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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that you don't just give your baby 'hungry baby milk' because your 2 month old won't go more than 4 hours between feeds?

83 replies

BonkeyHasGOLDMollocks · 09/08/2012 20:44

My 'friend' used very very lightly told me that she had her baby on this because he was feeding every 4 hours and she thought he should be going longer.

I FF ds and I am pretty sure it was a 4-5 hour gap until at least 3 months.

Incidently she is planning to wean at 12 week too. Shock

Am I being a super know it all judgy panted bitch? Or do I possibly have a point?

OP posts:
Tangointhenight · 09/08/2012 21:09

OP agree about the baby's needs especially in those newborn days, as desperate as I was for sleep I always put DD first and she often fed every 2 hours, 8 oz and that was using the hungry milk!

valiumredhead · 09/08/2012 21:10

Oh yes, very selfish to give a child milk that is designed for babies Hmm

optionalintegration · 09/08/2012 21:12

What do people mean exactly when they say that so and so is a very 'hungry baby'?
This is a genuine question. I'm a ftm and have nothing to compare to. My DD's weight gain was a bit slow from birth and maybe I was just paranoid, but she never went longer than 2 hours between boob feeds by day until she was about 4.5 months. I didn't know if she was hungry or not all that time, I just put her on, or if she was cross, put her on, etc...

It's only now that she's on solids that I can actually tell when she's hungry.

So what is a hungry baby? Is it when a baby drinks all of the recommended oz per 24h and seems to still cry for milk?

lovebunny · 09/08/2012 21:12

i'd never heard of 'hungry baby milk'. i innocently thought all baby milk was for hungry babies - who'd feed a full one, they'd only be sick?? duh, lovebunny. Blush

Original poster
BonkeyHasGOLDMollocks · 09/08/2012 21:12

LyingWitch Fuck off.

Her HV told her to up the feeds.
And advised strongly against weaning at 12wks .

OP posts:
Mrsjay · 09/08/2012 21:12

I never understood why people want their babies to go longer than 4 hours between feeds I thought that was the norm , Mine threw up hungry baby milk so i fed them every 3 hours for 4 months I did try it though, I guess you can be a bit Hmm about it but it is her baby i wouldsay that babies are meant to feed that regularly,

suzikettles · 09/08/2012 21:14

Hungry baby milk is just "old style" formula - ie caesin based rather than whey based.

Companies swapped to whey based milks because they are "closer" to breast milk and easier to digest. The difficulty digesting the milk is why it keeps the baby fuller for longer but can also cause constipation in some babies.

Obviously she can do whatever she likes with her baby, but I wonder if she goes more than 4 or 5 hours without something to eat or drink? Seems an odd goal at 8 weeks.

sweetkitty · 09/08/2012 21:14

My last baby wouldn't go 2 hours between feeds, maybe 3 hours at a push even when fully weaned. He was BF though.

I really think we need to end this obsession with getting tiny babies to sleep through the night by trying to cram as much food as possible into them, it cannot be good for them.

If you look evolutionary at the way we have developed babies traditionally were carried by their mothers and BF on demand day and night. They are not designed to be shut away from their mothers for 12 hours at a time. My mother takes great delight in telling anyone who will listen that I was weaned on mince and tattles at 6 weeks old, I had mashed up rusk in my bottles and was on "normal" milk at 3 months, oh I was a 34 weeker, how hell she managed to get me to eat the food I don't know. But mothers like these are still advising new mothers, it's a badge of honour as to how quickly you can wean your baby "milk didn't fill him up so I had to wean at 10 weeks hinting that the baby is so advanced" and also the sleeping through thing, rice in bottles, extra scoop full it's still being done.

Mrsjay · 09/08/2012 21:16

people used to put rusks and thickener in bottles so they would sleep all night and I can remember people moaning about that years ago people do sometimes get Hmm when others dont do as they do

squeakytoy · 09/08/2012 21:16

I would just figure that if she has already weaned two children, who thrived and are healthy, then she knows what she is doing. :)

CouthyMow · 09/08/2012 21:18

It's funny, the only one of my 4 DC's with no major allergies is the one that was weaned at 12 weeks. As per the advice from HV's back then, 14+ years ago.

The older my DC's were weaned (each in line with the advice at the time), the more allergies and intolerances they have.

I find that more likely to point to LATE weaning causing allergies than the other way round.

The difference between DD being weaned at 12 weeks, and DS3 being weaned at 26 weeks is the difference between DD being allergic to ONE enzyme that is only present in pineapple, kiwi and papaya, and DS3 being anaphylactic to dairy (even in trace amounts), soy, nuts AND pineapple, kiwi and papaya.

