Our baby is 1 month old. we weighed him today and he only gained 200g
he was fully breastfed, almost every hr, and every session takes up to 30 mins.
I thought he was well-fed, he has no problem with latching and breastfeed schedules.

The doc warned us if the baby still has low weight gain he's gonna refer us to the hosp.
I was thinking to supplement his feeds with formula milk. What would be the good ones for newborn?

this is my first time as a parent, be nice. tq!

not sure formula milk helps or not. But all my kids are formula fed. minimal breast feeding involved also. We mix the formula milk with the breast milk pumped out.

Maybe can check with a lactation consultant? A lactation consultant can recommend the supplement and how to supplement while maximising breastfeeding. This way, you can aim to drop the formula as soon as it is no longer needed, designing specific tactics with the lactation consultant for this goal. A common risk when supplementing is that it negatively affects breastfeeding until the breastfeeding stops and becomes full formula feeding instead.

Hope you find a way that works for you guys and baby stays healthy!

At 2 months I give my baby drink formula milk.
Because BF not enough for my baby. He eat alot.

200 gram increase for 1 month old is normal. What is his total weight now?

suruh ibunya minum/makan supaya byk susu....

Is it normal delivery?
Is the baby full term? birth weight? Any complication after delivery?
All these info are needed.
From growth chart, how many percentile is the baby?

it's not normal said the doctor.


normal birth, no complication. once had jaundice, but all good now.
he's in the low percentile. his birth weight is 2.7, his current wt is 2.9


This post has been edited by shin_daria: Dec 24 2014, 04:57 PM

i was thinking of doing the same lah..is he of normal weight now? what formula is good for newborn

sudah makan gemuk also but baby tarak gemuk
maybe the bf milk not much nutrients in it?

According to growth chart, baby is between 25-50th percentile, still within normal
Just observe the weight in few more months , as long as weight stays between this percentile, baby are doing fine.
Please don't feed plain water to baby, plain water definitely not needed

yeah..the doc pointed out the chart to me and tell me it's 'worrying'...he's scared he might never gain wt. but here's the weird thing though, the baby is completely fine. poop/pee all fine, no jaundice, can grip things with his hands, turns head from side to side, responds to TV, talks to us in his own baby language

so could it be possible that he's just...small? cuz i am a small person too.

You don't have to worry. We don't look at weight alone.
As I said, we want look at the 'trend', over the few months if baby is gaining weight
As long as baby is fine and active and gaining weight, you are doing fine.
But purely breast feeding cannot last over 6 months, baby will need extra supplement due to more active.
By 6 months, you might have to add some porridge, or others
And definitely no egg before 1 year old, scare develop allergy to milk protein

oh i understand now. guess as long as his development is healthy i dont need to worry lah

Yes. That's correct
And please give all the vaccinations to him including rotavirus and pneumococcals

I got a friend same situation like urs. They thought baby is well feed but actually baby didn't able to suck the milk out. Later the baby admitted to hospital with all tubes on her body....parent were sad.

My wife will pump the milk out n feed her using bottle during daytime and night time will breastfeed. At least we can see the baby finish the bottle.

As a general rule of thumb, baby's feeding rate shall be following their weight. If the original weight is 2.7kg, then each time shall be 2-3oz if follow the bottle.
And each time would be 1-2 hours. If possible, always feed at the right time, don't wait for them to cry.
When feeding them, always observe how much they can drink.
For your case, suggest to pump out and see how much is the production. Baby can keep on sucking even no more milk from breast.
Try to eat something can produce more milk.

He really heavy now and healthy.

bf milk always have more nutrients than formula milk. This one every single scientist who ever study comparing breastmilk and formula milk already confirm. Even every can/box of formula will write on the package that breastmilk is best.

There may be not ENOUGH bf milk, but not that the milk not much nutrient.

so most likely in my case, it's not ENOUGH milk la right? so frustrating since he sucks very very frequently. I thought he feeds a lot...

