[JustLiz]

Hi Ladies,

Sorry I haven't posted here consistently. My name is Liz and my first baby Desmond is 2 months old. I am committed to EBF as long as possible for health reasons (diabetes runs very strongly in both my family and DH's family and I have heard that formula can increase the risk). Everything seems to be going ok, but I'm starting to worry about his size.

Des was 8 lbs, 4 oz at birth. He latched on immediately and never had trouble eating. He has been gaining about a pound a week ever since. The last time I weighed him he was 15 lbs at 7 weeks old. He will have his 2 month appointment on Friday, so I'll see what his official weight is then. He is in about the 75th percentile for length. At first I was happy that he was growing so well, but honestly now it's starting to freak me out a little. He eats every 1-2 hours during the day, and has recently gone back to eating every 2 to 2.5 hours over night. He is a very efficient eater and can drain my breasts or a pumped 4 oz bottle in about 5 minutes flat. He doesn't hang on the breast and is back to playing immediately when he's done. He also refuses the second breast if he's not hungry, so I don't think he's just hanging on for comfort/boredom. At night he can wake up to eat at 2:00 am and if he doesn't have a leaky diaper to change, we both can be back to sleep by 2:15.

It takes me all night and day to pump one bottle for DH to feed him in the evening because it's so hard for me to get a chance to pump between his eating and active time, plus feeding myself! I am also pretty tired from getting up all the time at night. Books I have read say that by the time they reach this size, they should be going longer overnight, but he still always seems to be hungry! I also keep reading that you should feed them more during the day so that they eat less at night, but I don't see how that is possible and/or good for him since he clearly is getting more than enough!

Anyone else experience this? If this is normal, then I will just bear with it, but I'm a little worried.

[mgm78]

i have two friends who have ginormous ebf babies. my one friend's DS was bigger than DD at her 1yr bday party and he was 3 months old. i think some babies are just big and others, like my DD are just small. Bobbie who posts on here should chime in she has a large EBF baby who is just the cutest thing on earth with his rolls and chub.

[starrsgirl]

Can I ask, do you need to pump? It was VERY hard for me to ever pump enough between all the feedings for a bottle. I could only pump enough milk when LO skipped a feeding (when i was at work.) I bet if you dropped the pumpings, it wouldn't feel quite so bad.

Also, I've read heard that EBF babies are often big for the first 3 months or so and then start to even out. Maybe someone else will chime in about this?

It seems (to me) that he is eating at a pretty regular/normal schedule. My LO started to spread his feedings out a little bit after 3 months. Also, even though he is heavy, he's not very old so I think the waking up through the night at this point is still also normal.

My EBF baby has been off the charts for weight since his first weigh-in. Like your LO, at 7 weeks he was over 15lbs. At 6 1/2 months he was 24lbs 12oz. His rate of growth has not really slowed down at all.

People are amazed at how efficient he is at nursing. It would seem like he is not on the boob long enough to get a lot of milk but his weight gain and his temperment (he's very content) prove otherwise. He does still wake up to nurse (sometimes once or twice a night, sometimes not at all) and he does a full nursing each time so I know it is not just for comfort.

All this to say, you are not alone!

[QueenCrafty]

I wouldn't worry. It's pretty hard to overfeed an EBF baby. Weight has nothing to do with sleeping at night. Some children sleep better at night than others. When he is ready to stop nursing at night, it will happen. Have you thought about co-sleeping?

My first has always been average and even on the small side for weight. At 10 weeks old she was down to just nursing once at night. At 4 months, she stopped waking up at night and has always been an awesome sleeper. My second was average at birth (7.5 lbs) but quickly gained. At 6 months she was around the 90th % for weight. There has not been a night in the last year where she has not eaten. She still nurses every three hours during the day despite eating full meals. At night she nurses at least twice.

[L-SBB]

yeah try not to worry....Savannah started off at 7lbs 14oz when born and dropped a lot of weight right after birth (nothing serious/permanent) and was down to 25% in weight at her 2 week appt BUT then she started packing the weight on. At the peak of it, she was between 95-97% in weight (around 8 weeks old) but eventually settled in around 90% (and sometimes dips down into the 80s%). And even when the pedi said she was at a weight that she *should* be able to sleep through the night she didn't (and still mostly doesn't) and would have repeated feedings (2-3x) every night throughout the 1st year. Even now at 17 months, she still generally wakes up at least once to BF, and sometimes twice.

