What is "hungry milk"?

[zebedeethezebra]

I've seen it on the back of the box of Aptamil that I normally use.

What is it? Does anyone know if giving my 6 week old baby some of this at his 10pm feed will get him to sleep a bit longer during the night?? I don't want to turn him into a porker, but would like him to last a bit longer than 3 hours between feeds overnight. He won't drink any more volume than we already give him.

What age is it for? Does anyone know?

it is for babies, older babies, who are downing a full 9oz bottle hourly . that is a hungry babby. a 6 week old going three hourly at night is great and normal

you also run the risk of constipation/tummy ache/wind by giving a young baby this milk

what volume is he taking each feed?

if he is happy with what he is being given, then you don't need to do anything

if he is draining bottles, add an ounce and dont be too rigid in feeding to any sort of schedule

I think its for much older babies and only if they really need it. My HV suggested I tried it when at 4 months DS was draining 11oz every 3.5 hours (had to buy special magnum bottles over the internet)to help lengthen the time until weaning. However she suggested introducing it slowly as it can cause constipation.

cool - thanks everyone

Hungry baby milk can be given to newborns. The difference between this and ordinary milk is simply an enzyme that rests differently on the babies tummy. It is therefore often offered to babies with symptoms of reflux too - some babies find it easier to digest than others simply because of the different enzyme. I don't think you should swop between the two milks though - you should choose one or the other to prevent indegestion/constipation.

hungry milk is made predominantly from the casein milk protein as opposed to the whey protein that first milk is made from. Casein is harder to digest and is supposed to make your lo feel fuller for longer. As it is harder to digest it can cause constipation and other digestive problems. It has nothing to do with enzymes (although you may be thinking of pre-biotics which are added to most first and hungry milks and are supposed to help keep poo soft)

yes, absolutely seona
and if a baby has reflux, it is up to the HCPs to decide what milk is appopriate, be it regular or stay down or something else

I accept your commets seona,

I followed the advice from my paediatrician who told me to give it to my child with reflux because of a different enzyme....

maybe her translation/explanation was wrong but it worked, despite my child not actually being a hungry baby.

Seconding Seona's explanation.

No idea where the 'enzymes' idea comes from, MissP!

Unusual to give 'hungry baby' for reflux, and it's certainly not marketed for this, and there's no reason why it would work, either...but glad it worked for you.

'Hungry baby' formula is actually old-style formula. Whey-dominant formulas came along in the late 70s and they kept on with the casein-dominant ones because it suited the manufacturers, in marketing terms. Now, it works, in marketing terms, because mothers who feel their whey-dominant formula is not 'enough' have a product to 'move on' with. All formulas have both whey and casein types, so you can stay within the same brand.

I had an interesting conversation with a lady at cow & gate about this. My DH purchased the hungry baby formula by accident when we were snowed in at his parents with no formula for my 5wo DD. I called to see whether it would be Ok to give it to her under the circumstances. The advisor said it was for older babies to prolong commencement of weaning (as others have said), and that it would likely cause tummy upset to suddenly give it to her.

In the end DH went back out in the blardy snow and changed it. Funnily enough she's actually now on comfort milk as that does seem to be the one that she's more comfortable with (colicky/reflux type symptoms). When we've tried to put her back on normal cow & gate she's seemed to really struggle with it so we'll just stick with the comfort for now.

Sorry this was long, but needed explaining!