What makes you or the doctor think by feeding formula milk then the baby may put on more weight? Unless the doctor that you are seeing is not really well educated in breastfeeding.

For a 1 month old baby to put on 200gram from his birth weight of only 2.7kg. I think is okay. Most important he must look healthy and active.
On first month, I don't really count how much of milk I produce. I'll feed on demand. My baby asked for milk almost every hourly.

Don't worry mummy.... I'm sure if you continue your breastfeeding journey..your baby will put on weight rapidly and also a healthy baby! :-)

Can't say enough that the best reference is still your doctor.
I mean who else is more qualified here other than a doctor?
Your doctor said to SUPPLEMENT your baby with formula milk but he doesn't mean you should skip breastfeeding your baby.
I can only guess it is because formula comes with more sugar which may be beneficial to increase your baby weight faster in this situation.
Ask your doctor to suggest a supplement schedule.
Most important of all, keep the pumping going. It is important that you establish your milk supply now for future.

you may get advice from another doctor.

how a breast feeding mummy check if baby drink enough milk?
we can do it by checking the number of wet diapers, normally it should have at least 3-4 stools or wet diapers per day, do make sure their urine looks clear colour.

it's hard to say formula feed will let baby gain weight.
my friend's kids, one is 2 year old, another is 9 month old, their weight difference is only 1 KG, both formula fed the same brand.

Actually is very wrong letting baby to cry only feed. If he/she cries every hour, that's means your milk are not that enough.
As general guide by experience confinement ladies, the milk fed to them are following their weight, like 2.8kg, it should be about 2-2.5oz.
Try pump your milk to a container and see how much it is.

Considering most doctors(especially from private), their mind only thinking of pushing formula milk. As my wife don't produce any breast milk, now I'm buying Snow(freaking expensive) which low in DHA and posting less problem.
Best is still measure milk produced then supplement with formula milk.
Formula milk are made from chemical, it can give health issues, cold and cough are normal due to sugar content and babies can't drink too much water(drink more water can really prevent getting cold and cough)

Drinking more formula milk do make baby gain weight fast, my son's weight from birth are only 2.8kg, after 12 days only weight 2.65kg(because of stupid mother in law only feed him once every 3 hours, 1 oz only).
After I send my wife and baby to confinement center, they took initial weight and started feeding my son with 3oz of formula milk. And they feed once every 3 hours. Now my son's wight already 3.6kg, that's after 2 weeks.

my mum was totally opposite of your mother-in-law. she keep worrying her grandchild starve. i expressed milk for my mum to feed while i was away. she feed up to 4oz every 3 hours when my baby is only 1 month.

birth weight - 3kg. 2 months later - 5.5kg. *sweat*

btw... why do u prefer low DHA milk? my hubby keep worrying that my breastmilk got not enough DHA, due to my reluctance to eat fish. so he keep trying to persuade me to give the baby some formula with rich DHA.

DHA won't come with milk no matter what happens. Mostly are injected in by chemical process.
Tell your hubby that there's no problem on feeding baby with high DHA chemical milk, the most is their IQ will remain at 3 years old when entering primary school. No big deal anyway.
You like it or not, please start to eat fish. Teach you some tips on preparing high DHA fish(salmon).
Buy a microwave oven, use auto menu and grill the salmon(best is cut with the thickness of 1 finger or 1cm). Grill it about 5 minutes(depending on power), make sure the meat's color just change. Over cook will result to bad smell and hard.

1 month gain 1kg I think should be ok, but I think it is too fast.

TS is the one suggesting formula milk, not the Dr.

TS, I think your baby is doing fine. Most newborn will lose some weight in 5-10 days of life. Subsequently they will gain back their birth weight by 2-3 weeks.

What makes you say that? Most paediatricians support breast milk. They don't sell formula milk, what's the advantages of pushing formula milk?

