Can a baby overeat?

[Ninetales]

So, I'm sure this seems like a dumb question, but I'm getting a little worried about my eleven-month-old.  It seems like I cannot get enough food into her when we're eating.  She's never had purees, only table food.  Sometimes I make it more manageable for her so I don't know that I'd call it true BLW, but it's always been regular food.

She didn't show much interest until about eight months, and then only really played with food.  Pretty much around Christmas she started going insane over food.  I'll put anything on her tray and she'll just grab big handfuls and cram it down so hard and so fast that I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself.  So I've started giving her smaller amounts to slow her down.  She hasn't learned the "more" sign yet, but when the food is gone she'll yell or bang around in her chair until I give her more food and as long as I put it down she eats it all.

I never worried about how much she was nursing, but I have seriously disordered eating issues and have been overweight most of my life.  I don't want her to have the problems I've had but I don't want to go the other way and push her into a differently disordered thinking.  It just seems like she eats SO MUCH.  My mother-in-law mentioned that when moms use the jars, they feed the baby like a whole jar, so maybe it just seems like she eats more but it's about the same.

Is she just doing what is natural for her?  Is this normal/ok and I need to let her control her own food intake?  Or is there a point when I should be concerned?

[crystal_buffaloe]

I am pretty sure that if you let the baby regulate her feedings (which you are -- since it sounds like no spoon feeding, no encouraging her to finish, letting her decide when she is done) that she cannot overeat.

It sounds like you are doing exactly the right thing.

I checked out a mainstream parenting site and found these guidelines for 10-12 month olds:

 Quote:

 

How much per day

• 1/3 cup dairy (or 1/2 oz. cheese)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup iron-fortified cereal
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup fruit
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetables
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup combo foods
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup protein foods
•  3 to 4 oz. non-citrus juices

So the upper end of all of those ranges added together is 2 and 1/3 cups of food! (And what the heck is a "combo food"? A jar of chicken-and-veg mush? And who feeds a 10-month-old juice? But I digress ... I doubt your DD is outside of the range presented here ... and I seriously doubt she's overeating.) 

[Ninetales]

That does make me feel a lot better.  It was such a jump from her not caring about food, to suddenly acting like she couldn't get enough.  I'll put down what I think is a good amount of applesauce or oatmeal for her, and I'll turn my back to finish cooking, and within four or five minutes it's GONE.  At my husband's birthday dinner, she ate 1/4 of an avocado, a handful of cheese, probably four fistfuls of refried beans, six or seven good bites of chicken, and about four spoonfuls of the liquid from tortilla soup.  And she still nurses allll night and several times a day.

I think I just don't know what a "normal" amount is for a baby.  I haven't been around babies in a long time, and when I did they were all fed mainstream.  Thanks for the vote of confidence!

[Knitting Mama]

I agree that if you let her choose how much to eat, she will self-regulate. I actually think you're kind of lucky to have such a good eater! My girl is anemic and I'm trying to avoid giving her those disgusting vitamin drops, but she hardly ever eats enough iron-rich food, so I might end up having to...

[Maurer]

If she is still nursing a lot I wouldnt worry too much about it since as other said, she is self regulating and its not being fed to her.  If she is cutting down her nursing a lot to eat more solids, then I would probably worry a little more. 

[crystal_buffaloe]

Sorry to hijack, I just wanted to add/ask:

Aimee -- I fought a battle (internal and external) with the poly-vi-sol drops, too. My 8mo forced her self to puke them back up, even when I tried to disguise them in food. I decided to wait and ask to have her iron tested at 9m (our doc usually does this at a year) and see if she's anemic and then go from there. It sounds like Cecilia's already been tested, though, right? My next plan of attack was going to be cooking (and/or just warming Amelie's food) in a cast-iron skillet.

And now, back on track:

I think there is a pretty wide range of normal, though. In my opinion, there's no need to measure out 1/4 of a cup of fruit and a 1/2 of a cup of vegetables, and 1/8 of a cup of protein -- if you have a healthy baby and you offer her a range of foods over the course of the day/week, she'll eat what she needs. It might be that she all of a sudden wants to eat everything, or it might be that she gets a new tooth in a few weeks and wants to go back to nursing all the time.

[Knitting Mama]

Yep, she is already diagnosed as anemic. Gonna try cast iron myself, so that what little she does eat is cooked in it. Those drops are so gross, I tried them myself. I can't make my baby take those.

[matthia]

I actually just attending a mom and babe group meeting where we had a Public Health Nurse come and speak about starting solids. She seconds what everyone else here says. She said, even make MORE than you think your little hollow leg will eat so that SHE tells you she's done. Apparantly, even if she's eating 3 and half cups of food at one sitting it's totally fine. What CAN lead to problems is when she is regulated by someone else. When baby has food taken away before she feels totally full, she'll lose the ability to self-regulate which can and will lead to overeating when she gets to the age where you aren't watching every bite she takes, ta-da childhood obesity.

Anyways, I thought that was really interesting and totally makes sense to me.

[Momoftwo31]

We just came back from a parenting group as well where a public health nurse was there.  My DD has a very healthy appetite and I was worried about this too.  However she echoed what many PP's have said which is allowing her to self regulate.  I know it's hard not to worry but I think you are fine.