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A mom of two with a doctorate in perinatal nutrition, I&#;m known as the &#;Baby Formula Expert&#; &#; here to help demystify the process of choosing a formula and the ingredients that really matter.
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Photography by Aya BrackettStanding in the baby formula aisle for the first time can feel like a game of Russian roulette.
I know firsthand the overwhelming intensity of that choice and how high the stakes are. We&#;re talking about your precious baby&#;s nutrition and comfort! Parenting is hard enough &#; and then you find yourself in the formula aisle.
Many parents admit feeling anxious about how to go about choosing a formula. Maybe they&#;re totally overwhelmed by the choices. Or they&#;ve tried a formula and wonder if it&#;s causing their baby digestive distress. Or breastfeeding isn&#;t working out how they&#;d hoped, and this isn&#;t what they expected.
No parent deserves all that anxiety over feeding. So first, take a deep breath. There is no wrong choice! There is no perfect formula. There is no &#;bad&#; formula. There are just different options within ingredient categories. Understanding these options will help you make a choice based on your unique baby.
Due to supply chain issues secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as recent safety recalls from major formula companies, many baby formulas are currently out of stock.
If you&#;re having difficulty finding the baby formula you need, call your pediatrician&#;s office. They may have sample cans available or be able to advise you on the closest match to your baby&#;s formula.
Other resources may include your local WIC office (a federal assistance nutrition program for women, infants, and children), social media infant feeding groups, or large online grocery retailers.
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) both strongly advise against making homemade baby formulas.
Protein, carbohydrates, and fat make up 98% of infant formula. Protein and carbohydrates have the most impact on your baby&#;s comfort while digesting, so I always recommend parents choose a formula based on these ingredients.
You can literally ignore the front of the formula label. What a relief! These labels are full of competing messages. Words like &#;sensitive&#; and &#;gentle&#; are not regulated and don&#;t mean anything.
Instead, flip over the can and look at the list of ingredients. Focus on the first few ingredients before the &#;less than 2%&#; long list of vitamins and minerals. Those first few ingredients will tell you what type of protein and carbohydrates are used in that formula.
Lactose is the carbohydrate source in breast milk, and all healthy babies are able to digest lactose. If your healthy baby is starting off on formula for the first time, I say start with a lactose-based formula and see how it goes.
There are reasons that some babies thrive on a formula that is lactose-reduced. Babies who were born early or who have immature or irritated digestive tracts may make less of the enzyme that digests lactose.
Babies recovering from diarrhea or babies who have been consuming low-lactose formulas for a long time will also have less lactose-digesting enzymes and may be more comfortable on a lactose-reduced formula.
If lactose is removed from a formula, some other carbohydrate must be added to ensure babies get enough carbohydrate energy. There are only two other carbohydrates small enough that infants can digest them well. These are sucrose (table sugar) and glucose sugars.
While both are deemed safe for babies, my personal preference is glucose sugars. There are several different types of glucose sugars used in formulas these days, including corn syrup, corn syrup solids, brown rice syrup, glucose syrup, and maltodextrin.
The only way to know if a formula is lactose-reduced is to look for these other carbohydrate sources on the list of ingredients.
The variety of protein options layered on top of the variety of carbohydrate options results in the large number of formulas that overwhelm you at Target. But now you know how to choose your formula based on the protein and carbohydrate ingredients.
Prioritize your protein choice first since protein is the most likely factor affecting digestibility and comfort. From options with the protein source you are looking for, pick the formula with the carbohydrate blend closest to what you want. Then give it a shot.
You made your decision based on science. If you need to change formulas in the future, you know how to select your next formula the same way. That&#;s the best you can do.
Goto HEORSHE to know more.
Extra ingredients are&#; well, extra. This article focused on the main ingredients (protein and carbohydrate) since they impact digestion the most.
However, we&#;ve all noticed that most formula marketing focuses on all the other sexy, extra ingredients (DHA, MFGM, lactoferrin, HMOs&#;. to name a few). While these are all nice to have, they are all nonessential extras. And they will not be the deciding factor in whether or not your baby gets into Harvard.
