Overfeeding baby?

Question

Is it possible to overfeed a baby? My daughter is 4 weeks old, born 4 weeks early. She is exclusively formula fed and eats on average 19-21oz a day. Is this too much? Sometimes she cluster feeds small amounts as well. Is this normal? She weighs 8 pounds, up from 5 pounds at birth.

Answer

If baby is hungry, feed baby. 
There isnt a magic number for all babies. Unless they are spitting up their whole feed, they are fine

Answer

Perfectly normal, that what my lo ate at 3 weeks. Now shes 2 months and eats 40oz a day

Answer

I was told by several professionals (midwife etc.) That you can't overfeed a baby, you can force them to eat if you ignore their cues to stop feeding (ie. Pushing the teat away with their younger) but you can't over feed them. Yes they will sick and swallow as this is all the know but once they hit the full mark they will vomit, not just reflux and a bit of spit up but actually vomit up majority of the feed. Babies cannot keep down more food then they are capable of.

Answer

A newborn baby's most natural reflex is to suckle for comfort. Its the only soothing method they know. It is because of this natural reflex that it is possible to over feed a baby. As a ftm I was overfeeding my lo by misinterpreting why she was crying. And since it was in her nature to suckle when she was tired, cranky or gassy I just kept giving her bottle after bottle. She never threw up but just kept getting gassier and gassier and crankier. I'm really glad I had nurse home visits because she told me I was feeding her too much. My baby was 3 weeks old drinking 5 oz every 1-2 hrs and because she was cranky and gassy she wasn't taking any naps during the day. The nurse told me to pan out her feedings to every 3 hours at least and she introduced me to velcro swaddles. My lo was so much happier.. Not overfed or gassy and overtired. She started napping during the day and was less gassier. She's now 6 months old eating 27-32oz a day and weighs 22lbs.

Answer

There’s a very general guideline some sources use of 2.5oz per pound of body weight per day. So 8x2.5=20.. seems pretty spot on.

Overfeeding baby?

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