How can I tell if I'm overfeeding?

Kellyney - posted on 03/30/2012

No way! She has a healthy appetite and is sleeping quite well for her age, in my opinion. Congratulations!!!

Ma. Patricia - posted on 03/29/2012

Congratulations! You have a very healthy baby! Every week, you will really be surprised how fast the baby progresses. Just make sure that you make her burp every time especially at night. If she falls asleep while feeding, it's still okay. When she wakes up, that's when you let her burp. Hiccups are normal, too, and happens all the time to babies. It will be her pediatrician who will tell you if you are overfeeding her.

Jacquelynn - posted on 03/29/2012

Babies always have a way of letting you know when they are done eating. Gumming the bottle is a good indication they are done. You can never over feed your child because they will let you know if they are full.

Christine - posted on 03/28/2012

No, no spit up. Also, I did start noticing she is beginning to gum the bottle when full. So I think we are good! =)

Stifler's - posted on 03/28/2012

It's ok to cluster feed on the bottle though renae fed every hour and 2 hours when she was first born i just had to make smaller feeds up. Is she spewing at all?

~♥Little Miss - posted on 03/28/2012

Sure, give it a try. If she is full, she will leave it.

Christine - posted on 03/28/2012

Awesome! Thank you so much for the feedback. It's a really steep learning curve. We tried to breastfeed, but it didn't really work, so I'm unsure of the whole bottle feeding. We stepped it up from 3 and 4 oz to 5 oz this week b/c she seemed so hungry and was clusterfeeding constantly. Now, I just feel like she's doing it and still not happy. I'm wondering if I should step it up again...

~♥Little Miss - posted on 03/28/2012

I LOVE baby hiccups! She is probably going through a growth spurt and that may be why she is eating more? My son got hiccups all the time when he was going through a growth spurt. In fact, that was my indication that he was! Also, babies don't tend to over eat. They are not like adults, they eat when they are hungry and need food. Also, formula fed babies should eat usually about every 3-4 hours. BFed babies tend to eat more often.

Donna - posted on 03/28/2012

She is obviously hungry at night and is starting to sleep in longer spurts. Babies will stop eating when they are full. I wouldn't worry about over feeding her.

Jamie - posted on 03/28/2012

Yes, I nurse my DD and she did that for the first several months. It's called Cluster Feeding, like Teresa said. Very common. It's important to feed her when she's hungry. She's probably not overeating - she's probably preparing for a growth spurt!

Jennifer - posted on 03/28/2012

Sounds very healthy to me!! It's good that she is 4 weeks and sleeping this much :) she is very happy in her mode right now it would seem to me :) just go wwith your instincts momma

Stifler's - posted on 03/28/2012

shes 4 weeks this is completely normal

Kristy - posted on 03/27/2012

My son was formula fed and he did the exact same thing! I would put him down around 8pm for bed and he would have 3 to 4 ounces of milk and settle then a half hour later he would do the same and settle and then another half hour later he would do it all again. After a couple of hours he would decide he was full and pass out for three hours before wanting another feed. Once he got to 5 weeks old i was finding he was still fussing but during the day too so i gave him a full bottle of 8 ounces and he drank it all and was finally satisfied. I also had to change the teat on the bottle from newborn-slow flow to toddler - fast flow! At 4 weeks babies do go through a growth spurt and want more feeds too. Good luck, it sounds like normal behaviour to me.

Sherri - posted on 03/27/2012

Exactly what Teresa said and I just wanted to add how lucky you are!! I have a 5wk old that feeds every two hours almost to the minute to eat. I would love to actually get a 5hr stretch to sleep.

Teresa - posted on 03/27/2012

I don't have bottle feeding experience, but what she's doing in the late evening is called cluster feeding and is perfectly normal. The fact that you are getting 5 hour sleep stretches out of a 4 week old is awesome and I don't think I'd change a thing.