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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Hungry baby formula

8 replies

Munchkinmommy · 12/06/2012 22:30

Hi Ladies, looking for some advice on switching to hungry baby formula. My little girl is growing really well and is 100% bottle fed. She is currently on the normal aptimil formula and has been taking 150ml. She has always been a good sleeper and up until the last few days has slept a 5/6/7 hour stretch each night. The last few nights she has woken more frequently wanting feeding so we have upped the amount to 180ml. She won't take the extra but does seem hungrier. So I am wondering if we should switch to hungry baby, at least for the night feed to satisfy her. But some people say not to switch, that it could really upset her tummy. Would still use aptimil. She is just over 8 weeks. Would love to hear your thoughts, not sure what to do for the best. It's as if her tummy can't take more volume but she needs more. Thanks

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onelittlemonkey · 12/06/2012 22:51

Hi Munchkin :)
DS went onto formula at 8mo so this may or may not be relevant...
He started waking two or three times through the night at some stage so I gave him hungry milk before bed and normal stage 3 during the day (and if he woke at night). The nice lady on the Cow & Gate helpline (although I was using Aptimil too) explained that the difference is in the relative amounts of two types of protein that are in both milks - the hungry milk has more of the protein that takes longer to digest, so they stay full for longer.

DS had no digestion issues and it worked well (FYI - slight thread diversion - he still woke once, I very gradually reduced the amount of powder in the water til he wasn't getting anything worth waking up for, just waking out of habit, then did controlled crying for a few nights and then it was peace at last)

DialMforMummy · 13/06/2012 12:30

I'd give it a go and if it upsets her tummy, then switch back. I have switched formula before for various reasons and we did not have any problems.
It might not solve the night wakings though.

Lexiesgirl · 13/06/2012 21:38

We use hungry baby milk at night. DD started sleeping till 5am but this started to slip back gradually until 3am and then would wake up again at 5-6am. We paid attention to how much she was eating but she wasn't actually eating any more despite the earlier wakings (instead of 4oz at 5, she would take 2oz at 3 and 2oz at 5). She also started to seem a less happy because she wasn't getting the long deep sleep she was used to. We moved to hungry baby milk and she has started sleeping through to 5am again.

I second the others - give it a go, keep an eye on her tummy - it might help!

Original poster

Munchkinmommy · 14/06/2012 05:32

Thanks ladies. Think I'll give it ago and see how we get on.

OP posts:

Livened · 14/06/2012 22:13

We tried the hungry baby stuff when our ds started doing exactly what you're describing - it didn't make any difference though as it was just a growth spurt.

We upped his intake of milk by an ounce per feed during the day so he got most calories in daylight hours, and after a week or so he was back to sleeping 10 hours per night.

It must work for some people (otherwise they wouldn't sell any of it) but at 8 weeks it's still very young.

I remember thinking (my ds is 21 weeks now) that the sleepless nights would never end! The moment you think you've cracked it, there's always so etching else that trips you up... We're onto teething arghhh...

Good luck x

onelittlemonkey · 15/06/2012 21:47

spoke to my friend about this today as her LO 16 wks and was advised at 10 wks to come off hungry milk (he'd been on it since 2 wks!!) as someone on the Aptimil helpline advised her not to mix the two until 6mo. He was having digestion issues and seems to be better now he's off hungry milk because mixing the two can apparently cause problems for wee tummies.

Sorry to put a cat amongst the pigeons...but if you've already tried it and he seems fine you might be ok. Feeding is sooooo tricky!

NeedToSleepZZZ · 17/06/2012 17:15

I wouldn't recommend 'hungry milk' to anyone, it is apparently fills baby up with non-nutritious things so although they might not feed so often, that isn't a good thing as they may be deficient in certain vits and minerals.

Lexiesgirl · 17/06/2012 20:58

Need, you're right. I certainly wouldn't have used it with DD unless we had written down how much she was feeding through her earlier wakings and realised she wasn't after more ozs over all. I hate the thought of the mums who use it to keep baby quiet

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