Can formula fed babies become overweight ?

[Mellymoo]

Hi
My 9 week old is totally bottle fed. She was 4.37kg when born.
She has 6-7 bottles each day at about 140ml each.
Her 6 week checkup - pediatrician said to cut back some of her milk because she was starting to put on a bit too much weight.
I took about 20ml out of each bottle, but I have never forced her to drink and always give her water when she is unsettled. She polishes off each bottle.
When do I start increasing the volume again ? I never thought my child would be considered as 'overweight'.
Have any of you had the same problem ? I am starting to gradually put some of the 20ml back into each bottle because she seems really hungry and if I don't give her the 140ml, she wanst her next feed a lot sooner and is generally very unsettled. It's either I feed her or listen to her scream !
Are you / have you been in the same boat ?

[FourAngelKisses]

I don't think they can overeat. If they don't want it, they will refuse to take the bottle. Just out of curiosity, what did she weigh at her 6wk checkup??

As long as her head circumference, length and weight are all on the same percentile, there is nothing to worry about.

If she is hungry, feed her.

[EskimoMumma]

Agreed- Exactly what she said, and im sure your going to get sick to death of hearing this, but every baby is different!

Take my two girls, DD1 was 10lbs 8ozs at birth, she is now 17.5months old and weighs just under 14kilos. She is tall, she is alert, happy and is very solid. Take DD2, she is 3 months old now, was 7lbs 9ozs at birth and refuses to drink more then 150mls every 3hours. I could try and try and get 200mls into her, have her wait 4hours, but nope wont work. Obviously DD1 will always be beautifuly solid and DD2 will be petite and tall(she is soo long)

Sure sounds like our DD's are the same. Some chlidren are like that, a friend of mine second daughter is alot like mine, never been a big drinker, 6-7bottles sound about the same as my own DD2 and she is nowhere near overweight. Once solids have started they will feel fuller eventually, not straight away though so do not stress, your doing a fantastic job by the sounds of it :yelclap:

[MummyCharmzy]

I don't think so! My DD2 was the opposite, she was gaining too much from breastmilk. For 4 weeks straight she gained almost 600grams a week on breastmilk.. I was told I was 'overfeeding' her. When we did switch to formula her weight gain dropped down to 200grams a week .. does that mean I was starving her?? lol

Thats nonsense! Sounds like a healthy bubby to me, and better to gain more weight than not enough.. I still have that issue with my son who is 4.5 now, fast metabolism and born premmie hes on a highfat diet from his paed and was just on 14kg last weigh in but is about to go back for another check as we're concerned hes lost some weight again!

[FourAngelKisses]

I don't think so! My DD2 was the opposite, she was gaining too much from breastmilk. For 4 weeks straight she gained almost 600grams a week on breastmilk.

My sister breastfed/feeds both her kids and they are both porkers, but my kids, all bottlefed, have looked average. Except for Jacob, who was 11lb and birth and never lost his solidness.




For the next checkup, I'd be going to the ECHN or a GP.....give the pediatrition the flick!!

[Tabby]

Ive not been in the same boat but personally if I was I would give her whatever amount she wanted. Babys wont take what they dont want/need, so obviously shes hungry and needs it.
I personally think its absurd to cut back on a 9 week old and if was my paed I wouldnt be going back. DS1 was a hungry bub and a chubba but he soon burned it off once he got mobile.

[Ffrenchknickers]

:banghead: to doctors who feel the need to control every aspect of child rearing

:smiliedance: to mothers and babies natural instincts.

[daytime-tv-addict]

How ridiculous of that doctor to tell you to "cut back"! At 9 weeks of age your baby will drink as much as they require and if that is 140ml, so be it. Just for the record, my son is 6 weeks old and breastfed and we calculated by his weight increase that he is drinking approx 140-180ml, so I wouldn't worry too much! Also, my daughter was formula fed and everyone used to say when she was younger, "watch out for her weight!", but now she is 13 months old and is perfectly average in weight. Once your daughter starts crawling and walking their baby fat drops away.

[Mellymoo]

Thanks girls for your comments !

To answer one of the other girls, at her 6 week checkup (she was almost 7 weeks then) she was 6.31kg, 61.5cm long and HC was 39.5cm. Her weight and length usually seem to be around the 97-98th percentile, and her HC seems to be always around the 94-95th percentile.
I measure her today (at 9 weeks) and her length is 62cm and her HC is 41cm. Don't have any scales so cannot weigh her.
The fact that her HC and length/weight differs by a few percentiles - is that any reason for concern ? I wouldn't have thought so ?

