We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Hungry baby formula?
Options
Comments
-
a centile chart in the red book only gives an indication of growth, its impossible at 2 weeks old to measure overfeeding, it too can also induce unnecessary worry for some new mothers.
EVERY baby is different, some are huge, some are small, some are content some are grouchy. also each intake of milk amount is different. (If normally healthy) they eat on demand and cannot overfeed at 2 weeks old (they can underfeed if ill though)
formula fed babies put on average 1/2lb per week in early infancy (maybe 4 oz one week, 10 oz week after but on average 1/2 lb), breast fed slightly lessGive blood - its free0 -
hi our first baby was born 6 weeks prem and he needed feeding 1 ounce every hour it was difficult for the first few weeks but the older they get it does tend to get slightly easier. feed on demand has always been my motto.
keep up the good work0 -
She is on the hungrier baby formula as i tried to breastfeed her in the hospital (failed miserably) but she was very mucousy and reluctant to suckle, after 3 days of her eating nothing i was terrified something was wrong or i was doing something wrong so i tried to feed her by bottle (hospital couldnt or wouldnt lone me a pump to express while i was there so had to be formula). She took small amounts maybe 5oz over the whole day, so they gave me the hungrier baby version as she was not taking much.
Anyway when we were discharged on day 4 (i had a section) i thought it best to keep her on that milk as i didnt want to rock the boat now she was finally eating something.
Since then her appetite has improved tremendously, and she now takes the 4oz every 4 hours.
She is my second baby but the with my DS feeding was very different as he was very premature (27 weeks gestation) and spent alot of time in the neonatal unit where his routine was established and i had lots of support and reassurance from the midwives there.
He did have problems with constipation and this is one of my worries with the hungrier baby formula, that it may give my DD constipation, as my son had a terrible time with it after he was discharged and i read in a post above that as its thicker its harder for them to digest.
Sorry for going on a bit, i know no one can tell me what to do, i just panic that im always doing the wrong thing as with my son it was all planned and i had to do everything the hospital said to the letter whereas with my DD i feel sort of in limbo trying to make these dicisions by myself.
Shall discuss it with the HV on wednesday.
Thanks guys!0 -
When my DS1 was a baby (all those 18 years ago) and he went onto hungry baby milk the only difference to the formula then was that the balance of proteins casein and whey was different, with more casein in SMA white, than Gold as that takes longer to digest - the calories, protein % etc were just the same. This makes me confused as to why they gave your baby who didn't eat much the "makes you feel fuller for longer" type of formula.
As someone already said a lot of parenting, especially when they are tiny is all about guilt! If your baby is putting on weight well and not constipated then I'd probably just leave her on it, but if not putting on as much weight then move her back to the first milk and maybe she'll take bigger feeds. This doesn't need to be done in one go though, you can make up a half and half feed to make the adjustment easier on the tiny tummy.
Oh and congrats on your new bundle!
It's only a game
~*~*~ We're only here to dream ~*~*~0 -
She is on the hungrier baby formula as i tried to breastfeed her in the hospital (failed miserably) but she was very mucousy and reluctant to suckle, after 3 days of her eating nothing i was terrified something was wrong or i was doing something wrong so i tried to feed her by bottle (hospital couldnt or wouldnt lone me a pump to express while i was there so had to be formula). She took small amounts maybe 5oz over the whole day, so they gave me the hungrier baby version as she was not taking much.
Anyway when we were discharged on day 4 (i had a section) i thought it best to keep her on that milk as i didnt want to rock the boat now she was finally eating something.
Since then her appetite has improved tremendously, and she now takes the 4oz every 4 hours.
She is my second baby but the with my DS feeding was very different as he was very premature (27 weeks gestation) and spent alot of time in the neonatal unit where his routine was established and i had lots of support and reassurance from the midwives there.
He did have problems with constipation and this is one of my worries with the hungrier baby formula, that it may give my DD constipation, as my son had a terrible time with it after he was discharged and i read in a post above that as its thicker its harder for them to digest.
Sorry for going on a bit, i know no one can tell me what to do, i just panic that im always doing the wrong thing as with my son it was all planned and i had to do everything the hospital said to the letter whereas with my DD i feel sort of in limbo trying to make these dicisions by myself.
Shall discuss it with the HV on wednesday.
Thanks guys!
You should ask them to treat you as a first time mum.
I found that with my second I was treated like I knew what I was doing because 'well, you've had one already'. But really, you had one that was very different to a full term baby and you don't actually know what a 'neurotypical' baby is like at all.
