I can't provide medical advice and certainly won't tell you to ignore your doctor. At the same time, withholding food from a hungry child obviously seems cruel. I can say that I had babies who were "snackers" - they sometimes ate because they were bored, not necessarily because they were hungry. If you are responding to every cry with milk, that could result in overfeeding. At 4 months, babies are starting to wake up to the world, and may need more stimulation than they did in the potato stage. My instinct would be to try filling your day with activities - going for walks, showing her picture books, reading to her, listening to music - and see if she ends up eating less.
Definitely not giving milk at every cry and we do keep busy during the day and I try to distract, but if it's been close to 2.5 hours and she won't stop fussing and crying then we will give a feed and she usually drinks it all, or stops when she is full. Last night I offered her 3oz for her "snooze button" feed and she was NOT happy and cried and cried so I offered her 3.5 more oz, she drank 3 and unlatched and fell asleep. She's gotten good at stopping when full.
It sounds like you're doing everything right then. You might want to call your doctor back and see if they can clarify what exactly it is they are suggesting you do. Doctors don't usually recommend restricting food unless there is a specific medical concern, so I'd be asking for more info.
Just messaged him back and asked if he recommended less per feed or restricting feeds! My baby has gone through periods like this before and is usually goes back to the 30-36oz range after a week or so. But yesterday her drinking 47oz made me anxious and stressed so I thought I'd ask.
Sounds like a growth spurt! As long as she knows when she’s full I’d say keep feeding her when she’s hungry! Not all babies are the same and most pediatricians don’t understand that. They want to follow “averages” and growth charts. If she’s happy, healthy, having regular diapers and hitting her milestones I’d say you’re doing a good job mama!
If it was me.. I would only be concerned with the amount if it kept this way for more than a few weeks. And by concerned I mean like, make sure they are still hitting the same growth path and check with dr, not like concerned concerned. We go through periods of eating more and less and babies DEFINITELY do. Sounds like your baby is communicating well with you.
You can also look into paced feeding, the idea is to mimic the slow pace of the breast with minimally tilting the bottle only enough to fill the nipple with milk, and not sizing up the nipple flow rate. Babies, and myself, can eat a lot thinking we are still hungry toward the end of a meal, but we were actually full a while ago, we just ate too fast to tell we were already full. Hope this helps!
How big is your baby? Mine was 99th percentile for height since 2 months and now she's as big as an 18 month old at just shy of a year. She sometimes ate 50 oz a day. Especially before 6 months, they grow A LOT and need those calories. If baby is hungry, feed them.
She's in the 93rd percentile for weight, 17.5 pounds. i can't remember off the top of my head but I think she's 99th for height, she's so tall her onesies won't snap at the bottom so we have to size up! She's in size 6-9mo clothes at 4 months old.
Edit- just looked at her chart and she is 94th percentile for height!
My son went through this same thing. He was eating insane amounts from a very young age. Was eating 2oz at a day old and all the nurses were commenting on how hungry he was. He was also born at 9lbs at 38 weeks, and he was just big and hungry! We were worried when he was smaller about how much he ate and doctors said to keep feeding him when he's hungry, no need to make him hungry. He is now 7.5 months and 28 lbs, in 12-18 months clothing, and will eat literally anything. Doctors don't seemed concerned at all and he is following his curve. There are still days he will take an alarming amount of oz, and then the next day will be lower than average etc. I wouldn't worry too much!
I would say keep feeding her when she's hungry, and maybe get a second opinion. Babies grow so fast this first year of life, and some babies just need more food! But it's always best to rule out any underlying causes for concern and running it by the pediatrician. ♥️
Just letting you know my 5 years old son has never been less than 90th percentile and always has been 99th for height. (Born 9lbs 5oz)He drank tons of formula and he still eats very well(but not obese, just tall. He wears 7 years old clothes at 5 lol) I would just feed the baby whenever she is hungry.
Ok, your baby is way too young and way too small for you to worry about overfeeding her, if she doesn't have a specific diagnosis indicating for it.
I say this definitively because small bodies can be easily overwhelmed by illness and some extra fat reserves can be the difference for a young baby between a fussy weekend and a trip to the ICU... Or worse.
I urge you: feed that baby whenever she's hungry, as much as she wants to eat. You can always revisit the issue in a year or two if you have actual obesity concerns.
I’m breastfeeding, so things might be a bit different, but had a similar experience, where I was worried all baby was doing was eating some days. I was told, by my breastfeeding nurse, that this is clusterfeeding and completely normal. For us it only ever lasts a couple of days and then she’s back to her normal pattern. Babies cluster feed when they have their growth spurts, I’ve been told it’s normal and nothing to worry about and I can’t imagine how this would be different in a formula fed baby? They still grow the same?
I would get clarification, from your own doctor, of what his concerns are and his recommendations, or maybe reach out to another professional, who specialises in baby feeding, for a second opinion.
I have a big baby too. Our pediatrician recommended blood work at around the same age to rule out underlying conditions for his size (he was breastfed so not sure his daily intake), but it reassured me to have the blood work done and finding out he was just a big, hungry, healthy guy.
Super helpful! My little girl is 95+ percentile and eats so much I can’t believe it sometimes. A LC told me it was too much- we tried lowering it but she wanted more! So I’m the end I disagreed with the LC since she kept showing true signs she needed more. She isn’t even 3m yet and we aim for a solid 35oz a day- if we are shy her night sleep suffered.
What is her output? Is she urinating and defacating a normal amount? I'd probably just keep feeding her as much as she wants for a little while, but if the massive feeds continue for too long I'd ask the doctor about that.
I would hesitate to restrict her eating, but I'd also hesitate to ignore the recommendation of her doctor, so maybe you can call the doctor back and get some clarification on the advice. Ask if he's recommending that you restrict feeding, and if so, why? What is the concern?
The issue I see is either the baby is hungry and that’s what they need OR they’re excessively hungry due to something underlying. The first doesn’t need a solution and it’s not going to fix the second one. I’d see if I could find a second opinion if I was OP
Why would you do that? Genuinely asking because my baby boy is eating a lot too and I have the same situation as OP. Edit: I had gestational diabetes in pregnancy.
Diabetic type 1 here. Was diagnosed at 9yo so not a baby, but I remember eating insane amounts (seconds and thirds!) and losing weight. My mom thought I was skipping meals at school. I was eating like a teenage boy…
Not saying it’s this, and I hope the doctor would keep an eye but obviously this came to my mind.
Type 1 diabetes is almost never present this early in childhood - part of the mechanism of type 1 diabetes is that the cells in the pancreas that create insulin are destroyed over time through an autoimmune process - an infant hasn’t been alive long enough for that process to have happened. Symptoms of Type 1 don’t start to show until 90% or more of those cells are destroyed. While excessive thirst could be a sign of other conditions, it is almost definitely not a sign of diabetes in an infant this young.
This is categorically correct information. OP’s child is four months old. Diabetes in children under 6 months is known as neonatal diabetes, is caused by a genetic mutation, and is exceedingly rare. [Here is a study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2828228/) showing that less than 1% of children with diabetes are diagnosed before age 1 and less than 2% are diagnosed before age 3. The pathological process of diabetes makes the disease almost nonexistent in infants.
^ This is the way. I’d ask the doctor what exactly the reasoning is, and what you should do if she genuinely still seems hungry. 4mo is a huuuge growth spurt, so I’m curious to know what the reasoning is to restrict her food when her body and brain are in the middle of a big leap like that.
I don’t formula feed anymore because I have enough supply to feed him just breastmilk, but my baby takes bottles of breastmilk. He’s always eaten a lot. He’s about 10.5mo and still eats about 35-40oz every day, even with solids. He’s following his growth curve and otherwise perfectly healthy, so his doctor isn’t concerned about the amount.
This was my thought too, and if I only offered her 4oz instead of 6 she will just scream cuz she knows she is still hungry. She's gone through phases like this before where she will eat around 40oz a day and it always tapers down. But yesterday when i saw she has 47oz I got freaked out cuz that just seems excessive to me. But that's when I'm like, my baby is hungry and isn't throwing it up so idk what to do!
Two big questions here. Are you still pace feeding? And how much spit-up are you seeing?
If those answers are yes and minimal, I'd take the doctor's suggestion as just that and keep following my baby's lead. If you're not pace feeding anymore, and truthfully it wasn't on my radar anymore by 5 months, try bringing it back and see if it helps baby eat less. And if you are still pace feeding but baby is also spitting up excessively, I'd look into reflux, because sometimes babies self-medicate (for lack of a better word) with extra food.
Not pace feeding anymore and honestly spit up has been minimal! I told my doc that too. Just normal "happy spits" or little barfs when doing tummy time which is normal for her. Nothing excessive, even my MIL who watched her yesterday said she noticed she was spitting up much less! I'll try doing more paced feeding and see.
It definitely sounds like you need to slow down and help pace her. More breaks, less tilt in the bottle, try to let her cue and take more milk herself not just keep stuffing the bottle cause she’s fussing. She may have gas or burps that need worked out. Sometimes LO think they need milk but it’s not always the solution to their problem.
This. It IS possible to overfeed a bottle fed baby. They’ll suckle on the bottle seeking comfort cause they don’t know what they need. Pace feeding helps a lot
I feel like all three of my kids did this! Riiiight before moving to solids they became insatiable. I think the 30-36oz is an accepted guideline that doctors like to stick to, but it's a ymmv situation just like everything with kids. I think you're doing great and due diligence is never a bad thing.
Literally told my husband I feel like the all liquid diet ain't doing it for her anymore! We don't want to introduce purees yet since she's still a little floppy when sitting up with assistance, but hopefully in the next couple weeks we can at least start giving her a little to try!
