Powder vs Cartons - anyone notice a difference in their LO?

[starrybean]

I posted this in baby club but think it might get more response here...

When my LO was a in her first few days, she slept well and fed well.(I know that newborns often sleep more in the frist few days) We were giving her carton milk in the hospital and for the first few days at home. Then when we got settled at home, we changed to the powder milk and gradually we have noticed that she feeds less and more often than before. Recently (she is 3 weeks) she has been feeding around 2-3oz every 2 hours and not sleeping as well. Then she would fall asleep on her milk which meant drinking less then waking hungry soon after. It was a vicious circle.

I wondered if it was anything to do with the milk. Just to see if it makes a difference, I have started using the cartons again lastnight just for the hell of it, to see if there is any change. She slept really well lastnight, feeding 3-4oz every 3 hours lasnight and through the night and had already had a good morning so far.

Do you just think it's coincidence or might there be something in it? She is also really windy on the powder and I'm sure she wasn't that windy on the cartons.

Has anyone else noticed anything similar? I'm thinking that perhaps the SMA powder might not suit her and I might try Aptimil. Can I just make a straight swap from one milk to another?

ETA: She also pooped a lot more frequent on the cartons in the first few days, now she will go a few days with doing a poop on the powder.

 

[Eala]

We changed milks a couple of times, always made a straight swap and never had any problems

The cartons have slightly different ingredients in them (I think it's to do with preserving them, iykwim) and this is what causes the different reactions in babies. I know that cartons always made our LO poo more - in fact we'd often use them if she seemed a bit constipated as we could pretty much guarantee a dirty nappy after a carton feed

The windiness could be from the powder, or from the fact that you have to stir/shake/swirl the bottle to mix the powder with the water, and this will result in more air being added to the mix.

We got on well with Aptimil and C&G at various times in the year LO was on formula, so it could be worth a try seeing if either of them are better. If you are thinking of sticking with ready-made, it's maybe worth noting that C&G do bigger cartons (we could get 2 or 3 feeds out of a carton depending on what size bottles she was on). Aptimil only do the small cartons.

Good luck

 

[_laura]

Yeah we find max takes longer to drink the cartons than the powder (were on aptamil)
Think its due to the fact that the carton is creamier in texture. In terms of sleep and wind, theres been not much difference. He does get hungrier quicker after a carton and takes a little longer to settle so we try and avoid them unless we are going out.

 

[ke29]

I find LO prefers cartons and will take more per feed, the cartons smell better than powdered formula so maybe they taste better??

 

[starrybean]

Thank you for your replies. It does seem as though the cartons suit my LO more than the powder.