Breast milk will always be best for babies. Nothing is healthier than natural breast milk endowed with love and nurture from the mother. Yet with the global financial crisis alarming the world at large, mothers are forced to enter the workforce, leave their babies at home and feed them infant formula instead. Finding the right infant formula is a tough task for mothers who want the best for their baby.
Before, breast milk substitutes ranged from cow’s milk based formula to elemental formula to soy formula. This limited number of choice for mothers has made choosing the baby formula easy. However, with the rise of different milk brands offering a variety of benefits for your babies, it takes a wise mom to look closely into what the baby formula can give her child.
How do you choose the right breast milk substitute? Nutrition is the primary basis of any food you provide your children. It might be difficult to find something that really substitutes for the benefits breastfeeding can give. With human milk, your child will not have any problems with regards digestion and infection since it has natural anti-bodies that reduce risks of diarrhea, respiratory problems and ear infections. Further, breast milk strengthens the relationship between the child and the mother. These three reasons cab be foundations of your search for breast milk substitute.
Parents choose an infant formula based on personal preference or advise from friends and old people. Moreover, advertisements persuade parents to opt for powdered milk that has ingredients which brings about smart healthy kids. However, in the long run, your basis of choice depends on the need of your child. Your child’s unique dietary requirements should be given focus. Nutrition is the primary consideration for choosing your baby’s milk. Make sure that your baby gets enough amount of carbohydrate, water, protein, vitamins, minerals and fat. There are cow milk based formulas that has added vegetable oils, minerals and iron.
In some instances, your child may be experiencing digestion difficulties. In this kind of situation, choose soy-based formula from soy protein that has sucrose, and added vegetable oils. These soy based baby formula is best for babies who are not tolerant to lactose or those who are found allergic to whole protein found in many cow milk. In this case, your baby might be experiencing lactose deficiency in the small intestine. Most premature babies lack lactose enzymes responsible for digesting glucose, sucrose and other forms of carbohydrates. Your baby may also be experiencing low birth weight which means after birth, his or her body weight is inappropriately lower than the desired weight for new born. There are a lot of special formulas that cater not only to low birth weight but to low sodium infant predicaments.
Water is an essential component of every breast milk substitute. There are formulas in liquid, liquid concentrate and powder. A liquid infant formula does not need water and can be directly fed to infants while liquid and powder concentrates entail certain amount of water. It is necessary for parents to understand and follow the instructions on the label before adding water to liquid and powder concentrated milk. Without understanding what has been laid for instruction, adding inappropriate amount of water may lead to water intoxication which can lead to irritability, low sodium, and even coma. On the other hand, lack of water and too concentrated mixture can further cause dehydration, diarrhea and even kidney failure.