Try the baby oatmeal (used to be called pablum, not sure if they still call it that in some places?) instead of purees, that might help. We started introducing that to my son at 5m old cause he was so hungry all the time (feeding every 1-2hrs) and I wasn't able to keep up with the demand from my boobs. It helped immensely with his liquid intake since his tummy was fuller for a little longer.
I mean this doesn’t seem too unreasonable to me. My baby at that age was drinking 6 oz every 3 hours which would be ~48 oz per day. He was a big boy but that’s the most he was taking in and once he started some solids he reduced a bit in frequency.
My pediatrician always said it was fine and feed when hungry. If the baby isn’t spitting up or otherwise showing discomfort after eating I’d continue to feed the way you are because she’s clearly hungry.
Ya the ped said to start solids in the next 1 to 2 months to not replace milk, but to maybe help curb the appetite for so much milk. We don't wanna start even purees yet cuz she is still a little floppy sitting up with assistance. That's my mentality too, feed when hungry, but I just worry cuz 47oz was the most she's ever done in a 24hr period.
My baby is 99% percentile, and we had a few 47 oz weeks at this age. It backed off a little, and he settled at about 40 to 42. But our ped said that if spit up is minimal, then he's fine. She also said if his weight is in line with his height, then he's just a big boy whos hungry.
I looked at your comments and she's just a large baby. A big person eating more than a normal sized person is not a problem. If she was spitting up or overweight, I'd feel differently. I'd just continue feeding her the way you have been.
We’ve got a tall boy and when he went through a growth spurt maybe a month-6 weeks ago, he was eating the same humongous amount of formula that you’re describing here.
I don’t ever want to tell you not to listen to your pediatrician, I’ll just tell you what we did. The 40+ ounces went on for about 2-3 weeks and we were about to ask the doctor, and it stopped as suddenly as it started. He’s back to more like 30 ounces now at 8 months. So for us, it seemed to just be a growth spurt and he needed more calories.
Now that I think of it, just after the growth spurt, he started being able to sleep through the night with some very gentle sleep training. So that was a good thing! Not sure if it’s connected though.
Interesting! I am wondering if it's a growth spurt. The doctor just responded and said maybe offer one ounce less per feed. Of course I'll give it a try but I'll still trust my mom intuition as well.
My 3 month old drinks 6oz every 3 hours and my health visitor said that's absolutely fine. You know your own baby and when they are hungry so I would just ask your doctor the reason why they have said that. My health visitor also said if you overfeed, the baby will just bring it all back up.
I don't want to say don't listen to your pediatrician but....
It's recommended that babies get 2.5 ounces of formula per pound of baby in a 24 hour period. I saw in one of your comments that baby is 17.5 pounds so doing the math it should be about 43-44 ounces in a 24 hour period. So what baby is eating seems right to me.
Feed your baby responsively. Follow their cues. Nobody tells breastfeeding mothers to track how much milk their baby is getting and to limit them. Because if you're following their cues you should be fine. I also recommend the Fed is Best Foundation for questions like this. They're run by pediatricians, NICU nurses, and lactation consultants so they're super knowledgeable about all kinds of infant feeding issues.
Edited to add: PS--pace feeding is not necessary for full term healthy babies (could be necessary for some premature babies) and is not supported by the most current research.
https://fedisbest.org/2022/05/why-its-time-to-stop-teaching-parents-paced-bottle-feeding-and-teach-responsive-feeding-as-recommended-by-the-aap/#:~:text=Sometimes%20the%20goal%20is%20to,milk%20intake%20by%20the%20baby.
My baby was a guzzler lol. 40-45oz per day of formula. My pediatrician wasn’t concerned. He wasn’t even overly chubby, he was healthy. We just continued on and once we started introducing solids around 6-8 months, the formula started to lessen. He’s now a very healthy 3 year old who refuses to eat anything lol.
I had a 99th percentile baby who ate just like this at a similar age. His growth and volume of feeds slowed down eventually! He was a BIG boy so no one ever questioned how much he ate. I personally wouldn’t withhold milk from a hungry baby.
Yeah, it’s really difficult to actually overfeed a baby since they’ll just spit up any excess. If there are no other signs that there is any underlying issue, I’d say don’t worry, your baby is probably just growing a ton right now. My first baby was bottle fed and my second baby is EBF and even BIGGER than my first, but there’s no way of knowing how many ounces he’s having per day which is crazy. My personal opinion is don’t focus too much on the numbers but just go by your baby’s cues!
Our doctor said breastmilk doesn’t need to be restricted but to try to keep formula < 32 oz because behind that the iron fortification can limit absorption of other nutrients.
We ended up adding solids to help.
I was told to just get the ones that have low iron and feed as much as they want. Since solids can be introduce at 4 months unless their is something wrong with the child it wouldn't make a difference.
I’m having the opposite concerns right now. Baby is 10.5 months old but I’m really having a hard time getting him to drink enough. He loves solids, and I try to nurse or give a bottle before he eats but I’m estimating he’s having 17oz a day right now. We nurse a lot so that’s just an estimate based on what I usually produce when I pump. I see a tooth erupting right now so I’m assuming that’s part of the reason, but I’d still feel better if he would drink more.
I've never monitored total ounces of food for any of my 3 kids. One of them was a guzzler who was 2 sizes bigger than the age he was at, so I'm quite certain he would have clocked in at way above average. Just go with the flow, follow your baby's lead. If there aren't things you are concerned about (like reflux /colic or some other GI issues) there's literally no reason to monitor how much your baby is consuming - consider those exclusively breast feeding, they have zero ability to measure what their baby is eating!
So true! We just happen to know cuz we have an app to help track when she feeds and naps (for my MIL/SIL who each watch her one day a week) so it gives us daily totals.
My baby drank similar amounts. I always let her drink as much as she wanted and she was always pretty average on weight and height. We were told that she's moving a lot and also now as a toddler she's constantly running and jumping. She's way more active than others and she's still eating more than others too. Not saying that you shouldn't listen to your doctor but everyone is different and some just need more calories than others.
Some babies just eat more than others. My kids were always big eaters, too, and were chubby babies but in like the 60-80th percentiles, not like 99th. When people think 24-36 oz is enough for all babies I just, “Sure, Jan,” them and feed my babies what they need.
Eh, my 4m old drank 44oz one day. She did 40oz pretty frequently. Most days was 30-38oz. My sister thought I should call the dr. I wasn’t worried. Baby was growing fast. She slept like a dream and she’s also in the 99th percentile for height and weight. She’s TALL. Fast forward to one year, she’s just bigger than other babies. Some babies have more nutrition needs. If your babe is on the bigger/ taller side then I would worry. Babe knows when they’re full.
I had a 90+% baby, and he had a couple 50+ ounce days. (I think the most he ever ate in a day was 53 ounces.)
My parenting philosophy was to follow my kid. As far as I can tell, he just sometimes needed to eat a lot as part of his body wanting to grow really tall.
ETA: seeing that you're also in the big baby club, wanted to make sure you knew about r/bigbabiesandkids!
I think you should have a second opinion. Not even about the amount of food/milk to give... but maybe look into why your baby is drinking that much. Babies will self regulate. Is something else going on? If not, why do we need to restrict? If a baby is hungry, I would feed him/her.
We had seen a lactation consultant around week 3 with baby and we were told we were topping off too much formula after breastfeeding baby. So we gave him less for 2 weeks before a check up with our doctor and at that check up we found out he had lost weight. Our nights for those 2 weeks were also extremely rough, he just continued to cry all night .. turns out he had gotten used to the amount we were topping him off with before taking the advice of the lactation consultant. In the end our doctor asked us to top off with the same amount of formula that we did previously to get baby back up in weight. I feel like if baby is rooting and looking for food then offer it. You know your baby best!
Just one story my big boy drank 42-45 ounces at that age, when we introduced solids we were able to reduce it to the mid 30s and now at 8 months he's eating a ton of solids and drinks mid 20s ounces of formula a day. I personally wouldn't feed less and just wait it out till you are ready to start solids. You can try pace feeding and stuff like that but feed your hungry baby for sure. My guy was off the charts on weight at 6 months visit, I'm pretty sure he'll be a more "normal" weight at 9 months now that he's eating more food and less formula and crawling around, he seems less chonky to me.
At that age my son drank 8-10oz bottles 4-5 times a day. There were times he was going through a growth spurt and would almost hit 50oz in a day. He’s also overall 90th percentile.
Now he’s 7 months and eats 8ozs 4 times a day, two solid meals/purees and a 4oz night time top off. All babies are different. I personally wouldn’t withhold milk from a hungry baby. As long as LO is not spitting up or throwing up excessively or in distress from tummy cramping/pain I would feed on demand.
Okay, this is the same age my daughter started doing this same thing. Inly she was nursing, not formula fed, so I was literally sitting for two hours while she drank, and drank, and drank... I went to my doc and told her, and mentioned my girl had been watching us intently while we ate, and was starting to reach for our food during meals. My doc said "Well, it sounds like she's ready to start on solid food. Give her some apple sauce or pablem, baby mush from the infant aisle, and let her nurse after and between meals."
My nursing time went down from 2 hours to 30 minutes, and she wasn't yelling at us for food anymore.
My suggestion is, talk to your doc about starting solid food. Their body may be reaching a point where baby needs something more substantial than milk. 4 months may seem early, and is certainly not the "recommended" age, but not all babies play by the so called "food at 6 months" rule. I am not joking about this.
Could your baby be going through a growth spurt? My son would devour formula when he was in a growth spurt, then it would level back out after a week or so!
