4 1/2 Month Old Eating Too Much?

Unlike adults and even older children, babies only eat if they are hungry. When she is full she stops, they do that because they don't come with a gauge. don't worry your doing great, if not your pediatrician would be coming after you with a very strict regiem.

jesica i5t sounds to me like your daughter is eating healthy, my babies were chubby too, they thin out when they start walking. usually when babies are full, they will stop openig their mouth or turn their head away, I could always tell when my babies had enough, Now that the weather is getting warmer her eating may lesson, don't wory, all three of mine ate less when it was really hot. Sounds like you are doing everything right. J.

My son is 10 mos old. Once he caught on to eating solid food, he ate much more than what I thought could ever fit into his belly... 10oz of solid food in one sitting.

She will tell you when she's had enough. Sometimes they just eat A LOT. They're usually going through a growth spurt, or may just have a high matabolism. Later she'll turn it around and seem not to eat anywhere near enough. When she starts crawling, she'll burn off most of that chubbiness.

One of the best things we Moms are good at is worrying. Try not to and just enjoy your little one. You're both learning together.

Blessings!!

Another resource you might check out is Child of Mine by Ellyn Sattler. It's all about feeding your kid through toddlerhood. It is a great book, and takes the worry out of feeding a little one. Enjoy your daughter!
C.

You are so bless to have such a great eater! Being a mother of 4, I have never been so lucky with having them eat that well. Your baby is just fine. In fact, that is the reason why she sleeps all night. The only thing I would suggest is that, you may want to consider giving her a little bit of water in her bottle. Water fills her up some more, is refreshing, it contains no sugar unlike juices, and it is all around good for them. My kids grew up liking water instead of juices or sodas for that matter! It worked for me. I hope I was helpful.
Have a wonderful day!

Sounds like you are doing fine! My daughter is a big eater too, she's almost 7 months and I've been giving her the 2nd stage baby food and she will eat the entire jar which is about 4oz. with water in her sippy cup. And I also give her puffs and nurse her afterwards.

As much as she eats, at 6-months, my daughter was 14lbs and 25 inches, she's on the smaller side but I'm also a petite person and my husband is six foot but she's healthy and growing.

You know your daughter best, when she's full, she will let you know.

Good luck!

Just feed the child!! My first one was a chubby baby (love those thighs!!) but really slimmed down when she crawled/walked. She was sick often (as all small kids are) and I think the extra fat layer helped. Now at six she is very skinny. My second was a skinny baby and I worried about her all the time!! I was afraid when she got sick, because she just looked so frail. Now at three, she is very svelt like my first one.

Hello J., I don't think your daughter is eating to much. At the same age as your daughter my daughter ate pretty much the same amount as your daughter. My daughter was as people told me that she was a chubby baby, but as she beause more mobile she thin out. I believe your feeling her right because your daughter is sleeping threw the night. My daughter is now 19 months old and 25 pounds and 33 inches tall and doing great.

I didn't start my baby on solids until 6 months. I think you are doing fine. Keep her on formula as much as possible. No rush for solid foods. She still need simple solids, I would switch to the #1 food. Her stomach is still very imature.
Good luck!

Hi J. --- it sounds a bit early to be starting solid foods to me -- usually the recommendation is to start when they show interest and have teeth and usually not before 6 months or so. I would not be pushing 3 square meals a day with such a young baby. Her food IS the formula, all the rest is just learning to eat for when her needs change toward 9 months to a year. I would give her food in between meals of formula (at whatever your normal bottle times would be) so that it is just a fun experience for her to try new things. She really does not need food so early. If she is taking in too much formula, you could also just give her a bottle of water now and then - she may be more thirsty than hungry sometimes -- that does happen with formula feeding.

Just as a comparison, I have a 4 month old son (my second, my older boy is 5) who weighs 12.5 lbs and was 8 12.5 at birth. He is primarily breastfed and we started supplementing him with 1-2 small (2-4 oz) bottles of formula a day when I went back to work about a month ago because I have never been good at pumping. He is very healthy and lean baby, so don't let them tell you all babies have to be chubby to be well. The other note, the old school rule is to double their birthweight in 6 months and triple it in a year. This rule may give you a good guideline if you are concerned as to where she should be. You know your baby better than anyone (including your pediatrician) and you will find the balance. I recommend (if you don't already have it) the Sears family book called THE BABY BOOK -- I know this seems like the only advice I ever give anyone, but it really will help with all of these questions --- including overfeeding/underfeeding/starting solids/etc. Hope this helps -- you sound like a great mom for a first timer! What a lucky baby girl you have. aloha JP

My big eater/chubby baby girl is now a slim 4 year old. Don't worry about it. They eat what they need and when they start walking they start to slim down.

Don't worry - actually, you should probably be thankful that she is a good eater. My son was a big eater and I worried, too. But don't b/c there will some days (especially these hot ones) where she won't eat nearly as much. Also, she is growing and learning so many new things that she is hungry. If she wasn't hungry, she wouldn't eat. And, once she starts crawling/walking/and eventually running, that chubbiness will go away (and I was sad when it did on my son!) and she will be a healthy little girl - who eats good.

J.,

If she's happy, healthy and growing, she's getting enough to eat. However, I personally think 4.5 months is really young to be on solid foods much less the huge amount she's getting a day. I would definitely not feed her enough to decrease the amount of formula she's getting. Solid foods are mainly for practice and experience at this age. Formula has about 20 calories per ounce and there is nothing in a babyfood jar that comes close to that so you don't want her filling up on solids.