Come to Seremban's Columbia, KPJ first. Then meet with those doctors. All are giving free sample and saying they can sell cheaper than outside

Something to ponder about DHA/ARA in infant formulas:
Some scientists have studies showing that the 'man-made' DHA and ARA in infant formulas not only DO NOT improve IQ or eye functions, they also induce gas and indigestion in SOME infants. Read the report below about the 'supposedly' scandal involving the FDA in the US and Martek, the company holding the patent for chemically-manufactured DHA/ARA for use in infant formulas:



Most formulas nowadays have DHA/ARA, some less, some more... unless you choose those organic ones. For me, I am still using formulas with DHA/ARA for my babies as they seem ok with them; with only occasional wind and spitting, which is common even with some babies on breast milk.
As parents, we make decisions based on all the information that we can get. Sometimes we can never tell whether the information fed to us is absolutely true or not.

This post has been edited by hairybelly: Jan 6 2015, 09:15 AM

I think we r missing the fact that formula milk can never replace breastmilk. 2 major ingredients that cannot be replicated: Antibodies and hormones present in breastmilk. The hormones in breastmilk produced at night are important to regulate baby's circadian rhythm. When baby is infected with something, he transfer the infection to mother thru breastfeeding, and by the next feed the mother produces and transfer the antibodies back to the baby.

Go to a lactation consultant if u r very determined to continue breastfeeding. Let the consultant check ur latching. Sometimes baby does not latch right and does not get enough calories from feeds, hence low weight gain. But this comes with other signs such as very frequent feeds, explosive green poo, gassiness etc.

My baby is 7 weeks old and feeds 10-15mins per breast hourly. At night he wakes to feed every 2 o 3 hrs. Early on he was 20-30mins per breast.

On the contrary, breastfeeding babies consume n need much less milk to be satisfied (19-30oz up to 6mths). It is also impossible to pump out milk to see how much bb consumes as bb is much more efficient than breast pump. As you do not know the exact amount a bb needs, and by the fact that bottle fed babies always overfeed, you would never know how much to supplement ur bb. Hence when bb is fed formula, he will be full and skip his next supposed breastfeed. Automatically, when he does not empty the breast, the breast signals the body to produce less milk (so ur breast will not burst) and so ur supply will drop.

Similar to bad latch o breastmilk oversupply (when u overpump) overfeeding on formula (as babies harder to be satisfied on bottle compared to less milk from breast and so will consume more than he needs) will produce lactose overload (milk spitting, gassiness, explosive poop). U will need to control the amt he feeds.

Formula feeds affect breastfeeding. Eg. When u breastfeed 25oz today n he wants 26oz n cries but u pop him a bottle of 2oz so he consumes 27oz n is full hence skips the next feed. Automatically full breast signals body to produce 24oz. The day after, bb cries bcos he only gets 24oz and u giv 3oz instead, hence drop in supply.

The right way to deal when bb wants increase in supply is to encourage him to empty the breast more. When bb wants 26oz, let him nurse more often, letting him empty the breast after 25oz signals to the body to produce more. So let him suckle and nurse more when he cries. By the next day o the day after the body would hav increased supply and he will return to normal nursing frequency.

Also note that WHO produces 2 types of charts: For breastfed and the other for formula fed babies. Make sure ur Dr knows which chart he is using. If he doesn't know this, u need to change ur doctor.

That's why we change to Morinaga, it does not has DHA(or never report).

This is definitely not up-to-date advice at all.

1. Milk come out by pump is NOT equal to milk come out by baby's mouth. They work differently. It's like the difference between picking up rice with chopsticks and with fingers. They might be similar, but they ARE NOT the same and UNRELIABLE as a measuring method.

2. Breast milk content changes with your baby's age automatically, while formula never changes unless you change brand/type/age-level. So if feeding breastmilk to baby in a bottle, just feed using paced feeding method

Let your baby decide when to stop. From age 2mo to 6mo, the AMOUNT each time is not likely to change, though during growth spurt, how OFTEN can increase. My son drank 3oz every bottle feeding session from 2mo to 6mo.