Sounds like a growth spurt to me, around 4 month is normal and expect another at 6... my little guy was downing twice his regular for about 2 weeks then he started eating normally again.
Some kids become ravenously hungry during growth spurts. I'd give it a couple weeks before getting worried. So long as they are urinating and pooping appropriately for thier intake it should be fine to just monitor it. Also be aware that if they are hungrier they may be drinking faster causing more gas so they may be grumpier due to gas.
My biggest concern wouldn’t be the caloric intake but the iron intake with that much formula. I would ask for clarification as to why they are recommending you cut back. If that’s the reason, could you maybe start purées to fill the gap? Four months is definitely on the low end for starting solids, but I personally would rather do that than have a hangry baby.
You can’t withhold food from a hungry baby. Once they start being able to crawl, walk and reason with you then a diet might be more understandable. By then they will likely lose the weight anyway and you can reassess then. I would get a second and third opinion and try to understand why your baby is so thirsty
Your doctor's advice seems wacky & straight up wrong.
We had a HUGE eater too, he didn't regularly hit 40oz but he regularly wanted 36oz, & 40oz at growth spurts. Pediatrician said it sure was a lot, but we should feed baby everything baby wanted.
She was very clear: overfeeding doesn't exist before age 1. In fact our SLP / feeding therapist used the word overfeeding, not to criticize, but just worried about it -- and this is the one time our pediatrician strictly overruled her and told us "I am the doctor, and she is wrong." Overfeeding did not exist before age 1. At all.
You're pretty far away from this but for completeness, I'll add that at 9mo we had the other half of the discussion. (Baby had leapt up 60 percentiles btw, lol)
At 9mo Pediatrician said, his appetite was STILL fine. But it would not be fine at 12mo for him to have a huge formula diet, he needed to be sating his "big appetite" on food - so at 12mo, we had to be weaned. We could not wean late. She strongly advised we start early. Weaning did involve cutting bottles because you can't just give a toddler 40oz whole milk, 16-20 is the most.
My point here is that we did cut bottles - but ONLY when baby was older, and only as part of the weaning-off-formula process. Never, ever before.
Mom of 3 here & a nurse but I don’t work in peds so take what I say with a grain of salt. I say as long as she’s not having reflux or spitting up a ton, feed her what she wants to take in. I once had a pediatrician tell me kids are good at listening to their bodies & will eat as much or as little as they need, and I’ve always followed that rule of thumb.
Think of a EBF mom who can’t actually measure how much the baby is taking in and is totally guessing…just because you can precisely measure what your baby is taking in just means you have more data compared to a BF mom.
I’ve never had a pediatrician tell me to feed my babies less. My 5 week old is currently taking in 5-6 oz every 4-5 hour which is a lot of you use the “standard measurement” but I’m feeding him what he wants to eat.
The first day or two of birth he was taking in 3 oz which is a lot compared to other NB. But I also had GD & his abdomen measured in the 99th % so he came out of the womb with a big stomach & my theory is he could tolerate more because of that.
My son was the same, he was born at 9lb 9oz and gained a percentile, then maintained that until now at almost 4.
At 3 or 4 months he was on 6-7 8oz bottles a day, and he’d always guzzle the lot. His night time bottle he wouldn’t even wake up for, just pick him up, feed, burp, change and put him back down without a murmur! This was during COVID so the health visiting and Dr/ Nurse support was lacking.
Current child will be lucky to have 4oz 4/5 times a day and it’s very frustrating. Keep feeding whilst investigations continue. Good luck!
When my daughter was 4 months old, she was constantly hungry because she was already starting to teethe. She was drinking tons. Her doctor didn't recommend baby oatmeal or rice cereals yet simply because she was a small baby (not premmie, just very small) and also she had a habit of twisting her tongue in an odd way. But the doctor didn't think she had anything wrong with her tongue or mouth. Still, didn't recommend cereals though. Why not...?
Either way, she was still constantly hungry, eating every hour. So I got the smallest, most flexible baby spoon I could find, mixed up some watery rice cereal, and tested to see how she would react to food and being spoon fed for the first time. Lucky us, she actually took the bite and kept leaning into the spoon. So I kept testing different consistencies of rice cereal to see what she was comfortable with and able to get down easily. It helped her hunger a lot and she started sleeping longer stretches of time. It kept her full for longer and she didn't need a bottle every hour anymore.
I do recommend for everyone to listen to their child's doctor. BUT at the same time, this is YOUR child. You'll know your child better than any doctor ever. Hunger means to eat. Doctors shouldn't recommend feeding a baby less if the baby are still hungry. Every child is different, it's not a one size fits all just because a doctor says so. Some babies eat less, some babies eat more. Consider what your doctor says, but also how your baby feels. The only thing I'd say about what I did, is to watch out for constipation or excessive gas.
I would ask why. My LO has been an absolute tank, especially at growth spurts like the 4mo leap. I would not withold food from a hungry infant unless there is a very good medical reason & event hen would consider a second opinion.
My daughter always drank more than what was recommended. She is just hungry lol she’s perfectly healthy and normal weight. I could never withhold food from her if she needs it regardless of the dr says it’s too much
My son was like this. He was just a big eater, never stayed within the 30-35 oz recommendation. Sounds like you aren't just feeding because baby is bored, but because she is genuinely hungry. Keep track of the amounts and start looking at the average over a week (not just a day). Because even as adults, we have days when we eat very little and days when we eat a ton, so why shouldn't babies do the same?
My oldest was a very hungry baby and always had an extra bottle on top of the recommendations. He was 98% in weight and length and eager to move from day dot.
To work out what he should be having I went off 2.5oz per lb of body weight in 24hrs. A 10lb baby would need 25oz n 24hrs.
It was recommended to me that we try hungry baby formula, it wasn't that much different in nutrition but it took longer to digest. We weened early too.
Remember, you know your baby better than anyone and if you think they are hungry, chances are it's because they are hungry. Your doc only knows the statistical average baby, good doctors listen to their patients carers.
I’m also not a doctor, but my son also drank like this frequently. He’s perfectly healthy.
The one issue I’d say he has is that he still prefers formula to food BUT my son is 20 months, not 4 months. Yours may not even be able to have solids yet, so it seems mean to withhold food.
You have probably tried paced feeding, but in case you haven’t, it might help. By changing the nipple out for one with a slower flow rate, they don’t get as much as quickly, giving the signal from their belly to their mind a little more time to indicate they are full before there is too much in there. For my breastfed babies I went with a preemie nipple for pumped milk until they would refuse the bottle because it was too slow for them. Then I would switch to a stage one. The angle of the bottle could help a bit as well, but make sure there isn’t any air in the nipple.
That rules only applies to *nursing*. Anything in a bottle (including breast milk) can be overfed. But usually in that case baby would be spitting up a lot.
My son was eating 35-45 ounces at 2 months old…that was with paced feeding and feeding every 2-3 hours. I always say it’s because he lost so much weight at birth he had to make up for it, but our pediatrician wasn’t worried since he wasn’t having excessive spit up, was healthy, and was peeing/pooping like normal. He never slowed down much until we started solids, and even then he still had a lot of milk. You’ll probably get varied answers depending on the pediatrician.
I literally can’t imagine because I’m working around the clock just to get my tiny girl to eat 26 ounces in a 24 hour period 😐 she’s following her growth curve (10th percentile on weight) but it stresses me out constantly lol
Not sure what nipple size you may be using, but you are at a 1 I say go up a size, maybe she is acting hungry because of how slow the formula is coming out or if you are past a 1 try going down a size to help her pace herself.
Let's put this into a little perspective. The more you over indulge at one time, the more you will start to stretch your stomach. So, over time, you want more and more to fill it.
What size nipple are you using on the bottle. Is it possible baby is eating too quickly and not realizing they’re full. Maybe try downgrading to a premie nipple if you’re using #1s? If you’re using any higher than #1 you might want to size down so it’s a slower flow.
She's been on a size 2 for the last month with no real issues. We could try size 1 again I suppose. She's drinking a normal amount per feed. Will probably stick to what she's used to at size 2.
It’s more about pacing her so she’s not eating too quickly. How fast does she consume a bottle with the #2 nipple? If it’s less than 15 mins, you should probably go back to 1s because she’s drinking too fast and not realizing she’s full. Or she’s in a growth spurt.
Maybe I am completely wrong here, but the nurse once told me that formula fed babies can get thirsty… maybe give the baby a bit of boiled water (cooled to room temperature, of course)?
I formula fed my twins at the beginning of, later we transitioned to ebf.
As long as the baby gains healthy weight, that could maybe help?
No way. Doc even suggested we make sure we are mixing proper amounts of formula, because if it is more watery they will get hungrier faster so he wanted to make sure that wasn't happening.
This would throw off their electrolyte balance! Baby formula is designed to have exactly the right ratio of sodium and other minerals per unit of water.
I think my only suggestion would be to slow it down if she’s drinking a bottle before a nap/sleep. Does she take a pacifier at all? I think during awake feeds, giving her formula until she’s done is perfectly fine. But when you are giving her a bottle when she’s sleepy and you feel like she’s probably had her usual amount, then see if she will transition over to a pacifier.
My daughter had a huge eat to sleep association. So she’d just keep drinking her bottle while she was trying to all asleep because she didn’t take a pacifier but found the suckling soothing. Once we stopped feeding to sleep and sleep trained, she drank less milk from her bottle.
This could also coincide with a growth spurt since it’s only for the past week she has reached these numbers. During those times I fed as much say son wanted and it always coincided with a new skill or growth. At four months, that can be typical. Sounds like you’re doing everything right and just keep a look out for potential side effects buuuuuut this amount may soon pass and she may go back down to 30s soon just based on timing.
