New advice dept of health-storing formula milk(baby bottles)

bobber

bobber i have never heard of this lactose free milk but am going to research it now! is it like ordinary formula but without the lactose? i wish we were all given information about lactose, etc. instead of having to find it out from other mums :mad:

[/QUOTE]

Yes its identical in everyway, including all nutrients etc, just no lactose. Its on the approved list for 'medicines' (think thats what its called?) for GPs to prescribe for lactose intolerance or severe colic - there's info on the SMA website and on their helpline.
Only downside - I've found it hard to mix up, whatever the temp of the water - we then bought a formula whisk from BabiesRus, which is brilliant and I thoroughly recommend (I found shaking up Dr Brown bottles a nightmare before this).
My LO enjoys this milk so much Im having trouble weaning her off it - she grabs the bottle from me as soon as she sees it!

bobber

I've just remembered there is an NHS website for GPs that has info on severe colic and lactose intolerance that I found when my LO was first having problems. Not sure if advice on it has changed since I looked at it Dec last year, but it gives a bit more info about SMA LF for those who are interested.
http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/colic_infantile/extended_information/management_issues

jellyhead

crispy you're not being shot down in flames

i don't want to turn this into an anti-hospital rant (everyone has things they could whinge for england about regarding their births lol!) but my hospital was very busy. each midwife had 4 or 5 women in labour at a time. they have tens machines and birth balls in a cupboard, but nobody has time to sort them out for the mums. there is a birth pool but it hasn't been used in a year because there's no time to fill it or supervise. nobody on the ward had enough time to help with breastfeeding, they were too busy. after i left hospital i was told by an NCT breastfeeding counsellor that the hospital actually has a breastfeeding counsellor - at no point was anybody on the ward offered this information. rumour has it that they also have a breast pump, again i wasn't offered it despite having to express milk because baby couldn't latch on.

i don't think my experience was rare. lots of babies don't suck, even if it's just for a day or two after birth. i left hospital knowing i should try a pump but never having seen one. i did actually use a pump but my milk had pretty much dried up by then and completely dried by 6 weeks. if i'd been shown a pump and allowed to use it while in hospital i believe i'd have had a milk supply, and i would have expressed it. if formula hadn't been available i'd have just gone home, refused to stay on the ward.

i realise that breastfeeding is best for baby, but feeling like a failure isn't good for mums, and postnatal depression doesn't do babies much good.

aren't i grumpy? :rotfl:

trying to breastfeed would be ideal, but not having the choice isn't nice, in my humble opinion. when i had spud 9 years ago i was catheterised and tied to blood pressure machines etc. for a few days, unconscious to begin with. i never got a milk supply, and for those first few days when the staff were feeding my baby what would have happened if the hospital hadn't had formula? i'd have gone home without waiting for my blood pressure drugs to work i suppose, just so my family could give formula to the baby.

i'm all for trying to breastfeed, and if i have another baby i'll give it a go, but the mums who don't want to or find it difficult to breastfeed are going to scurry home if the hospital doesn't provide formula, and that isn't always the best idea especially after a difficult birth.

jellyhead

oh dear, my head's hurting from all those links :rotfl:

well, my baby was a completely different child when given lactase in his milk. i realise that true allergies are rare but whatever is upsetting him it's clear that removing the lactose from his milk gives instant results. i tried the usual colic treatments, no joy. i'll read the links again tomorrow, allergy to the protein is mentioned, but if roo is allergic to cows milk protein then wouldn't he still have problems despite taking the lactose out of his diet?

one thing that i didn't realise, from bobber's link is that when you're using lactase the baby doesn't get used to making his own, because he doesn't consume lactose. cutting down on the colief is absolute hell but that link suggests that over the course of a week the baby could start making his own lactase. i'll try again, but i'm not expecting miracles because all we did was reduce the lactase a bit, i don't see how we could reduce it less than we already did. he got big red blobs on his face, like he had as a newborn before we used the lactase. and his nappies were green froth. ick :rotfl:

lactase has to be kept in the fridge once opened, so i don't think it's an option for essex, not in hospital. shame, because you only have to buy one type of milk then, or could even add it to breastmilk. the special milks aren't available in ready made cartons. ho hum.

Thriftylady

its amazing how completely different things are in different hospitals !!

I'm just out of hospital yesterday, having spent a week on the maternity ward where obviously I got a good feel for what was going on round me. Baby is not due for over 9 weeks, so this isn't an issue for me yet, but formula seems to be the preferred option in my hospital. The midwives are itching to tell people about the benefits of breastfeeding, but apparently they aren't allowed to in case it is considered to be harassment. There are posters up pointing out the benefits, but thats all. As far as I can see, unless you specifically ask for help to learn how to breastfeed, you will be directed towards formula. I think this is terribly sad really - I respect everyones right to make a choice, but surely breastfeeding is the ideal and should be encouraged (and I do mean 'encouraged', not 'bullied into') if possible?

