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Can’t get that baby to sleep through the night?
Want those full 9 hours of sleep you remember?
Pump your baby full of Enfamil’s “Restfull” formula! It’s,
Specially designed to help babies feel full longer and sleep better…[It] thickens gently in baby’s tummy and digests slowly.
Because didn’t you hear? Formula-feeding is apparently,
A natural way to help keep your baby feeling satisfied.
Ri-ight. Because as a natural parent, when you’re not forcing your baby to sleep through the cry-it-out method, certainly you’re hoping to find something that will stick in their bellies. Or even better, something that will magically “thicken” in their bellies.
Okay, so it’s not “magic.” It contains rice starch to thicken and slow digestion, same as their Enfamil AR. Actually, exactly the same: it’s the same mix, different packaging.
So what has been the reaction so far? Of course, breastfeeding advocates say this is one more ploy of the formula companies to reel in sales by trying to “sell” the idea of a full night’s sleep. Sure, some babies do it. All should by a certain point. But if you’re not getting enough sleep (and what, might I ask, is “enough”?), are you really going to force it by some congealing mess in baby’s tummy?
Some natural parents, like Dr. Momma at Peaceful Parenting, take the attachment parent high ground when it comes to this new sleep-promising formula.
Babies need frequent night feeding due to the rapid pace of neurological development that occurs especially during those sleepy, night-time hours when calories and energy are all focused on the brain.
Babies are not *designed* to be left alone, ignored all night long…If you don’t wish to PARENT a baby (even during the nighttime hours), then don’t have a baby.
She also points out that babies waking frequently may help reduce the risk of SIDS. That is, it’s part natural defense mechanism.
Even mainstream parenting message boards are filled with horrified comments like these:
Next it will be baby unisom…
And parents will start giving this stuff to their babies around the clock to get them to go longer between feedings.
Great one on Enfamil for targeting all those parents who think there baby should sleep through at 3 weeks and are exhausted and want a miracle product….God im really starting to hate these formula company and i formula feed!! Its a corporation after your money its unneccesary…If your child doesnt sleep through give her some time…[sic]
Elsewhere, moms seemed really excited at the prospect of something that would “digest more slowly” thus making frequent wakings a thing of the past!
I just brought this formula this weekend and so far so good. My twin girls are 7 months and they both have taken turns in not sleeping through the night. It supposedly expands in the belly to give the babies a full belly. Sunday night into mONDAY i GOT A FULL NIGHT SLEEP! No stirring the got up about 10 this morning no fussing at all.[sic]
Another mom seemed leaning toward it because,
I really don’t want to feed him during the night, because I feel he gets enough food during the day, and he definitely isn’t underweight.
You want to try this formula because he “gets enough” in the day?! I’m not even touching that one, folks.
Can I tell you a secret? I’m a total bitch when I don’t get enough sleep. One of the many reasons why I breastfeed. I’m not sure if all these frequently-waking formula-feeders are aware, but breastfeeding is (psst…) less work. [Hushed whisper...] You get more sleep if you breastfeed, especially if you co-sleep.
Maybe, for the sake of sleepy time, you might switch back to the breast?
Image: johnnycorduroy on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s true. I get so much sleep by nursing and co-sleeping. When I hear about ppl actually getting out of bed I scratch my head. Frequent night wakings means rolling over to adjust my pillow and making sure a breast is available. Then right back to sleep.
I couldn’t sleep while breast feeding it was annoying to me. I was awake more than when I formula fed. I had put DS on the A.R. formula cause they said he had acid reflux. It made him so constipated. He ended up in the hospital with them trying to squirt water and used a tube thing to help break it up. He was bleeding and everything trying to go. I would not recommend it to anyone.
Babies are not *designed* to be left alone, ignored all night long…If you don’t wish to PARENT a baby (even during the nighttime hours), then don’t have a baby.
I feel like saying this on so many topics, this included.
Thank you.
I am not surprised, but I am appalled. What will these companies think of next?! Babies are not meant to sleep through the night. I would have been terrified if my baby slept 9 hours without waking. Breastfeeding and co-sleeping is MUCH easier than mixing bottles, anyway. And isn’t adding rice starch to the formula the same as mixing rice cereal into the baby’s bottle – which the AAP recommends against now?
When my oldest was physically unable to nurse and pumping wasn’t enough to meet her needs, I quickly learned to give her the formula bottles in the evening and the breast milk bottles during the day. It really does make a difference in how long the baby will sleep before wanting to feed again. She was the one who started sleeping through the night at 2 months vs. 4 1/2 to 6 months for my exclusively BF babies.
