tell me about the calorific value of breast milk please...

[deaconblue]

DD is 6 months, breast fed and just started weaning a couple of weeks ago. She used to go 12-13 hours overnight without feeding but has started waking up for up to 3 feeds in the night. I think problem is she's not concentrating on feeds during the day (only feeds for a few mins before gawking at ds and his antics) and so needs the longer feeds at night.
My mum is nagging me that she now needs "higher calorie formula".
Now I know that bm is much better for her in terms of nutrients etc but is mum right that cow's milk would be higher in calories??

i think ml for ml breastmilk is a teeny bit more calorific

also, breastmilk adapts in a way formula can;t, for your DDs needs, and she has the added comfort of feeding from your breast , not a bottle, which she has enjoyed for the last 6 months

are you giving her milk before offering food?

Sounds like you have a distractible baby and an infuriating mother

Follow the link to get some tips with the former, ignore the latter.

yes, she has bf before lunch and tea (she only has a little bit of food really as we're only just starting). Was having 5 or 6 feeds a day before this last fortnight when she started constant night waking. Certain it's hunger as she really roots when I pick her up.
Won't take a bottle anyway so mum's argument is pointless but irritating nonetheless.
Think I might need to try daytime feeds in very quiet place but that's difficult as ds tends to follow me if I try to escape.

i just tried a quick search to see whether there is any sensible word on this. i mainly found the results of a survey on buffalo milk being great for making formula. i should think it is too, makes lovely cheese.

i did find a couple of things which said there is more protein in bm than cm. was probably not searching teh right thing!

thanks hunkermunker, that sounds so like her at the moment, including the not letting go when looking around. This afternoon I turned her round to watch him playing and she fed for a bit longer. Am sooooooooo tired though.

How's it going today?

my hv explained that hungry baby formula is not more calorific, it is contains more whey from milk and therefore makes babies fuller for longer (and that is probably why so many are so sick on it). You can only get higher calorie ff on prescription.

I asked her as I need to wan ds off daytime feeds for return to work

your dd has reached what i call the hunger gap. she is ready for solids, but they so not fill her yet and the amount of bm she is used to drinking does not do the trick. It will stabilise once she gets the hang of solids. my ds went from feeding every 3.5-4 hours at night at 3months, to every 2 hours at 5months, to waking once maybe twice between 8 and 8 by 8months.

However did we cope before follow on milk? [sigh]

Follow on milk is not higher in calories than breastmilk - madmouse, I think your or your HV are thinking of 'stage 2' formula which is casein not whey dominant.Whey dominant formula is 'stage one' and usually marketed for young babies; the casein-dominant is less modified from the original cows milk and takes longer to digest (supposedly - I have never seen anything convincing on this). Breastmilk is whey dominant. 'Stage 1' and 'stage 2' are the same in terms of calories.

The main diff. between follow on and 'infant formula' is the iron content which is higher in follow on.

shoppingbags - your mum has misunderstood something, if she thinks 'higher calorie formula' is readily available. Like madmouse says, this is a prescription only thing, usually for babies who are failing to grow properly on regular formula. Your own insight into why your baby is feeding more at night makes sense

bit better the last couple of nights. I've been dream fedding her before I go to bed and then she's been waking hungry at about 2am and thankfully going straight back to sleep. I've been turning her to face ds while she feeds which she thinks is hilarious and stops her lurching round everytime he makes a noise.