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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

FF - being able to see the amount being fed not being an advantage?

49 replies

tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 21:53

How is it a disadvantage to a baby?

I can see how it's reassuring for a parent, I can't quite work out why that's not then also a good thing for a baby?

Or is it more a baby doesn't care, so it's not an advantage rather than it being a disadvantage?

OP posts:
K999 · 13/04/2011 21:55

Youre confusing me! I don't get what it is you're asking...but then I have had a few wines....

wigglesrock · 13/04/2011 21:56

Tabulahrasa I think that when people say its a disadvantage to the baby they mean that formula feeding parents may try and force the baby to finish the bottle. I know my mum would have said she did this with me but I have ffed two children and currently am ffing a third and I just feed on demand so it doesn't affect me or baby.

EdwardorEricCantDecide · 13/04/2011 21:57

I was constantly told this when BF DS "how do u know he's eating enough"
At first i just said as long as he's putting on weight he's fine, but eventually they wore me down and I gave up BFing at 3months.
I'm pregnant again they won't win this time Grin

wigglesrock · 13/04/2011 21:58

k999 it came up another thread and the OP was advised to post over on this section, v Envy of the wine

Original poster
tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 21:58

oh it was for tiktok mostly - I should have put that eh?

She'd said that being able to see how much formula was being taken wasn't an advantage to the baby, just the mother and I wanted to know what she meant, only it was in the middle of an AIBU thread

So I came here Smile

OP posts:
rubyslippers · 13/04/2011 21:59

Babies often finish a bottle because it is free flow and easy to drink

Doesn't mean they need that volume

Babies can be very good at regulating their intake of milk

You can tell if a baby is getting enough milk with the number of wet and dirty nappies, alertness of the baby etc

K999 · 13/04/2011 22:01

Oh, I see!

I FF DD1 and she would only ever take the amount she needed! I BF DD2 for 3 months and I presume she did the same!

Original poster
tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 22:02

not that I meant no-one else's opinion was wanted or anything, lol

I found it quite handy in a - she's only taken 3 ounces, she'll want feeding again sooner, I better not leave it too long to make up milk kind of way...

I would have thought that was an advantage to the baby as well

ok, a fairly minor one, lol

OP posts:
wigglesrock · 13/04/2011 22:05

Tabulahrasa I find it handy too, especially when trying to think ahead re timing of making up a new bottle. To be honest felt it could have been answered quite quickly in the your original post but hey hum.

RitaMorgan · 13/04/2011 22:05

Handy for the parent to know what is taken.

A disadvantage for the baby in that they could be persuaded/cajoled to take the "right" amount, or have the amount restricted, or not fed as often as they would like as they had Xoz and should go Y hours.

MummyBerryJuice · 13/04/2011 22:06

I think what she means is that you can get hung up on the amount you believe your baby should be having at a feed and try to 'encourage' them to take 'just one more ounce' IYSWIM. There is no real benefit in knowing how many ounces a baby has had as it may be too much or too little for that baby at that time.

Best to forget about measurements and follow the baby's cues

tiktok · 13/04/2011 22:09

Ha! Lots of answers for you, tab :)

The studies indicate that for some mothers, the writing on the pack which says how much your baby might have is read as 'should have', and this means worry if the baby does not take as much....and maybe encouragement to the baby to take a bit more than he really needs.

This is thought to be one of the factors that correlates FF with obesity.

This is not the same as saying formula feeding babies will be obese. The correlation is not cause and effect. And it only shows up in big studies - it is not a prediction for individual babies.

But for a healthy baby, knowing the precise amount of milk he is having is not helpful or necessary - but I have never ever known a mother not be aware of how much formula her baby has drunk. It is virtually impossible not to hold the bottle up and do the sums!

tiktok · 13/04/2011 22:10

wiggles - anything I said there risked being misinterpreted. That's why I asked her to post here.

Original poster
tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 22:12

hmm, mine wouldn't take any more than they wanted

I wouldn't have listed it as an advantage to FF over BF, but someone did and I was just puzzled as to how it wouldn't be for a baby

I don't think it worked any differently to knowing how long a BF baby fed for, in that, you know if it's not much they'll be after more soon, if they've fed loads all day and then miss one they'd normally have later you don't stress because you know why it is they've not demanded it...things like that rather than anything major

OP posts:
Original poster
tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 22:14

"The studies indicate that for some mothers, the writing on the pack which says how much your baby might have is read as 'should have', and this means worry if the baby does not take as much....and maybe encouragement to the baby to take a bit more than he really needs."

Oh I treated that like the advice on the back of dog food - it's bumped up so you buy more, so it's just a rough guide

Blush of course I am aware that dogs and babies aren't the same

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 13/04/2011 22:15

I haven't found it works like that with breastfeeding - ds could feed for an hour and want another feed an hour later, or feed for 10 minutes then sleep for three hours!

I don't think the length of feed necessarily correlates to how much milk they have taken.

Original poster
tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 22:18

does it not?

I don't know, I didn't make it past 5 weeks breastfeeding, my friends always seemed to know whether they'd had a big feed or a little one - I mean babies have a mind of their own so it doesn't always work like that,lol, but they could go right, he's had a massive feed we should be alright to go round the shops for a bit

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 13/04/2011 22:21

To an extent - but then they might need a feed because they're tired/bored/over-stimulated etc rather than just hungry. Maybe it's a bit different if you schedule feeds rather than demand feed?

everyspring · 13/04/2011 22:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 22:23

that is, I didn't make it past 5 weeks EBF

I had massive problems feeding DS, mixed feeds till 5 months, but I never felt like I got the hang of it, and I stopped at 5 months completely.

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 13/04/2011 22:24

When you're feeding 10-12 times a day you don't get much chance to note the length of feeds anyway Grin

Original poster
tabulahrasa · 13/04/2011 22:26

"but then they might need a feed because they're tired/bored/over-stimulated etc rather than just hungry."

that's what I meant by babies having a mind of their own Grin

I've never met anyone who schedule fed, DD sort of did, but entirely of her own volition, lol, but you'd still have to do the whole comfort feeding with them both

OP posts:
MummyBerryJuice · 13/04/2011 22:28

've always (after the first month or so) know whether DS has had a big or small feed but it never has had anything to do with how long he fed for. I could tell how much he drinks by how frequently and deeply he swallows sometimes he has lots of milk quickly and at other times he just wants a little bit but savours the moment Grin

MummyBerryJuice · 13/04/2011 22:30

Blush badly mixed my tenses there. Oops

RitaMorgan · 13/04/2011 22:31

I've found it much harder to tell if he's had a big/small feed since 6 months - I really have no idea now, sometimes I wonder if he gets anything! He likes to stop and look round, swap sides constantly and generally mess about Hmm