Would you give an 8 week old baby rusk in a bottle?

[fondant4000]

No, I thought not

Have had a depressing call with my dad. My half brother (dad's 2nd marriage) has an 8 week old baby.

She is being ff as my sil (19 years old) doesn't do bf - fair enough it's their choice. The hv has told them to keep the baby on a 4 hour schedule.

The baby keeps crying, and when they do give her milk she consumes twice as much as she is 'supposed' to. So now they are worried that the baby is going to 'get fat'. So rather than giving her more milk, they have decided to crush up some rusk and add that to the bottle.

I don't even know where to begin - or who to be mad at, them? the hv?

What a shame. Do you have the sort of relationship with your SIL where you could chat to her about it?

be mad at the HV

tell tehm to feed baby when she is hungry and to add an extra ounce to each feed when the baby is draining each bottle

babies cannot get fat if they are fed responsively, but they can choke and suffer kidney damage if fed solids in a bottle at such an early age

rusks are sugary, they will make the baby fat if anything is going to

Tell them not to worry about what their baby is "supposed" to do, and if she is crying to be fed, feed her. I remember feeling the pressure to do what was "right" and what the hv said, but in the end you have to go by your own baby. I'm not even going to get started on the rusk thing good catchy thread title though! FWIW, my ds didn't feed four hourly until about 6 months - it was every 3 hours until then.

tell them to ignore the four hour rule. feed the baby as and when. the baby doesnt need filling up with rusks at this age (which btw are full of sugar and other crap) and just needs milk.

babies are meant to be a little bit chubby anyway.

My goodness.

Do you know who their HV is? She needs reporting!

All I can say too much here

Thanks. I have not met my sil, and have not seen my brother for about 4 years. It's dad's 2nd family and we have had little contact.

Also my sil lives with her parents and my bro lives at my dads (he's 24) - so even my dad doesn't have much influence.

I'm seeing dad on Sunday, so any ammunition I can give him to try and convince them not to do this will be helpful. I've told him that there are more likely to be obesity problems from a child that cannot control it's own intake (ie not fed on demand), and that she should not be having anything but milk for the first 6 months.

My dad's 74 and thought the rusk was a 'good' idea as "at least the poor bairn won't be hungry that way'. To his credit, he did at least think they were listening too much to the hv, and that it was better to have a chubby happy baby than a miserable skinny baby.

I might try and push him that way a bit more. I've already said that I'd burn every advice book and bar the door to every hv and that parents should do what makes the baby and them happy. I imagine my sil is under pressure from hv and her mother - and they are living in the kind of situation where this all seems very normal, sadly.

Sometimes, HVs recommend a four hourly schedule to ff mothers, if the mother is for some reason not really capable of being relied on to feed the baby as and when it needs. A four hourly schedule ensures the baby does at least get fed - don't know if your SIL would fit this category. The 'rusks in a bottle' scenario would indicate that she might be.

But the HV should stay in touch and see how her advice is being interpreted.

It's actually very dangerous to put rusks in the bottle - forget the sugar (bad enough), it's the damage to kidneys that's the risk. You have to say something - perhaps offer to go with them to see the HV if this is practical. This baby's health, long term and short term is at risk. In an extreme situation, the baby could actually die. I don't want to scaremonger, but this does occasionally happen.

Thanks tiktok - glad you've posted. I'll call dad tonight about the rusk thing. I see what you mean about the schedule.

Although they are young, and maybe not well educated, I think my sil is pretty devoted to the whole thing. She wanted to have a natural birth, no painkillers. My dad says she is buying and reading lots of stuff. So I'd be surprised if the hv thought they would neglect baby - in fact it looks like they are being TOO attentive (in the wrong way).

I'll also suggest to dad that she goes back to the hv and explains that they have tried to sticking rigudly to the 4 hourly schedule, but that the baby seems hungry all the time, and that they are worried about what to do for the best. We'll see if the hv changes her advice.

