Nutrition for the Breastfed Infant

Worried that my diet is causing baby to be overweight

My daughter is exclusively breastfed, yet contrary to anything I'd ever heard on the subject she is quite chubby (in the 100^th percentile for her weight).  Is the fat content of my milk variable to my diet or is it consistent?  I'm concerned that I may have too much fat in my diet and am causing her to be overweight.  She eats only every four to five hours and sleeps through the night.  My pediatrician has commented that I should be concerned about her weight, but offered no advice except to let her fuss a little before I feed her.





You mention that your daughter is in the 100^th percentile for weight, but the more important growth indicator is really her weight-for-length percentile.  I have two children who were both well-above the 100^th percentile for both weight and length.  Thus, their weight-for-length percentiles were quite average.  This is what is most important when monitoring a baby's growth.

Regardless, you should know that, physiologically, your daughter is probably at the fattest time in her life.  Babies fat increase between four to six months of age is incredible!  I want to reassure you that the fat content in your diet does not affect the amount of fat in your breastmilk.  It does affect the fat composition of your breastmilk (i.e. whether it is primarily polyunsaturated or saturated), but this has no bearing on your baby's weight.

Your daughter's eating every four to five hours and her sleeping through the night are reasonable for her age (6 months).  I recommend that you focus on her activity and not her weight. Encourage your baby to be down on the floor playing as much as possible.  Encourage her to reach for toys, to "swim" on the ground (I assume she is not crawling yet), and be active for her developmental stage. Minimize the amount of time that she is in a baby swing, a bouncy chair, or a playpen.

Since your daughter is 6 months old, you are probably considering the introduction of solid foods to supplement her breastfeedings.  I recommend that you give her finger or fist foods that she can feed herself, rather than baby food that requires you to spoon feed her. This way, she will control her intake completely.  Mothers (or other caregivers) have no way of knowing when a baby has had enough to eat.  A baby, however, knows when he or she is full!  When you are introducing solids, it sometimes help to breastfeed for a short time first so that your baby is not too hungry.  Then, put her in a highchair or in your lap and place small pieces of soft food (i.e. bananas, liver, ground beef) in front of her.  The La Leche League has long recommended that meats be introduced to breastfed babies first, followed by vegetables, fruits, and then cereal.  This keeps the protein-calorie ratio up, which is important for breastfed babies, and also provides them with iron in the most bio-available form to replenish the iron stores used up during the first months of life.




 

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