"You can't overfeed a breast fed baby"

Cian at 3.5 months old - July 2016. Exclusively breast fed.

If you're a mother, you will have probably heard this. It doesn't matter if you chose to breast feed or bottle feed. At one point in time I'm positive these ridiculous words were said - "You can't overfeed a breastfed baby". Midwives say it, healthcare professionals say it, mothers say it, god even the internet says it. But it's BULLSH*T. And I have proof.

Don't get me wrong, I think breastfeeding is great in so many ways. It's cheaper, it means less cleaning (bottles), you don't have to move much during the night for feeds, and the health benefits for the child are fantastic! What is not so great, is not being able to tell how much your little peanut has drank at each feed. Was it a snack or a three-course meal? In reality, it is impossible to know! Like so much of parenthood, it's a complete guessing game.

I feel it important to note, I also think there are so many benefits to bottle feeding. Firstly, you can see quite definitively how much milk your little treasure has drank. Well that's until they throw it back up. But bottle fed/breast fed, we all have that problem! With bottles, both parents can share the horrific night feeds, or if you are looking at it positively, both parents have the pleasure of feeding the baby. And formula is now so advanced, it's practically the same as breast milk from a nutritional standpoint.

Anyway, when I started my breastfeeding journey, I was, like most new parents, pretty clueless. I trusted my family, friends, my midwife and health visitor to keep me right. And in the process, I was completely and utterly brainwashed by this concept of not being able to overfeed a breastfed baby. I must make it clear, to avoid being bashed by pro-breastfeeding campaigners, that every healthcare professional was extremely helpful. I am not blaming anyone. It could be that my child was just an anomaly. Or playing devils advocate here, it could be that everyone in the world is brainwashed, including the healthcare staff, and including you.

Anyway, I feel it necessary to give you the full picture of why I came to start this rant. Cian was born at 9lbs 1oz. He was a long/tall baby which is no surprise. I am tall (5 ft 8 inch) and Jack is too (6 ft 3 inch). I don't know why saying tall baby sounds wrong but it just does. From day one, Cian was constantly eating. At least every hour and a half he would be feeding, and for the most part these feeds would last upwards of 60 minutes. Yes, I was glued to the sofa for the majority of the day. As a result I did not benefit from this miraculous weight loss you are supposedly entitled to as a result of breast feeding. But I did have a lot of 'down time' so I drank a lot of tea, ate a lot of biscuits, and watched a lot of day-time television. Yes, looking back the biscuits might have been the reason I did not benefit from the miraculous weight loss. Anyway, I was assured all of this was completely normal. I was assured that even though his feeds were long, Cian would only take what he needed and he would not, under any circumstances, over-eat. Cue eye roll. The boy couldn't even turn his head without assistance. Why did I think he would have the ability to know when to stop eating? I'm a full grown adult and I regularly over-eat.

At our regular health visitor check ups, we were told Cian was hitting all the relevant milestones, and he was gaining weight at a great pace. This was ideal feedback! People kept congratulating me on the quality of my milk because of the size of Cian! I even contemplated going into business as a human cow. Genuinely, I looked it up. People sell breast milk online, and for good money! But, I didn't. Breast pumps aren't fun and they're pretty noisy. Jack was also proud as punch. He had always wanted his son to be a Rugby player, and at the rate Cian was growing, he would end up being the biggest prop Rugby had ever seen!

Cian's Age to Weight Chart

As the months went on, Cian continued to breast feed. He ate a lot. So much so, he didn't actually find much time to sleep (not so sly dig at him being a sh*tty sleeper). His weight steadily increased and by only 2 months old he was on the 99th percentile. Meaning out of 100 kids, he was the 2nd biggest! But oh no, that wasn't good enough for Cian. So he thought, I must keep eating. I'm assuming that's what he thought, he was a baby so I don't know! But, when he was 6 months old, he was so big he was off the charts. No, literally, the chart scale didn't accommodate for him (see picture).

It was about this time that Cian started eating puree foods. And also, about the same time that these same health professionals, who had previously told me to let Cian eat as much as he wants, started expressing concerns over his weight. Can you believe it?! After months of telling me one thing - let the boy eat as much as he wants - they were now suggesting that Cian should start limiting what he eats. He was 6 months old! I was livid! Those people who had told me to feed him on demand, who had congratulated me on his steep weight gain, were now doing a complete 180. Absolute hypocrites! It was a complete knock to my confidence.

Cian's weight gain in pictures from birth to 12 months

Now I am by no means a medical expert, but it is possible that had I been given different advice about feeding Cian and possibly restricting his milk consumption from an earlier age, his weight would have stayed within the normal age/weight distribution and I wouldn't still be hearing about his sodding weight. From as early as 2 months the signs were there but no one batted an eye lid!

Cian is a very healthy and happy little boy now. And despite health professionals wanting me to put him on a diet. A diet!!!! He has just gone at his own pace and he is slowly slimming down. At the end of the day, all babies do grow and develop at their own pace. It's only now, looking back at these pictures, especially around the 4 month mark, I should have known I had an over-eater on my hands. Like mother like son I guess! I suppose I can't blame it all on the health professionals, but how was I to know this weight gain wasn't normal!

The point of this post? You CAN overfeed a breast fed baby.