You're in a for a surprising few months! :rotfl:
You could try and switch her to the stage 1 milks, depends on how you think she would cope with a switch.0 -
She is on the hungrier baby formula as i tried to breastfeed her in the hospital (failed miserably) but she was very mucousy and reluctant to suckle, after 3 days of her eating nothing i was terrified something was wrong or i was doing something wrong so i tried to feed her by bottle (hospital couldnt or wouldnt lone me a pump to express while i was there so had to be formula). She took small amounts maybe 5oz over the whole day, so they gave me the hungrier baby version as she was not taking much.
Thats appalling, but not the first i have heard this week! - you should have had better assistance, ie help with your breastfeeding / baby sucking, relieving mucus, and expressing. sorry for all the questions but Did they give you the formula? and which area of the country are you in??
BTW, just in case you were thinking about it - its not too late to start breastfeeding if you so desire as your milk will be through by nowGive blood - its free0 -
I knew that maybe i should have had more assistance but the midwives made it clear that they didnt want the hassle and i dont like to cause a fuss. Im in Scotland, glasgow.
I tried giving her the formula in the middle of the night as she was very upset and just crying constantly and i felt we were annoying the other tired mummys and babies lol, i went out to the midwife and explained how DD hadnt ate since birth (although think it should have been in DDs notes) and i was struggling to do the hand expressing, they only gave me a book with some pictures on to learn myself and i just couldnt get the hang of it. She just suggested i keep trying or i could have formula, so i took the formula as i just wanted DD to eat something, anything at that point.
When we got home i started expressing with my own pump although i still couldnt get DD onto the breast and i also topped her up with formula as was only getting small amounts of breast milk but the visiting midwife said to stick to the formula as DD had lost 6oz and at least with the formula i would know how much she was taking. So i stopped expressing again the next day, I regret it now but i was just very worried.
Ive went on a bit again, sorry but thats how weve ended up on the formula.0 -
Mich
i am sorry that you didnt receive more help, its a sorry state of affairs when a midwifery dept cannot afford you the time.
When expressing, only a few droplets of colostrum come out in the early days, not even enough to fill half a teaspoon (bear in mind this contains all the vitamins and minerals the baby needs). this is sufficient milk for a newborn who has a stomach the size of a marble and the body (yours) produces more as required over the next couple of weeks. a warm flannel placed over the breast and a massage using the index finger and thumb moving from your near armpit to the nipple will do the trick (round the circumference of the breast)
i dont want to turn this thread into a pro breastfeeding subject but if you really wanted to try breastfeeding again, now is a perfect time to try, even if its once a day, always start in the morning when your breasts are fuller, lay on the bed sidewards (when you're fully alert and awake) with baby close by and let nature take its course. the nipple should be at the back of the babies throat.
its the most wonderful thing in the world i am told, and i wish i had the support and knowledge when my 2 were babies were born.Give blood - its free0 -
It is so disappointing that the NHS is ploughing money into breastfeeding but still there is such a lack of support when a mum needs it. If they spent the money on sending midwives to training courses for breastfeeding support rather than the bloody posters, everyone would be far better off.
Just goes to show the difference in PCT's, I'm under Ayrshire and Arran and my hospital was wonderful each time. Although, the new 'rules' for expressing are stupid, I used a pump from day 1 with DS1, day 4 with DS2 (but I had been in a coma till then) and then with DD they were wanting me to hand express, which I personally found a horrible experience, I would have much rather just used a pump would have gotten more too but hey ho.
If they could spend some time with mums then BF would have a far greater chance of being successful. Even just explaining about colostrum and that babies really don't need anything else and that they can go a long time between feeds at first, it would be a great help. Information just isn't getting through and a leaflet is not much use if your baby hasn't read it.0 -
Just to say, I also had trouble getting DS to latch on at first, ended up expressing (tiny amounts to start with as that's all we make/they need) and more as time went on. He was a sleepy baby (think partly due to me having a section) but at about day 4-5 he suddenly realised that if he sucked and then waited briefly, out would come milk! We never looked back! Again I am not pushing breast-feeding on anyone (mothers choice and all that)!! It is so sad that hospital mid-wives don't have the time to show you! I was in Aberdeen and it was hit and miss (some were very hands-on and helpful, others just said 'I'll get the pump', or 'oh you are doing fine')- thankfully I had listened when our local mid-wife did the session on feeding. Apparently our local hospital (Balfour) is great as not so busy and midwives able to spend time helping!Ermutigung wirkt immer besser als Verurteilung.
Encouragement always works better than judgement.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards