My mother-in-law does not believe in feeding on demand. She says Sam will get fat and he’ll be obsessed with food when he grows up. She makes me feel guilty. Julie, 30 years; Sam, 6 weeks
Dr. Stork says: If you are bottle-feeding, you know exactly how much formula you are giving your baby. If he does not finish sometimes, he probably was not as hungry as usual. Don’t insist that he drink it all. Baby’s appetite will vary from feeding to feeding. If he drains his bottle and still seems hungry, he may need more. I can understand your worry if you are breastfeeding because you do not know exactly how much your baby is getting. You can always judge his satiety status by observing if he is satisfied for at least an hour or two after each feeding. You can also look for clues if he is feeding enough by making sure that he is active when awake and he wets 6-8 diapers each day. The more objective measure will be to look for weight gain.
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