3. To know in the first 2 months, if baby enough milk, check diaper. What goes in must come out! http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/enough-milk/ Scroll down and you'll also find a lot of articles on supplementing the breastfed baby. After baby is around 6-8 weeks, can follow this chart instead: http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-wor...oughmilk-older/

i mostly feed expressed milk. i can pump up to app 150ml per session. I prepare each bottle with different amount, some more some less, according to what i got during that session. if there is more, i only feed my baby until she decided she want to stop, the balance i will just throw away. if she finish off everything, then i will just wait for her next feeding cue. usually she will start making those 'cooing' sound like she is calling for someone. i no longer hear anymore 'cries for milk' since she hit 3 months old.

her feeding amount varies between 100 to 130ml, depending on her appetite. i found out that if she drink more, she can last longer between feeds (~4 hrs). if less, i just need to feed more frequent (~2hr). no harm done.

For sure using pump won't be accurate. But that can serve as guide how much milk you can produce. That's why certain pump having variable speed. You can use minimum and see how much and maximum how much.
Babies can keep on sucking until they give up sucking, this is very bad. Have to know that, breast milk contains 88% of water.

Is it your first hand experience? Or you heard it from somebody who knows somebody who delivered there?

My wife just delivered.

Your wife has just delivered in KPJ or Columbia? So it's your first hand experience?

Nope, we boycott private as first miscarriage are checked by private. Already have problem but the doctor still die die say ok.

Formula milks similarly contain 80% water. But both milks have high caloric content even with high amounts of water. Need to stress here again breast is still best.

Babies that give up sucking is due to bad latch as you can never fully empty a breast. Firstly a breast can never be empty as when the breast is empty more milk will be produced immediately. Even with good latch by baby and breast compressions, the breast can at max empty 75-80%, and in this case the breast speeds up production to keep up with demand.

Emmm, depending on how many scoops used and how much water per session. Mine are always put extra 5ml of water.
I never said before that breast milk are not good, infact it is the best in this world. Sadly, my wife refuse to breast feed our baby.
Your theory may work for mothers on last generation, not current generation. Some mothers really can't produce enough milk(or can I say they are lazy?)

The breast pump doesn't have variable speed, it is the level of suction power. The higher number means the stronger suction power it sucks the breast. Besides, using low suction power doesn't mean pump lesser milk, sames goes to high suction power doesn't mean pump more milk.
The milk amount is depends on the numbers of let down we have during the pumping session.

Baby direct latch on will usually stimulate to have more let down, thus baby who latch correctly will usually sucks more milk than any breast pump.

So, how to increase a pump's suction power?
Only 2 ways to control, either by the valve opening(speed fixed) or variable speed(valve opening fixed).

hi, I don't think here is a right forum and thread to argue on this.
I'm using layman term which is commonly used among breast pump users.
For what we feel it's the suction power, not the speed. When you talk about speed, usually we will think that the frequency of pumping increased, in fact no, this may confuse some new mummies who wish to learn about breast pump.

That's why if were to choose breast pump, do choose brands with variable speed(or variable suction power).
Indeed it is too technical for mums to learn on this
But if we don't learn, we may end up buying wrong equipment and wasting money. Like we wasted money on getting Avent products, now we are using cheapo brands(still BPA free) and our baby are happy with it.
I agree that using pump and using mouth are totally different

5ml does not seem much, but for unaware mothers here, formula feedings are very specific. Not following the exact measurements specified by the formula manufacturer will affect baby. Additional powder leads to constipation while overdilution leads to to lower caloric weight and nourishment per feed, hence affecting baby's health.

No, it is not a theory neither is it mine. It is a fact that even with a good latch and breast compressions, u will never fully empty a breast. Ie. There is such thing as mothers not producing enough milk, however it is EXTREMELY RARE.

