Hungry Baby Formula am I doing the right thing?

[Chick]

hi there

sorry bit of a long one but Im stressed to death with this feeding!

My LO is 6 weeks old and we have been doing combined feeding bottle and breast since she was 3 wks old when she had a growth spurt. She never really liked the breast for long would only ever have about 10 mins and now gets really frustrated with it so we going to leave that now and concentrate on bottle.

Im bit upset that the breastfeeding isnt working any more as had wanted to do it longer but its been a hard 6 weeks with it and she has never really took to it on the whole always been a fussy feeder. Ive tried doing the combined feeding and expressing but it takes forever and i just cant keep it up.

Thing is for the last couple days she has been taking 5oz bottles every 3 hrs taking about 8 in 24 hrs the milk says she should only be having 5 feeds within 24hrs on the tin - SMA. She also seems to cry after feeding now as if she still hungy and last 2 nights she woke at 2 and wanted feeding then wanted feeding again within an hour surely this is too much for her little belly, then again at 6. ( 3 5oz feeds within 4 hrs!)

My mum said to try hungry baby milk or try a different brand as it could be the SMA is no longer keeping her tummy full. I have bought some SMA hungry baby milk to try her with tonight for her feed before bed and then her night feed to see if that helps.

Anyone out there experienced this got any idea if Im doing the right thing.

Thanks for your help x

 

[Dream.A.Dream]

You might get more answers in the formula feeding section.

I don't have much advice I'm afraid, other than my LO is taking a lot more formula than the side of the tin says he should, but the HV told me yesterday it's fine. You can't really overfeed them, as if they take too much they'll sick it back up.

My LO should be on 18-20ozs in 24 hours and yesterday he took 32ozs in 24 hours!! xx

 

[history_girls]

Sounds like you got a hungry one!

I BF for about ten days exclusively but LO dopped a whole pound and it was clear my milk wasn't enough. Even the mw (when she said to give her 5oz of expressed milk) was surprised how hungry she was. I then mixed formula and EBM for another few weeks but breast milk just didn't satisfy her at all, then she got thrush, my milk stopped etc.... so formula it was. I was gutted but when I went on to all formula it changed my baby. She became quiet and content rather than stressed and angry! I also improved loads.

So hungry baby - we've just gone onto it to avoid weaning early and she loves it. It doesn't fill her up for longer but I guess mine is older and more active. It is suitable from birth and worth considering. Can you ask your hv either at home or clinic? They have great advice - or you could just try and see how you get on for say 48 hours?

One good bit of advice I was told was to only change one thing at a time to see if it worked.

8 bottles in 24 hours isn't unheard off - i think mine was similar. as Katy said you can't overfeed them and they do have a massive growth spurt at 6 weeks.

 

[Noodles]

I tried this and Dylan ended up being very contispated (so much so he ended up in hospital having a suppository). I called Apatmil (who also make SMA) and they said that although the pack says 'from birth' they don't recommend it to be used on babies under 4 months old. The reason being is that it has more of one of the ingredients that make up the milk (sorry I can't remember what it is called) the first milk has a 50/50 spilt and the hungry baby has a 60/40 one and it takes longer to digest and children under 4 months usually don't have a larger enough stomach to produce enough stomach acid to break it down hence them becoming constipated.

Dylan is 2 months old and he has a 6oz bottle every 3 hours (except for night time) and has been doing for about 4 weeks now. The HV said that at 6 weeks (which he was when I saked) that anywhere from 5-10 bottle a day is normal any more or less then mediacal advice should be undertaken.

I would just stick with the 5oz bottles, or prehaps make up a few 6oz ones and ive them to your LO as they mauy take 5 1/2 oz and then eventually the full 6oz. If your LO couldn't handle that much milk then they would be sick. You can't overfeed a baby.

 

[aimee-lou]

Before trying HB milk I would be inclined to do a couple of days of feeding on demand. Keep a diary of when LO eats and how much. You can then make a decision on when is the best time to feed them, and how much they need.

I tried Earl on HB milk between 6 and 8 weeks. I started out on just the one bottle at night which was fine, but didn't really make him sleep longer, and made him eat more later in the night. As I increased the number of bottles, I ended up feeding him more than when he was on SMA 1, more frequently. He was constipated, windy and sick, all 3 of which is never normally is. I reverted straight back to first stage and put up with the frequent feeds.

