thoughts on follow on milk

[mamma1mia]

Hi all, I have just stopped exclusively BF my 23wk DD in preperation for returning to work in a weeks time (still BF first feed and before bed). I was thinking of moving on to follow on milk in a few weeks but have heard from a few people that follow on milk is unnessaary and advise sticking to first milk. Any thoughts please.

Not an expert on ff but the Mums I know who have ff have all stuck with the milk they were on instead of buying follow on milk and then swapped to cow's milk at 12 months.

yep, it's totally unnecessary, even more so if you are still breastfeeding twice a day

it was created purely to get round legislation on marketing formula. they created a new product that didn't fall under that category so they could market their brand

the problem with follow-on milk is that it is fortified with iron.
some babies are fine with this, but others get very constipated and it can upset their tummies.

so... no need for it. i would stick with first milk

Thanks everyone for the advice, will stick to first milk.

I was advised by midwives to use first milk all the way through if I ffed, no need for follow on milk

Most first milk has soya and fish in it though while follow on milk doesn't which is why i use it.

PP does that mean that you use the first milk or the follow on?

aptamil and sma follow on have soya in

Funny how they don't mention that in the adverts.

They probably don't mention it because most people don't care.

well most people should care what they're feeding their baby when it's their main source if nutrition

i think that nutrionally first and follow on milks are a hair apart. The only advantage to using follow on milk is that you can get it on sale. First milks are strictly controlled in terms of not being able to be discounted etc.

I did use follow on milk as it was cheaper. I also switched to a cheaper brand (stingy mummy!). It never had any bad effects on either of my lo's.

SugarPlum - not really the case. Follow on is casein-dominant, unlike most 'infant formula' which is whey-dominant (though all brands have a 'hungry baby' infant formula which is casein-dominant.

The iron content in follow on is doubled, and there is about twice as much sodium, too. This makes it unsuitable for younger babies.

The fish in infant formula is fish oil. I am not sure about soya in infant formula.

Follow on milk has added iron on it. Which is generally not absorbed into the blood, and hence causes constipation (same as all the iron supplements that pregnant women get!).

You can try out follow on, and if your lo gets constipated, change to first milk.

I am pretty sure there is fish oil in follow on as well - that's where the LCPUFAs come from. Though I expect you can get vegetarian follow on which does not have this - you'd have to read the pack to see brands are like this.

tiktok - what's casin? Not entirely sure I'm going to like the answer though.

Sorry, casein.

Sorry, I meant that I use the follow on milk because it has no fish or soya in it (I use HIPP). On the allergy advice on the box it will say either 'Contains milk' or 'Contains fish, soya and milk'.

I don't want baby milk with soya or fish (of any kind) in it, I will provide fish in meals and besides, the stink it creates when you pour hot water on that fishy powder makes me retch.

Casein is not scary :)

It's a part of the protein in all milks - including human. Casein is the stuff cheese needs to make, um, cheese... and this is why you can't make very good cheese with human milk but you can with cows, 'cos there is a smaller proportion of casein in human milk ( I gather there are people who make cheese from human milk and they have to add something to it otherwise it doesn't cheesi-fy - tech term for you there :) )

Casein makes itself into curdy, stringy stuff in the stomach, and it takes longer to digest than whey, which makes fluffy, cloudy stuff which metabolises more easily.

Infant formula has the protein of the cows milk it's made from 'modified' to make the casein part of it less indigestible, and it can be further modified to change the proportions, so whey becomes more dominant.

Breastmilk's protein is whey-dominant - though of course it is human whey and the formula milk is bovine whey. So they are not really the same.

Hope that helps :)

UNICEF leaflet on formula - click on the link for the leaflet for HCPs.

Whey dominant milks

These milks are often described as for newborns. They are based on the whey of cow?s milk and the ratio of proteins in the formula approximates to the ratio of whey to casein found in human milk (60:40).

These feeds are more easily digested than the casein?dominant formulas, which may have a slight effect on gastric emptying times. There is no evidence that changing from whey?based first milk to any other type of formula is necessary or beneficial ? at any point.

First milk is the only food bottle?fed babies need for the first six months of life. After this, as they start to be introduced to solid food, they can continue to receive first milk. When the baby is one year old, ordinary (full fat) cow?s milk can be substituted for the first milk.

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).

Milk for babies over six months or follow-on milks

Follow?on milks are described as suitable for babies from six months of age. They should never be used for babies under six months, as among other things they contain more iron than young babies need, as well as sucrose, glucose and other non?milk sugars.

The permissible concentrations of some minerals are higher than in first milks.
Parents do not need to change from first milk to follow?on milk when their baby reaches six months of age.

There is no published evidence that the use of any follow?on formula offers any nutritional or health advantage over the use of whey?based infant formula among infants artificially fed (SACN 2007).

For this reason the Department of Health does not include follow?on formula in the Healthy Start Scheme.

However, the labels on packets and tins of follow?on milks look very similar to those on packets and tins of first milks ? so parents need to be advised to read labels carefully. (Joint UNICEF/NCTMori survey 2005)

sorry didnt mean to imply you could give follow on to babies under 6 months. Was trying to suggest that first milks are fine to use after 6 months and will give your little one all they need, just that follow on will but can be discounted whereas first milks cant be.