Is My 3Mo Old Eating Too Much?

I would think she is fine- though it is not recommended to start them on solids until 4 months at the earliest. I would talk to the pediatrician. I would definitely say feed her when she wants to eat, and let her eat as much as she wants. At this age babies will not over eat. The only way to "over feed" a baby is by putting cereal in their bottles!

Hi-

I have been told that children, in general, have an uncanny ability to regulate their food intake. So many adults are overweight because we have at some point stopped listening to our bodies.

As others said, I would take my cue from the growth charts, the peditrician's opinion, but also my own gut instinct.

It could just be a growth spurt.

Good luck!
Jenn

Feed her when she is hungry. She is so young and obviously not being satisfied with what you are giving her. You will not make her overweight by feeding her when she is hungry. When my baby was 3 months, I had to feed her 4 oz. every hour. She was 49% in weight so she was perfectly average...she just wasn't satisfied unless I feed her very often. She is now 7 months and still 49% in weight...and she has cut back on the amount that she eats. Good luck and good health.
W.

Do you think it could possibly be a growth spurt? Both of my boys were big eaters. They were drinking 60-80 oz a day from 1 month until they started solids at 6 months.

I have a 4 month old and since she was 3 months, she has been drinking 6 ounce bottles of breastmilk during the day and a 6 ounce bottle of formula before bed. The day she turned 4 months, I started her on one tbsp of rice cereal, mixed with breastmilk before her bath at night. Her dr. just told me yesterday to up the rice cereal to twice a day and to start fruits and veggies in a couple weeks. I thought babies were supposed to turn away once they were full, but my little girl will just keep sucking away until I remove her. She is also a spitter upper, so you are lucky yours is not! I think you are fine if she is not spitting any up. At her 4 month check up, see if her weight is average and her pediatrician may have some input as well.

My Ped told me with both my girls ( now 1 and 3) not to even start rice cereal until 4-6 months of age and to never put it in their bottle.

I would suggest giving your pediatricians office a call and tell them your concerns and see what they say. Let us know!

Hi K.,

It sounds like she's doing really well. My younger son would eat when he had a bubble and needed to be burped. Sometimes, they feel the gas pain and think they're still hungry. My older son was easy to burp, my younger one was a real challenge. If you're sure she's hungry, feed her. If you think it couldn't possibly be hunger, try burping her again. It worked for me!

Good luck!!

My 2 cents worth worked for all 3 of my kids. For every other feeding I would give them ....now I'm not sure how to spell this but it sounds like....Pablum?! In 4-6 ounces of formula or breast milk, whatever your fancy add just enough rice and applesauce to make the mixture slighty thick but thin enough to go through a fast flow nipple and just make sure she doesn't choke. It was a miracle for us and make sure if you try it you give it to her before bed and you will get alot more rest!!

At that age my son was eating between 4-6 oz every 1.5 - 2 hours. He's always been very big for his age. He was actually off the chart until @ 9 months! He too seemed hungry all the time, but looking back I think I may have been getting his cries mixed up...

Wow, your 3 month old is eating solids already! We didn't even attempt rice cereal until after 4 months and it was just a little bit! I was too afraid of him developing allergies and such. I would talk to your pedi at your next visit.

first suggestion is dr harvey karp's "happiest baby on the block", it offers real encouragement for the first three months, or the "fourth trimester" as he calls it.
your daughter isn't going to eat more than she needs. it's a natural function; at her age she can't understand overeating. if she drinks too much, she'll spit up. my son is almost two now, and he went through spurts where he would eat upon no end, and others when he refused to eat. i've always related it to his growth spurts, which are a very real thing. he ate the same way when he was her age, but he was a big baby and is a big kid. i wouldn't worry so much about her appetite, rather more her lack of appetite should it arise and last for a while. i know it's silly to reference, but worry about it more when she gets older, some older children use it as a comforting habit, like those kids on maury (yes, i've turned on muary before). they're usually subjected to some kind of trauma and that is how they react, because food is always reliable and won't ever deny them love. i don't think you'll have that problem! let her eat, love her, and watch her grow healthy and strong :)

ALTHOUGH MOST PEDS. RECOMMEND THAT YOU DON'T START SOLIDS UNTIL LATER IN LIFE. I FOUND WITH BOTH OF MINE THAT I STARTED THEM ON CEREAL WHEN THEY WERE 2 WEEKS (YES, I SAID 2 WEEKS OLD)AND THEY BOTH SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT AT ONE MONTH!THEY HAVE GROWN INTO HEALTHY CHILDREN. MY OLDEST IS 7 AND MY YOUNGEST IS 4 AND NEITHER ARE OVERWEIGHT AND ACCORDING TO THE PEDS CHARTING THEY ARE NOT HEADING IN THAT DIRECTION. SO, I SAY THAT YOU DO WHAT YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH. YOU'RE THE MOTHER AND THIS CHILD CAME FROM YOUR BODY AND YOU CAN FEEL IT IF THEY NEED SOMETHING WHETHER IT BE FOOD, LOVE, A CLEAN DIAPER,ETC...GOOD LUCK AND MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU AND YOURS, T.

My doctor told me if my daughter takes it and doesnt spit it up, then shes hungry and if shes hungry feed her. My three month old eats 6oz about every three hours. There has been times 6oz doesnt seem to satisfy her and she has drank 8oz. I have talked to other mothers with three month olds, and it seems that is about the norm. And that made me feel a lot better, because I too was worried I was feeding my daughter too much.

well is she overweight. If she is a healthy weight then go with it, but if she is tending toward that 80% of weight, you might want to cut back a bit. Maybe try to stretch it every 3-3 1/2 hours. But if she is not too heavy and her doctor thinks she is fine then I would just go with it. they eat more when they are growing and especially at those younger months they are growing a lot and will tend to eat more, that will probably change and move to more of a eating during growth spurts every couple months and then regular the rest of the time.