So what exactly is hungry baby formula?

[Mammie81]

Im totally green - first pregnancy, havent got a clue.

Friend is giving her LO this, but I dont get the concept... cant you just feed the baby more often?

Sorry if Im being a thicko!

it is predominantly casein based (as opposed to the whey based first milk). It is harder to digest and may help your lo feel fuller for longer. It is normally used to help hold off weaning until your lo is old enough. I used it from about 14 weeks with my ds as he was a bit unsettled between feeds and it seemed to help. He was taking full bottles of first milk before I swapped and although he still took the same amount he seemed happier between feeds. Both milks have about the same calories, it is just the milk protein ratio that is different.

It is formula with more hard to digest bulk. It sits in baby's tummy for longer, making him feel less hungry.

However, it does not provide any extra nutrition.

You can of course feed the baby more often, as a breastfeeding mother does. However, frequent (little and often) feeds with formula is more of a 'hassle' - present company excepted.

As a marketing tool, it also panders to mothers who take great pride in how much their LOs eat, and how quickly they "need" to move onto solids.

I had never heard of it before, thanks! I just didnt get it, I thought why not just feed the baby more if baby wants more? Unless that can make baby sick?

Apologies again if Im being a moron. I hate asking in real life as I dont want friends to think Im an idiot!

I think part of it comes from the historic "4 hour schedule" that was popular from about the 1920s to 1990s. It was sold to mothers as the way to feed their babies, and some advocates were quite militant about it.

However, the vast majority of babies need to be fed more frequently - every 2 - 3 hours from the nutritional side. Still, nowadays, mothers are made to feel weak if their babies don't last until the magical four hour mark.

If you are bottlefeeding, you have to think about making up bottles for the day, and being able to use them as planned. If your baby is hungry early, and you have to break into one of your bottles just for them to have half of it, you can't just put it back in the fridge as it will no longer be hygeinic. Of course, you could make up more smaller bottles, but some people find this a hassle compared with four hourly feeding with hungry baby formula.

The easiest thing to do is breastfeed on demand and you don't have to worry about any of this.

Fingers crossed Blueberry! Im going to do my damnedest! My mum gave up with me and I have terrible eczema now, DP has asthma.

Thinking about it some more... surely if it has the same nutritional value as normal formula milk, you dont want your baby to sit there not hungry because of fillers for the required 4 hours but nutritionally needing more food? How does it affect weight in that sense?

So is it like an appetite repressant?

i used to give my DP hungry formaula bcos she waanted feeding every 2 hours or left she was a lil greedy guts lol, the only difference is that the formula is thicker so it is supose to sit heavier on their stomach and hopefully keep them fuller for longer apart from that no real dif it has the same nutrients, calories, benefits etc, its stops them from hopefully over indulging

Simple answer? A rip off.

So is it for overweight babies? Sorry, i'm new to this like mammie!

I assumed it was higher in calories/nutrients, so actually for "hungry" babies - but in fact it's for greedy babies?

Some info from this UNICEF leaflet:

Second milks (Casein dominant milks)

These are also sold as being suitable for use from birth, but they are aimed at parents whose babies are ?hungrier?. Although the proportions of the macronutrients (fat, carbohydrate,
protein, etc.) are the same as is found in whey?dominant formula, more of the protein present is in the form of casein (20:80). For this reason they are not recommended for young babies.

The higher casein content causes large, relatively indigestible curds to form in the stomach and is intended to make the baby feel full for longer. However, there is no evidence that babies settle better or sleep longer if given these milks (Taitz 1989, Thorkelsson 1994).

I get what it physically is. I just dont get, like mammie, why you just cant feed the baby more normal formula or breast milk. Is it bad to give them too much normal formula?

If it has no added nutrition, isnt it just suppressing their appetites?

I dont mean more formula per bottle. But more feeds.

im not sure as to wether it is bad as such and definately not if your baby is growing at a steady weight, your health visitor could advise you more, if the baby was eating way to much and gaining a lot of weight to quick they may advise the hungry baby milk