O-I-N-K spells "Natalie!"

[deb]

Yowza, this child's appetite is out of control!!!! We just started solids maybe 3 weeks ago, with a few days off for a baaaaad cold where her appetitie was down so just BF'ed, but now she's back at solids with a vengeance.

Yesterday I fed her breakfast, later she had her lunch (which she picked at, but still ate maybe a tablespoons), and a HUGE supper arond 4:30PM, after which she nursed (WELL) and catnapped. After that I sat her at the highchair so I culd eat my turkey and avocado salad in peace and she made so much racket that I let her have a finger-ful of avocado....then another, and another - she must have eaten ANOTHER tablespoon AFTER her 3 square meals!  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  And at bedtime she nursed like she hadn't been fed all day!!!!!

The child does nurse 5-6 times a day, including one night feed around 12-1 for which she wakes and sometimes another around 4-5AM - in spite of all the daytime calories, she nurses well for both these wakings and WON'T go back to sleep w/o BF.

She will stop eating when she's full, right? I just feel like she HAS to be getting too much!! I know, I'm second-guessing myself as a mom, but Josie had been comfort-feeding for her reflux and at 6-7 months was a HUGELY pudgy baby. Natalie isn't too pudgy, although I'm sure she could live off her chin alone for 3-5 days, but MAN, that's a lot of food she's getting: cereal, squash, avocados, pears, and BF.

Should I be cutting back on her solids and BFing her more, or just go with the flow?

[Katet]

Deb, do you think it is the 6mo growth spurt... I was reading something in a book I have that it can go on for a week or 2    & Liam's seems to be a bit on/off, he wakes for a night feed some nights & takes both sides & other nights goes back to his 10-11 hours (lucky me on that one) I only started solids last week & he seems to chow down on them too & he's a whopping 22lb (although almost 30inches long so big all around)
I just can't seem to work his feeding out at the moment, some days he goes 5 hours in the day & refuses the breast & others he wants it after 2 hours :?
I think trust your instinct... if you think she needs more bm offer it

[Deb_in_oz]

i agree that if she has not already had her GS it could be the explanation.  we had just introduced solids and they were not going too great and then the 6 month GS hit and boy did that fix the food problem for a bit - she ate everything i put near her + extra milk. i think 6 mo is a big GS and, like Kate said, can last a while - for us it was 1 1/2 weeks at least.  9 mo was a week too!

[wilksterette]

My daughter is the same way, though she is a little older...the child can EAT. Oddly enough her name is Natalie as well. She could have had a "full meal" and she will always want whatever I'm eating and gladly take it if I give it to her.
I have a little test that I do to see if she is full. She will get distracted by something else in the room. When she does this I start to clean up the food. If she is still hungry she will let me know that she is not done. If she has had enough, she will lean as if she were getting out of her highchair and wants to go play or whatever.
I don't worry about her eating too much or too little though, because she seems content in between feedings and she is certainly not very large (only in her 25%ile, but doctor said she is growing steadily and is proportionate in height and weight).
Make sure she stays hydrated too, the pediatrician told me that like adults thirst can sometimes be mistaken for hunger).
Hope that helps.
Corrine