by her clinic nurse at their next check up. Even talk to your own clinic nurse, and see what she may suggest, she might offer some better advice than me as she will no doubt have seen it more than once in her career. Good luck, and well done on still breastfeeding...it is hard to start with, but so worth it, hey?

Answer 3

That is way too much food for a 3 month old! Cereal is the first thing to use when formula isn't enough. And that should be watered down. The digestive system in a baby can't handle solid food well at such an early age.

Answer 4

That's too much....seriously. 18 ozs + 6oz of baby food in one feeding?
Now I started my daughter on rice cereal at 3.5 months for the same reason. But she's now 7 months and doesn't eat that much.
Total throughout the day 24-30 ozs. of formula that's 5-6oz bottles of formula throughout the entire day (from waking to going back to sleep). She eats some rice cereal w/ a fruit in the a.m., a stage 2 jar of veggy or veggy/meat for lunch, a fruit dessert for pm snack, a 1/2 jar of stage 2 veggy/meat with a veggy added for dinner. And some sips of water when she wants it. Her bottles are given in between for snacks and fluids.
The meat and afternoon snack have just been added last week and when she has the snack she doesn't have one of her bottles.

Answer 5

I think that it would be better to ask your doctor as you Will probably see him often for a while.

That sure sounds like as much as i would eat but then I am not there.

One thing for sure the mother is not going to listen to you so keep your mouth shut until you know for sure what to do. It might be a good idea to tell her doctor about it and let him handle the thing.

As for you, If your baby is over three months then some baby food might be a good idea for you to try. The sooner the better in most cases. Be sure to start giving some plain water when the baby begins to eat food. Sterilize the water first for a couple of months. Have fun.

Answer 6

You cannot overfeed a baby. A baby will only eat what it wants to. Admittedly though this does seem like a huge amount of food and if my son had eaten like that at this age i would have taken him to the Doctors or Health visitor for some advice and maybe a check up.

Answer 7

I think jar food at 3 months is too soon unless her midwife asdvised her otherwise
Babies do usuaLLY wake in the night for a feed as they tend to eat little and often
maybe as a friend you can bring the topic up and chat about it without being patronising :)

Answer 8

When mine was little I was doing the same thing. The more I feed him the more he cried. I took him to the DR and he said I was over feeding him. Put him on a schedule, every 4 hours and he was the best baby after that. Never cried. I did'nt know. Dr said they are just like us. DUH. lol. Every 4 hours is all they need.

Answer 9

Don't compare yourself and your baby to your friend and her child. Everyone is different and has different needs. Your friend will learn by her own mistakes and so will you. If you are right and she's overfeeding then the Health Visitor or doctor - or her own mother - will tell her. You just get on with being a good mum to your own baby and do what's best for him/her.

Answer 10

Formula fed babies' poop always stinks to high heaven, because it is fortified with all of those extra vitamins, that in reality are hard for the babies' little bodies to properly process. One of the many reasons why breast milk is best.

Yes, it does sound like your friend is over-feeding her baby, and feeding her baby inappropriate food for his age... Mac & Cheese at 3 months old???

I'd gently encourage her to talk with her baby's pediatrician about a proper diet and feeding schedule.

God bless.