Question about weight gain

[@llli*mvh234]

Am I overfeeding my one month old? here is some background info on us.

I have a 4 week old son who is a nursing champ. He eats every 1 1/2 to 3 hours around the clock. I nurse on demand and we haven't really had an issues. Our only problem is he won't take a pacifier and uses me to pacify himself. During our last visit to nursing support group we did a pre and post feed weigh. He transferred 4 oz's during his feed. About 15 minutes later he was fussy and used me to pacify himself. I did another weigh and realized he transferred another ounce. The lactation consultant discussed his weight gain with me and told me I might be over feeding him. He was born 7lbs 15 oz and weighed 11 lbs at 4 weeks.

Fwiw he never spits up and seems content after feeding.

[@llli*carm3]

Welcome to the forum!

The lactation consultant's answer has me scratching my head, to be honest! Overfeed a breastfed baby that's not getting bottles and being fed on cue? I'm pretty sure that's not the case! Is there a reason you're not wanting your son to use you as a pacifier? Babies nurse for comfort as well as for food, so it's perfectly normal for him to want to suck. Besides, babies learn to control how much they get out depending on their suck. So even though he is sucking, if it's just light flutters, he's probably not getting a whole lot of milk.

My baby was a fast gainer too. I've gotten a lot of 'whoah, she's a big baby' and some good natured 'fat baby' jokes (mostly from my brother, lol). But I know that it's really common for breastfed babies to gain quickly in the first couple of months, and then slow down the gain as they start moving around more.

In the first six weeks, baby is still working to establish your supply. So nursing frequently is a good thing for that (and so is avoiding the pacifier!).

Keep up the good work, it sounds like you're doing a great job!

[@llli*mvh234]

I'm ok with being his pacifier. My daughter never took a pacifier either so I'm not surprised he won't either. My main concern with being his pacifier is the extra milk he's taking in and whether that's contributing so his high weight gain. I'm not even sure if I should be worried with his weight gain. It's outside the "normal", but I know there can be a lot of variation with kids. He's averaging 12-13 oz's of weight gain a week.

[@llli*mommal]

Oh my goodness, was the lactation consultant high or something? What utter ridiculousness! You cannot overfeed a breastfed baby because YOU are not in charge of the feeding. The baby is. When the baby is hungry, he nurses in such a way that he stimulates a rapid flow of milk. When he's not hungry, and just looking to comfort himself, he sucks in such a way that the milk flow either stops or is just a trickle. This is totally different from bottle-feeding, where the adult is in charge of the feeding and overfeeding is common. Even the most sensitive bottle-feeding parent will sometimes slip a bottle back into a baby's mouth after the baby has spat it out, or will tilt the bottle up so that the baby finishes it a little faster, or takes the last little bit in the bottle.

Your baby is growing fast because he is brand-new. It is normal for newborn babies to gain weight very rapidly. Up to a pound a week is common- that's how much my husband and also my second daughter gained for their first couple months of life. Your baby's weight gain will slow down as time goes on, I promise! Right now, your baby does nothing but eat, excrete, cry, and lie around. That means all his calories go into physical growth- gaining weight, gaining height. But in a few months, he'll start devoting increasing amounts of calories to action- reaching, rolling, crawling, etc.- and when that happens his rate of weight gain will taper off.

In short, the LC looked for trouble where there is none.

[@llli*maddieb]

pre and post nursing 'weight checks' are a very specific (and tricky) diagnosis tool for when a baby is not gaining well or for any other reason poor milk transfer at the breast is suspected. IMO these should never be done just for kicks on healthy gaining babies at breastfeeding support meetings, nor should any conclusions leading to feeding changes be made based on these weight checks alone. Think about it. You are being told to withold food from your one month old? That sounds like very odd advice.

It is normal and healthy for baby to nurse for comfort at the breast, even if that means baby gets more milk. Breasts ARE pacifiers. The best kind.

It sounds as if you have a healthy baby and are doing great.

[@llli*mvh234]

Thank you all for your reassurances. I couldn't imagine not feeding my 1 month old when hungry.

You would think I'd have this figured with baby number 2 but there Are always questions. Thank you!

[@llli*maddieb]

Oh you never figure it all out! That's what my mil told me and she had 10!