Any advice?

I can’t help because we solely feed from the breast so I have no idea what my daughter is getting but you can overfeed a baby if you use a bottle. If you exclusively feed from the breast then they can’t overfeed but even expressed breast milk in a bottle you can give too much. You need to make sure you’re pace feeding too xx

Maybe look at your own diet are you eating enough? May be that the fat content in your milk isn’t high enough and he isn’t getting enough calories x my little one is 2.5 weeks old and he is having between 3-5oz per feed x also you can never over feed a breast fed baby x

My baby ended up in a and e with being overfed. We were breastfeeding too. Midwives were saying to keep feeding and feeding even though I had a gut feeling something wasn't right. I have a very high fast flow so every feed was far too much for her. The paediatric doctor told us to only feed her every 3 hours. No comfort feeds. She was in that much pain from being overfed she was looking more milk as that's the only thing that was comforting her!! She wasn't hungry at all but it temporarily soothed her. She was vomiting 10+ times after every feed and constantly in between. Had diarrhoea 5+ times an hour. The first 24 hours was a screaming match of cutting her down but after that she feeds when she wants to and she's been fine ever since. It's been a week. She just needed her tummy to give her a break. We feed 7-9 times a day around 20 mins now. We don't wake her for feeds unless she signals it and has been averaging 40 grams of weight gain a day since we cut her back.

@Rebekah you can certainly overfeed a baby by breast. We ended up in an and e because of the advice you can't. We kept pushing more and more milk on our little one and it made her very ill. Turned out she was getting far too much.... after reaching out for support on what to do about over feeding a lot of ladies have been through the same thing. Once milk was cut back she's had no signs of being unwell or distressed.

For what I have experienced snd have been told, you cannot overfeed when breastfeeding but you can if you are offering milk in a bottle (even if it is expressed milk) When I was reading your post, that's what I thought, before you mentioned the overfeeding. I would stop the bottles and just offer breast. So.etimes they use the breastvfor comfort anf does not necessarily mean they are hungry. You can offer it and they'll take what they want. It could also be baby cluster feeding, which is very common specially at night.

@Conchi I am worried I am over feeding too but not sure what to do as he screams and cries until we offer bottle, I offer breast the whole time but he will feed, unlatch and scream, feed again, scream and so on, we are constantly burping him so that’s not an issue and I can also see milk pouring out his mouth whilst feeding at the breast so I know that’s also not an issue however sometimes this if for up to a few hours and so we give in and make a bottle and then he finally falls asleep so then it also seems like he’s needed it? But then 20 minutes later wakes up doing the same thing searching and crying and it just goes on. He will be awake for up to 6 hours at a time sometimes whilst breastfeeding but then we offer a bottle and he will finally sleep for a little bit. He has a tongue tie which also makes us feel like we need to give a bottle when he’s been crying and screaming for so long as even with my let downs and seeing the milk it makes me doubt myself. So stuck on what to do!

@Kaylee how did you cut back😩 I feel awful sometimes he will be awake for 6 hours at a time crying and pooping and searching for a feed/comfort and the past few days we have given in and given a bottle top up as he has a tongue tie and it’s made us doubt sometimes he’s getting enough from the breast even though I know he must be with the amount he has put on🥲 I just can’t stand watching him be in pain and so unsettled yet the only thing that mostly helps is when we do offer a bottle but then 20 minutes later he’s awake again and we have the same issue just feels like we are going round in circles!

Sounds like your baby might be overtired and not being able to fall asleep so he is feeding instead. Is he sleeping enough? He is supposed to be awake 60-90 mins (including feeding time) followed by 2 hours of sleep. So more sleeping than awake. If that’s not the case, you need to figure out a way to help him sleep. Dark room, swaddle, white noise (pretty loud) and gentle rocking should do the trick.

If he has a tongue tied , make sure you get that sorted. It could be he is not latching properly and that's why he is frustrated. The latching, unlatching, crying... is pretty normal. Even when breastfeeding is going really well. Mine sometimes does that wheb he is overtired. I need to bounce him around the room for a bit until he falls asleep. And then I hold him to make sure he stays asleep. If you're still wanting to give a bottle, have a look at pace feeding. Also try to see if there is a lactation expert /support group in your area.

@Melissa great post. Completely agree

@Melissa Thank you that’s really helpful, we have been doing 3oz pace fed every 3 hours today and it has worked so was definitely over feeding. Hopefully I can go back to just breastfeeding tomorrow and stop doubting that he isn’t getting enough.

@Conchi My midwife and health visitor won’t refer for the tongue tie because he was 7lb at birth two weeks ago and he is now 9lb so they said he’s gaining weight very well and the tongue tie isn’t affecting breastfeeding. After having more of a routine with the feeds and sleep today he was definitely overtired and over feeding. Getting him to sleep whilst it’s dark and quiet isn’t possibly unfortunately as I have very noisy toddlers at home too, but I have managed to get him to sleep much better today by wearing in the wrap and only feeding every 3 hours so feeling a bit better about it all now x

The unlatching and screaming suggests he's not happy with your flow, how are you holding him? Your flow sounds like it might be too fast for him based on your seeing milk around his mouth, have you tried the laid back position or having him upright while he feeds to give him more control over his intake? When I laid/held my baby in a cradled position to feed he would end up choking on my milk and pulling off crying, so I now only feed him on his side/upright/laid on me and we have no issues. Newborn bottles have slow flow teats so it makes sense he would feed easier if that's the issue! Not every lip/tongue tie needs fussing with, my daughter had one and we left it alone and breastfed successfully for 9 months. My newborn also has a lip tie and we use a nipple shield to help him latch on my slightly bigger breast but otherwise doing great so snipping it isn't necessary.