Just wondering really, should there not be some kind of artificial colostrum substitute for FF babies?

[CherryChoc]

Genuine question - in the first few days, babies are designed to take colostrum, which is in tiny amounts, but FF babies have bottles of milk from the start - is there any research on this? I am assuming that colostrum isn't replicated because its main benefit is the antibodies which science can't recreate in formula. But are there dangers to babies having milk in larger quantities than nature intended?

Hope I don't offend anyone with this post - I am just curious.

Interesting question. When I had ds, the woman on the bed opposite me was really worried that her newborn had "only" had a few ounces of formula and the midwives were helping her get more formula into the baby. I remember thinking at the time that my ds hadn't had any volume as such, but was just sucking away at colostrum.

CheeryChoc - yes, there are known concerns about this, pretty well-documented. The baby's stomach at 1-3 days old has a capacity for taking more, because it's 'stretchable'. But unstretched its volume matches the small amounts of colostrum available - up to about 7 mls at a time only, on day one.

If mothers do not breastfeed at all from the start, they'd probably be better advised to give smaller amounts of formula, more freqenty, so as not to stretch the stomach unphysiologically.