Is It Possible To Overfeed Your Baby?
A healthy baby is a well-nourished baby, so most parents would agree the best part of it is those adorable chubby thighs. With a growing rate of childhood obesity, it makes sense to emphasize nutrition from a young age. Can you overfeed a newborn and will this cause you to be concerned about how much to feed them? Here’s the news that you need to know.
What Causes a Baby to Overeat?
In addition to human factors, emotional patterns foster overfeeding in newborns. They include:
Postpartum depression
Mothers who are experiencing depression have an increased possibility of overfeeding their children. It may be because they’re unable to supply for their children in any other way other than through the means of feeding. Mothers suffering from depression may also be more forgetful or have difficulty concentrating.
If you feel depressed, see your doctor for advice on getting treatment.
Economic hardship
Single mothers or women with difficulty are also more inclined to overfeed their infants by adding rice cereal to their milk bottles. It may make them extend the baby’s bottle longer to try and extend the duration of the formula intake or in an attempt to add more baby milk.
How often should my newborn be fed?
A healthy, full-term newborn needs to follow the cue-based routine and feeding schedule of 8 to 12 times for 24 hours or take 2 to 3 ounces of milk or formula every 3 to 4 hours. Warming your milk will also help fill up their stomachs. As your newborn gets older, you’ll give him more milk at each feeding and decrease the number of bottles you give him each day.
It is crucial not to forget that specific changes will apply to each newborn idiosyncratically. Don’t let them finish every feed — often your child won’t, which is fine, as long as they are hydrated and otherwise eating correctly.
Can you overfeed a baby?
Babies are pretty effective at regulating their food consumption, so they demand when they are hungry and stop when they are full. Nevertheless, nursing and bottle feeding serves as very different child-rearing methods, each with their own set of advantages and disadvantages.
A bored baby who’s being fed at the chest or breast learns to self-regulate, while a bottle may lead a baby to ingest more milk more quickly than they’re comfortable with. A bottle may also disillusion a baby that their thirst or hunger has been satisfied.
How do you know when your baby is full? What are the signs?
“Watch your baby’s responses before, during, and after being fed,” suggests Andrea Firmani, an infant feeding coordinator at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. Your infant may turn his head away from the breast or bottle or push the bottle away.
Bodily cues like fussing, squirming, or arching the back are generally a sign that your baby is uncomfortable or unhappy. Some symptoms to look out for are hands opening from a closed fist and eyes turning away from what they’re looking at instead of focusing on it.
What are the most common signs of overfeeding a baby?
How do you know as soon as your child is overfed? Watch out because some of these obvious signs are a frequent result:
- Gassiness or burping
- Vomiting after eating
- Frequent spit-up
- Gagging or choking
- Fussiness, irritability, or crying after meals
There is no need to get tense when you see your baby exhibiting these symptoms. They may not be familiar at first, but they are often seen in the early months of life. Spit-up, for example, is a regular occurrence, and babies don’t need to be overfed anymore than they already are. Are you worried about your child? Just track their behaviors over time and check in with your pediatrician first before making any significant changes to their diet.
When to See Your Doctor
When your baby was born, they were given a growth chart to measure their progress. It’s important not to compare your child’s growth against other children as everyone has their timeline. Just be sure that they are getting enough to eat and gain the right weight.
If you have any difficulty getting a baby to sleep or are unhappy after a feeding, see your physician so you can be further advised.
As infants grow, recurring growth spurts cause them to experience increases in their bodies’ requirements during their first year. If you notice your baby does not eat all of their formula sufficiently and is increasing their weight unusually quickly, talk to your pediatrician.
Conclusion:
Overfeeding a newborn is typically not a problem for most babies. There are a few signs that you may be overfeeding your babies, such as weight gain that is too fast or excessive fussiness. If you are concerned that you may be overfeeding your baby, consult your pediatrician.
Sources:
https://www.articleinsider.com/how-to-warm-up-breast-milk/
https://elitebaby.us/blogs/news/best-formulas-for-newborns-breastfeeding
https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/can-you-overfeed-a-baby