The more common case is that the nursing mother is being told by their mothers, MIL, doctors, nurses, pediatricians, husbands etc that their baby did not put on enough weight, and that they do not have enough milk. Rather than being confident abt her breastfeeding, the mother is so afraid of failure of breastfeeding, she will always think and be told she does not have enough milk.

Look at your former classmates, did everyone grow and gain weight at the same pace? Then y would u expect ur child to grow at the same rate?

Mothers are not lazy either, all mothers love and would do their best for their baby.

Get books, seek info online. One book I recommend: Carlos gonzalez breastfeeding made easy.

My bb is fully bf w no pumping, but my MIL n FIL hav told me to go to warehouse sale and purchase formula milk in bulk for bb.

Bf requires confidence w urself as a mother. To believe that evolution preserved the ability for women to develop breasts to nourish ur bb, if it were such a failed mechanism, then obviously it would be evolved out as no bb would hav survived. We were after all, not like men whose breasts they were born w but did not develop. Our breasts developed and have worked to feed so many generations since the birth of mankind.

Must know that baby's bladder are very small, so 5ml of water matters
Nope, don't buy chemical milk in bulk, you must try few brands before decide which is good for your baby.
Key points to look at : low metal, low DHA.So far Morinaga is in my list other than Snow.

Nope, it does NOT serve as a guide. The pump works great for normal milk, but the pump is lousy at pumping out colustrum. Pump manufacturers don't bother making the pump good at pumping out colostrum because most mamas only have colustrum for maximum 5 days, so they'd always have to find newborn mamas, who are very busy, to try and test their pumps. Not cost-effective. So they focus on making pumps that can pump the normal milk, that comes out after 3-5 days.

Many mamas try to pump in their first 3-5 days, and when they see very little or nothing, they think ohhh I have no milk and start supplementing when it's not necessary, because their baby is pee-ing and pooping very well! (I just encountered this very issue this week, with a new mama who gave birth four days ago.) Checking your baby's diaper is the better guide. Why choose a lousy guide, like pumping, when you can use an easier, more accurate guide, like checking your baby's diaper? You have to change your baby's diaper often anyway, so why not just check the diaper? No additional work, like pumping, washing, sterilizing. Breastfeeding takes so much time in the beginning. Please don't add more work.

Using diapers as a guide are wrong, as different brand have different water absorption. Like using the cheapest Petpet only can last 1-2 pees while the expensive Mamypoko last 3-4 pees.
And the so-called 1-2 or 3-4 pees also too general, as we won't know the actual volume of it.
If you says that using the pump is a lousy guide, I would say using diapers as guide are worst.

If you really need to be super precise, you can weigh a dry diaper, then weigh the wet diaper, and compare the weight difference. Then you'll get a very accurate weight.

But if you need to be THAT accurate, then you should stick to checking the diaper, because checking pump result is far more inaccurate.

You say checking diapers are accurate as most of the websites says using diapers are accurate.
But nope, it is too general and very misleading.
If you don't know the volume of breast milk and under feed baby, the pee will be lesser.
So, which method is more accurate?

Using a breastpump too is misleading. None are accurate. Only bb is. Counting diapers is a helpful guide enough. If u r so obsessed w how much a bb takes, get the bb weighing scale, weigh each time before he feeds, after feeds, poo.. pee..

But ask urself this: Do u know how much spoonfuls of food u take everytime u eat? How much do u know u need? Do u take 100g o 150g vege? What vege type? Type of meat? Do u eat the same amt for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, tea, buffet? No, u only eat till ur tummy is full. N if ur bb falls asleep all the time after u bottle feed him might b bcos he was having Christmas dinner n is now sleeping it off!

Similar to bb. Breastmilk is impossible to measure bcos the calories (amt of fat) in breastmilk change according to bb's feeding pattern. Ie: He gets to choose: Frequency of feeds (every half hr, one hr, two..), length of feeds (2mins, 45mins) and one or both breasts. The amt of fat (hence caloric weight) in breastmilk increases w the amt of breastmilk consumed. The last breast he emptied will also have higher amts of fat. Which is more filling? 150g fruit o 150g meat? U will need to consume more fruits to feel full. So, bb gets to choose: More skim milk (foremilk) or lesser amts of the more filling full cream (hindmilk).

