BLW - can you overfeed?

[Girly922]

This may sound like a silly question as I thought you couldn't. I understood that baby will stop eating once they're full.

DD is 8 months old, and is completely baby-lead. She has 3 meals a day plus her bottles, no regular snacks. She eats very healthy, lots of fruit and veg, pasta, no processed meats, etc. At our last weigh in, I was told to cut her portion sizes as she was eating too much. She's not jumping centiles as such, but she's gradually risen up on the graph from the 50th to just over the 75th. She is on the 95th centile for length though.

She kept just telling me that portion sizes should be no bigger than the palm of DD's hand, I asked for what that equated to in terms of BLW, she couldn't answer. Basically knew nothing about it. But did say that if DD continues to rise up the graph at the next weigh in, we'd have to have a weaning home visit which I don't want and don't feel we need.

 

[kbwebb]

I don't feel you can over feed at all when blw. My lo is on the 98th line from her height and 99th for weight and I was told she's having too much. In my eyes she's in proportion and definitely stops when she's had enough. Her dad is 6ft 2 so I've never expected her to be small! Another thing is she's thinned out a lot since walking. Your lo sounds fine! You can opt out of hv visits if you really feel they are not a benefit to you or your lo. I haven't opted out but I know some ladies on here have.

 

[MindUtopia]

Ideally, weight and height should be roughly proportionate in babies. So if she's 95th centile in height, she should ideally be somewhere around that in weight. She's probably just catching up with herself weight-wise which babies often do at some point in the first year. I'm actually surprised that they haven't brought this up in the past and encouraged you to get her to put on more weight as they often do that.

I'd just keep doing what you're doing (you can't overfeed a baby solids unless you're forcing it down their throat, which you obviously aren't doing). I'd ignore your HV. Some of them give terrible advice. You don't need to go for your visits anyway, and you can decline a weaning visit. It's just an optional service (and not always a very good one unfortunately).

 

[sue_88]

I'd be stopping your HV visits. That is awful advice, portion size the palm of her hand...no way! My LO can very happily eat a plate full (like 1 sausage, 2 whole carrots, and 2 broccoli florets!!!) and she's not a big girl.

No idea of weight or length personally as I do not see the HVs (they're shit here).

Let your LO continue to lead the way.....you and her are doing a great job by the sounds of it.

 

[Girly922]

Thanks ladies. I thought it sounded like utter crap but wanted to check I wasn't just making things up in my head.

From birth to about 5.5 months she was on the 50th line for weight and 91st for length, and they were happy with that. She's not particularly chubby, it's just she's so tall. But I'm 5'7 and OH is 6'3 so she was never going to be petite. She loves her food, that's always been a good thing in my book, but this made me question myself.

I do find it so worrying that they give out such poor advice sometimes. What if I hadn't questioned it, DD would be constantly starving and probably losing weight by the day.

Thanks again

 

[Pearls18]

Well done you it sounds like you're doing fantastically. Ignore the HV, honestly I don't know where half of them go for their training but I am on the verge of setting up a Downing Street petition to request for the system to be sorted out because I am SICK of the poor advice I am hearing some give, all over the country.