I live too far away, and tbh it would really be sticking my nose in to get directly involved. Better that it comes from my dad, and more especially my little bruv.

You'd think my dad would know better - his sister had rickets from being fed the wrong food as a baby. But then this is the man who fed me carnation milk when I was a baby, and in a squeezy bottle so that it would go in quicker

i think the rusk in a bottle thing was fairly common a long time ago but at them doing it now! does the hv know that theyve done this? even the most old fashioned hv would say this was a bad idea to them surely?!! i ff and hvs have bnever told me how often baby should be feeding she generally goes 3 hours (6 weeks old) though sometimes more/less. 4 hrs is a long time for a baby that young to go between feeds. cna they not switch to hungry baby formula if they want her to go longer?

2 1/2 to 3 hours is probably more usual for a baby this age. I'd ignore the 4 hour rule and feed the baby when it is hungry and I wouldnt give rusk (I only gave it occasionally to my lo's and only really to chew on when they were old enough for finger foods - far too sweet (for even me) when mixed in with milk) - even the reduced sugar ones are still 20% sugar so far more likely to make the baby fat than a bit of extra milk.

Hi spugs - yes I think rusk in bottle was common in my dad's day. They are using hungry baby formual but are worried if she has too much she will 'get fat'

smallwhitecat - I'll mention the packaging warning.

Seona1973 - I'll reiterate that 4 hours is probably a maximum, and that little babies need milk more often than that.

Rusks in the bottle was indeed common years and years ago - and babies became ill as a result. The risk is that a young baby will dehydrate - it changes the fluid balance of the feed (obviously) and a young baby's kidneys can't cope.

There will prob be instructions on the rusk box, too, about not giving it in a bottle.

I know, I'm amazed I don't have any (known) health problems given my diet of carnation milk and bacon butties frm an early age . I can still remember mum and dad having to fish the bacon rind out of my throat every time to stop me choking!

TBH I was just that we go round agonising about what we are feeding dcs, and yet there are plenty surviving despite what they are being fed!

On that basis, lets not bother with car seats ...oh and we can encourage smoking in pregnancy and why not send young kids up chimneys or into prostitution.....[hmmm]

I think what people mean, to be honest, is that loving caring parents (who would not have sent their kids up chimneys or into prostitution) did all sorts of everyday things that we now know are not a good idea. Babies did get ill as a result, they did die in cars, they did develop serious conditions.

And now we know better.

Get over it

My last comment was directed at previous generations, by the way, not at posters on this thread!

My mum said 'crying won't hurt her' so many times that I snapped and barked "do you actually want me to make her cry? Would you be happier if she cried??"

My next door neighbour told me that his baby (now 20 yrs old) slept through the night from day one because he used to put a crushed up rusk and a nip of whiskey in his formula at night . He told me I should do the same and I didn't have the heart to tell him I was breastfeeding.

My baby is 9 weeks he’s on baby porridge and rusk has been a week and loves it he’s pooping fine and very happy I give him boiled water to stop him becoming dry, he was on hungry baby milk from 3 weeks and it wasn’t doing anything, their will be judgmental people but everyone knows their baby and if he became ill I would stop but he’s doing everything he should be so I’m happy, what happened back in the days? We were probably fed mash potatoes did it do us harm? No! My other son was on rusk about 11 weeks and he’s a happy healthy 9 year old so if u feel your baby is ready then go for it, give water after as I do this and my baby is happy and healthy

@Ryanrobert10 so this thread is very old, the ops baby will be 10! Not here to be judgemental at all but to say that 9 weeks is seriously far too young for any solid food. Back in the day when it was earlier, it was 17weeks at the earliest. This is because of the risk of digestive problems as baby grows. He may seem ok but you are really risking future problems for him, it’s just lucky your 9 year old hasn’t had issues. I’ve no doubt you want the best for your baby but please speak to your hv for advice, I’d imagine that what you are seeing as signs of hunger are likely about something else.