I worried quite a but about the weight gain for the first 12 months or so, but pedi finally told me to stop worrying at her 15 month appt b/c her ratio of height to weight was perfectly normal. It's sometimes easy to worry when baby is in those upper % brackets, but as long as they're healthy and doing all the normal milestones everything is probably fine. I'll worry if/when the pedi ever really grows concerned about her weight.

Fair warning too that you'll soon hit that 10-12 week growth spurt - and at least for Savannah it was rough and she was starving & feeding like she was a newborn for several days.

Oh and to Liz's (starrsgirl) point, my pedi said that exact thing - that generally BF babies outpace formula fed babies for first 6 months (both in weight & height) but then it generally reverses in the 2nd 6 months and formula fed outpace BF...and i guess around a year they've evened up and growth rate isn't appreciably different (maybe b/c by then most are eating solids?). I think a couple people have commented previously in here that they should have BF baby growth charts b/c the differences can be fairly significant in the first few months...

Anyway good luck, try not to worry (hard i know) and KUP on how you & he are doing!

[JustLiz]

Thanks everyone! It's good to hear all your stories and know I am not alone.

Originally Posted by starrsgirl

Can I ask, do you need to pump? It was VERY hard for me to ever pump enough between all the feedings for a bottle. I could only pump enough milk when LO skipped a feeding (when i was at work.) I bet if you dropped the pumpings, it wouldn't feel quite so bad.

Yeah, DH kind of convinced me to do it because he felt bad that he couldn't help out. I think most days it's probably worth it, because I can feed him at 8, go right to sleep immediately, and then DH does the 10 o'clock feeding and I get a break until 12, and can sleep for at least 4 hours. Of course, then I don't get to talk to DH at all in the evening. Some days the stress is not worth it though. I am constantly worrying about getting enough out, but leaving enough for him to eat during the day, because if my milk doesn't come in right away he gets frustrated.

Originally Posted by starrsgirl

It seems (to me) that he is eating at a pretty regular/normal schedule. My LO started to spread his feedings out a little bit after 3 months. Also, even though he is heavy, he's not very old so I think the waking up through the night at this point is still also normal.

Yeah, it's easy to forget how young he is, because he looks so big!

Originally Posted by Canadianne

My EBF baby has been off the charts for weight since his first weigh-in. Like your LO, at 7 weeks he was over 15lbs. At 6 1/2 months he was 24lbs 12oz. His rate of growth has not really slowed down at all.

All this to say, you are not alone!

He's adorable! It's hard to keep up with the clothes, carseats, etc. that they outgrow so fast, right?!

[JustLiz]

Originally Posted by QueenCrafty

Have you thought about co-sleeping?

Ha ha...yeah, we did that for a while but he is a really loud sleeper - grunts, squeaks and snorts all night. Doesn't seem to bother him, but we couldn't sleep at all, so we moved him to the nursery at 4 weeks. I missed him, but he didn't seem to mind.

Thanks everyone. I think I just needed to vent a little. Didn't get much sleep last night.

[mgm78]

my DD woke up 6-8 times a night until about 18 months. trust me, i know how hard it is and it does put a strain on my relationship with DH when I crash in bed with DD every night at 8:30! LOL.

Babies stop making all those grunting sounds after a while, you may want to reevaluate cosleeping in the future if things continue to be difficult at night.

[lunarmagic]

Nursing constantly is totally normal. I too have heard that they "should" be able to sleep through the night by a certain weight but I have yet to meet a baby that has read that book. Especially if your baby is larger earlier, they're still so tiny! He's growing at a fast pace so it would make sense that he still needs frequent feedings.

My 11 month old still eats every 3-4 hours overnight. She was the same about feeding.... up until 7 months old she ate every 2 hours during the day, about every 3 at night. And she's an efficient nurser too, was always done within 5 minutes. And Kate has always been around the 20th percentile. Just goes to show, they have their own rate of growth that's hardwired into them.

As long as he is healthy, gaining weight (hehe), and is a happy baby then you're doing everything right. EBF babies eat when and how much they want to, and they're very good at regulating themselves. Some babies are just bigger than others!

[*Bobbie*]

Daniel has been off the charts for a LOOOONNNNGGG time

I will have to look up all his stats. I haven't written them down anywhere. this totally reminded me I need to get on that. LOL

Right now he is 7 month and 25lbs 8oz. At 6 months he was 25lbs even.

He used to sleep through the night for a few months but since the 4 month sleep regression most babies experience he now wakes up every 2-3 hours at night. It's TOTALLY normal (but tiring).

