Posted on another forum to another
?start hungry baby milk dilemma recently... Not sure how old your baby is but if not close to weaning onto solids age & a potential argument for hungry baby for any other reasons but otherwise I'd say the same:
"For what it's worth - I've stuck with the first milk (baby now 10 months and still partially breastfed) as things I've read have suggested that the hungry/follow ons etc. might be a bit of a marketing ploy because they can be advertised but regulations mean that the first types can't be (breast is best and all that...)
Also it doesn't entirely make sense to me - milk is milk - how would you get more calories in?! Or is the aim just to make them feel fuller for longer by having more 'filler' or making it harder for them to digest? Which is like the arguments that people sometimes give for weaning their 'hungry babies' early - perhaps it fills up their stomachs quicker or keeps their digestive systems busy trying to process but not sure of the nutritional benefit - milk is supposed to be easy to digest! Sometimes breastfed babies can go ages (days-weeks) between poos without being constipated because it is so easy/efficient to digest...
If babies are growing well on what they're on it's clearly working - so although frequent feeding might be inconvenient I'd go with it. But with bottle feeding overfeeding is more of a possibility than breastfeeding - do perhaps just keep the weight being monitored to make sure it's not going up too much and make sure you consider other reasons for being unsettled rather than just feeding as a default response. "
Also about the giving
water as a drink or not in babies not on solids:
- If exclusively breastfed then absolutely would not add water - it's not necessary as your body cunningly adjusts in hotter weather to a more liquidy sort of milk - which I saw the evidence for myself with pumped milk last summer and the colour fluctuations as it separates out!
- If bottle feeding then I would only give additional water if the weather was such that I was needing to drink more than usual (so like last summer!).
- Babies are adapted to get by on milk alone & I wouldn't want to unnecessarily 'fill them up' with something with no nutritional value. Also the idea that it 'won't do any harm' would worry me a tad as a baby's circulating blood volume is pretty tiny and kidneys immature - prescribing IV fluids for babies is far more complicated/risky than adults and imbalances in electrolytes can cause problems.
- Once on solids probably handy to reduce the risk of constipation though & practise drinking from a cup without the spills getting stick!
There are some really helpful websites out there that are more Mum-focussed & have some forum subsections specifically on feeding methods (breast-feeding/bottle feeding/weaning etc.) which I found really helpful. Although there are guidelines out there they don't cover every eventuality & there are shades of grey - also lots of advice from HVs etc. seems hugely individual/not evidenced based/out of date and lots of other health care professionals may or may not have ever really had much training/recent updates in 'normal babies'! (I say that as someone who may or may not be one... ah - no ninja smilie here - but with the aid of the great interwebs/Mummy-paranoia do feel better informed now!)
Gah - this thread is making me broody & she's only 10 months.