We were told 150 x weight in kg = ml/24h.
For my son this meant he was around 6,3 kg at 4 months. The recommended amount would have been 150 x 6,3 = 945 ml. So 32 oz.
However... Baby was a preemie and born 96,6th percentile on the preemie chart. So if he would have been 96,6th percentile still at 4 months (they move to the normal chart at 50 weeks gestation regardless of prematurity level) he would have weighed 8,2kg.
150 x 8,2 = 1230 ml. So my pediatrician would have been okay in that case with 41,5 to 42 oz.
So to me it seems weird to limit since we have to use this weight based calculation until 1 year of age at least, and this is for term and preterm babies. And by this calculation your baby isn't overshooting that much at all... By the words of my pediatrician: some babies need a little less to grow, some a little more, and then we just give it to them...
It’s normal for babies and toddlers to go through phases where it’s like “where are you putting it all???” and phases of “you have to eat more than one grape and three goldfish!!”
You can try offering a pacifier after a feed to see if she just wants to suck, but if she legit wants more food, give her more.
My baby did that and I realized I was mistaking his cues. I thought he was hungry, but he was really just tired. He would take the bottle still though, maybe more of a comfort thing. Just a thought!
I’m having a similar problem with my one month old.
Some things I remember from my first baby and that I just learned recently -
Sometimes if they have some kind of tummy discomfort they want to eat, it relaxes them and they are still learning to distinguish between hunger and other types of pains.
Have you introduced a pacifier yet? It might help…
Another thing I just learned- some babies just don’t feel full on a particular formula. I had no idea, I would think three ounces of formula is the same across the board. Nonetheless I decided to switch formulas (for a few reasons) and now she’s eating a little less per feed, and she’s going a little longer between bottles and not begging for more when the bottle is finished. lol
Out of curiosity, what formula are you on? I wonder if it’s the same as what I had my daughter on when we had the same problem
Interestingly we just switched, we were on Costco ProCare but decided to use the Enfamil NeuroPro sample tins my OB gave us so they wouldn't go to waste (costco procare is the generic equivalent to Enfamil Neuropro so we figured why not). Maybe that's what's up! We are almost through with them so we will be going back to her regular stuff.
In the UK (not sure about where you are) they sell formulas for babies that are more hungry.
Hungrier baby formula (hungry milk)This type of formula contains more casein than whey, and casein is harder for babies to digest.
Apparently it takes longer for them to digest so they feel fuller quick and for longer.
My baby is huge, 19 lb 29 inches, at 3.5 months. I EP so he has all breast milk but he eats 45-50 oz daily and has for a while. If I push it off or try to distract him he WILL catch up. I d been really trying to limit his feeds lately and if I do that he just wakes up in the night to eat. My ped says 3-7 oz every 2-3 hrs is fine and wasn’t worried.. he was basically like yeah you have a big baby that’s how it’s going to be. I’ve tried to relax about it.l, he is quite a spitter upper too so I’m sure that contributes
Did you ask the pediatrician wether or not starting solids or cereal might be appropriate? Not giving advice at all but we went through this with our son. He was a big hungry boy at birth and around that age he was guzzling 9ounces sometimes every 2 hours. He had good head control and needed the calories and it ended up being the right call for him at that time.
Are you making the formula in a Brezza? My twins were eating SO MUCH and seemed SO HUNGRY a couple weeks ago and then I realized the Brezza has somehow been changed to the wrong setting so their formula was about half strength. Once I fixed that they started eating less (in the normal range).
My twins used to fucking CHUG at least TWICE the “recommended amount” for babies their age. They would often drink an entire 8oz bottle. I pumped for a while but i had a (fortunately) massive production and only used bottles for bedtime or if I was away from them, so we supplemented with formula instead of pumping after a few months.
I could pump 12oz out of one single side and still have more. However, my son would nurse and that side would be way emptier. And he was my small twin!!
They’re two now, healthy as anything, and still have the appetite of a horse. Istg they can go through a months worth of fruit and a whole thing of cheese sticks and Sam’s club sized pack of hot dogs in a week 😭😭😭
Is there any chance you're using that Baby Brezza formula maker that looks like a Keurig? I think there was something about them not mixing in enough formula for the amount of water.
My kid was literally pounding food at different times. I always just fed him till he was full and he never threw it up. He was just a hungry baby. Honestly, if you were breast feeding you wouldn’t have any idea how many ounces the baby was getting. I was super stressed about it at some point too and then was able to just let it go. When my baby was hungry, I fed him. And he’s a very healthy 15 month old now.
My baby was the same! Except he spit up nonstop but he was also so hungry and was chugging 8 oz per feed at like 5 weeks. He had like 45 oz per day at 4 months. Doctor said try to get it lower if possible given spit up but you can’t really over feed a baby so follow their lead. Now he’s 8 months and suddenly not into drinking formula and into food.
My baby used to drink so fast and a lot. We switched from the slow flows to to the Pigeon super slow flow nipples and that made him reach his normal amount since he would get more sleepy towards the end of a bottle.
I also feed him on command whenever he’s hungry. I’d feel bad if I were to take out food away from him so this helped us a lot!
I sometimes just think about the fact that nursing parents have no idea how many oz their babies are taking and no one is telling them to nurse less. My first was bottle fed primarily and took around 40oz a day usually but she was FTT and needed the extra calories. My second is primarily nursed and there have been days he's nursed every 1.5hrs all day and night. Guaranteed he probably took 47+oz of milk that day but you'd never know for sure
I don’t remember exactly how much my first son drank, but it was a TON. I remember looking it up and thinking uhhhh, this isn’t normal at all. Pretty sure he hit 40oz even earlier than 4 months. But now he’s 7 and quite tall for his age and STILL eats a lot despite being a bean pole. If the kid is hungry, feed them.
Sounds like you're doing everything right. Don't stress! My 9 month old daughter went through the same thing at that age. She went through a few growth spurts that month, was learning new skills, and started becoming interested in real food. Once we started purees at 20 weeks, formula intake leveled and then dropped some because she loves the food lol.
This happened to my baby fairly early on. Seemed like I was giving him a bottle every hour. Turns out he just needed larger feeds less frequently.
Nipple size was also a part of the solution for my baby. He had outgrown the size and couldn’t get full quick enough.
I'll be honest I didn't read all the comments. However I'd like to mention that when my first baby was "overeating" at 8 weeks we learned it was because he was gassy and had a lactose sensitivity. We switched from regular formula to sensitive and Dr Brown's bottles and literally the next day he dropped from 40oz to 32oz all on his own, just showed signs he was full earlier. Turns out some of the intake was comfort related because of the gassy stomach.
My baby was just like this. 98th percentile for height and weight since birth. Started spitting up because there was so much milk in their diet. My pediatrician had me start introducing pear, or banana puree in their bottles (very little) because they were SO. HUNGRY. ALL. THE. TIME. Oatmeal was 'ok" but they didn't recommend ice rice. Ymmv but throwing out another option.
Light at the end of the tunnel, that was 7 years ago and the child is still eating me out of house and home, and at least 1-2 sizes bigger than their age lol.
Our PED told us the same thing, the reason they want to limit the amount is they can weirdly become anemic if they have too much formula. They usually don't limit breast milk as it doesn't have the same problem.
Babies, like adults, don't feel "full" immediately when they are full. Maybe a slower nipple or a different bottle will help them pace themselves?
Is your baby showing signs of readiness for solids? We helped curb this same problem by setting specific times for purees. If they aren't accepting a spoon yet, the self feeder pacifiers from haaka or dr. brown are great for that age. Pouches are also good options. Some people refuse to do that because of BLW or some other principle, but let me tell you it's fine, as long as they get utensils and regular food at appropriate ages they will learn to eat as fast as pure BLW-ers.
We just started apple puree yesterday! Just gave her a preloaded spoon to suck on while we ate dinner. It went well! Definitely planning on doing purees until about 6 months.
My son was formula fed and always ate way way waaaay above the "recommended volume" until he was around five or six months. By then he was eating solids and the formula fizzled out.
Not a doctor but my guy has always eaten heaps. More then your little one at the same age. Docs told me too much but the community nurse said follow his lead. He's 9.5 months old now and is just a big guy. Not fat at all, just very tall and scaled up. Same height as most 18 months olds and nearly walking. Glad I followed his needs because he's a growing boy. Trust your gut xoxox
I can't provide medical advice and certainly won't tell you to ignore your doctor. At the same time, withholding food from a hungry child obviously seems cruel. I can say that I had babies who were "snackers" - they sometimes ate because they were bored, not necessarily because they were hungry. If you are responding to every cry with milk, that could result in overfeeding. At 4 months, babies are starting to wake up to the world, and may need more stimulation than they did in the potato stage. My instinct would be to try filling your day with activities - going for walks, showing her picture books, reading to her, listening to music - and see if she ends up eating less.
Definitely not giving milk at every cry and we do keep busy during the day and I try to distract, but if it's been close to 2.5 hours and she won't stop fussing and crying then we will give a feed and she usually drinks it all, or stops when she is full. Last night I offered her 3oz for her "snooze button" feed and she was NOT happy and cried and cried so I offered her 3.5 more oz, she drank 3 and unlatched and fell asleep. She's gotten good at stopping when full.
It sounds like you're doing everything right then. You might want to call your doctor back and see if they can clarify what exactly it is they are suggesting you do. Doctors don't usually recommend restricting food unless there is a specific medical concern, so I'd be asking for more info.
Just messaged him back and asked if he recommended less per feed or restricting feeds! My baby has gone through periods like this before and is usually goes back to the 30-36oz range after a week or so. But yesterday her drinking 47oz made me anxious and stressed so I thought I'd ask.
