> Jan writes:
> There is an article I have somewhere (but can't put my fingers on it right
> now) that states that a bottle fed infant consumes approximately 80,000 calories
> more than is needed in the first year of life.  I suspect this has to do with
> two thing:  the lack of bioavailability of formula or change in caloric value
> meaning that babies have to take more and more to get what they need, as well
> as the mechanics of bottle feeding as we have discussed.  So I'm not sure
> that a breastfed newbotn and a bottle fed newborn WILL, in fact, take the same
> amount of milk regardless of feeding method.

You are most definitely right.  Research has shown clearly (and this has been
replicated many times) that *over the first year of life* an artificially fed infant
consumes much more than a breastfed baby.  So as not to make my post too long,
however, I limited it to the "newborn" period. During the first few weeks, there
doesn't seem to be much difference (at least that I know of).  However, by the time
a baby is 4 months old, the artificially fed baby is taking on average 25% more each
day than the breastfed baby.

Butte, N. et al.  Human milk intake and growth in exclusively breast-fed infants.  J
Pediatr 1984; 104:187-95.

Last I looked, no one knew exactly why this was so.  Theories I have read include
the difference in feeding methods (which I brought up before), the possibility that
more of the human milk is utilized so that less is needed, and even that the
artificially fed baby's metabolism is less efficient and so needs more calories just
to maintain.  Of course it may be some or all of these things, plus perhaps some
other factors we still don't understand.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify.

Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC
Chicago suburbs, Illinois, USA

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