Mothers may think that choosing the best baby food is not as difficult as deciding on whether to breastfeed or bottle-feed the baby. But it is also quite a difficult job as there are many brands. Mothers should make sure that they select the best baby food that is suitable, healthy and hygienic to the baby. This can be a cumbersome process as many companies are coming with new baby formula products that claim that their product is better than the rest. While choosing the baby formula, one should remember that the brands sold in US should meet the requirements of the nutrition levels prescribed by FDA regulations and Instant Formula Act.
If a baby is doing well without any complications, then one can try any baby formula that comply with the requirements. But if baby has some complications then one should choose from different baby food formulas like cows milk based formula, lactose free formula, added rich starch formula for reflux, elemental formula, soy formula, gentle formula with less lactose than regular milk based formula.
Depending on the condition of the baby one should choose the baby food formula. If one understand what makes each formula different, it will become easier to choose the right baby feed formula. Most of the baby feed formulas differs in the type of protein and sugar they consist of.
Formulas that are rich in iron are made of cows milk based proteins and lactose. Infants who aren’t breast-fed should be given this baby food. Brands like Nestle Good Start Supreme, Similac Advance, Enfamil Lipil fall under this category.
Baby foods that are made of hydrolystate proteins and lactose free are elemental formula. These are suitable for babies having protein allergies. Brands like Alimentum, Pregestamil and Nutramigen come under this category.
Soy formula baby food is lactose free and made of soy protein. Brands like Nestle Good start Supreme Soy, Enfamil Prosobee, Similac Isomil comes under this category. These formula baby foods are suitable for babies who are allergic to milk or lactose proteins. Parents from having formula intolerances or family allergies and don’t what to breastfeed their babies have to start feeding them with these products.
Lactose free formulas are suitable for babies born with lactose allergies. Generally babies are not born with this allergy so one need not worry about these baby foods. One should also decide whether they want the baby food as a powder or as liquid. Powder formula is less expensive than ready to feed liquid concentrate baby food.
For more information on different types of baby food, read the following articles: