Is he eating too much?

[HeavenLeigh]

E seems to be a bottomless pit. The new pedi put him on Zantac for reflux and wanted him started on solids. I went and bought him a bunch of baby food and he LOVES it. I mean LOVES it. He chomps it down like there's no tomorrow. He can eat a whole jar at a time. He doesn't spit up or act like he has a tummy ache afterwards and still drinks PLENTY of formula *he will eat a ton of food and still drink 4-6 oz every 3 hours*

A girl that I know from the hospital won't allow her baby sitter to feed her daughter *same age as E* more than two 5oz bottles in a 9 hour period. that seemed strange to me but made me wonder if I am feeding him too much?

[pink_elephant]

That girl is nuts!
A was sleeping through the night and at 5 months he drank 4-6 ounces every 3-4 hours, plus had solids!

[Deana]

E's eating pattern sounds totally normal to me. Ella wasn't big on solids (she never really LOVED baby food - kinda went right to finger foods) but at that age was taking a 5-6 oz bottle every 3-4 hours. He's right on track! And that girl sounds nuts - why on earth would she limit the baby's eating?

ETA: I think that they truly know how much they need. He will stop when he's full, esp since his reflux is totally under control.

[B'sgirl]

B was drinking 4-8oz bottles a day until just over a month ago. It was too much for him at 12 months, but at 5 and 6 months anywhere between 3 and 4 6-8oz bottles should be okay, I think.

The only way I could tell B was eating too much was that he would have 2 or 3 extremely full diapers every day and seemed to have an upset stomach a lot, and even then it was a pedi recommendation. He is now on 3 6-oz bottles a day which seems to be just right for him. But he is 13 months.

[HeavenLeigh]

Thanks girlies.

The woman that limits her babys formula...I think she's a nut. The babysitter says the baby cries all the time...DUH! She's hungry for Pete's sake. I do think it's to keep her from gaining too much weight. Her dad is on the huskier side but her mom is big around as my pinky finger. IMHO unless there's a medical reason to limit your childs eating to the bare minimum I would consider that child abuse. A baby constantly crying because she's hungry and not feeding her.... there's no call for that.

[IUgrad02]

OMG that is terrible!!!!!!!!!!

[Margarita]

That's awful, Krysti!!!

I think you're doing fine. I wish A would still drink his bottles after his solids. I worry that he's not getting enough formula. I think he averages 22 ounces a day, but some days he only drinks 19 ounces. At mealtimes when he gets solids (3 times a day now), he drinks maybe an ounce out of a cup, and that's it. Then he won't take a bottle until he's ready for a nap.

I'm trying to remember the amounts of solids. We use the scoops that come with the formula to measure cereal. I think 1 scoop is 1 1/2 T, so that would be 5 T of cereal a day and 4-6 T of fruits/veggies. That's on the high end of the range I've read for his age, but if we cut down, I doubt he'd drink more formula. He'd just eat less.

Apparently, B and I do not create big eaters.