6 week old bottle fed baby

[georgiebs]

I have reluctantly stopped bfeeding after 6 weeks of trying every thing possible and gone to formula. Trouble is - my ds seems to want LOTS more than the prescribed amount on the box. Is this normal - I don't want to use the hungrier baby formula someone said it is like feeding the baby cottage cheese! Any thoughts - my anxiety is that I will overfeed him. GFrateful for help x

Hi, I have 10 week old girl and had the same prob with the BF and expressed until 6 weeks. She used to guzzle the formula for a whilebut now has evened out, I am now at the other end of the spectrum worried she is not taking enough. Maybe your little one is having a growth spurt they do at about 6 weeks (so I am told........) With regards to hungry milk I just give it to DD at night and give her easy digest during day, if you look on the ingredients I think the only difference is that hungry baby formula has more lactose......... HTH x

what do you mean by lots more? At that age my ds fed 3 hourly pretty much day and night (so 7 or 8 feeds) and he took maybe 4-6oz each feed. I never went by the box - you are better to feed to your lo's appetite. The rule of thumb is that if your lo drains several bottles in a row then increase the amount by an ounce in each bottle. 6 weeks is a growth spurt age so your lo could also be extra hungry.

p.s. hungry milk is not like cottage cheese, it is simply got a higher ratio of casein in it which is harder to digest amd is supposed to make your lo feel fuller for longer. It has exactly the same amount of calories as the first milk which is more whey dominant. A lot of people see little or no difference in feeding patterns between first milk and hungry milk

hi georgiebs. My DD has always guzzled lots more than the amount recommend on the tin. At 6 weeks she was definitely having 7 bottles each day, and I think these were 5-6oz each.

We did not move onto hungry baby formula, and now with the introduction of solids at 6 months, DD has just, ever so slowly, started to reduce her milk intake. I will admit that I was worried that she never would!

Is your DS a bigger baby? I would naturally assume that larger babies like my DD would need more food than tiny ones.

Hi ladies ( I presume) thanks so much for helpful advice. Seona, good tips and cottage cheese clarification - will report that back to person that told me... I am doing aptimil and not sure if they do have hungry formula but will check.. and barryscott, my baby wasn't very big at birth ( only 8lbs) but like my DS1 ( 9lbs) seems to be very hungry and non-sicky so I am going to go with the flow and up. DS1 became very, very fat ( i mix fed til 9 months) and HVs made comment I was overfeeding him which worried me... now DS1 is very slim and tall, so I agree with you vi235, it does even out.. I also agree not all babies can possibly want the same amount so the guide on the box must be just that... will let you know how I get on. mumsnet is BRILLIANT! georgie.

aptamil 2 is hungry baby milk and I did start giving it around 14 weeks or so - not sure if it made a difference or not, but no constipation or anything like that happened (hungry milk can be constipating as it is harder to digest)