But I certainly don’t think that sleeping through the night a couple months earlier is worth the hefty price tag and just plain inconvenience of formula feeding. Not to mention any health benefit the baby & mom may get from BF.
Ugh. We need some pediatricians to come out against this. As PureMothers said, the AAP doesn’t recommend thickening formula when it’s done by moms, is this any different, really?
I only figured out sleeping while breastfeeding with my most recent baby, and what a relief! Night feedings don’t exhaust me so much and I still know I’m doing what’s best for my baby, not just what’s easiest for me.
Although I have to say it’s pretty easy now that I have the hang of it.
That is so cheap of the formula companies. My baby boy wouldn’t nurse(whole other story) so we formula feed and use the a.r due to acid reflux. First I hate bottle feeding but it’s the only way and sucks getting up in the night and he is 6 months and does,’t sleep through. I can’t believe what companies do to make money
The whole point of this formula just disgusts me. The company is taking a sensitive area with parents, especially new parents that don’t know any better, and tugging at it to sell more formula. Their bottom line is MONEY not BENEFIT to your baby.
What benefits your baby is having his or her needs met when those needs arise. Artificially making your baby full is going to create more problems than it solves in the long run.
I’ll also add that my daughter is an exclusively breastfed co-sleeper and since about two months (she’s just over 3 months now) goes anywhere from 4-6 hours at night between nursings.
Breastfeeding is the ideal food for a baby, and personally I love the *idea* of co-sleeping. But it really doesn’t work for everyone. Personally, I hated breastfeeding. Every moment of it. It felt horrible, I walked around like a zombie all day because I wasn’t getting any sleep, and I basically was a psycho bitch to my husband & virtually anyone else I met. The baby would only latch-on in the football position which meant that breastfeeding felt really awkward & I couldn’t get it to work without at least 5 pillows and contorting my body in weird ways. So forget nursing in front of people, even with a Boppy and one of those cute nursing covers with the boning in it. The whole experience really sucked. Literally.
At one point, I was so batshit insane that I handed the kid to my husband, said “I can’t take it anymore! I am leaving & here is some formula.” I drove to an undisclosed location and slept there, in my car, for 8 hours. It was the first time I felt like a human being in months.
My baby stopped nursing at 4 1/2 months, and I am glad she was able to get the benefits of it for that long. But it was definitely a sacrifice of love, one that I will surely use in future Mom-guilt-trips for years to come. I really feel like I did everything I could (La Leche, lactation consultants, enough Fenugreek to make my urine smell like Aunt Jemima, fancy 300$ double electric breast pump, hours of pumping, Lansinoh, nipple shields and more nipple shields) but still, it drove me crazy.
I give my baby store-brand formula now. She reacts to it just fine, and has never been sick. I’ve gotten a lot of flack from various friends, relatives & total strangers who think they know what’s best for my baby, but do you know what I think is best for my baby? Having a mom who is getting enough sleep & is mentally alert enough to deal with all of the challenges that come with being a new mom. I kiss my baby and play with her more during the day, because I have the energy to do it. My house doesn’t look like a dump, because I can take the time to clean it each day. I feel like I can get behind the wheel of a car without worrying about whether I’ll stay awake during the drive to the lactation consultant’s office. My friends don’t hand me pamphlets about post-partum depression counseling anymore, and I don’t spend as much time entertaining the idea.
And in order for that to happen for me, I had to resort to a sub-optimal method of feeding my baby… but in my mind, everything is a trade-off.
First of all, it says it right there in the ad… formula takes longer to digest than breastmilk. Why? Because it is harder to digest, the nutrients aren’t as easily absorbed, and you know what? Babies are designed to feed more frequently than that.
As for adding rice to their bottles to make them sleep longer, the general consensus is that it is not only unhealthy, but doesn’t work. Some babies seem to sleep longer when you do that, but that’s because they hit that age where a lot of babies start sleeping longer through the night.
As for reflux… formula fed babies tend to have *more* problems with reflux. And breastmilk has healing properties, which can help ease the upset tummy.
I have never understood the thought that it is easier to get up and make a bottle than it is to latch a baby on (cosleeping or no). It’s already perfect temperature, there’s no clean up, there’s no mixing. Even with breastmilk being digested more quickly, babies *will* sleep for longer and longer periods–because their bodies are ready to.
“Their bottom line is MONEY not BENEFIT to your baby.” EXACTLY.
This kind of advertising frustrates the h*ll out of me. And as for mommies, I get that need for sleep. I understand that formula has a place in the world, and I don’t think you’re a bad mommy if you end up formula feeding. I just wish more people would wake up and realize that formula is not this miracle food that not only equals breastmilk (because it can’t) but will magically reduce colic, fussiness, and make your baby sleep more.
