why is my hv so against formula for hungry babies???

[bumbly]

what is it for? when use it? why is every one so against it? does it make babies fat?

confused

[Tommy]

I think she may think that it is just a marketing ploy

[lisad123]

My guess would be the use of it to make babies go longer between feeds, but thats only a guess.
I think it may be because HV are more suportive of BF than FF anyway

[Piffle]

it has no extra cals,it is harder to digest so it keeps them full for longer - it cna constipate.
That's as much as I know

[Lazarou]

I used it from birth for ds1 because he was very hungry and it said suitable from birth on the packet but he had dreadful colic. I asked the hv when ds2 came along if i could use it for him as well and the hv said it is too rich to use from birth and young babies cannot digest it properly. Wish I had known that with ds1!

[bumbly]

but if it makes babies go longer then isnt that a good thing?

[bumbly]

so my lo used to have severe reflux and cramps on eating - but better now - so prob best not to try this hungry formula then???

[Lazarou]

how old is your lo?

[bumbly]

he is 15 1/2 weeks old (3 1/2 months)

[lisad123]

bumbly, not always good. It makes babies go longer because its not easy to digest rather than they arent hungry or thristy. Some misguided parents use it for their own benifit rather than the babies

[sb6699]

My friend is a nurse in the baby clinic. She was against it when I was thinking about it for DS1. Apparently it doesnt have any extra goodness just makes them feel fuller for longer and can cause bloating, wind and constipation because its harder to digest.

I saw a thing on tv that they're linking it to childhood obesity but not sure if that's taking things too far.

[ladders]

We started using it when we dropped the 11pm feed - rather than 5 x 7ozs feeds we went to 4 x 8oz and Aptamil 2 - worked a treat.
Still have 16m old on Fornula No4 for 8oz morning and night - not overweight - doing great!

[Seona1973]

hungry milk is for when babies take full bottles of first milk, are still looking for more but are too young for weaning. It is supposed to help 'hold them off' till the correct age for solids. I did use it with ds from about 14 weeks, he lasted till 5 1/2 months before weaning and it never caused constipation. (he never went much longer between feeds either but he did seem more settled)

[Piffle]

to make your baby go longer before it is ready is mad
Your baby will not gain weight properly - the milk is best when babies are draining all their feeds and additional feeds if ever truly need at all.

[tiktok]

It's not 'rich', and the calorie content is the same as ordinary formula. The protein content is predominantly casein, though (as opposed to whey) and casein proteins take longer to digest than whey proteins as the infant digestion system finds them harder work to break down. (This is not by the way, follow on milk, which is yet another formula, for babies over 6 mths, and which certainly is a marketing ploy).

All formulas used to be casein-dominant, until about (I think) 25-30 years ago, and whey-dominant was brought in as 'more modified' and closer to the casein-whey ratio of human milk.

There's no research as far as I know that shows babies fed on 'hungrier' baby milk do go for longer between feeds. If they do, they presumably need larger bottles as the calorie content of both types of formula are the same, so a baby feeding (say) 8 times a day on whey-dominant will need larger volumes if he is only feeding 6 times a day with casein-dominant.

It's all very theoretical - no long term research has been done on babies fed on either formulation to see if there are 'better' outcomes with the newer, whey-based milks, and so no real justification for telling mothers these are 'better'.

So in the end, I would say mothers who are not breastfeeding should try both sorts and see which one their baby seems to prefer.

Isn't it daft that this sort of information is not easily obtained? You'd almost think manufactuerers wanted to keep mothers under-informed....

[DynamiteDaisy]

It shouldn't make them fat, as it is nutritionally very similar to first milks, but the protein casein makes it harder to digest and keeps them feeling fuller for longer. I don't think that giving a baby something that he/she struggles to digest just so I can get a bit more rest/time between feeds is a vey kind thing to do; if they are hungry, just give them more first milk.

I FF DS from 5 weeks and used first milk till he was a year old then went onto cows milk, all on the advice of my HV.

[hunkermunker]

Surely not, Tiktok...