Am I Overfeeding My 4 Month Old????

I don't think it's possible to overfeed an infant...when they aren't hungry, they don't open their mouths anymore, or push the spoon away, etc...

Introducing healthy habits is great, but I really think that is for a little bit down the line...

My 1 year old (Ava!) eats like you can't believe...but when she's done, she's done...all her food ends up on the floor...she just clears her high chair tray with her little chubby arm!

I think it's great you're aware, but I wouldn't worry about it at 4 months, just my 2 cents!

J.

I am a mothe of an 18 month old, so speaking form a little experience at 4 months you can't overfeed. Kids have a way of not overeating at this time. They will stop when they are full, she is going through growth spurts and might need a little more food. Maybe your feeding is too far apart. Try every 3-4 hours. As long as you don't force her to eat she will not loose the sence of fullness. That gets disrupted once we force food on the kids (kids will not let them selves starve so some days they eat more some less and it's perfectley normal). Give her a bit more cerial, she will refuse it once she is full. Hope it helps.

Hi M.,

I understand your worry about overfeeding her given your family history, but there is also a danger about going overboard in the other direction - I know from experience. Food was love in my family, so I learned to use food to give myself love... I promised myself that for my son, food wold be food and, among other things, I'd never force him to eat more than he wanted. It wa perfect as long as he was a baby, but once he became older, he started to say "I'm full" when he actually didn't want anymore, but was still hungry, and a few minutes later he would ask for a sweet... I was so afraid that I would force him to eat more than he needed and hence develop unhealthy eating habits that it took me a while to catch on to what was happening, and now we've changed the way we do it, saying that if he isn't hungry anymore, he doesn't have anything else (dessert, cheese, anything.)

At 4 month old, your baby can't eat for emotional reasons. The only way she can overeat is if you force her to eat more than she wants (you may want to make sure that your babysitter doesn't coax your daughter to finish the bottle every time even when she doesn't really want to), or if there is a medical problem that makes her overeat. So if I were you, I would talk to the babysitter and make it very clear that you absolutely don't want her to push your baby to finish the bottle, feed her as much as she wants - but stop immediately when she starts to play with her food or push the spoon away, and start to worry only if her weight starts to shoot up.

Limiting how much she eats may actually be counter-productive, since she may develop a habit of eating everything she gets very fast because it might be taken from her, or she may not have enough, and you may end up creating exactly the problem you want to avoid.

The best way to teach her good eating habits is to eat healthily yourself (don't underestimate the power of imitation, and how good kids are at following our example vs. what we say), give her meals at regular intervals so that she doesn't develop a habit of grazing (but not yet, she's not yet at the stage where she'll ask for food if she's not hungry), not overfeed her when she's stopped being hungry, and present her only with healthy foods, with as little added sugar and processing as possible.

As for solid foods, I'm not sure you really want to do it. The reason pediatricians recommend not to start before 6 months old is that babies stomachs are not yet ready to handle food, and so the probability of digestion problems and/or food allergies become much more likely as babies, immediately or later down the road. If I were you, I would most definitely tell your pediatrician that you have started foods, and see what he or she says.

Hope it helps, and let us know how it goes.

you may not want to hear this, but for many many reasons you should not be giving her cereal yet. and one of them is that it has been linked to being overweight. what made you give her cereal so young? i think fruits and vegetables should def wait till she is older. solids in general are not to replace formula/breastmilk. she may have needed more of that instead of the solids, kwim? good luck
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html

I always fed my children until they refused food,

My oldest 12 years old was a pudgy tall baby

and is now Skinny and a freak when it comes to foods, he is very picky now

My 2 younger children are 2 and 3 years old,

My 2 year old eats and eats and eats.

and my 3 year old NEVER EATS.

My 2 year old is the size of the average 3 year old in height , head, and weight.

My 3 year old is just average all around.

Let her eat what she wants,

when she is older teacher healthy eating habits, and provide her with healthy food solutions like fruits and veggies.

this is how you teach your children healthy habits.

I would not be afraid to feed her if she is obviously hungry.