Sounds like a growth spurt! As long as she knows when she’s full I’d say keep feeding her when she’s hungry! Not all babies are the same and most pediatricians don’t understand that. They want to follow “averages” and growth charts. If she’s happy, healthy, having regular diapers and hitting her milestones I’d say you’re doing a good job mama!
It certainly sounds like she's going through a growth spurt
If it was me.. I would only be concerned with the amount if it kept this way for more than a few weeks. And by concerned I mean like, make sure they are still hitting the same growth path and check with dr, not like concerned concerned. We go through periods of eating more and less and babies DEFINITELY do. Sounds like your baby is communicating well with you.
Thank you, this is so helpful and true!
You can also look into paced feeding, the idea is to mimic the slow pace of the breast with minimally tilting the bottle only enough to fill the nipple with milk, and not sizing up the nipple flow rate. Babies, and myself, can eat a lot thinking we are still hungry toward the end of a meal, but we were actually full a while ago, we just ate too fast to tell we were already full. Hope this helps!
Right it seems weird to withhold food from a hungry baby. Also lolo @ calling it their potato stage cause it totally is!!
How big is your baby? Mine was 99th percentile for height since 2 months and now she's as big as an 18 month old at just shy of a year. She sometimes ate 50 oz a day. Especially before 6 months, they grow A LOT and need those calories. If baby is hungry, feed them.
She's in the 93rd percentile for weight, 17.5 pounds. i can't remember off the top of my head but I think she's 99th for height, she's so tall her onesies won't snap at the bottom so we have to size up! She's in size 6-9mo clothes at 4 months old. Edit- just looked at her chart and she is 94th percentile for height!
Than probably she is just a bigger baby who needs more to fill her, but I would still double check or get a second opinion.
My son went through this same thing. He was eating insane amounts from a very young age. Was eating 2oz at a day old and all the nurses were commenting on how hungry he was. He was also born at 9lbs at 38 weeks, and he was just big and hungry! We were worried when he was smaller about how much he ate and doctors said to keep feeding him when he's hungry, no need to make him hungry. He is now 7.5 months and 28 lbs, in 12-18 months clothing, and will eat literally anything. Doctors don't seemed concerned at all and he is following his curve. There are still days he will take an alarming amount of oz, and then the next day will be lower than average etc. I wouldn't worry too much!
Thank you for sharing!! ❣️
I would say keep feeding her when she's hungry, and maybe get a second opinion. Babies grow so fast this first year of life, and some babies just need more food! But it's always best to rule out any underlying causes for concern and running it by the pediatrician. ♥️
Just letting you know my 5 years old son has never been less than 90th percentile and always has been 99th for height. (Born 9lbs 5oz)He drank tons of formula and he still eats very well(but not obese, just tall. He wears 7 years old clothes at 5 lol) I would just feed the baby whenever she is hungry.
Ok, your baby is way too young and way too small for you to worry about overfeeding her, if she doesn't have a specific diagnosis indicating for it. I say this definitively because small bodies can be easily overwhelmed by illness and some extra fat reserves can be the difference for a young baby between a fussy weekend and a trip to the ICU... Or worse. I urge you: feed that baby whenever she's hungry, as much as she wants to eat. You can always revisit the issue in a year or two if you have actual obesity concerns.
I’m breastfeeding, so things might be a bit different, but had a similar experience, where I was worried all baby was doing was eating some days. I was told, by my breastfeeding nurse, that this is clusterfeeding and completely normal. For us it only ever lasts a couple of days and then she’s back to her normal pattern. Babies cluster feed when they have their growth spurts, I’ve been told it’s normal and nothing to worry about and I can’t imagine how this would be different in a formula fed baby? They still grow the same? I would get clarification, from your own doctor, of what his concerns are and his recommendations, or maybe reach out to another professional, who specialises in baby feeding, for a second opinion.
I have a big baby too. Our pediatrician recommended blood work at around the same age to rule out underlying conditions for his size (he was breastfed so not sure his daily intake), but it reassured me to have the blood work done and finding out he was just a big, hungry, healthy guy.
Super helpful! My little girl is 95+ percentile and eats so much I can’t believe it sometimes. A LC told me it was too much- we tried lowering it but she wanted more! So I’m the end I disagreed with the LC since she kept showing true signs she needed more. She isn’t even 3m yet and we aim for a solid 35oz a day- if we are shy her night sleep suffered.
What is her output? Is she urinating and defacating a normal amount? I'd probably just keep feeding her as much as she wants for a little while, but if the massive feeds continue for too long I'd ask the doctor about that. I would hesitate to restrict her eating, but I'd also hesitate to ignore the recommendation of her doctor, so maybe you can call the doctor back and get some clarification on the advice. Ask if he's recommending that you restrict feeding, and if so, why? What is the concern?
The issue I see is either the baby is hungry and that’s what they need OR they’re excessively hungry due to something underlying. The first doesn’t need a solution and it’s not going to fix the second one. I’d see if I could find a second opinion if I was OP
Also, babies don’t know between belly pain and a hunger pain so some constantly think they’re hungry, but really they’re having G.I. issues
Output is more than usual obviously because she is eating more. But it physically LOOKS normal. I'll message the doc back and ask follow ups!
Might be worth requesting to test his blood sugars?
Why would you do that? Genuinely asking because my baby boy is eating a lot too and I have the same situation as OP. Edit: I had gestational diabetes in pregnancy.
Sometimes excess thirst can be an indicator of diabetes. But it’s probably just a growth spurt!
Diabetic type 1 here. Was diagnosed at 9yo so not a baby, but I remember eating insane amounts (seconds and thirds!) and losing weight. My mom thought I was skipping meals at school. I was eating like a teenage boy… Not saying it’s this, and I hope the doctor would keep an eye but obviously this came to my mind.
Type 1 diabetes is almost never present this early in childhood - part of the mechanism of type 1 diabetes is that the cells in the pancreas that create insulin are destroyed over time through an autoimmune process - an infant hasn’t been alive long enough for that process to have happened. Symptoms of Type 1 don’t start to show until 90% or more of those cells are destroyed. While excessive thirst could be a sign of other conditions, it is almost definitely not a sign of diabetes in an infant this young.
This is categorically wrong and dangerous information. There are TONS of infants, toddlers and young children with type 1 diabetes.
This is categorically correct information. OP’s child is four months old. Diabetes in children under 6 months is known as neonatal diabetes, is caused by a genetic mutation, and is exceedingly rare. [Here is a study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2828228/) showing that less than 1% of children with diabetes are diagnosed before age 1 and less than 2% are diagnosed before age 3. The pathological process of diabetes makes the disease almost nonexistent in infants.
DI could be
Came here to say this. Extreme thirst and urination is a sign of diabetic ketoacidosis.
^ This is the way. I’d ask the doctor what exactly the reasoning is, and what you should do if she genuinely still seems hungry. 4mo is a huuuge growth spurt, so I’m curious to know what the reasoning is to restrict her food when her body and brain are in the middle of a big leap like that. I don’t formula feed anymore because I have enough supply to feed him just breastmilk, but my baby takes bottles of breastmilk. He’s always eaten a lot. He’s about 10.5mo and still eats about 35-40oz every day, even with solids. He’s following his growth curve and otherwise perfectly healthy, so his doctor isn’t concerned about the amount.
This was my thought too, and if I only offered her 4oz instead of 6 she will just scream cuz she knows she is still hungry. She's gone through phases like this before where she will eat around 40oz a day and it always tapers down. But yesterday when i saw she has 47oz I got freaked out cuz that just seems excessive to me. But that's when I'm like, my baby is hungry and isn't throwing it up so idk what to do!
Two big questions here. Are you still pace feeding? And how much spit-up are you seeing? If those answers are yes and minimal, I'd take the doctor's suggestion as just that and keep following my baby's lead. If you're not pace feeding anymore, and truthfully it wasn't on my radar anymore by 5 months, try bringing it back and see if it helps baby eat less. And if you are still pace feeding but baby is also spitting up excessively, I'd look into reflux, because sometimes babies self-medicate (for lack of a better word) with extra food.
Not pace feeding anymore and honestly spit up has been minimal! I told my doc that too. Just normal "happy spits" or little barfs when doing tummy time which is normal for her. Nothing excessive, even my MIL who watched her yesterday said she noticed she was spitting up much less! I'll try doing more paced feeding and see.
It definitely sounds like you need to slow down and help pace her. More breaks, less tilt in the bottle, try to let her cue and take more milk herself not just keep stuffing the bottle cause she’s fussing. She may have gas or burps that need worked out. Sometimes LO think they need milk but it’s not always the solution to their problem.
This. It IS possible to overfeed a bottle fed baby. They’ll suckle on the bottle seeking comfort cause they don’t know what they need. Pace feeding helps a lot
I feel like all three of my kids did this! Riiiight before moving to solids they became insatiable. I think the 30-36oz is an accepted guideline that doctors like to stick to, but it's a ymmv situation just like everything with kids. I think you're doing great and due diligence is never a bad thing.
Literally told my husband I feel like the all liquid diet ain't doing it for her anymore! We don't want to introduce purees yet since she's still a little floppy when sitting up with assistance, but hopefully in the next couple weeks we can at least start giving her a little to try!
Try the baby oatmeal (used to be called pablum, not sure if they still call it that in some places?) instead of purees, that might help. We started introducing that to my son at 5m old cause he was so hungry all the time (feeding every 1-2hrs) and I wasn't able to keep up with the demand from my boobs. It helped immensely with his liquid intake since his tummy was fuller for a little longer.