What is the best measure? Ur bb. Is he happy? Did he lose weight? Did he gain weight? 200g only? But he did didn't he? So if u ate just enough to survive, would u gain weight? If u r concerned, ask the doctor to do blood tests: If he is normal, happy, hitting dev milestones then obviously even with 200g weight gain ur bb is healthy. The growth chart shows weights of HEALTHY CHILDREN. It is interpreted as so n so percent of bb at tis weight r healthy. So even at 5th percentile, it is interpreted as 5% of TOTAL babies (so many, whole malaysia ald how many bb) r healthy at tis weight. It is only used as a heads up guide for Dr. Is there anything wrong? Well it's the Dr's job to find out isn't it? N y would u force him to eat more than he wants? U will b teaching him to eat more than he needs. That's y babies who breastfeed hav lower risk of obesity.

If bb healthy, ie latches on well, pees n poos well, happy, u hear swallowing sounds, but later cries, fusses, goes on n off on breast:
-most often: Overtired. Why r u trying to feed me? I am tired n want to sleep not feed! Some bb still sleep 14-16hrs, plus half hr nursing every 2hrs would be abt abt 12-14x nursing is total abt 7hrs nursing + 16hrs sleep = 23hrs.... no wonder all he wants to do all day is just nurse and sleep!
-if he wants more milk he simply latches on more frequently to order the breast for more milk. The breast is his slave.
-he fusses at one breast offer him the other (he wants full cream dun wan skim milk now)
-he is full (why is mommy trying to force me to eat more?! Argh!)
-he is alrd so good at getting a lot of milk in short time (2mins n sleeps for 2hrs) why does mommy keep forcing me to take more?

Older babies after 3mths r smarter at rejecting bottles (why doesnt it smell like mommy?) while younger ones will take anything u throw at them.

Btw if bb milk spits, vomits. It might be reflux, or u might need to consider u r overfeeding him.

Pumping occasionally leads to oversupply, baby consumes too much watery foremilk bcos he tries hard to get the amt of calories he needs (eg trying to get full on fruits) but bb stomach is only such a size so vomits as a result. But this comes w other signs as well.

So ts hows your baby now?

The guideline of checking quantity of baby's wet diaper not only comes from various website. It did comes from a mouth of kid specialist. Several doctors give similar advice to breastfeeding mummies.

Nowadays mummies not only refer to online website to obtain knowledge, they also refer to actual doctor or nurse for advice.

For example, many website said it's ok for fully breastfeed baby not pass motion for several days or up to 20 days+++. I didn't worry when my son no poo for 10days, but I'm still have to seek advice from doctor to comfort our parents and in law because they used to take care formula fed baby.

Specialist main job are ensuring they can go luxury vacation every year. So don't trust fully on what they says.
Got something go in, sure must have something comes out.

you may not trust one doctor and seek 2nd advice from another doctor.
if several specialist doctors telling the same fact that i have research,so, i believe them

This post has been edited by vandoren: Jan 13 2015, 03:43 PM

Accusing specialists like that are just stereotyping. Dismissing specialist opinion without proper argument may backfire on you instead, bcos contrary to what u think, the specialist was right to say that it is normal for bf babies not to poo for up to 20days.

If you have constipation for 20days do u think u can sit quietly and go on normally?

For a breastfed bb who is happy n healthy except for not pooing for 20days, on day 20th, his poo is just the same as before. Yellow, mustardy poo. Breastmilk is a natural laxative after all.

What goes in must come out does apply, but not so accurately, bcos as baby still wets 6-8diapers (sometimes less bcos older bb bcome good at holding it in but diapers r heavy) he can stop pooing for a no of days and still have soft poo at the end. If he has constipated, he will have hard poo and even so will show signs of discomfort quickly.

