HV advised to put 11 week DS on hungrier baby milk, is this right?

[TheWillis]

Hi all

Saw the HV today, DS putting on weight at a great rate which she was really happy with, but has advised me to try hungrier baby milk as he is draining 7floz easily at only 11 weeks, and will take 9floz at 7am. He was weighed today as being 11.1 and was born 6.8 but lost a huge amount of weight when my milk didn't come through for 6 days which the MW's put down to labour trauma (5 days worth of labour and he was posteria - I even dilated in reverse on day three in the hospital - from 4cm back down to 3!) After which, coupled with how greedy and sucky he is I moved to C&G formula.

Anyway, he's sleeping great, goes down no problem at 7pm or just before, I wake him for a dreamfeed at 10.30pm at which point he goes through to 6am. So, my worry is, if I go onto hungrier baby milk that he will become constipated. Has anyone had any success with C&G hungier as all I've read is doom and gloom. Also, he hates drinking cooled boiled water which makes me even more anxious about constipation.

Any advice before I go ahead and do what the HV has told me to do?

not needed at all imo. if it works for you just stay with it.

I would stick with normal formula unless he puts on excessive weight. Hungrier Baby formula just means 'harder to digest formula' - I don't think they would sell much if they called it that though

I'm not surprised he's hungry in a morning if he's sleeping through. DD still fed 2 hourly at that age.

There's no need for hungrier baby milk as far as I can tell.

Thanks everyone. I really do want to avoid it, and I was actually quite surprised that it was suggested as the only chubby bit of DS is his neck! Considering the weight gain he's still not a chubby baby - he just burns it all off by kicking and playing like it's going out of fashion.

And then what with the MIL - she'd have had him on hungrier baby milk at 4 weeks if she'd had her way.

So i'll keep going the way I am. DS already gets mardy when he's due a poo (only goes every other day) without adding to the problem.

Again, thanks for the advice everyone

I have to say I have tried hungry baby milk and it didn't make any discernible difference!

I must admit, I'd steer clear unless I got desperate, as literally everyone I know who tried (any make) it ended up with serious constipation.

I wouldn't bother - the NHS advice is that there is no evidence that this makes much difference. Why risk upsetting a happy baby's digestion. NHS guidance - 2nd stage

OK, so a couple of weeks on and DS is starting to get really frustrated with his feeds (I think).

He's now on:
5.00 - 3 floz
7.00 - 9 floz
10.30 - 9 floz
14.15 - 9 floz
16.15 - 2 floz of water
17.00 - 4 floz
18.15 - 8 floz
22.30 - 6 floz

He can't be much heavier than 12lb now at a guess, but what's really distressing is how much he cries when he has finished his milk and has an out and out fit during his water feed. He's showing all of the signs for weaning but is only 13 weeks old! Spoke to the health visitor and she said I had to put him on the hungrier baby milk which i did in the end but it has made no difference (but he isn't constipated which was my greatest fear).

What should I do. The tantrums are unbearable as they last for at least 30mins each time. He used to be such a happy baby, I don't know what I'm doing wrong!

He might be happier if you fed him little and often rather than chugging massive bottles in one go and then waiting a few hours. He obviously needs the calories but perhaps he is suffering digestive discomfort?

The problem is if I take the bottle away from him before he is full then we get a full on tantrum - arched back and screaming, and nothing seems to calm him until he gets his bottle back. He has always been a very hungry baby, and I was told by the HV to feed him as much as he needed as newborns have no concept of greed so only take what they need. As such this is how we have ended up with such massive feeds.

Can you try little and often, TheWillis? If you offer smaller amounts with shorter gaps between feeds, he will not be so hungry and will not chug back these vast bottles....what do you think?

If he is sucky then a dummy might help?

He usually spits his dummy straight back out unless he is trying to get to sleep, and even then he still spits it out just before he drops off.

I've actually just done his 6.15 and that was fine. Only took 6 floz tonight though before falling asleep, but no tears for the first time today - what a relief!

I'll try giving him smaller bottles more often from tomorrow - so start with his big bottle but then feed him a small bottle say 1.5 hours later so that he isn't as hungry at his next feed.

Fingers crossed

I agree with trying to feed smaller feeds and more often, also I don't know what bottles you are using but could you try a slower flow teat, that way perhaps he has to work a bit harder to get the milk so it is not all done and dusted in 5 minutes. I am not a fan of hungry baby milk either prefering to feed more frequently. Perhaps try feeding 3 hourly initially on a slwoer flow teat. See how that goes. But you are doing brilliantly don't forget that you are just figuring out what he really needs and when. I sometimes think that really quick big feeds end up stretching the little ones tummy making them more hungry for bigger feeds and there is a tendency to be pleased that the bottle feeding is so quick, when often a slower feed gives the tummy time to feel full, a bit like when we wolf down our dinner, the wolf down pudding because we are still hungry and then half and hour later realise we have eaten too much.

That's a good point princesslina, we moved onto variflow teats as the small ones meant that he was falling asleep after every feed

Humm - Alf took a big bottle from an eaarly age. I managed to find an 11oz bottle that Avent did in the end (motheracre I think I got it from) as he was gettin upset after the 9oz feeds like your baby.

That MIGHT get you through to 16 weeks?