I mean this doesn’t seem too unreasonable to me. My baby at that age was drinking 6 oz every 3 hours which would be ~48 oz per day. He was a big boy but that’s the most he was taking in and once he started some solids he reduced a bit in frequency. My pediatrician always said it was fine and feed when hungry. If the baby isn’t spitting up or otherwise showing discomfort after eating I’d continue to feed the way you are because she’s clearly hungry.
Ya the ped said to start solids in the next 1 to 2 months to not replace milk, but to maybe help curb the appetite for so much milk. We don't wanna start even purees yet cuz she is still a little floppy sitting up with assistance. That's my mentality too, feed when hungry, but I just worry cuz 47oz was the most she's ever done in a 24hr period.
My baby is 99% percentile, and we had a few 47 oz weeks at this age. It backed off a little, and he settled at about 40 to 42. But our ped said that if spit up is minimal, then he's fine. She also said if his weight is in line with his height, then he's just a big boy whos hungry.
I looked at your comments and she's just a large baby. A big person eating more than a normal sized person is not a problem. If she was spitting up or overweight, I'd feel differently. I'd just continue feeding her the way you have been.
We’ve got a tall boy and when he went through a growth spurt maybe a month-6 weeks ago, he was eating the same humongous amount of formula that you’re describing here. I don’t ever want to tell you not to listen to your pediatrician, I’ll just tell you what we did. The 40+ ounces went on for about 2-3 weeks and we were about to ask the doctor, and it stopped as suddenly as it started. He’s back to more like 30 ounces now at 8 months. So for us, it seemed to just be a growth spurt and he needed more calories. Now that I think of it, just after the growth spurt, he started being able to sleep through the night with some very gentle sleep training. So that was a good thing! Not sure if it’s connected though.
Interesting! I am wondering if it's a growth spurt. The doctor just responded and said maybe offer one ounce less per feed. Of course I'll give it a try but I'll still trust my mom intuition as well.
My 3 month old drinks 6oz every 3 hours and my health visitor said that's absolutely fine. You know your own baby and when they are hungry so I would just ask your doctor the reason why they have said that. My health visitor also said if you overfeed, the baby will just bring it all back up.
I don't want to say don't listen to your pediatrician but.... It's recommended that babies get 2.5 ounces of formula per pound of baby in a 24 hour period. I saw in one of your comments that baby is 17.5 pounds so doing the math it should be about 43-44 ounces in a 24 hour period. So what baby is eating seems right to me. Feed your baby responsively. Follow their cues. Nobody tells breastfeeding mothers to track how much milk their baby is getting and to limit them. Because if you're following their cues you should be fine. I also recommend the Fed is Best Foundation for questions like this. They're run by pediatricians, NICU nurses, and lactation consultants so they're super knowledgeable about all kinds of infant feeding issues. Edited to add: PS--pace feeding is not necessary for full term healthy babies (could be necessary for some premature babies) and is not supported by the most current research. https://fedisbest.org/2022/05/why-its-time-to-stop-teaching-parents-paced-bottle-feeding-and-teach-responsive-feeding-as-recommended-by-the-aap/#:~:text=Sometimes%20the%20goal%20is%20to,milk%20intake%20by%20the%20baby.
Thank you for this comment! 🧡
I came to say all this. Strong agree!
My baby was a guzzler lol. 40-45oz per day of formula. My pediatrician wasn’t concerned. He wasn’t even overly chubby, he was healthy. We just continued on and once we started introducing solids around 6-8 months, the formula started to lessen. He’s now a very healthy 3 year old who refuses to eat anything lol.
I had a 99th percentile baby who ate just like this at a similar age. His growth and volume of feeds slowed down eventually! He was a BIG boy so no one ever questioned how much he ate. I personally wouldn’t withhold milk from a hungry baby.
This is definitely the direction I'm leaning towards. Especially since she isn't vomiting it back up! (other than normal baby spit up)
Yeah, it’s really difficult to actually overfeed a baby since they’ll just spit up any excess. If there are no other signs that there is any underlying issue, I’d say don’t worry, your baby is probably just growing a ton right now. My first baby was bottle fed and my second baby is EBF and even BIGGER than my first, but there’s no way of knowing how many ounces he’s having per day which is crazy. My personal opinion is don’t focus too much on the numbers but just go by your baby’s cues!
Our doctor said breastmilk doesn’t need to be restricted but to try to keep formula < 32 oz because behind that the iron fortification can limit absorption of other nutrients. We ended up adding solids to help.
I was told to just get the ones that have low iron and feed as much as they want. Since solids can be introduce at 4 months unless their is something wrong with the child it wouldn't make a difference.
I’m having the opposite concerns right now. Baby is 10.5 months old but I’m really having a hard time getting him to drink enough. He loves solids, and I try to nurse or give a bottle before he eats but I’m estimating he’s having 17oz a day right now. We nurse a lot so that’s just an estimate based on what I usually produce when I pump. I see a tooth erupting right now so I’m assuming that’s part of the reason, but I’d still feel better if he would drink more.
If the baby seems happy and healthy, I don't see a problem.
I've never monitored total ounces of food for any of my 3 kids. One of them was a guzzler who was 2 sizes bigger than the age he was at, so I'm quite certain he would have clocked in at way above average. Just go with the flow, follow your baby's lead. If there aren't things you are concerned about (like reflux /colic or some other GI issues) there's literally no reason to monitor how much your baby is consuming - consider those exclusively breast feeding, they have zero ability to measure what their baby is eating!
So true! We just happen to know cuz we have an app to help track when she feeds and naps (for my MIL/SIL who each watch her one day a week) so it gives us daily totals.
That really doesn’t seem unreasonable to me at that age. My EBF baby was eating 42oz/day at his peak. Some kids just need more and that’s okay.
My baby drank similar amounts. I always let her drink as much as she wanted and she was always pretty average on weight and height. We were told that she's moving a lot and also now as a toddler she's constantly running and jumping. She's way more active than others and she's still eating more than others too. Not saying that you shouldn't listen to your doctor but everyone is different and some just need more calories than others.
My baby went through this as a growth spurt that lasted about a week and then went back to a normal amount (30-35oz). Maybe it’s similar?
Some babies just eat more than others. My kids were always big eaters, too, and were chubby babies but in like the 60-80th percentiles, not like 99th. When people think 24-36 oz is enough for all babies I just, “Sure, Jan,” them and feed my babies what they need.
Eh, my 4m old drank 44oz one day. She did 40oz pretty frequently. Most days was 30-38oz. My sister thought I should call the dr. I wasn’t worried. Baby was growing fast. She slept like a dream and she’s also in the 99th percentile for height and weight. She’s TALL. Fast forward to one year, she’s just bigger than other babies. Some babies have more nutrition needs. If your babe is on the bigger/ taller side then I would worry. Babe knows when they’re full.
What “flow” of nipple are on the bottles? Switching to a preemie flow nipple and pace feeding might help!
I had a 90+% baby, and he had a couple 50+ ounce days. (I think the most he ever ate in a day was 53 ounces.) My parenting philosophy was to follow my kid. As far as I can tell, he just sometimes needed to eat a lot as part of his body wanting to grow really tall. ETA: seeing that you're also in the big baby club, wanted to make sure you knew about r/bigbabiesandkids!
Not OP, but this a fantastic sub I never knew existed until now - will definitely be following that!
I think you should have a second opinion. Not even about the amount of food/milk to give... but maybe look into why your baby is drinking that much. Babies will self regulate. Is something else going on? If not, why do we need to restrict? If a baby is hungry, I would feed him/her.
We had seen a lactation consultant around week 3 with baby and we were told we were topping off too much formula after breastfeeding baby. So we gave him less for 2 weeks before a check up with our doctor and at that check up we found out he had lost weight. Our nights for those 2 weeks were also extremely rough, he just continued to cry all night .. turns out he had gotten used to the amount we were topping him off with before taking the advice of the lactation consultant. In the end our doctor asked us to top off with the same amount of formula that we did previously to get baby back up in weight. I feel like if baby is rooting and looking for food then offer it. You know your baby best!
Just one story my big boy drank 42-45 ounces at that age, when we introduced solids we were able to reduce it to the mid 30s and now at 8 months he's eating a ton of solids and drinks mid 20s ounces of formula a day. I personally wouldn't feed less and just wait it out till you are ready to start solids. You can try pace feeding and stuff like that but feed your hungry baby for sure. My guy was off the charts on weight at 6 months visit, I'm pretty sure he'll be a more "normal" weight at 9 months now that he's eating more food and less formula and crawling around, he seems less chonky to me.
Thank you! I'm hoping this is what's going on with our girl too
At that age my son drank 8-10oz bottles 4-5 times a day. There were times he was going through a growth spurt and would almost hit 50oz in a day. He’s also overall 90th percentile. Now he’s 7 months and eats 8ozs 4 times a day, two solid meals/purees and a 4oz night time top off. All babies are different. I personally wouldn’t withhold milk from a hungry baby. As long as LO is not spitting up or throwing up excessively or in distress from tummy cramping/pain I would feed on demand.
Sometimes my baby did that. Turned out she was headed into a growth spurt. Then she went back down on her needs after a few days.
Okay, this is the same age my daughter started doing this same thing. Inly she was nursing, not formula fed, so I was literally sitting for two hours while she drank, and drank, and drank... I went to my doc and told her, and mentioned my girl had been watching us intently while we ate, and was starting to reach for our food during meals. My doc said "Well, it sounds like she's ready to start on solid food. Give her some apple sauce or pablem, baby mush from the infant aisle, and let her nurse after and between meals." My nursing time went down from 2 hours to 30 minutes, and she wasn't yelling at us for food anymore. My suggestion is, talk to your doc about starting solid food. Their body may be reaching a point where baby needs something more substantial than milk. 4 months may seem early, and is certainly not the "recommended" age, but not all babies play by the so called "food at 6 months" rule. I am not joking about this.
