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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

3 week old formula fed baby - does this count as a 'hungry baby'

17 replies

nuclear · 18/11/2008 16:23

DS2 is 3.5 weeks and for the past 2 days has gone from taking 3oz every 3 hours to 5 oz every 1.5/2hours.

I am worried that he is taking too much volume as he still seems hungry shortly after feeds but is spitting up milk whilst still trying to suck at his bottle.

He weighed 8lb 13 oz at birth and last week was 9.5lbs.

DS1 was also a larger baby (9lb 3 at birth) and he needed aptamil hungry baby from about 6 weeks.

Is 3 weeks too early for the hungry milk?

HV is not returning my calls today - does anyone have any MN words of wisdom?

OP posts:

Seona1973 · 18/11/2008 20:08

growth spurt maybe? or if he is unhappy between feeds and has a lot of spit up then it could be reflux. I wouldnt go to hungry milk yet as it is harder to digest and can cause constipation - why not give it a few days and see if his feeding calms down and if it doesnt see the hv/gp about possible reflux.

RubySlippers · 18/11/2008 20:13

3 weeks is too early for hungry baby milk

as Seona says spitting up could be reflux - DS had this and was a comfort feeder

Lotster · 18/11/2008 20:28

Perhaps a slower teat could help?

Original poster

nuclear · 18/11/2008 20:29

Thanks for your replies.

HV called tonight also advised against hungry baby milk ... why do the tins say suitable from birth if the formula obviously can be too much for some babies?

To be honest my gut feeling is telling me to steer clear from the hungry baby milk for now at least.

HV is calling back tomorrow to see how we get on tonight. She advised to up bottles to 6oz and see how he goes.

DS2 had 6oz at 7.30 pm it is now 8.30 and he is looking for food again.

He does not want a dummy (I also thought he might want to suck for comfort) he is refusing that point blank.

What will she suggest if he still is not settling?

OP posts:

poppy34 · 18/11/2008 20:32

fwiw hungry baby never made any difference with our dd - she also had this huge growth spurt with volume problem... it did pass but kept feeding - did try and make sure we winded her adn try to leave at least an hour/hour and a half between feeds.

she went from 7 1/2 to nearly 11 by 5 weeks...

Seona1973 · 18/11/2008 20:36

he could be tired rather than hungry. How long has he been awake? At that age ds barely got to 1 1/2 hours between sleeps

Original poster

nuclear · 18/11/2008 20:41

he has been awake since about 7ish - trying to settle him at the moment, seems quite happy to be awake though - not overtired he is just constantly 'rooting'.

in fact come to think of it most of the time whilst he is awake he is rooting for food.

OP posts:

poppy34 · 18/11/2008 20:48

is he worse at this time of day? DD always was - she had a look like popeye when rooting..

Original poster

nuclear · 18/11/2008 22:07

held him off until 9.30pm another 4oz and he is now fast asleep.

the regular feeding does not bother me ... it is the volume that is worrying me tbh.

surely this much liquid could be giving him tummy ache. I will see how we get on tonight and the morning.

he is usually more unsettled in the evening bewteen 7 and 10 but i have put this down to the usual evening fretting phenomenon.

OP posts:

tiktok · 19/11/2008 09:03

nuclear - hungry baby milk is slightly different from the other sort. The protein in it is less modified, so (the theory goes) it takes longer to digest. It is 'casein dominant' to use the jargon. It is indeed approved by the DoH for use from birth. The more modified formula ('whey dominant') has been heavily marketed to healthcare professionals and mothers as being 'closer to breastmilk' on the grounds that breastmilk s 'whey dominant' too....of course the whey in breastmilk is human and the whey in formula is cows, so not sure how far we can accept their assessment of its closeness

There is no good evidence that 'casein dominant' is any 'better' for 'hungry' babies than 'whey dominant' and no good evidence that it keeps babies satisfied for longer. But I cannot see any reason why you should be told not to try.

Just my opinion. I have no medical or HV qualifications. Maybe speak to your HV again?

littleboyblue · 19/11/2008 09:10

I battled with myself for a while about using hungry baby milk, spoke to 2 h/v, 1 told me it wasn't her job to tell me what to do (!) and another told me that the hungry formula would make colic and everything like that worse, so I decided against it and just fed a larger amount. I think they go throw a growth spurt between 4 and 6 wks so you might find it calms down.
Have you tried water? Maybe babe is thirsty?

I had similar prob with ds where he was 6 wks and was taking 7oz every 3 hours and also spitting up a lot. It's normal to spit up a bit, but I was told by peadeotrition(Don't know how to spell it) that after every feed is not normal, and the reason ds was having so much was because he was bringing so much up, so out of a 7oz bottle he was prob getting 5oz.

MrsHappy · 19/11/2008 09:12

My daughter (breastfed) did a similar thing at this age so I think maybe it is a growth spurt, and of course because she was bf there was no hungry baby option. Yes, I think that constantly feeding did give her a tummy ache - she was literally feeding every hour and then spitting up what appeared to be the whole feed. She cried an awful lot and seemed terribly cross, like she was in a feeding frenzy TBH. She also became very colicky (and yet extra sucky) in the evenings and into the night. The thing is that it only lasted a few days. If you hang on in there it might just sort itself out. I did find that swaddling her and Daddy doing the skin to skin helped calm her down.

Original poster

nuclear · 19/11/2008 09:33

update.....

had feed at 9.30pm then slept until 2am had 4oz and slept until 6am when he had 4oz,

feeding again now (9.30pm) so perhaps it was a growth spurt...

OP posts:

Seona1973 · 19/11/2008 12:46

god, I wish my lo's slept from 9.30pm till 2am at 3.5 weeks Both of mine went 3 hourly day and night for what seemed like forever. Your lo was maybe just cluster feeding and stocking up for a good nights sleep.

kerala · 19/11/2008 12:50

Now I am very my 3 week old wakes every 2 hours for feeds am on my knees...

Original poster

nuclear · 19/11/2008 13:00

cluster feeding also popped through my mind.

I am very aware that his sleeping is good for his age ..... just hope it lasts...

just feeding him again now - so it loooks like he is settling down again, thanks everyone.

OP posts:

BlueJellie · 22/11/2008 01:53

my little one was like this. Is 8 weeks now, constantly wanted food when awake. He was born 5 lbs 10oz and is now 11 lbs 2oz!! We did put him on hungry baby milk at about 5 weeks because of his constant feeding, it didn't make any difference to his feeds, and did give him an upset tummy, wind, constipation etc. He's back on normal formula now and is a lot happier, still feeds a lot though. He prefers to graze throughout the day than take his feed all at once. Isn't as bad as he was though. Just hold tight, it will pass, I wouldn't recommend hungry baby food from my experience.

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