I think that hardest part about having a ginormous baby (besides the sore back and arms) is the people who act like you are doing something wrong Luckily there don't seem to be too many out there but I have had a few "what is your pediatritiondoing about his size" comments. Um nothing! lol there is nothing wrong with a big baby.

I will look up the stats for you. Oh and starting at 6 months Daniel was in size 18 months. You might want to buy bigger baby clothes!

If you want more advice the Sept 2010 PR has quite a few babies Daniel's size too! I *think* he slightly beat their stats though. They are all super friendly there

[JustLiz]

Thanks everyone. I needed this today. Sometimes people make it seem like if you feed them frequently overnight they will be waking up all night until they're 15 years old or something because of "bad habits." But I could NEVER try to put him back to sleep hungry. I don't think it would work, and it sounds like a very bad idea.

I went to a mom and baby exercise class this morning and the instructor was annoyed that he couldn't go the 2 hours without eating. She's mad at me because I won't bring a bottle with us. If they are not prepared to give moms a break to breastfeed, then they shouldn't accept babies his age!!

[mgm78]

Originally Posted by JustLiz

Thanks everyone. I needed this today. Sometimes people make it seem like if you feed them frequently overnight they will be waking up all night until they're 15 years old or something because of "bad habits." But I could NEVER try to put him back to sleep hungry. I don't think it would work, and it sounds like a very bad idea.

I went to a mom and baby exercise class this morning and the instructor was annoyed that he couldn't go the 2 hours without eating. She's mad at me because I won't bring a bottle with us. If they are not prepared to give moms a break to breastfeed, then they shouldn't accept babies his age!!

OMG! That is just terrible! TWO HOURS?????? We have been doing Mommy & Baby yoga since DD was 4 months old and now we are in preschool yoga. At the mommy & baby class, by 45 minutes, all the babies needed to nurse it seemed and often one mom would nursing before that. Now at the preschool yoga class, the kids all need a snack around 35-40 minutes (the class is 45 minutes long). I am the only one still bfing, but all the kids have their snacks and sippy cups. 2 hours without eating is tough and I cannot believe this is the first time anyone has ever had to feed a baby during the class!!!!

As far as having people make comments, TRUST ME! having a very small baby, I hear comments all the time. Less now, but definitely have heard my fair share. At a year when DD was only 15lbs, it was tough when people questioned it, and even now, she is about 21 lbs at 23 months. BUT as our Dr points out, she is growing and her growth chart mimics the regular growth chart, she just is not on it. But anyone who knows DD knows she is fine and surpasses milestones.

My one friend had a very very big and pudgy newborn and now, at 18 months, she has totally thinned out and gained very little weight from 9-18 months.

[*~Jen~*]

My babies have all 3 been on the bigger side when they're EBF'd. My oldest was 15 lbs. 8 oz. at 2 months. My other 2 haven't quite been that big, but 90-95th % for the most part. Interestingly enough, my boys are now (at 3 and 5) in the 25th% for weight. So it wasn't really their genetics. It was my milk! I think some women just for whatever reason make higher calorie breast milk than others. Or, at least that's my theory as to why my kids are such chubby babies and then thin out!!

[JustLiz]

Originally Posted by mgm78

. 2 hours without eating is tough and I cannot believe this is the first time anyone has ever had to feed a baby during the class!!!!

Yeah, this is not a big BFing group. Most of the babies are on formula, so the instructor just gives them their bottles when they get fussy, and the one other breastfed baby is older and his mom has a good stash of pumped milk that she brings, so I am the only one that has to stop to BF. There is only one class left, thank goodness. I wouldn't have signed up if I had known. I thought it would be a more supportive environment!

Ha ha...Des slept 5 hours last night. Just when I was about to pull my hair out! Isn't that always the way?

[lunarmagic]

Annoyed with you, WTH?!?! Even now Kate gets insecure and needs to nurse, for certain within 2 hours. Why the heck does it make a difference if you feed a bottle or nurse? I'm astounded by that. Some baby-friendly class, ugh.

Congrats on the 5 hours!! And I hear ya on the comments about sleeping. It's so frustrating. Granted Kate has some bad associations we're working hard with her to re-teach her (her "lovie" is in fact ME so she needs to at the very least hold my hand to fall asleep.. and every time she wakes up she needs my hand back!).... but for those first few months? Your goal is to get everyone some sleep, however you manage it. You can worry about habits later.