Overfed

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vespin

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Hi! Has anyone experienced overfeeding? We went to the doctor today for certain symptoms, and we were told she is most likely being overfed & to change the nipple size. She was on size 1 nipple and was eating 5 oz. She did always seem to be uncomfortable with a lot of gas, bloating, and gagging. Never experienced spit up, though. Since we’ve been home from the doctor, she had a 3 oz bottle which is what they told us to start with. She was hungry before the 2 hour mark, so I up’d it to 3.5 oz. She’s still acting like she’s hungry. Does it take time to adjust to being fed less amounts? I don’t want to starve her, but don’t wanna overfeed at the same time.
 
@carrilynn OP mentioned they saw the pediatrician for some symptoms. As mentioned by another commenter, acid reflux can lead babies to overeat trying to find soothing and cause more troublesome symptoms. I don’t think you’re wrong in general but since we don’t know what exactly is going on here, I wouldn’t discount what the pediatrician said if I were OP.
 
@vespin I’d definitely switch nipple sizes if she’s struggling to eat. My guy clicks on the wrong nipple size and I’ve noticed a direct correlation to spit up/excessive gas when trying to up a nip size.

For the over feeding thing, I was always told you can’t really over feed a baby. If you’re not intentionally over feeding and stopping when the baby is content then you’re fine. Personally, we fed our baby until he was happy. If he’s still crying after eating then we offered more. He does have reflux which makes it tricky bc eating soothes the pain so he’d keep going but he would get to a spot where he’d cry for a moment and then become content.
 
@cheesuslover69 Clicking means their tongue is breaking the seal it has on the nipple. Excessive clicking causes the baby to swallow more air = more gas/burping/spit up. It can indicate a shallow latch. For us, feeding was a struggle and LO constantly clicked on the bottle. We worked with a feeding therapist and tried a few other nipples but she clicked on all of them. She had an anterior tongue tie, pediatric dentist revised it and the clicking resolved pretty much immediately. All of our collic/gas symptoms cleared up once she got used to being able to have full range of motion with her tongue (maybe a week or so). I never knew that was what the clicking meant but it made so much sense in hindsight.
 
@nevermindkid Can you expand on the clicking comment you made? Our LO starting clicking when we stepped up to size 2. Now he’s fussing at size 2, is distracted and taking forever to finish and I was wondering if we should step up again. Wondering if the clicking may be indicated something else.
 
@vespin My reflux babies would over eat bc sucking and swallowing helped them feel better and not in pain. However when they did that it made it 100 times worse of course.

I mean I'm pro feed your kid. Especially a newborn who's growing a ton. But if she's uncomfortable I might feed smaller but more frequently and see if that helps.
 
@epianoqueen I didn’t know that was a sign of reflux. I’m thinking my baby might be doing the same thing. What did you end up doing? Medication or just smaller feeds?
 
@dykema17 Yeah eating pushes the reflux down, both od my reflux babies did this a looot. We didn't want to use a binky but had to eventually bc the sucking helped and stopped them from over eating.

Yeah meds. We did formula change for my first with meds. My second we got him on meds and switched to Enfamil AR.

We tried smaller feeds and all of that as well. Keeping them upright for 15 minutes or so after every feed too. But it didn't really make much of a difference.
 
@epianoqueen Seconding this. My baby has reflux and he WILL overeat. When he was 6 weeks we brought him into the doctor because his spitting up was just getting worse and he was sucking down 6oz. While he was gaining weight, we were still going through 2burp cloths and a bib every feeding.

The doctor advised us to only feed him 3oz, and add oatmeal.

We added the oatmeal and started with 3oz. What we determined was actually about 3.5oz is what would make him full. Once he hit 3oz we would give him a pacifier to suck. If he accepted it after a minute or two he was full. If he didn’t, we’d give more. We still do that today and he’s up to 4.5oz. We tried offering him more recently and we were right back to him spitting up a ton. Went back to 4.5 and we barely get any spitup.

The other thing (I’ve shared this before) is that when we would take the bottle away to burp him between ounces he would lose his mind. This made his reflux and spitting up worse. Now we give him the whole bottle and burp after. It’s crazy but it works. We just get a big burp and have to burp him again 20m after. But he doesn’t have gas pains or anything so it works for us.
 
@vespin Putting babies on diets is weird. I would never listen to a pediatrician telling me to feed my child less. My second was in the 98th percentile for weight when he was in his first 5 months of life, and the pediatrician said “if he keeps growing like this we will need to cut back on feedings”??? Um no?? If I’m hungry- I eat. Why wouldn’t I feed my child if he’s hungry? Anyways, we never went back to that pediatrician.
 
@vespin I think you did the right thing. I believe it’s very difficult to “overfeed” a baby. If they eat too much, they spit it up. Most baby’s won’t let you put a bottle in their mouth if they’re full. You’re doing great ❤️
 
@vespin Find another Dr. I’ve been told by a couple (my office does drs on rotation if you opt for it) that a baby that small won’t overeat, they’re just hungry. Feed them.
 
@vespin I am VERY pro science/medicine/doctor etc.. but I have to step back every once in a while and remind myself this doctor sees my kids a handful of times a year. I am with them 24/7 we have maternal/paternal instincts for a reason. I don’t have to do everything EXACTLY how the doctor says, within reason.
 
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