T.

Remember she should still get most her nutrients from breast milk or formula through a year +. I always would offer the liquid first, then maybe wait a while, theno ffer the solids. You can't feed them too much, they know what they need.

Just remember that she will get the majority of her nutrients from formula, so adding solids is more of a treat than a requirement. She sounds like a healthy happy baby. Keep up the good work

Stop stressing. At this age, your DD will stop eating when she is satisfied. Infants can't overeat or be overweight. That's obvious as your daughter is now consuming less formula because you've supplemented/off set it with solids. I don't know how much formula you should be feeding, but I do know you started solids on the early side. It's acceptable, but early. However, the solids do sound like a lot at this age and I would check with your pediatrician to make sure she's getting enough formula, which I think is your true worry. You may need to change the proportion of formula vs solids.

try this...

http://www.babyzone.com/baby/feeding_nutrition/a2597

My ped always says to feed them till they are content, and spitting up is the measure of when you've given too much.

She'll stop when she's full; don't worry about it.

This book was a Godsend for us: "Super Baby Food" -- it told us what foods we could introduce at what month, talked about basic nutrition, gave us EASY EASY EASY tips on making our own baby food (we never bought a jar!), and gives good recipes for nutritional snacks.

The amounts sound very close to what my babies ate. If you want to be sure she is getting all the formula she needs, give her the bottle first, then give the solids after she finishes the bottle. Hope that helps!

Like your ped said, she'll let you know when she's had enough.
My first child was very chunky and loved to eat. My second child is just a skinny-minny and never eats very much; she eats when she's hungry while my first seems to just eat a lot more, but not to the point of gorging himself.

I wouldn't stress about it. She's obviously not eating due to stress or habit!

Good luck

The only thing I would change is how fast you are introducing her to new foods. Just to give her digestive system time to get used to new things. And also to keep an eye out for allergies to foods. We were told to start with a week of rice cereal mixed with formula. Then introduce Stage 1 foods one at a time for 4 days, then if no allergy reaction to start another and so forth. I think we started on Stage 2 and mixed foods around 6 months, Stage 3 around 9 months and then table food by 12 months. But he was a big eater, had 2 teeth at 4 months and almost all of his teeth by 12 months so he had the chompers to bite through everything.

Now with my daughter, she is 12 months and still has no teeth so we are moving a bit slower with her and are just now giving her table foods.

We started giving my son solids at the same age. He was a big eater too. And we were told that he would tell us when he was full. Not so in his case...he would just keep eating until we stopped feeding him no matter how full he was. My daughter will push your hand away when she is done eating.

But it looks like you are feeding her adequate amounts. As long as she doesn't seem hungry after a feeding, then you are doing good.

And as long as she is gaining weight and growing normally she is fine.

Have fun with this new stage in her life...and have fun changing the ultra stinky poopies that come with eating solid foods :D!

I am a mom of four, and I feel you are giving her WAY too much food! All she needs is formula.

Sounds like you are doing everything ok. My ped always told me when we introduced solids at first- 2 teaspoons of each-which I measured(how neurotic-LOL), but with my second I guessed and gave him just about as much and both my kids were chunky, but happy and healthy. And now to this day I do not have picky eaters-they will eat just about anything I prepare:) GOod Job! L.

That sounds like a lot of food to me, especially at under 6 mos. Most of her food should be breast milk or formula, and most pediatricians recommend waiting til 6 mos. to introduce solids to lessen the possibility of allergic reactions. I would discuss this with your pediatrician---make a list of exactly what you've fed her for one week and take it with you. Your doctor can see where your baby is on the height/weight charts, compare that to the quantity you're feeding her and has the expertise to tell you if she's eating too much food or not. And yes, you can over-feed your children and train them to eat too much, so it's good that you're concerned about it.

No. I would follow your doc's words and let her lead the way. You don't need to worry about a baby's weight (unless they are obese and your baby is not). If I were you, I would think about the origins of my worries. Is it about your child's welfare, or are you being influenced by our weight-obsessed culture? If you are, try to throw that out. When raising a girl in southern california, we moms have to be very careful to not project our own body image issues on to our daughters and to try hard to create a healthy attitude towards our body and their body. I've worked with so many adolescents with eating disorders and it's always connected to cultural pressures and family pressures. Start exercising acceptance and maintain your perception of your daughter being healthy and beautiful! :-)

Assuming she's healthy, she can't eat too much, or be "fat". This is one of their 3 jobs - I think you know what the other 2 are. If you're really concerned talk to your Dr.

Not for nothing, you might want to figure out why you're so preoccupied with your babies weight. If you find that this is your issue, please deal with it now. As she get's older your preoccupation will become very damaging to her.

Here are some links for info.:

http://www.drgreene.com/21_1474.html
http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/feed...
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2006062219572...
http://www.babycenter.com/400_i-understand-that-my-four-m...
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/howmuchbabyeat.htm

Ask you Pediatrician about the formula amount she should get in a day. All I know is, for the first year of life, a baby's primary source of nutrients is from breast/formula.

Many times, perhaps, give her formula before solids, instead of with solids.

Your daughter is a good feeder & sleeper, you are lucky! Read up on teething too, and growth spurts... these "phases" will be here before you know it! It can sometimes, "alter" the sleep and eating patterns of a baby.

You're doing great, what a thriving baby you have! :) Enjoy!

Just ask your Pediatrician to make extra sure.
Take care,
~Susan