Similarly I noticed that an earlier poster had mentioned a hospital only allowing washable nappies, but my hospital only allows disposables....

Isn't it strange that its theoretically the same health service, and yet the hospitals are so different.....

Crispy_Ambulance

jellyhead wrote:

crispy you're not being shot down in flames

i don't want to turn this into an anti-hospital rant (everyone has things they could whinge for england about regarding their births lol!) but my hospital was very busy. each midwife had 4 or 5 women in labour at a time. they have tens machines and birth balls in a cupboard, but nobody has time to sort them out for the mums. there is a birth pool but it hasn't been used in a year because there's no time to fill it or supervise. nobody on the ward had enough time to help with breastfeeding, they were too busy. after i left hospital i was told by an NCT breastfeeding counsellor that the hospital actually has a breastfeeding counsellor - at no point was anybody on the ward offered this information. rumour has it that they also have a breast pump, again i wasn't offered it despite having to express milk because baby couldn't latch on.

i don't think my experience was rare. lots of babies don't suck, even if it's just for a day or two after birth. i left hospital knowing i should try a pump but never having seen one. i did actually use a pump but my milk had pretty much dried up by then and completely dried by 6 weeks. if i'd been shown a pump and allowed to use it while in hospital i believe i'd have had a milk supply, and i would have expressed it. if formula hadn't been available i'd have just gone home, refused to stay on the ward.

i realise that breastfeeding is best for baby, but feeling like a failure isn't good for mums, and postnatal depression doesn't do babies much good.

aren't i grumpy? :rotfl:

trying to breastfeed would be ideal, but not having the choice isn't nice, in my humble opinion. when i had spud 9 years ago i was catheterised and tied to blood pressure machines etc. for a few days, unconscious to begin with. i never got a milk supply, and for those first few days when the staff were feeding my baby what would have happened if the hospital hadn't had formula? i'd have gone home without waiting for my blood pressure drugs to work i suppose, just so my family could give formula to the baby.

i'm all for trying to breastfeed, and if i have another baby i'll give it a go, but the mums who don't want to or find it difficult to breastfeed are going to scurry home if the hospital doesn't provide formula, and that isn't always the best idea especially after a difficult birth.

Its sad isn't it - there are student midwives graduating who can't get jobs and yet our maternity wards are too short staffed

I think there is such a fine line between encouraging breastfeeding and women feeling like they are being bullied. If a baby won't latch on - and some aren't ready to feed straight away, despite what the books say! - then they can be given expressed milk from a cup - but that takes time and a lot of one to one care.

breastfeeding is a skill - both mum and babe need to learn it and it is wrong that you weren't given the help and information that you needed.

I don't know all the details but I was reading somewhere about soy formulas and goats milk formulas not meeting the standards set for ordinary formulas which is maybe another reason for hospitals not having them?

essexhoney - you could try talking to an NCT breastfeeding counsellor before your baby is born - they will know more about intolerances and things you can do to get started than I will (0870 444 8708). They do a lot of training and are pretty knowledgeable.

essexhoney

thanks for all those links, il have a read through them when LO has gone for her nap.

crispy thanks for the number of the nct i didnt think of them! must be the pregnancy hormones making my brain go fuzzy :rotfl:

Spendless - from what they have said they would make the bottles up for me, but tbh i dont think i would be entirely comfortable with somebody else making up my babies bottles, but maybe thats just me being fussy

jellyhead

i think it's goats and sheeps milk that doesn't meet nutritional criteria (for babies under 6 months at least, but i saw an ad in supernanny mag for goats milk follow on formula for babies over 6 months i think, but i've passed the mag on now and can't check).

soya milk was improved a while back, i know that when my brother had it 26 years ago it didn't contain calcium and he's suffered for that. but nowadays i think it must be okay if you can buy it at boots without any medical advice at all, or am i just naive?


yes it was a shame i didn't get advice or help with expressing, but the way the midwives were taught to help the mums is to stress that breastfeeding is hampered by using formula, by using a bottle, by using a dummy etc. and that expressing milk to put into a bottle might mean my baby would never learn to latch on. i wish they'd offered a cup or spoon etc. to give it to him that way though.

the advice they were giving was that in order to successfully breastfeed you have to just persevere and offer the breast constantly until baby gets the hang of it, any kind of intervention can lead to diminished milk supply and eventually relying on formula. i was even told not to use nipple shields, but one midwife told me in private that she used them to get her baby's tongue down off the roof of his mouth. i wonder if using them to begin with for those early days might have helped.

my sis is breastfeeding her baby and it looks fab, so simple. i'm jealous :rotfl:

rchddap1

Not much to add, but just wanted to express my thanks for all the comments on this thread. Its interesting to learn all of this info and it will come in handy by the time the year is out.

jellyhead

it good to be armed with lots of info, even if you don't agree with everything posted or don't think it will be relevant. i was given lots of breastfeeding advice by the lovely mse ladies when i was pregnant. you'll always find parents happy to answer anything about children