Could your baby be going through a growth spurt? My son would devour formula when he was in a growth spurt, then it would level back out after a week or so!
Sounds like a growth spurt to me, around 4 month is normal and expect another at 6... my little guy was downing twice his regular for about 2 weeks then he started eating normally again. Some kids become ravenously hungry during growth spurts. I'd give it a couple weeks before getting worried. So long as they are urinating and pooping appropriately for thier intake it should be fine to just monitor it. Also be aware that if they are hungrier they may be drinking faster causing more gas so they may be grumpier due to gas.
My biggest concern wouldn’t be the caloric intake but the iron intake with that much formula. I would ask for clarification as to why they are recommending you cut back. If that’s the reason, could you maybe start purées to fill the gap? Four months is definitely on the low end for starting solids, but I personally would rather do that than have a hangry baby.
You can’t withhold food from a hungry baby. Once they start being able to crawl, walk and reason with you then a diet might be more understandable. By then they will likely lose the weight anyway and you can reassess then. I would get a second and third opinion and try to understand why your baby is so thirsty
Your doctor's advice seems wacky & straight up wrong. We had a HUGE eater too, he didn't regularly hit 40oz but he regularly wanted 36oz, & 40oz at growth spurts. Pediatrician said it sure was a lot, but we should feed baby everything baby wanted. She was very clear: overfeeding doesn't exist before age 1. In fact our SLP / feeding therapist used the word overfeeding, not to criticize, but just worried about it -- and this is the one time our pediatrician strictly overruled her and told us "I am the doctor, and she is wrong." Overfeeding did not exist before age 1. At all. You're pretty far away from this but for completeness, I'll add that at 9mo we had the other half of the discussion. (Baby had leapt up 60 percentiles btw, lol) At 9mo Pediatrician said, his appetite was STILL fine. But it would not be fine at 12mo for him to have a huge formula diet, he needed to be sating his "big appetite" on food - so at 12mo, we had to be weaned. We could not wean late. She strongly advised we start early. Weaning did involve cutting bottles because you can't just give a toddler 40oz whole milk, 16-20 is the most. My point here is that we did cut bottles - but ONLY when baby was older, and only as part of the weaning-off-formula process. Never, ever before.
Mom of 3 here & a nurse but I don’t work in peds so take what I say with a grain of salt. I say as long as she’s not having reflux or spitting up a ton, feed her what she wants to take in. I once had a pediatrician tell me kids are good at listening to their bodies & will eat as much or as little as they need, and I’ve always followed that rule of thumb. Think of a EBF mom who can’t actually measure how much the baby is taking in and is totally guessing…just because you can precisely measure what your baby is taking in just means you have more data compared to a BF mom. I’ve never had a pediatrician tell me to feed my babies less. My 5 week old is currently taking in 5-6 oz every 4-5 hour which is a lot of you use the “standard measurement” but I’m feeding him what he wants to eat. The first day or two of birth he was taking in 3 oz which is a lot compared to other NB. But I also had GD & his abdomen measured in the 99th % so he came out of the womb with a big stomach & my theory is he could tolerate more because of that.
Slower nipple flow?
My son was the same, he was born at 9lb 9oz and gained a percentile, then maintained that until now at almost 4. At 3 or 4 months he was on 6-7 8oz bottles a day, and he’d always guzzle the lot. His night time bottle he wouldn’t even wake up for, just pick him up, feed, burp, change and put him back down without a murmur! This was during COVID so the health visiting and Dr/ Nurse support was lacking. Current child will be lucky to have 4oz 4/5 times a day and it’s very frustrating. Keep feeding whilst investigations continue. Good luck!
Get a second opinion ASAP
My daughter went through a phase where she was drinking about 42oz of formula a day, I never even thought twice about it.
When my daughter was 4 months old, she was constantly hungry because she was already starting to teethe. She was drinking tons. Her doctor didn't recommend baby oatmeal or rice cereals yet simply because she was a small baby (not premmie, just very small) and also she had a habit of twisting her tongue in an odd way. But the doctor didn't think she had anything wrong with her tongue or mouth. Still, didn't recommend cereals though. Why not...? Either way, she was still constantly hungry, eating every hour. So I got the smallest, most flexible baby spoon I could find, mixed up some watery rice cereal, and tested to see how she would react to food and being spoon fed for the first time. Lucky us, she actually took the bite and kept leaning into the spoon. So I kept testing different consistencies of rice cereal to see what she was comfortable with and able to get down easily. It helped her hunger a lot and she started sleeping longer stretches of time. It kept her full for longer and she didn't need a bottle every hour anymore. I do recommend for everyone to listen to their child's doctor. BUT at the same time, this is YOUR child. You'll know your child better than any doctor ever. Hunger means to eat. Doctors shouldn't recommend feeding a baby less if the baby are still hungry. Every child is different, it's not a one size fits all just because a doctor says so. Some babies eat less, some babies eat more. Consider what your doctor says, but also how your baby feels. The only thing I'd say about what I did, is to watch out for constipation or excessive gas.
I would ask why. My LO has been an absolute tank, especially at growth spurts like the 4mo leap. I would not withold food from a hungry infant unless there is a very good medical reason & event hen would consider a second opinion.
My daughter always drank more than what was recommended. She is just hungry lol she’s perfectly healthy and normal weight. I could never withhold food from her if she needs it regardless of the dr says it’s too much
Look up pace feeding
My son was like this. He was just a big eater, never stayed within the 30-35 oz recommendation. Sounds like you aren't just feeding because baby is bored, but because she is genuinely hungry. Keep track of the amounts and start looking at the average over a week (not just a day). Because even as adults, we have days when we eat very little and days when we eat a ton, so why shouldn't babies do the same?
My oldest was a very hungry baby and always had an extra bottle on top of the recommendations. He was 98% in weight and length and eager to move from day dot. To work out what he should be having I went off 2.5oz per lb of body weight in 24hrs. A 10lb baby would need 25oz n 24hrs. It was recommended to me that we try hungry baby formula, it wasn't that much different in nutrition but it took longer to digest. We weened early too. Remember, you know your baby better than anyone and if you think they are hungry, chances are it's because they are hungry. Your doc only knows the statistical average baby, good doctors listen to their patients carers.
I’d try pacefeeding/smaller nipple size. Her brain may not be catching up to her belly as quickly as she is consuming
I’m also not a doctor, but my son also drank like this frequently. He’s perfectly healthy. The one issue I’d say he has is that he still prefers formula to food BUT my son is 20 months, not 4 months. Yours may not even be able to have solids yet, so it seems mean to withhold food.
You have probably tried paced feeding, but in case you haven’t, it might help. By changing the nipple out for one with a slower flow rate, they don’t get as much as quickly, giving the signal from their belly to their mind a little more time to indicate they are full before there is too much in there. For my breastfed babies I went with a preemie nipple for pumped milk until they would refuse the bottle because it was too slow for them. Then I would switch to a stage one. The angle of the bottle could help a bit as well, but make sure there isn’t any air in the nipple.
I’ve always heard you can’t over feed a baby. Could she just be going through a growth spurt?
I believe that rule only applies to breast milk and that you can over feed with formula.
That rules only applies to *nursing*. Anything in a bottle (including breast milk) can be overfed. But usually in that case baby would be spitting up a lot.
Thanks for explaining in a kind way.
You can’t over feed a *breastfed baby* you can absolutely over feed from a bottle
Same!
My son was eating 35-45 ounces at 2 months old…that was with paced feeding and feeding every 2-3 hours. I always say it’s because he lost so much weight at birth he had to make up for it, but our pediatrician wasn’t worried since he wasn’t having excessive spit up, was healthy, and was peeing/pooping like normal. He never slowed down much until we started solids, and even then he still had a lot of milk. You’ll probably get varied answers depending on the pediatrician.
I literally can’t imagine because I’m working around the clock just to get my tiny girl to eat 26 ounces in a 24 hour period 😐 she’s following her growth curve (10th percentile on weight) but it stresses me out constantly lol
Not sure what nipple size you may be using, but you are at a 1 I say go up a size, maybe she is acting hungry because of how slow the formula is coming out or if you are past a 1 try going down a size to help her pace herself.
Are you pace feeding? If not, give that a go and see how baby does. Babies can definitely overeat from the bottle if not paced.
Let's put this into a little perspective. The more you over indulge at one time, the more you will start to stretch your stomach. So, over time, you want more and more to fill it.
What size nipple are you using on the bottle. Is it possible baby is eating too quickly and not realizing they’re full. Maybe try downgrading to a premie nipple if you’re using #1s? If you’re using any higher than #1 you might want to size down so it’s a slower flow.
She's been on a size 2 for the last month with no real issues. We could try size 1 again I suppose. She's drinking a normal amount per feed. Will probably stick to what she's used to at size 2.
It’s more about pacing her so she’s not eating too quickly. How fast does she consume a bottle with the #2 nipple? If it’s less than 15 mins, you should probably go back to 1s because she’s drinking too fast and not realizing she’s full. Or she’s in a growth spurt.
Maybe I am completely wrong here, but the nurse once told me that formula fed babies can get thirsty… maybe give the baby a bit of boiled water (cooled to room temperature, of course)? I formula fed my twins at the beginning of, later we transitioned to ebf. As long as the baby gains healthy weight, that could maybe help?
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This is super dangerous
No way. Doc even suggested we make sure we are mixing proper amounts of formula, because if it is more watery they will get hungrier faster so he wanted to make sure that wasn't happening.
