Clinical inquiries. How should you manage an overweight breastfed infant?
There are several steps you can take. Monitor the growth of exclusively breastfed babies by plotting routine weights and lengths on the World Health Organization (WHO) growth curve. Reassure parents that higher-than-normal weight gain in infants who are breastfeeding easily without supplementation has no known adverse effects. Advise parents to change behaviors that result in overfeeding or insufficient physical activity. Refer parents to a lactation consultant to manage large volumes of milk that exceed the infant's need. In the rare case of an infant who exhibits lack of satiety or dysmorphia, consider an overgrowth syndrome and seek an endocrinology and genetics consult.
Osayande
Amimi
A
Department of Family Medicine, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
Watson
Ricky
R
Kolasa
Kathryn M
KM
Blevins
Amy
A
Reilly
Philip
P
D001942:Breast Feeding; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D050177:Overweight / Q000517:prevention & control*