Tangointhenight · 09/08/2012 21:19

optional I had a very very hungry baby, she came out of the womb with a knife a fork :o

I used to breast fee all day, and I mean ALL day and night for 6 weeks when my milk dried up, then did drank 8 oz of first milk probably every other hour, until I put her on hungry milk, I weaned at 18 weeks on advice of my HV, too much formula isn't always good for them either.

She was always off the centile chart in height and weight, she's not chubby, just a big tall girl like me :)

BertieBotts · 09/08/2012 21:19

OP you have a point but it's probably not the parents' fault when they are being paraded all sorts of ridiculous expectations by the magazines, health visitors etc!

Original poster
BonkeyHasGOLDMollocks · 09/08/2012 21:21

Squeaky One of her dds lives with her dad by choice and the other dd has major behavioural problems.

If I was in her position I would.be looking at any advice giving to.me.by a health professional properly and not ignoring it.

Btw , i am not saying that hungry baby and early weaning were the cause of these problems!

OP posts:
Tangointhenight · 09/08/2012 21:21

Sorry for my spelling its been a long day.

BlackholesAndRevelations · 09/08/2012 21:22

See, that's the bit I can't understand; why you'd put something into your baby that was difficult to digest??

I know someone who gave a 4 (or so) week old baby hungry milk against the advice of a midwife, because baby wanted feeding every three hours and she CBA with it (not jn so many words). This is NORMAL BABY BEHAVIOUR.

On that note, I've just been reminded if something; my brother (now 18) was fed every four hours on the dot. I guess that was the advice then (was it?!) and he cried for hours on end at night time. Winder why my parents didn't get him up and feed him... Hmm When he was weaned he wolfed food down like it was going out if fashion. I've literally just put 2+2 together! (sorry for the digression!)

Wigglewoo · 09/08/2012 21:24

My 8 week old ds feeds every 2.5 hours day and night, or thereabouts. He is on sma gold. He usually takes 7oz a time and at 6pm he tends to doze for 30 mins wake up and then take another 4oz and then sleeps for his longest stretch - sometimes 5 hours... I feed on demand. I am then up with him at 12.30ish, 2.45ish and this morning he decided that it was time to get up and party at 5.30!

I did buy a tin of hungry baby milk - as it clearly says "from birth" on the tin and if it was poison it would be illegal- thinking maybe he might go for a little longer at night as I am about to crack (!) But I tried it for 2 nights just in his night bottles and he seemed very windy and unsettled so I won't be using it again. But .... If it works for other babies and they seem happy does it matter???? Its not like dipping a dummy in whisky or filling a bottle with rusk!

BlackholesAndRevelations · 09/08/2012 21:25

Oh and he was weaned at three months as per advice then.

MushroomBurger · 09/08/2012 21:28

Those of you saying hungry baby milk isn't harmful may not be correct. It contains casein rather than whey, which is significantly more allergenic, more difficult to digest and more likely to irritate the gut and lead to long term immune system problems. It is not something to be used lightly or, as appears to be the case presented to us, simply to get some more sleep. There may be cases where it is advised, but this is not one of them.

Rachog · 09/08/2012 21:34

Ds1 was on hungry baby milk early on because the hv said that was better for him than giving him extra ounces.

Ds2 is breastfed and.it seema to be all we ever do!

SirChrisHoysThighs · 09/08/2012 21:35

Some babies are natural 4 hour feeders. I had one albeit not until they were on hbm . When you have a baby screaming for food all the time you will try everything to help satiate that hunger.

I hate all this competitive mothering. Either be a friend and support her ire do her a favour and leave her be.

Wigglewoo · 09/08/2012 21:38
LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 09/08/2012 21:39

Same to you, OP... post what you want at your peril, this isn't your chatboard. Your friend is free to take advice or not - it's nothing to do with you. You come across as a moron, a judgemental, pointless moron.

Tangointhenight · 09/08/2012 21:45

My friend fed her baby every 4 hours on the dot, with cold bottles dontchaknow!!!! Her baby was underweight and she couldn't understand why Hmm

But it was her baby and none of my business so I said nothing, it was the job of her HV to do not me, I didn't throw very subtle hints which she didn't pick up on.

OP its OK to have your opinions and be bit annoyed on baby's behalf. How I feel about babies with pierced ears and juice in bottles I imagine.

Wigglewoo · 09/08/2012 21:51

Personally I think I'd be more upset / concerned if she wasn't feeding on demand rather than what baby milk she uses... I hate the idea of babies being hungry and having to "wait" for a feed :( I wouldn't want someone making me wait till 9pm for my dinner when I was hungry at 6! I'd rather have the stodgy pasta and feel fuller for a bit thanks!