Rhoda As the mother of a very large infant, who is now a lean 11yo, I
winced as I read your letter about the 4 mo old totally br fed
infant who is being "treated" (starved) for obesity.  This reminds me
of the dire warnings in turn-of-the-century textbooks about
"overfeeding". However, the baby you mention is only getting five
feeds per day, to be reduced to 4.  I have to wonder how he got so
big on so few feeds. Is there something else going on that the meds
are concerned about? He would be well above the 90th percentile on
any growth chart, even charts based on breastfed babies who take off
faster but tend to slow down or even plateau from about 3 months.
What size are his parents? His length?

Everything (reputable) I have ever read on "obese" breastfed babies
cautions to delay solids, certainly not to introduce them earlier
than one might otherwise. (I would wait for baby's cues, as for any
other baby)  When my Peter was nearly 4 mo and 20lbs I was
told I could not possibly make enough milk for his needs and should
start solids. He thrust the spoon of rice cereal in EBM back out at
me, and chose to stay off solids till beyond 9 months.  He was a big
hungry boy and it was not worth my life to try messing with
shortening or reducing his 10+ feeds per 24hrs.  His weight tapered
gradually in his second/third year.

Ruth Lawrence's book has a long section on obesity (page 379 on, 4th
ed) ...."Breastfed infants are rarely obese.  The usual cause of
obesity in these infants is the early addition of solids."

Ros Escott
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