Guidlines are simply a guide as to how you COULD go, not how you MUST GO.

Every child is diffrent.

My eldest had ALL of his teeth at 4 months and could eat indepenently ( while monitored LOL)

And could WALK at 8 months

My middle ate at 6 months but never well.
he loved to nurse or drink a bottle.
And could walk at 10 months

My youngest started eating at 4 months,
and could NOT even roll over at 8 months,
I had to get a therapist in and he was walking by 12 months.

I never set a time line, I let my kids set their own pace.

trust me you'll realize your kids make the rules up as they go along, you can have as many plans and Ideas as you want,
some of them work out, and others don't
Be flexible, and give your child what she needs and wants, Not WHAT YOU WANT HER to need and WANT--

Good luck Mom

M

M.,

I breast fed my children and returned to work when my son was 3 months so I have been through this. I was fortunate enough to be able to produce enough for him with the pump, but always kept formula around should the need arise. I reread a chart my pediatrician gave us and the pediatrician's chart suggests rice/barley cereal at 4 mos, veggies at 5 (except beets, carrots, green beans and spinach until 6 mos), and fruits at 6 mos. (adding oatmeal and increasing veggies to 2 servings).
Keep in mind that growth spurts occur around 3, 6, 9 and 12 months so she may be eating more due to that.

You have to make the choice you feel best for your child. I provided my day care center with 7 bottles filled w/4 ounces each, (as he grew I increased the amount to 6/8). This way if he wasn't as hungry at one feeding it wasn't a big deal and if he really wanted more they could give it to him easily.

I have always fed my children until they lost interest in feeding, and my son certainly would keep eating at that age, he seemed like a bottomless pit! It does take a bit of time for the two of you to figure things out, but you'll get there!

Good Luck

I have a 2 1/2 yo and a 12 mo old. With both of them, I started cereal around 4 months old (ped. suggested). If either wanted more, I fed them more, to a point. I wouldn't just feed cereal w/friuts or veggies, but a second helping was no problem. Kids will let you know when they are done...mine always turned their heads away if they didn't want any more cereal, but would readily take the bottle.

For a number of reasons, my 2yo was formula fed after 6 weeks. My 12mo was breastfed for 3 times as long and I definately noticed that she wanted more, more often.

At this point the solids are really for practice. They still get the vast majority of their nutritinal needs from breast milk or formula. Have you talked to your Ped? If you are overly concerened, I would discuss it with your Dr. He/She may be able to give you some advice/recommendations.

Just a little addition to your request. My dgtr at 4 mos ate 4 8oz bottles (formula - she would NOT breast feed!!). And I had just started cereal and fed her whatever she wanted as far as amount of cereal. She was in the 90% in weight - was CHUBBY!!! Me Ped told me she didn't exactly need to eat that much b/c overweight babies tend to be overweight adults. I was the same as an infant and am 5'5" and 112lbs - I said, "I'm not worried". She eats well, is content during the day, and sleeps all night long - I'm not messing with this! Of course sometimes she would keep opening her mouth to the point it was a ridiculous amount of food and I'd curb it for the night. But I agree with another response or two that you can't overfeed a 4 mo old - they know when they are done. Besides - that used to be the way - feed when they're hungry, change them when they're dirty and don't pay attention to what goes in or out. My mother thought I was crazy for watching diapers and ozs so obsessively!!! You and your baby know each other best - no rule fits all (even your LC's!!!!)

I also have a 4 month old, and reading books like "Your baby's first year, week to week" has helped both my husband and myself with this same topic. She should be drinking 6-7 oz bottles and at least two of them would be with cereal. Yes 1-2 tablespoons of cereal, rice. We give our daughter 1 cereal in morning when she wakes and 1 cereal at night before bed(which I think helps her sleep through the night).
Alot of folks will give u advice,"I've raised 45 kids , I know what I'm talking about advice". You smile say thank you but ultimately this is your child, by 6 months cereal might be in every bottle and you will introduce fruits and veggies.
My inlaws pulled a fast one on my daughter when she was 3 months and gave her barley cereal and rasperies in her bottle for 2-3 feedings one day I left her with them. Needless to say I was furious, my child was constipated for two days and I had to stay home from work. Remember advice is just that advice, consult your doctor and read books as references they help.

