Its a Big World Baby and Your Little While

How to Choose Formula for Your Baby

Last Updated March 25, 2020

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Breastfeeding doesn't work for every mom. Sometimes formula is the best way of feeding your child. Finding the best nourishment for your child can be trial and error or you could take a different approach by learning about the types of protein and carbohydrates provided and the ingredients in each type of formula. What about the form it comes in? Do you want ready-to-use, liquid concentrate or powdered?

Ready Formula

Are you bottle feeding your baby for convenience? If so, ready-to-use formulas are your best option. There's no need to mix. You just open and serve. This is the sort of formula your child would get in a hospital because it's hygienic and convenient. Of course, you'll pay more for the convenience. This can be as much as 20 percent more than powdered formulas. You'll also need to store the bottles which collectively take up more room than the equivalent powder formula.

This is the cheapest way of feeding your baby formula but you have to mix it before feeding your child. A container of formula typically has a shelf life of one month, and you can mix the formula to suit your child. This sort of formula is ideal as a backup for breastfeeding. Perhaps the dad or older sibling could feed formula to the child when the mother needs a rest. If that sounds like you, buy some to have on standby.

Liquid Formula

As with the powdered formula, you mix this with water to create the child's food. This stuff's more expensive than powdered formula but doesn't cost as much as ready-to-use. It takes up less storage space when compared to the bottled formula and it's easier to prepare than the powdered variety. This type of formula would be good for anyone looking to bottle feed their child long term as it's pretty convenient and relatively cheap when compared to the other two choices.

Cow's Milk

Let's concentrate on the main ingredients in each formula. You might need to try out a few of the following to see which baby likes the best. The majority of babies prefer formula based on cow's milk. This has the right balance of protein, fats, and carbs as well as a vitamin-mineral mix. Your baby won't be able to digest cow's milk until he's at least one so this type of formula is altered to allow babies to digest it easily.

Other Options

Hydrolyzed formulas are also very popular with parents. In these formulas, protein is broken down to allow the baby to digest the milk easily. If the child has allergies to milk protein or has eczema, your doctor will suggest hydrolyzed formula. As the name suggests, soy-based formulas are made from plant protein. These are a great option for vegan families but there are medical reasons you may opt for them including allergies to cow's milk, temporary lactose intolerance called transient lactose deficiency, and really rare diseases like Galactosemia which stops the baby's body breaking down milk sugar, and congenital lactase deficiency, which is an extremely rare disorder in which the child can't break down the sugar lactose in milk.

Where to Start?

You should start with a cow's milk based formula. It's the least expensive, the formula most babies like and it's the most readily available. Advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that you should only give soy-based formula if your child has a milk allergy. Before switching to a new type of formula speak to your pediatrician. Make sure you're using the right formula for your child's age. It's too easy to continue with an old formula unaware that your child's outgrown it.

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