POSITIVE Parenting

In the first two weeks of our son's life, I was told by a nurse that I was giving him too much milk.

"Your baby keeps wee-wee-ing and poop-poop-ing up the place. You mustn't feed him so much," she told me.

Having just discovered from one of my baby's doctors that this was a good thing (his bilirubin levels were high and it's expelled through the body's excretions), I was rather confused. Who knew more about medical science? Actually, that isn't even the point. Shouldn't nurses know that bilirubin is indeed excreted by the body through the bottom end? You'd think! And, is it possible for a baby to consume more breast milk than he needs? Surely, she was wrong about that fact as well.

Eat like a champion

Back at home, the little chap continued to eat like a champion. The only drawback with meal times was that he seemed to be drinking awfully fast. So much so, he was choking himself. You can imagine the panic which ensued. My husband and I would turn him practically upside down (not quite, but you get my drift), and pat his back as humanely hard as possible. Our baba would recover and waves of frightened relief passed through us both. Then, one Sunday afternoon, while sitting in his 'bouncer', a projectile of creamy liquid came flowing out of his mouth and landed about two feet away from him. I'm serious! I would have called the Guinness Book of Records had I not been so disturbed by it! Then it happened again that night, so I called my paediatrician. She told me to watch it and phone her if it occurred again.

A couple of days later I took the baby for his first check-up since coming out of the hospital, and explained to the doctor, again, what had taken place. She asked me when and how long I was feeding him. I had a detailed record of everything he was doing (first-time mother syndrome) so I showed her the 'diary'. It seemed to her that the length, and frequency, of feed times meant that he was getting far too much milk. She worked out the quantity he ought to be drinking, for his weight. I had told her how many ounces I pump within a certain time and she insisted that I was overfeeding him.

Overfeeding

It turns out that our precious boy is rather greedy, like his daddy. I am secretly stashing money under the mattress so that both men in my life will be fed efficiently for the rest of their lives. With the prices at the supermarket these days, it's not a bad idea now is it? However, I digress here, so sorry. Indeed, I produce copious amount of milk, and one person is getting it all! The choking has stopped, but now he splutters because he drinks way too fast. On top of that, he has recently increased the number of times he cries for food in the day, and in the night, unfortunately. What to do?

It's easy for you all to tell me, "Just don't succumb to it, Emma." However, when the child is turning his head to my chest, or moving his mouth in preparation to grab on and suck, or gnawing on the sleeve of his romper suit, it's difficult for me to believe that he's not hungry! But when I do the math, it's obvious that he is consuming a whole lot of breast milk, and that, perhaps, I am overfeeding my baby.

Emmadaltonbrown@gmail.com