We poo bcos we have waste products, substances that cannot be digested or used by the body. Breastmilk is special such that it is able to be completely digested by baby. So as bb's digestion system matures, he digests n takes in everything in the breastmilk completely, causing no waste (no poo) to be left/created. He poos probably bcos he consumed more milk than his body needed (body just took the what they needed from the excess milk) and therefore waste created.

Formula fed bb still produce waste bcos formula was made w cow's milk. Formula is created by treating cow's milk w enzymes to break down the protein in cow's milk bcos these proteins are dangerous to kidney's of bb under 1yr old. Also with the addition of vitamins and minerals added to formula milk tat r not absorbed by bb hence poop.

Interesting to note here it was bcos formula fed bb in the past used to suffer scurvy, rickets and other diseases that caused Dr to recommend solids to be introduced early at 6 mth. This blanket guideline was and is still incorrectly used for breastfed bb. As breastmilk is a COMPLETE FOOD (bb cereal, formula milk is not complete food still lacking nutrients) this should not apply so strictly as the only need is a possible lack of iron post 6mths, tis is only minimum as plenty of bb can have iron stores up to 1yr n more. Indication of lack of iron is poor appetite, but then bb would b losing weight even without intro of solids. If worried, take a blood test to check iron. If all is well, bb does not need to intro solids at 6mths, sometimes up to a yr or more.

This means, for fully bf bb, beginning 6mths, let him bf, THEN intro complementary foods, if bb fusses n rejects, u dun hav to force, try another time. Breastmilk shud still b his main meal n do not withhold in order to force him solids. If he shows interest in ur food, giv him a lil. If he wants more he will show it. Breastmilk by itself is already high calories. Formula fed bb def needs iron rich foods more as iron in formula x as ez absorb as in bm.

Baby can only start "eating" after 1 year old.
Until then, they have to keep on drinking.

There is a new notion on uninformed mothers that their breastmilk has insufficient DHA and ARA that are currently being promoted by formula companies.

This notion is WRONG. DHA and ARA are naturally present in breastmilk, formula companies just researched on DHA and ARA and decided to tell the world they finally found something to make formula 1 step closer to breastmilk (yes they have not been able to completely replicate breastmilk yet).

Breastmilk does not lack in any nutrients. Even when DHA varies among fish and non fish eating populations, there is NO PROOF THAT BREASTMILK IS INSUFFICIENT IN DHA. Supplementing nursing mothers with DHA has also not been proven to be beneficial as even though research shows DHA beneficial for infant cognitive and visual development, nobody researched the optimal amount needed or the side effect of overdosing on it. (Populations high in DHA had lower cardiovascular disease but higher stroke)

Fish oil intake also needs to be aware of mercury and other contaminants.

Contaminant issues aside, DHA and ARA are significant for infant neurodevelopment so formula w DHA and ARA are good for babies who are not breastfed.
http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/092208p66.shtml

They have elemental, extensively hydroyzed or amino acid-based formulas
on the market (Neocate, Nutramigen, etc), but those are more for allergies or intolerance to normal milk formulas, and babies with reflux issues or
gastrointestinal diseases like Crohn's.

I'm not sure if they may be suitable for underweight infants.

These formulas also tend to cause diarrhea.

You could check with a good obstetrician.

You could try consulting my former classmate, Ravi Chandran, in Gleneagles.

One of the top students in Victoria Institution during my days. In other words,
he's the cream of the cream.

He's quite competent and experienced. Has a reputation amongst expatriates
too, I understand.



Hypoallergenicity and effects on growth and tolerance of
a new amino acid-based formula with DHA and ARA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18931605/



Clinical response to amino acid-based formula in neurologically
impaired children with refractory esophagitis.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12352519



https://www.nestlehealthscience.com/products/alfare

Every baby is unique. That's why children gain weight differetly. Here's weight gain month by month accepted norms.