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Mothers don’t think about their baby’s food until they enter their life. Of course, most women try to eat many vitamins and refuse alcohol and smoking during the pregnancy, but what to give a baby after labor? Breast milk is undoubtedly the best nutrition for your baby, but what if you cannot breastfeed because of health or other life circumstances?
Many companies produce baby formula that almost replicates breast milk. The baby food market offers conventional and organic formulas. What is the difference? How to choose the best organic European formula your baby needs? How long should babies eat baby formula? Let’s find the answers to these questions.
What is Baby Formula, and What Types Can You Find in the Market?
Baby formula is a source of macronutrients and micronutrients that one can find in breast milk. Baby food manufacturers follow the FDA or EFSA demands for the right to sell their products. You can buy either conventional or organic baby formula. Both types pass laboratory tests of independent control organizations and satisfy the nutritional needs of a baby. However, the quality of the used ingredients differs in the following way:
|
organic |
conventional |
|---|---|
|
95% of components are natural and safe because farmers don’t milk sick animals during their treatment, and the required period after that |
can contain chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones that come with the milk when a cow is treated with antibiotics or eat chemically-sprayed grass |
|
brands never use artificial stabilizers, colorants, taste enhancers, sugar, and thickeners |
brands can use sugar, artificial thickeners and stabilizers, food colorants, and other ingredients to get the required nutritional value |
How Long Should Babies Eat Baby Formula?
Babies should eat only baby formula or breast milk in the first six months. Then, caregivers should gradually introduce adult foods. Consequently, kids eat baby formula until they shift entirely to adult meals. Traditionally, this period lasts for another six months, but some babies may need baby formula or breast milk till they are 2 years old. Everything depends on a baby, caregivers, and doctor’s recommendations.
How to Choose the Best Baby Formula for Your Baby
Professionals and experienced parents recommend keeping the following tips in mind when choosing a baby formula in a supermarket or online.
- The ingredient list must include only natural components because mother’s milk does not include chemicals and pesticides.
- It must be fresh, and its storage conditions must meet your needs. For example, do not take a bottle with a cooked formula when you go somewhere during the hot seasons. It is better to take a bottle with boiled water, cooking tools, and powdered formula or buy ready-to-feed formula in sterile packages.
- Choose the required stage to provide a baby with the required nutrients each serving. As a rule, European brands mention the age and stage on a package. It varies from Pre or 0+ to 2+.
- Choose a formula type depending on a specialist’s recommendations. It can be vegan, cow, or goat formula. Vegan can be hemp, coconut, oat, almond, and other brand or home-made alternatives.
- Pay attention to the brand’s reputation. It must be reputable and tested by independent organizations such as FDA and EFSA. It can also have rewards and other labels proving its quality and client trust.
- Try to avoid formulas that use whole milk as the first baby’s meal. Cow milk fat globules are big and hard to digest. So infants can suffer indigestion, gasses, constipation, and stomach ache. It is better to choose goat formula for sensitive tummies.
- Do not buy much of the new formula if you must replace the old one. It is better to test a baby’s reaction first. Sometimes babies cannot tolerate other brands because of different ingredients or low-quality components.
- If you want to develop healthy eating habits in your baby, organic baby formula is the best option because it doesn’t have taste enhancers and sugar.
- The casein-based formula is the best choice for babies who always feel hungry because it takes a baby’s stomach more time to digest it.
- Avoid artificial colorants, flavors, and other same-like ingredients to avoid allergic reactions and health problems.
Organic baby formula is the best food for newborns because it is natural, safe, and helps them grow healthy, thanks to the required nutrients it contains.