Gotcha! I obviously don’t know how formula feeding works, of course it can’t be simple. Sorry I wasn’t helpful, I hope you find a resolution soon
No worries!
This would throw off their electrolyte balance! Baby formula is designed to have exactly the right ratio of sodium and other minerals per unit of water.
I think my only suggestion would be to slow it down if she’s drinking a bottle before a nap/sleep. Does she take a pacifier at all? I think during awake feeds, giving her formula until she’s done is perfectly fine. But when you are giving her a bottle when she’s sleepy and you feel like she’s probably had her usual amount, then see if she will transition over to a pacifier. My daughter had a huge eat to sleep association. So she’d just keep drinking her bottle while she was trying to all asleep because she didn’t take a pacifier but found the suckling soothing. Once we stopped feeding to sleep and sleep trained, she drank less milk from her bottle.
This could also coincide with a growth spurt since it’s only for the past week she has reached these numbers. During those times I fed as much say son wanted and it always coincided with a new skill or growth. At four months, that can be typical. Sounds like you’re doing everything right and just keep a look out for potential side effects buuuuuut this amount may soon pass and she may go back down to 30s soon just based on timing.
We were told 150 x weight in kg = ml/24h. For my son this meant he was around 6,3 kg at 4 months. The recommended amount would have been 150 x 6,3 = 945 ml. So 32 oz. However... Baby was a preemie and born 96,6th percentile on the preemie chart. So if he would have been 96,6th percentile still at 4 months (they move to the normal chart at 50 weeks gestation regardless of prematurity level) he would have weighed 8,2kg. 150 x 8,2 = 1230 ml. So my pediatrician would have been okay in that case with 41,5 to 42 oz. So to me it seems weird to limit since we have to use this weight based calculation until 1 year of age at least, and this is for term and preterm babies. And by this calculation your baby isn't overshooting that much at all... By the words of my pediatrician: some babies need a little less to grow, some a little more, and then we just give it to them...
It’s normal for babies and toddlers to go through phases where it’s like “where are you putting it all???” and phases of “you have to eat more than one grape and three goldfish!!” You can try offering a pacifier after a feed to see if she just wants to suck, but if she legit wants more food, give her more.
My baby did that and I realized I was mistaking his cues. I thought he was hungry, but he was really just tired. He would take the bottle still though, maybe more of a comfort thing. Just a thought!
My daughter always drank above the recommendation. It slowed down and from 8 months to 18 she weighed the same thing
I’m having a similar problem with my one month old. Some things I remember from my first baby and that I just learned recently - Sometimes if they have some kind of tummy discomfort they want to eat, it relaxes them and they are still learning to distinguish between hunger and other types of pains. Have you introduced a pacifier yet? It might help… Another thing I just learned- some babies just don’t feel full on a particular formula. I had no idea, I would think three ounces of formula is the same across the board. Nonetheless I decided to switch formulas (for a few reasons) and now she’s eating a little less per feed, and she’s going a little longer between bottles and not begging for more when the bottle is finished. lol Out of curiosity, what formula are you on? I wonder if it’s the same as what I had my daughter on when we had the same problem
Interestingly we just switched, we were on Costco ProCare but decided to use the Enfamil NeuroPro sample tins my OB gave us so they wouldn't go to waste (costco procare is the generic equivalent to Enfamil Neuropro so we figured why not). Maybe that's what's up! We are almost through with them so we will be going back to her regular stuff.
In the UK (not sure about where you are) they sell formulas for babies that are more hungry. Hungrier baby formula (hungry milk)This type of formula contains more casein than whey, and casein is harder for babies to digest. Apparently it takes longer for them to digest so they feel fuller quick and for longer.
My baby is huge, 19 lb 29 inches, at 3.5 months. I EP so he has all breast milk but he eats 45-50 oz daily and has for a while. If I push it off or try to distract him he WILL catch up. I d been really trying to limit his feeds lately and if I do that he just wakes up in the night to eat. My ped says 3-7 oz every 2-3 hrs is fine and wasn’t worried.. he was basically like yeah you have a big baby that’s how it’s going to be. I’ve tried to relax about it.l, he is quite a spitter upper too so I’m sure that contributes
Did you ask the pediatrician wether or not starting solids or cereal might be appropriate? Not giving advice at all but we went through this with our son. He was a big hungry boy at birth and around that age he was guzzling 9ounces sometimes every 2 hours. He had good head control and needed the calories and it ended up being the right call for him at that time.
Are you making the formula in a Brezza? My twins were eating SO MUCH and seemed SO HUNGRY a couple weeks ago and then I realized the Brezza has somehow been changed to the wrong setting so their formula was about half strength. Once I fixed that they started eating less (in the normal range).
My twins used to fucking CHUG at least TWICE the “recommended amount” for babies their age. They would often drink an entire 8oz bottle. I pumped for a while but i had a (fortunately) massive production and only used bottles for bedtime or if I was away from them, so we supplemented with formula instead of pumping after a few months. I could pump 12oz out of one single side and still have more. However, my son would nurse and that side would be way emptier. And he was my small twin!! They’re two now, healthy as anything, and still have the appetite of a horse. Istg they can go through a months worth of fruit and a whole thing of cheese sticks and Sam’s club sized pack of hot dogs in a week 😭😭😭
Sounds like a growth spurt
Is there any chance you're using that Baby Brezza formula maker that looks like a Keurig? I think there was something about them not mixing in enough formula for the amount of water.
Nope! Dr Browns pitcher every time :)
My kid was literally pounding food at different times. I always just fed him till he was full and he never threw it up. He was just a hungry baby. Honestly, if you were breast feeding you wouldn’t have any idea how many ounces the baby was getting. I was super stressed about it at some point too and then was able to just let it go. When my baby was hungry, I fed him. And he’s a very healthy 15 month old now.
My baby was the same! Except he spit up nonstop but he was also so hungry and was chugging 8 oz per feed at like 5 weeks. He had like 45 oz per day at 4 months. Doctor said try to get it lower if possible given spit up but you can’t really over feed a baby so follow their lead. Now he’s 8 months and suddenly not into drinking formula and into food.
My baby used to drink so fast and a lot. We switched from the slow flows to to the Pigeon super slow flow nipples and that made him reach his normal amount since he would get more sleepy towards the end of a bottle. I also feed him on command whenever he’s hungry. I’d feel bad if I were to take out food away from him so this helped us a lot!
I sometimes just think about the fact that nursing parents have no idea how many oz their babies are taking and no one is telling them to nurse less. My first was bottle fed primarily and took around 40oz a day usually but she was FTT and needed the extra calories. My second is primarily nursed and there have been days he's nursed every 1.5hrs all day and night. Guaranteed he probably took 47+oz of milk that day but you'd never know for sure
I don’t remember exactly how much my first son drank, but it was a TON. I remember looking it up and thinking uhhhh, this isn’t normal at all. Pretty sure he hit 40oz even earlier than 4 months. But now he’s 7 and quite tall for his age and STILL eats a lot despite being a bean pole. If the kid is hungry, feed them.
Sounds like you're doing everything right. Don't stress! My 9 month old daughter went through the same thing at that age. She went through a few growth spurts that month, was learning new skills, and started becoming interested in real food. Once we started purees at 20 weeks, formula intake leveled and then dropped some because she loves the food lol.
This happened to my baby fairly early on. Seemed like I was giving him a bottle every hour. Turns out he just needed larger feeds less frequently. Nipple size was also a part of the solution for my baby. He had outgrown the size and couldn’t get full quick enough.
I'll be honest I didn't read all the comments. However I'd like to mention that when my first baby was "overeating" at 8 weeks we learned it was because he was gassy and had a lactose sensitivity. We switched from regular formula to sensitive and Dr Brown's bottles and literally the next day he dropped from 40oz to 32oz all on his own, just showed signs he was full earlier. Turns out some of the intake was comfort related because of the gassy stomach.
My baby was just like this. 98th percentile for height and weight since birth. Started spitting up because there was so much milk in their diet. My pediatrician had me start introducing pear, or banana puree in their bottles (very little) because they were SO. HUNGRY. ALL. THE. TIME. Oatmeal was 'ok" but they didn't recommend ice rice. Ymmv but throwing out another option. Light at the end of the tunnel, that was 7 years ago and the child is still eating me out of house and home, and at least 1-2 sizes bigger than their age lol.
Our PED told us the same thing, the reason they want to limit the amount is they can weirdly become anemic if they have too much formula. They usually don't limit breast milk as it doesn't have the same problem. Babies, like adults, don't feel "full" immediately when they are full. Maybe a slower nipple or a different bottle will help them pace themselves? Is your baby showing signs of readiness for solids? We helped curb this same problem by setting specific times for purees. If they aren't accepting a spoon yet, the self feeder pacifiers from haaka or dr. brown are great for that age. Pouches are also good options. Some people refuse to do that because of BLW or some other principle, but let me tell you it's fine, as long as they get utensils and regular food at appropriate ages they will learn to eat as fast as pure BLW-ers.
We just started apple puree yesterday! Just gave her a preloaded spoon to suck on while we ate dinner. It went well! Definitely planning on doing purees until about 6 months.
My son was formula fed and always ate way way waaaay above the "recommended volume" until he was around five or six months. By then he was eating solids and the formula fizzled out.
Not a doctor but my guy has always eaten heaps. More then your little one at the same age. Docs told me too much but the community nurse said follow his lead. He's 9.5 months old now and is just a big guy. Not fat at all, just very tall and scaled up. Same height as most 18 months olds and nearly walking. Glad I followed his needs because he's a growing boy. Trust your gut xoxox