When considering these extras, I suggest parents first focus on finding a protein and carbohydrate blend that keeps their baby comfortable and happy.
Once there, if there is an option with that blend and some sexy extras, and you can easily afford it&#; go for it! If these ingredients are out of your price range, then do not give them another thought.
Now you know that ingredients should be the number one factor in a formula choice. If you can find your dream ingredients in a store-brand formula&#; celebrate! That&#;s what I call shoe money! But let&#;s be honest, we both know you&#;ll spend it on diapers.
Similarly, organic ingredients are desirable to many families. However, the ingredients matter more. If full-size proteins cause your infant to be uncomfortable and sleep less, then an organic full-size protein formula is not the best choice for your unique baby. The ingredients are all that matter.
If you are switching formulas, I always recommend going slowly. Over a few days, slowly decrease the amount of old formula in each bottle as you increase the amount of new formula.
This is especially important if the new formula has a larger protein or more lactose. Your baby will have to make more digestive enzymes to digest bigger proteins and more lactose.
Don&#;t worry &#; your baby is a rock star &#; they can totally do that. But giving them a few days to ramp up these enzymes will help the transition go more smoothly.
Most importantly, love your baby and yourself. All babies have gas. All babies fuss. Is your baby loved, fed, and cared for? Then you are doing an amazing job. Be kind to yourself. Trust your intuition&#; and parent on!
The good news is that according to the AAP, all formulas sold in the United States have to meet FDA standards and should provide adequate nutrition for your baby. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says, &#;No brand of infant formula is best for all babies.&#;
As daunting as it can be, finding the right formula for your individual baby is often a process of trial and error. If your baby has a known milk protein allergy, colic, gas, or other specific concerns, you can start with a formula made for those issues and see how your baby reacts.
Otherwise, you can choose a formula that fits your budget and ingredient preferences and see how your baby tolerates it.
Things to watch for as your baby starts a new formula include:
If you&#;re not sure where to start, call your pediatrician and ask for a recommendation.
In reality, no formula can completely mimic human breast milk. However, scientific and nutritional advances have come a long way in recent years, and there are some great options available.
The formulas sold in the United States should be FDA approved and meet your baby&#;s nutritional needs for the first year of life, providing your baby doesn&#;t have a special medical condition.
Generally speaking, the formula with ingredients most similar to human breast milk is Similac 360 Total Care. This formula contains an unprecedented five HMOs, which are prebiotics found in breast milk that should help babies digest and absorb nutrients.
The formula also contains DHA (which is found in varying amounts in human milk), ARA, carbs, fats, and vitamins that are meant to mimic those found in breast milk.
However, this formula does contain cow&#;s milk proteins that aren&#;t hydrolyzed, so they are still quite a bit larger than the proteins found in human milk. A formula with high lactose content and partially hydrolyzed whey protein, such as Gerber GoodStart GentlePro, may better mimic the digestibility of human breast milk.
Cow&#;s milk-based formulas, such as Similac Advance and Gerber GoodStart GentlePro, are among the most commonly recommended.
Often, pediatricians&#; offices are provided with free samples of Similac and Enfamil formulas, so these tend to be among the top recommended products.
These companies have a long history of researching and producing quality infant formulas. They also offer many types for you to try (such as full-size cow&#;s milk protein formulas, formulas with partially broken down proteins, and hypoallergenic formulas).
However, it&#;s worth noting that the ingredients in a formula are much more important than the brand, or even how many people recommend the formula. If you do a little research (like reading this article!) and read the ingredient labels on the container, you&#;ll be well on your way to choosing a great formula for your baby.
Your pediatrician may be able to give a more specific recommendation for your little one, too.
Bridget Young, PhD, CLC, is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester where she studies how variation in breast milk composition and infant formula ingredients impact infant growth and development. As the founder of BabyFormulaExpert.com, she has supported countless families working through formula tolerance issues, helping them find the perfect feeding solution for their baby. You can learn more about working directly with Dr. Young here.
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