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Can Formula Feed Induce Vomiting In A Infant?
Question: Hi doctor,
my son is 18 days old. we started of with 30 ml of feed when we left the hospital, but now over the days he is not content with even 80-90 ml of feed. Tonight, he had about 90 ml of similac stage 1 and breast fed for more than half an hour.
While pumping, we have seen that amounts to typically 30 ml of breast milk.
Within 2 hours, he's become inconsolable and crying until my wife breast fed him. He also threw up a little bit now.
Is this right? should we visit the hospital for this behaviour?
any guidance would help now.
my son is 18 days old. we started of with 30 ml of feed when we left the hospital, but now over the days he is not content with even 80-90 ml of feed. Tonight, he had about 90 ml of similac stage 1 and breast fed for more than half an hour.
While pumping, we have seen that amounts to typically 30 ml of breast milk.
Within 2 hours, he's become inconsolable and crying until my wife breast fed him. He also threw up a little bit now.
Is this right? should we visit the hospital for this behaviour?
any guidance would help now.
Brief Answer:
Switch to exclusive breast feeding
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
Let me emphasize on the fact that breast milk is the best possible milk for a baby and there can be no alternatives for the same. Most formula milks are cow milk based and hence difficult to digest. Moreover they make the child more prone to complications and infections. Mother's breast milk is produced on the demand of the baby. Hungrier the baby, more vigorous is the suck. More is the suck, more is the amount of breast milk produced. Giving formula automatically reduces the demand of the baby and thereby the production of breast milk. All you need to do is to switch back to exclusive breast feeding and the production will increase automatically. All you need to do is to monitor the urine output. If the frequency is more than 6 times in 24 hours, you would know that the amount of feeding is adequate. If the amount of passage of urine is less or if the child is lethargic you would need to take the child to a doctor without delay.
The present behaviour is simply because the hunger of the child is not resolved. I do not think that it is something abnormal or that there is requirement to visit the hospital. Nevertheless, you need to feed your child as per demand.
You should burp the baby for at least 15-20 mins after each feed. All you need to do is to hold the baby head end elevated for this duration. The extra air taken in would escape and the milk will not regurgitate back from the stomach to the food pipe.
Let me know if you have further queries.
Regards
Switch to exclusive breast feeding
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
Let me emphasize on the fact that breast milk is the best possible milk for a baby and there can be no alternatives for the same. Most formula milks are cow milk based and hence difficult to digest. Moreover they make the child more prone to complications and infections. Mother's breast milk is produced on the demand of the baby. Hungrier the baby, more vigorous is the suck. More is the suck, more is the amount of breast milk produced. Giving formula automatically reduces the demand of the baby and thereby the production of breast milk. All you need to do is to switch back to exclusive breast feeding and the production will increase automatically. All you need to do is to monitor the urine output. If the frequency is more than 6 times in 24 hours, you would know that the amount of feeding is adequate. If the amount of passage of urine is less or if the child is lethargic you would need to take the child to a doctor without delay.
The present behaviour is simply because the hunger of the child is not resolved. I do not think that it is something abnormal or that there is requirement to visit the hospital. Nevertheless, you need to feed your child as per demand.
You should burp the baby for at least 15-20 mins after each feed. All you need to do is to hold the baby head end elevated for this duration. The extra air taken in would escape and the milk will not regurgitate back from the stomach to the food pipe.
Let me know if you have further queries.
Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Thanks doctor.
How long does a feeding session last at this age?
Also, how many ml do they generally and approximately have at this age?
How long does a feeding session last at this age?
Also, how many ml do they generally and approximately have at this age?
Brief Answer:
No need to express breast milk
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back.
The breast feeding should be done from alternate breast each time, feeding from only one breast in a session. Duration of feed 20 min. Gap between feeds 2 hours. Effectively that gives each breast 4 hours to fill.
Unless you have any definite indication I would not justify expressing breast milk. The stimulus due to the hunger and demand of the baby would not be present in that case and I would discourage that. The mls therefore would not matter as you would otherwise not be able to measure how much breast feeding the child is doing.
Regards
No need to express breast milk
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back.
The breast feeding should be done from alternate breast each time, feeding from only one breast in a session. Duration of feed 20 min. Gap between feeds 2 hours. Effectively that gives each breast 4 hours to fill.
Unless you have any definite indication I would not justify expressing breast milk. The stimulus due to the hunger and demand of the baby would not be present in that case and I would discourage that. The mls therefore would not matter as you would otherwise not be able to measure how much breast feeding the child is doing.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
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