Experts in the UK are warning parents of dubious claims by companies such as Hipp Organic that 'Good Night Milk' formulas help babies settle better. The formula has a heavier concentration of cereals so it takes longer to digest and therefore, claims to help babies sleep and is gentler on the stomach. The UK's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition claims to find no such evidence to support these claims and in fact, argues that the use of these kinds of products (and formula in general) undermines breastfeeding. Similarly, as red-eyed, sleep-deprived parents are often desperate anything to get a few hours of shut eye each night, the availability of settling milk formulas encourages parents to think that young babies should be sleeping through the night when in fact it is quite normal and expected that babies wake up every few hours (as hard as it may be on mums and dads). It is of great concern that parents will replace night breastfeeds with these milk formulas.Read more: Concerns raised over milk
2 comments:
Oh this should be SO ILLEGAL.
Babies are *meant* to get hungry overnight!! Because they're growing LOTS! If you fill their guts full of slow-moving stuff that keeps them feeling full, they will miss out on important nutrients for about a third to a half of each day! Scary, scary stuff.
Weight-loss products work the same way--by making people feel full, so they eat less.
I am scared for this kind of experimentation, and the lag between marketing sh*t like this, and pulling it off the shelves due to proof of the damage it can do.
Oh, I guess I didn't know I needed this. I just followed my instincts and breastfed exclusively, no bottles at all, and took my wee one to bed with me like all other primate mothers.
Guess I should have left my baby's life up to the "experts".
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