Hi M.,

It sounds like you're feeding your baby too much. Like your doctor said, baby doesn't really need solid food until 6 month. If you are comming from family with many overweight people, there might be some problem with your diet. And it runs in your family, it is not easy to change. How about you keep log for your baby for a while so you know how much and what you're feeding. Then you can show it to your doctor. It's better you don't ignore the issue because if you overfeed your baby and she became overweight in early age, it's very difficult to change that. Also it's important you take close look at your own diet. When you go shopping, watch what you're putting in your shopping cart. Basically, when your diet improve, everybody in your family will improve their diet.

I have to agree that you are feeding her too much,especially fruits and vegetables.You should be trying one food every 4-5 days,and watch for signs of allergies.She has a greater chance of developing food allergies,by starting solids too early.I personally wouldn't suggest starting solids so early,but since you have and she is loving it,I would just stick to rice cereal for a month or so,and introduce a new cereal maybe at 5 months.The sad look could be,just because you are walking away.It might be just that she really loves that time with you.I am not suggesting you ignore the rest of the day,LOL,but try playing and being active with her.Get down on the floor,go for a walk,or put in a carrier of some type while you do housework and talk to her.

she is probably going through a growth spurt. when my son had his he ate like a madman. i suggest you give her what she wants because it is her body telling her what she needs. if she does not cry for more food then you may make the call if she really needs more or not. at this age they need to eat and don't know enough to overeat. when they have had enough they turn their head away or hit the spoon. they give sure signals when they are full. with cereal they say you can go up to 4 tablespoons in one feeding and 4 tablespoons of fruit or veg with it. if she wants it all then give it to her, she will slow down and learn to eat right as she gets older and as you show her good and healthy eating habits. for right now her body is growing so fast she needs the nutrients to keep up!

Hi M.
8 oz of formula for a 4 month old really isnt a huge amount - my 4 month old daughter eats approx 8 oz of food per feeding. And yes, our pediatrician suggested we give rice cereal now (he talked to us about it at her 4-month visit a few weeks ago). When I asked him how much she should eat, he basically said to stick to whatever guidelines she is used to (for example, if she is used to eating 8 oz of formula, and she eats 2 oz of baby food, then feed her 6 oz of formula), etc. to equal the 8 oz she is used to getting. PLus, breastmilk is thinner than formula so she may want more than is offered. I dont know how much rice cereal I give her in the morning, but I know its enough to mix with about 2-3 oz of formula so it is not runny, but soft with some consistency (I just eyeball it), then I feed her the remainder of formula (about 5 oz or so). For what its worth, when she is done eating, she is DONE... will pull the bottle out of her mouth, cry, etc so dont worry about a baby overeating - she'll let you know when she has had enough.

hi!
i am a mother of three and this is my advise: at 4 month you can not overfeed your child! that is if you give her the right foods! i actually never gave my kids cereal! it is a filler and might just constipate your child. i think solids should be introduced at 5 month. even if you start earlier the nutrition your child needs comes not so much from solids yet, it is from your milk or formula. my youngest drank 4-5 oz of breast milk per feeding every 2-3 hours at age 1.5 month! let her drink as much as she wants!!! if you worried about weight issues make sure you give her healthy foods. again i would skip the cereal. my kids ate and drank like crazy, and they were quite chunky.bu by the time they started moving, crawling running ... they dropped all their chunkiness and are now lean and just perfect! children will eat as much as they need. agin liquid id more important than solids!
good luck!
N.

Hi Eva,
It sounds like you do not need to worry about your baby starving. She is clearly not going hungry. I agree that giving your 4 month old cereal, fruits & veggie is probaly not a good idea. The reason is because her digestive system is delicate and giving her these now might cause problems, either now or for the future. Look into it for yourself.
Relax and let her drink breast milk (ideal food) and then formula until she seems done. Its important to be aware of what you may be projecting onto your baby regarding food.
Good luck
N.