He started to go from 7pm-4am without feeds pretty much straight away. He was eating 7x7oz bottles at 10 weeks through until about 15 weeks when it started to fluctuate again and at the moment with his 4 month growth spurt bhe has been on 49oz in a day , but he's happy and his digestive system is fine.

 

[Chick]

Thanks everyone

I had given her one 5 oz HB milk at 8pm so we will see how long she lasts on it and then and use the rest of the carton up if when she wakes for her night feed. I'll keep a close eye on her for poo's and just do first milk tomorrow. My mum told me that I didnt get full enough from SMA when I was born and she changed me to Cow and Gate and my Hubbys mum has now told me the same so perhaps its just the brand of milk i need to change. Ill speak to the health visitor see what they advise, before changing anything properly.

Noodles - I cant believe what they told you its shocking that they say HB suitable from birth and that they dont recommend before 4 month where the hec does it say that on the tin - it shouldnt be allowed.... dont they know us new mums have enough to cope with without bad info being given out.

Breastfeeding is easier in some respects but hey ho she doesnt seem to want it anymore could just be the big 6 wk growth spurt. Anyone know how long it takes for your milk to dry up?

Thanks again everyone its great to get other peoples experiences

 

[Chick]

I tried this and Dylan ended up being very contispated (so much so he ended up in hospital having a suppository). I called Apatmil (who also make SMA) and they said that although the pack says 'from birth' they don't recommend it to be used on babies under 4 months old.

Noodles - I cant believe what they told you its shocking that they say HB suitable from birth and that they dont recommend before 4 month where the hec does it say that on the tin - it shouldnt be allowed.... dont they know us new mums have enough to cope with without bad info being given out.

 

[emilyjade]

if u ask a HV they do advise against it x

 

[HanKi x]

Hungry baby milk is not recomended till they are much older as noodles said (it has potato starch in it to make it thicker). Maybe you could up her feeds and see how it goes. x

 

[xxx bex xxx]

or change the teat size.lexi is on hungry baby and it suits her well.and sleeps from 7-5.30 on it. hv did advise me against it but beth was on it from 8 weeks.but its not the same for every baby.

 

[Vici]

Def try and ignore what it says on the tine, some babies have less and some babies more, they just have what they want. You can't overfeed your LO so just go with the flow. Also, its quite a big growth spurt at 6 weeks so your LO could be going through this and needing extra

 

[Kirstin]

My LO had hungry baby milk from about 3/4 weeks, we were told to move onto it by the HV as he was having more than 30oz in 24 hours but move onto it gradually as he was still so young so for 2 weeks his bedtime bottle was hungry baby milk, then changed the morning bottle and gradually changed over completely

 

[Floralaura]

We have Jake on HB from 8pm at night until his last bottle at 12am ( he can have from 1 to 43 bottles in this time!).
During the day we use gold and he has 7oz and we feed on demand so it can vary from 4 hours between feeds to one hour in the evening. He does sleep from 12am to 9am and has done from 5 days old and he isnt constipated so we are sticking with HB just for bed for now but i have a feeling we may have to change to HB full time soon as he doesnt seem to be satisfied s

 

[Seraphim]

I would have thought it's the 6 week growth spurt

 

[Kirstin]

True, at 6 weeks LO was on 50/50 normal and hungry baby milk and still have wanting more bottles than usual.

 

[sweetlullaby]

Matthew went from Sma to Cow and Gate because of the amount he was drinking under recommendation from midwifes who told me that some babies especially bigger ones arnt satisfied on SMA dunno why though lol

HB milk HV also told me 4months to hold off on weaning as its too heavy for a LO's stomach before then and can cause discomfort all as Noodles said.

Hope you get sorted ok

6 weeks old is also pretty big growth spurt

 

[Kte]

Interesting, I never knew you weren't supposted to feed HB before 4 months. Chloe is on and and has been since about 2 months old. She is just 4 months now. She never had a problem poo or wind wise and she was much happier, she was feeding every 1.30 - 2hrs before.

The health visitor even knew we were switching and was happy with her progress.

Chloe was on Hipp organic and we switched to Cow and Gate HB milk.


Does sound like it might be worth thinking about changing from SMA to a different formula and see if that helps?