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Denali wrote:

Hi all.  I've been taking a break from the net due to the newest addition to our family  He was born on August 30th and weighed in at just 5 pounds 10 oz.  He was born 5 weeks early but is doing great.  Yes he keeps us up at night, but he is starting to get to the point where he is awake and NOT crying.

Anyway on to the question.  I have been having difficulty breast feeding.  I was told it's due to the face he is a premie so we are having to move to formula.  We bought 2 different kinds and I just got around to looking at the contents of it tonight.  Both have "high frucutos corn syrup solids" listed first.  The second is "sugar"  like you need more sugar.  Is there a reason formula has so much sugar in it?  Is there a formula that does not have that much sugar and no HFCS at all.  I want to do what is best for baby unfortunately I can't or won't be able to continue breast feeding much longer so I need a good formula that isn't packed full of sugar.

Thanks

First, congrats on the new baby.

Babies don't have well developed digestive systems at this age, as I'm sure you've been able to ascertain already. They burn sugar almost as fast as they take it in, and if anything, need to build up a certain amount of fat. All milk-based formula has a lot of sugars in it, and it's important during early development. If they get sick at all, they will burn through what little fat they have quickly. Even if they don't get sick, believe me, they will use it.

I would worry more about finding a formula that won't upset your baby's stomach. Cow milk based formula is different enough from breast milk that it can cause stomach upset, especially if your baby is lactose intolerant. We went through several before ending up on the one we are using now. We were very close to going to a specialty formula, but our daughter finally stopped having problems on the current formula. Right now, she's on Enfamil "Gentlease"

As a preemie, don't be surprised if he has acid reflux. We only recently took our daughter off of acid reducers. Technically, she wasn't a preemie, but she was small at birth and went home in a preemie size onesie. We could tell she was having problems, because she would make faces a few hours after taking a bottle - and you could smell it on her breath. Thankfully, she has outgrown most of that, and is fine now.

Chickenhawk wrote:

why not pump your milk and feed it to him through a bottle?

Because... well, I'll let her explain it if she wants.  That can be sensitive info (been there for my wife).

Denali:

First, let me add my congratulations!

The sugar content is supposed to mimic lactose carbs (milk sugar) that's abundant in natural milk, and you cannot use cow's milk in the first year without causing serious risks of food allergies.   You aren't going to find anything that's completely sugar free, because while it's a bad word to most of us, it is a nutrititional necessity.

If you're concerned about high fructose corn syrup, look for organic formulas such as Earth's Best and Similac Organic.  They still have loads of sugar, but they're meant to.

radarman is right about being concerned about the baby being able to take the formula.  We started out using Infamil, but had to switch to Similac because of digestive problems.  We took our daughter off of the expensive formula with all of the immunity support after three months and started going with cheaper store-bought brands, but those first three months were absolutely crucial.

Congrats on the new baby.

Denali wrote:

Ok so sugar isn't a bad thing at this age, but HFCS I fear is.

I don't know much about babies, but I know acting out of fear is usually bad. Have you consulted a pediatrician?

This is the kind of thing I would usually call my doctors' office about. I'm no hypochondriac, but every few months I'll have a question. So I call & leave a message, and get a return call in a couple of days.

It would take less time than reading this thread.

Chickenhawk wrote:

why not pump your milk and feed it to him through a bottle?

I'm not a mom, I'm a dad - but I can tell you that my wife had a horrible time trying that. She lasted for about a month before giving up. She would run the thing for hours, hurt like hell, and end up with maybe an ounce or two. Our daughter would have starved if we hadn't supplemented, and finally switched to, formula.

I dont know nothin about birthin no babies, but congrats!

Congrats on the new baby! 

Last edited by Orion (2009-10-10 9:57 pm)

Pariah wrote:

My ex was unable to nurse, just no milk, happens sometime.
We used a formula recommended by our Dr, it was an off the shelf commercial brand, can't remember after 17 years.
I would suggest it would be better to talk to your doctor and for Gods sake stay the hell away from La Leche.

I'm sorry that your ex had such a problem with LLL.  I promise you, though, that one experience isn't enough to judge the entire society.  They are some pretty caring folks, IMHO.

The impression we got from La Leche was that they are a bunch of nursing fanatics and are worse than useless if a woman simply cannot nurse.
Guilt and some very questionable opinions about formula are all we got out of them. Cult like zeal.

Pariah wrote:

The impression we got from La Leche was that they are a bunch of nursing fanatics and are worse than useless if a woman simply cannot nurse.
Guilt and some very questionable opinions about formula are all we got out of them. Cult like zeal.

My wife couldn't nurse, not well at all, despite seeing the best person LLL had to offer.  However, LLL did give us the course that wound up doing us a ton of good.  There was a problem with our daughter's soft pallet, and while our pediatrician was of the opinion that nothing at all should be done about it, LLL helped us get him to make a recommendation to a craniosacral therapist, who managed to fix several problems at once (there was also an issue with feeding anxiety that she managed to sort out).  I'm sure that many people will testify that craniosacral therapy is a bunch of foolishness, but it worked for us.  If it weren't for LLL, we wouldn't have found it, either.