[jbie]

babies' growth rates seldom follow the charts exactly; one day they'll be ahead, the next behind. i wouldn't worry as long as her feeds are nutritionally balanced, and she's playing lots physically. she's still a very young baby, so go with your instincts

[SamanthaJane]

I remember at one stage, Charlotte was having 5 x 200ml feeds a day. Which was wayyy to much for a baby her age according to the health nurse. But when i tried to lessen the amount she would just cry and cry and i could tell she was still hungry. So i just gave her what she needed :)

She'd had a major growth spurt during those few weeks, obviously she just needed some extra milk to help her along! Soon enough she dropped back to her usual amount.

Charlotte is still a heavy baby for her age, but she's also off the height chart for her age, so it's all still in proportion IYKWIM? Once babies start moving around more they lose that "baby fat". My little nephew looks so different to the big baby he used to be because he crawls all over the place now.

[SassyMummy]

DD was born 4.67kg, so quite hefty... and from about 9 weeks onwards she was fully bottle-fed.

At her 6 month check-up, the doctor told me that if she put on any more than 2kg by the time she reached 1, then we'd have to "put her on a diet."

What utter rubbish.

Babies, particularly those under 6 months, don't do much to exercise, and they only eat what they want to eat. You can't FORCE a baby to drink excess milk. They drink what they need to drink.

DD is still hefty, but she's slimming down a fair bit. She hasn't grown much for several months (she's 21 months now)...

I always figure bigger babies are going to end up bigger babies... so no use worrying over how heavy they are.

Big CHILDREN are indication of problem, but not babies or toddlers IMO (unless they're REALLY REALLY overweight...lol).

[Sheer Bliss]

I hate to disagree here....but some babies like to suck, and if they have a bottle shoved in their mouth every time they have the suckling instinct - they probably can be overfed & then become overweight. But it sounds like you are not doing anything like that - so chances are you have nothing to worry about.

If your baby looks like a mini sumo wrestler and is having more than the recomended amount of formula, then you might have a weight issue - but if your bubs is just a little chubby and seems to be having close to the recomended amount of milk, is settled etc - the pead is probably worrying you for nothing.

[*Sparkles*]

Thanks girls for your comments !

To answer one of the other girls, at her 6 week checkup (she was almost 7 weeks then) she was 6.31kg, 61.5cm long and HC was 39.5cm. Her weight and length usually seem to be around the 97-98th percentile, and her HC seems to be always around the 94-95th percentile.
I measure her today (at 9 weeks) and her length is 62cm and her HC is 41cm. Don't have any scales so cannot weigh her.
The fact that her HC and length/weight differs by a few percentiles - is that any reason for concern ? I wouldn't have thought so ?

It just sounds like your bub is bigger all round for her age. My bub is 15 weeks, he weighs just under 7kgs and is about the same length as yours. Mind you, he was only 6lbs 13oz at birth and didn't gain any weight until he went on the bottle at 4 weeks old.

I think everything will balance out so don't worry too much.

[Wilby]

My DD was in the 95th percentile for weight and height for the first 12 months. She is turning 4 now and is a tall skinny thing!!

[jbie]

I hate to disagree here....but some babies like to suck, and if they have a bottle shoved in their mouth every time they have the suckling instinct - they probably can be overfed & then become overweight. But it sounds like you are not doing anything like that - so chances are you have nothing to worry about.
actually i don't know if all babies are like this, but when my baby just wants to suck, he'll keep pulling off the nipple and fussing as long as milk keeps coming out. we have to give him a dummy or a finger eventually to calm him.

[FourAngelKisses]

Yep, Troy is a sucker (:laughing:) too. He wants to suck anything and everything, except a bottle. He will only take a bottle when hungry, if you try when he isn't hungry, he will push it out and then be all mouthy and whingy until you give him a finger or dummy to suck on instead.

[Mellymoo]

Thanks again girls

I'm always conscious of how much she is drinking, to the point I think I've become obsessive about it to some degree.

The paed wants me to take her back when she's about 4 months old for another checkup - not sure if I should bother or not ?

No, she doesn't look like a mini sumo wrestler, she looks like a chubby baby, but not obesely chubby if that makes sense.

I compared all her measurements to my first daughter and she is definitely heavier than my first daughter, but she's also longer as well.

I'm also conscious of the fact that I do not want ot put her on solids too early, in case that makes her become even more heavier.

I feel like a bad Mum.

Yet, on the other hand, I don't want to hear my daughter screaming blue murder if water and everything else is not working, so from this I conclude she must be hungry.

I do try to resettle her first with the dummy. If that doesn't work, I try rocking her or patting her etc . If that doesn't work, I try water. Then if none of that works, I know she must be hungry so give her a bottle.

She is on 6 bottles a day now, each at 140ml, totalling 840ml. I called thr CYH helpline and they said they look at the total milk consumed each 24 hours, rather than the amount of bottles.

On the S26 tin, it says 2 month olds could be having 5 bottles, each at up to 180ml, which totals 900ml, so she is still under that.

Sorry, know I'm rambling, still feel as though I'm to blame somehow for her weight.

Thanks again