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Baby Formula



I wanted to talk a little about baby formula. Not sure if you've had the same experience as me, the hospital gives out so much information about breast feeding, they say breast is best. That is really great if it works out, but for those people like me, it didn't work out and I made the decision to use formula again, and I have had no help at all about information about different kinds of formula. Maybe it's where I take him to? Every time I have asked they try to avoid the question by telling, "They're all the same", then move me along. So here is some information that I have gathered from watching different pediatrician videos, articles and so on.

First off, before you go on an endeavor changing formula because you think he has lactose allergy/intolerance, talk to your pediatrician. I did that with Christine, I went from formula to formula to see what worked best, it wasn't good on her tummy and made her poop not regular, she just had a hard time with it altogether.

Make sure you're not over feeding baby, too. I hear of a lot of moms that say, "He just pukes it right back up", (moms that go from breast feeding to formula). When you start out breast feeding, the baby stomach is way smaller than a baby that started with formula, and baby does not know how to stop when his stomach is full. So what I did, because I started out breast feeding, I gave him one oz at a time. I put an oz of formula in the bottle, fed him the oz and burped him, he seemed a little crabby at first when I took the bottle away after that oz, because he wants to keep feeding and feeding like he does on the breast, but after I burped him, he was just fine. Formula is a little harder to digest, so baby stays fuller for longer.

Also, look at the ingredients first. Take the time to read the back and compare. Some formulas have Palm Olein oil in them, especially some store brand formulas, that has been tested and proven to cause less bone density and cause baby to have hard poop and constipation.


Soy formula is good if baby can't handle lactose or the ingredients in lactose free Sensitive formulas, but it can make their poop very hard and they can get constipated. Before you choose to go with Soy read this article about soy product. The research that I have done on Soy has told me that Soy just isn't good for you in general, especially for babies.

LACTOSE ALLERGY/INTOLERANCE: I've read in many articles that it is very rare for a baby to be allergic/intolerance to lactose, and that you should always start baby on lactose base formula unless it is in your family history of being allergic/intolerant, but there is a lot of parents who start baby on a lactose free formula and they do just fine, so you do what you feel is best for your baby :) Also, there is a big difference between being allergic to lactose and being intolerant. Here is an article that may help you figure out if baby is allergic/intolerant to lactose.


Different Formula's / Store Brand vs name brand formula:

They are very very close, but not the same. They have certain ingredients in different brands that are make/break for me.

I have done TONS of research on a bunch of different kinds of formula.

We have our name brand formulas which are more expensive, Similac & Enfamil are some of the top brands. Then we have the store brand formulas, Parents Choice, Baby Comforts, Advantage, Kirkland. There is a bunch more I think, but those are the ones I've been doing some research on.


Similac Pro-Advance/Pro-advance Sensitive and the Honest Co., I'm almost positive, are the only formulas that has the prebiotic 2'-fucosyllactose (2'FL) HMO (Human Milk Oligosaccharides). It is the most abundant HMO found in human milk. Here is an article explaining the 2'FL ingredient.

Then there are formulas that have Corn Syrup, one of them is Similac Pro-advance sensitive and Reg Similac Senstive, but it is not the same as Fructose Corn syrup.

There are formulas that have the Palm Olein Oil I was talking about, a lot of generic store brands and some of Enfamil.

Back to the Probiotics: There are two different probiotics' they put in formula, one is the 2' FL that I mentioned above, and Galacto-Oligosaccharides, which is the most common in formula. The information I've gathered is that they're both prebiotic's, they have something to do with the gut bacteria and support baby's immune system, but the 2'FL is the most abundant in HMO and is a little better and different than Galacto-Oligosaccharides. Definitely really good for baby.

That being said, my son is almost 3 months and he was having some gas issues and what looked like liquid poop still, I'm pretty sure he should be having more peanut butter paste texture poop. I use all anti-colic bottles and cut him off little before the milk is all gone. I run into this youtube video of a doctor explain the difference between the two prebiotic's, and there it was, if I can remember right, the health expert said 2' FL prebiotic can give you some gas and it's sweeter. So, Galacto Oligosaccharides can be easier on baby's stomach.

video of health expert explaining that.


Saving Money on Formula: A lot of name brand formulas are expensive because they spend a lot of money on advertising and fancy labels. So if you can research the ingredients of store brand formulas, see if they work, you could be saving a ton of money. Also, all of the formulas that are made have to meet FDA requirements too. Personally I think it's really rude of Similac, Enfamil, Gerber, etc to charge so much for formula, making it harder for some moms to get by just to feed their baby.

There are a bunch of different ways to save money on formula. Similac has coupons that you can sign up for on www.strongmoms.com. I think Enfmail & Gerber has a rewards system too.

Similac is available at Freds/Walmart&Safeway are from $29-32 for 23oz. ,Walmart for $34 or $36 for 30oz or Sams for $37.50 for 34oz

Not sure what Enfamil is but I know it is up there in price just like Similac. Pretty sure Sams does not offer Enfamil either. From what I've seen Amazon & Ebay has it for more expensive than you can get it in town.

Then there's the generic store brands. Although they are really inexpensive and meet FDA requirements, some of them have Palm Olein Oil that I mentioned earlier and some ingredients that I don't care for, but again, definitely do your research on their ingredients or give it a try and you could be saving a ton. d

Right now the only generic formula I've found without the palm Olein oil is Kirkland Non-GMO Costco brand formula. I then did my research even further and found that it was 17$ cheaper, even after paying for shipping to order it off of Costco website, than the 34 oz can of Similac pro advance at Sams. Although you have to order it in bulk, 3 big cans at a time. It is $63 total including shipping from Costco, that's 2nd day shipping too! It's even cheaper if you live near Coscto, as it is 16$ per can if you have membership.

I found a youtube channel of a pediatrician that was going over the ingredients of this formula and she found it was the exact same as Similac advance NON-GMO, except it does not contain soy ingredient and Similac does. She also explained that soy can be an irritant.

I switched my son to this and he is doing WONDERFUL on this new formula. Poops are looking much more normal than before. It is a little bit foamy when making the formula, but I pre-make the formula and the foam is gone by the time the mixture is sitting for a few hours in the fridge.

So if you want to try this formula out the Pediatrician said to buy a little can of Similac Advanced Non-GMO and see if baby does well with that first, then purchase Kirkland.

Anywho! I hope all that information helps you determine what kind of formula you're going to use and if you have any questions about formula. Below I've attached a link to the pediatrician's youtube page I recently talked about that reviewed the Kirkland formula. She also has many videos about comparison between formulas and reviews about other formulas, very informative!

Link to Kirkland Formula review

Link to her Channel - Baby Formula Expert

 
 
 

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