7 signs that you are breastfeeding more than necessary

Breastfeeding more is always the desire of many parents because they are afraid that their babies are thin, sick or weigh less than babies of the same month. However, please be careful with the above intention.

Infants cannot tell when they are full and want to stop breastfeeding. But there are ways to know if your baby is getting the right amount of milk and whether you are overfeeding. The following article, aFamilyToday Health will introduce you to how to identify, cause, and prevent this problem. 

What makes breastfeeding more than necessary?

The most common reasons for many parents to feed their baby more than necessary include:

Bottle-feeding: Babies who are formula-fed are at a greater risk of being breastfed by their parents than breastfeeding because normal bottles have a mechanism to continuously push out milk, so even if the baby is full, the baby will still be You may continue to receive milk if you keep the nipple in your baby's mouth for too long.

Large bottles : One study found that infants who feed from large bottles are often overloaded on the stomach and therefore more likely to become overweight. Also, if you soothe your baby to finish the bottle, no matter what size it is, it can lead to over-feeding.

Forcing your baby to suck: When your baby is full, he'll give you signs, including turning away or stopping the nipple. Due to the fear that their baby is nursing too little milk, some parents will comfort their baby by placing a nipple continuously into their baby's mouth, making the baby reluctant to receive unnecessary milk.

Using a bottle the wrong way: Parents sometimes use a bottle as a way to soothe a baby when fussy and fussy, thus leading to excessive but unnecessary breastfeeding. To avoid this, use a pacifier instead of a bottle to soothe your baby.

Feed your baby porridge or porridge early: You should avoid giving your baby solid foods after your baby is four months old. Introducing new foods too early can cause your baby to eat more than his body needs, and it's like overfeeding.

Signs you are over-breastfeeding

You can sometimes breastfeed too much without even realizing it, but aFamilyToday Health will show you some signs to look for:

1. Continuously spit milk

This is a little confusing because sometimes babies can experience reflux due to something else. But according to The Bump, if you notice that your baby turns his face away from the bottle a few times while he is breastfeeding and then spits out the milk may be a sign that adults are letting the baby suck too much.

2. Or fussy

Just think about yourself, when you eat too full, you will feel tired, stomachache and discomfort. Babies feel the same way if adults breastfeed more than the baby needs, leading to irritability and fussiness to express discomfort. In addition, the baby has the ability to spit, making the condition worse.

3. Change more diapers

An infant's bowel habits will change continuously during the first year of life. According to experts, if you want to determine whether your baby is getting enough milk or not, observe the number of diapers used per day, the number is estimated to be about 8. This applies to most babies older than 6 weeks. If you change diapers up to 12–14 times a day, this could be a sign your baby is drinking a lot of milk. However, you should still take your baby to see a doctor to determine if this condition is normal and your baby's health is stable.

4. The stool is too loose

Part of the process of analyzing your baby's health is checking his faeces . Formula fed babies will have peanut butter colored stools, large in texture, fairly soft. Occasionally, the stools will turn yellow or brown with a green color. When you notice that the little angel often passes out very loose stools, this can be a sign that you are breastfeeding too much.

5. Burp a lot

If your baby burp or gas a lot, it may be time to reassess how much milk your baby is being absorbed each day. Too much lactation will also cause the baby to be overloaded with lactose and the stomach does not have enough enzymes to digest it all, so it is necessary to burp or gas to feel better.

6. Baby sleeps harder

Drinking a lot of water before going to bed more or less affects sleep. For adults, you will need to go to the bathroom 2–3 times or feel full and not really comfortable. For babies, experts say that if your baby often doesn't sleep well and wakes up frequently at midnight, you should reconsider the amount of milk your baby drinks because this may be the cause.

7. Weight gain more than average standard

Until now, many parents and grandparents like babies that are plump and somewhat fat because they think that this proves that the children are growing steadily, in good health, but sometimes the truth on the contrary.

You should monitor the baby's weight regularly, if the baby increases in need steadily and within the allowed range, the little angel is tending to grow well. On the other hand, in case the doctor notes the abnormal weight gain and concerns that the baby will be obese, parents can reduce the amount of milk of the baby.

The consequences of breastfeeding too much

Getting more milk than your body really needs is likely to cause your baby to experience one of the following conditions:

Overweight and obesity: Because babies continuously receive milk, they also absorb a large amount of calories and gradually accumulate in the body but are not properly eliminated, thereby creating the phenomenon of overweight. .

Reflux: If your baby has gastroesophageal reflux disease , breastfeeding more can make it worse because the symptoms will make him extremely uncomfortable.

Vomiting: When they are too full, babies will start to vomit halfway, vomiting continuously for a long time can cause the stomach to digest poorly, leading to long-term health problems.

How to prevent the baby from overfeeding

aFamilyToday Health would like to share some measures to help your baby avoid having the problems mentioned above:

Breastfeeding

You will limit the act of accidentally breastfeeding a lot when your baby is breastfed. Even if your baby latches on the teat long after she has finished feeding, she will not receive the same continuous supply of milk as bottle feeding.

Use a special bottle

Learn about bottles that are designed to regulate the air pressure inside the bottle and regulate the amount of milk flowing in accordance with the rhythm that your baby breastfeeds.

Breast-feeding

You should keep a steady feeding schedule and your baby will get used to it. If your baby is often hungry at a coincidental time, try to breastfeed your baby on time to avoid adults compensating for more by later feeding.

Wait until you are hungry

Watch for signs of hunger in your baby, like sucking fingers or moving lips when someone touches their mouth. Infants who are hungry latch on immediately and of course feed them at this time.

Breastfeeding more than necessary is a problem that can easily be prevented by following appropriate feeding practices. Also, watch for signs of over-feeding and how to adjust to help the baby grow healthy.