Hi Rachel…I share your frustration about that kind of advertising. I’ve even seen one company call theirs “The breastmilk formula.” In fact, I was one of many moms to contact a national breastfeeding alliance and it took less than one day of emails to get that taken down! The truth is, breast is best…we all know that! However, there are many moms out there (and I was one of them with my twins) who simply cannot do it. I looked around for an organic option and happened upon a company called Vermont Organics. I’ve been very happy…no colic, no reflux…no problems. Just my two cents!
Love your comments. Straightforward and to the point. I am a pediatrician and there is a lot of talk about this. In fact, one pediatrician attempted to post a comment on the site but that was days ago; apparently the company decided not to post it.
My daughter had to be switched to formula because within a five minute time frame she would spit up almost all of the breast milk she consumed. She could not lay flat to sleep until she was over a year old. We could not even lay her down to change her diaper because as soon as we did the milk would come right back up. We had a choice to make. Either give her formula with rice cereal added or have a feeding tube inserted. Needless to say we switched to formula with rice cereal mixed in. I have never felt so guilty about anything in my life like I did when I listened to the lactation consultants and other mothers instead of following my own instincts from the beginning. I am not a first time mother either. I breast fed my other two children.
Don’t assume that all babies are better off breast feeding because that simply is not true in every case. Most of the time it is. However, some babies have serious issues with reflux. My daughter finally began gaining weight and growing when we switched to formula with rice cereal. My choice had nothing to do with how much sleep I got. Breast milk did not magically cure my daughters reflux. It became worse because of it. There are also mothers who can not breastfeed because of certain medications they need to stay on in order to live. What frustrates the h*ll out of me are all of those women out there that think they know what is best for everyone. Even worse is the amount of guilt placed on such mothers because they can not breastfeed for legitimate reasons. The people who are making them feel guilty are other mothers!
I understand peoples frustration with the advertising. If you do not like the product don’t buy it. It’s that simple.
Good thing babies can’t talk. Otherwise they might object to being used as guinea pigs for each sick new idea that comes along for something to add to their food, ignoring what long-term health effects it might have. (Couldn’t slow digestion be a sign of difficult digestion–for example the fact that young babies don’t yet have enough amylase to break down starch?)
Another advantage of co-sleeping and breastfeeding (if mother does not use alcohol or drugs) is that mother and baby’s sleep rhythms tend to synchronize so that baby never wakes needing food just when mom is most deeply asleep.
I applaud and commend Heather and Claire’s comments. I had to stop breastfeeding at 4 weeks and it was amazing how many people felt the need to lecture me about how to parent my own child. Breastfeeding is the optimal choice, but it IS NOT for everyone.
Re: the Restfull, I’ve heard of some Pediatricians recommending this product, but for babies that were 7 and 8 months old, were still waking up to feed during the night, and were getting a lot to eat during the day (these babies were taking in over 40 ounces during the day).
just because a mother doesn’t breastfeed doesn’t make her a bad person. i hate when you “natural” parents imply that. what’s so wrong with formula? my son is completely 100% healthy and never had one drop of breast milk in his life thanks to my being sick the first week of his life. ever hear of babies dying from being on formula? no, so as long as they’re healthy and the mom isn’t doing it to be lazy, why hate on all of us formula moms?
i like how all these momms are into co sleeping and breastfeeding. my wife wasnt able to breast feed and my daughter is now 9 mos and gets up every three hours, we both work and are trying to cope with the deprivation. i cant wait till all you are back on this blog wondering why your kids wont sleep in their own beds!!! im not saying there should be a wonder formula to halp my chold sleep but if we could get at least 3 nights of sound sleep im sure it would help.
So I am wondering why is it that breastfeeding and co-sleeping is so great. I am a formula mom I attempted to BF my daughter and it wasn’t working, with my son I simply couldn’t because I was sick. i agree that breast milk is best but it is sometimes not the reality for many moms. my son and daughter are both perfectly healthy. Aaron said it right when he said he can’t wait to see the co-sleeping moms back on this blog saying my kid won’t sleep alone. But most of all I must share the fact that I am an x-ray tech and when babies die they usually always have an autopsy this autopsy always, has a lot of x-rays involved to rule out the baby being physically abused. well I will tell you that 95% of the reason for babies dying, they suffocate. I can’t say how many dead babies I have seen because moms say co-sleeping is the best and easiest. I must say if us formula feeding moms that have to actually get out of bed to make a bottle are going to be judged than maybe you should see what your doing can actually kill your baby, the formula wont but you can as you co-sleep.