Choosing a Baby Formula

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Over the weekend I decided that I wasn't going ot breastfeed. No real reason in particular....I just feel like it's not for me.

Anyway, there are half a million formula types out there and realistically, each doctor has his/her favorite. I intend on asking my doctor about which to choose but wanted some first hand experience info too. I mean, you have to choose a formula to use before you really know which formula to choose since baby has to eat.

Are there particular brands that have shown to be easier on the stomach than others? Or more nutritional?

I saw Nestle Good Start makes a formula called Natural Cultures and it looked really good to me....but then again, the only informaiton I can find on it is on Nestles website and of course they are making it look good.

Natural Cultures

And of course Nestle has the "comfort protiens" they rave about...are they really better than a forumla without "comfort protiens"?

Any information would be helpful to me.

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Oh this is hard for me to answer, Bella. Breastfeeding is so important! I'm serious. If people can't, I understand, but to just not want to...? I already showed you the article about how overwhelming the evidence is that breastfeeding is vastly superior to formula feeding, right? Antibodies (sozlet didn't get her first ear infection until she was weaned, while babies of friends who weaned early had a zillion ear infections), there's evidence that formula has something to do with weight gain/ obesity, then the fact that the act of breastfeeding releases hormones that make the whole hair-tearing experience of early babyhood much more bearable -- I mean it's just a ton of stuff.

You know this though, right?

I'll try to bite my tongue. I had to say at least that though, sorry.

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I can't be convinced that breastfed babies are healthier/thinner/smarter because I was breastfed, had almost all my childhood diseases before I was 18 months, have been sick my entire life, have always been thin and did well in school. My brother was forumla fed from day one and never gets sick and is thin as a rail and did very well in school.

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Bella Dea wrote:

I can't be convinced that breastfed babies are healthier because I was breastfed, had almost all my childhood diseases before I was 18 months and have been sick my entire life. My brother was forumla fed from day one and never gets sick.

But this isn't the reason you don't want to breastfeed, right?

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No. Is it one of the reasons for me being able to say I don't want to do it? Sure. It makes my decision more comfortable knowing that not every single kid who's not breastfed gets sick.

I just...I don't know.

I woke up Sunday morning and I just knew I didn't want to.

I don't think its gross or weird. I know that breasts were made for it and if I had no choice, I'd do it.

But the fact is I do have a choice.

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Bella--

The trouble--and the delight--with a Loving Regiment of A2K Aunties is that the Aunties are opinionated.

Hold your dominion.

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Isn't your sample on the small side, Bella?

If breastfeeding and formula were equivalent, I'd be more successfully keeping my mouth shut. But they're really not.

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics says:

Quote:

Extensive research using improved epidemiologic methods and modern laboratory techniques documents diverse and compelling advantages for infants, mothers, families, and society from breastfeeding and use of human milk for infant feeding.1 These advantages include health, nutritional, immunologic, developmental, psychologic, social, economic, and environmental benefits. In 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published the policy statement Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk.2 Since then, significant advances in science and clinical medicine have occurred.

-snip-

Child Health Benefits
Human milk is species-specific, and all substitute feeding preparations differ markedly from it, making human milk uniquely superior for infant feeding.12 Exclusive breastfeeding is the reference or normative model against which all alternative feeding methods must be measured with regard to growth, health, development, and all other short- and long-term outcomes. In addition, human milk-fed premature infants receive significant benefits with respect to host protection and improved developmental outcomes compared with formula-fed premature infants.13-22 From studies in preterm and term infants, the following outcomes have been documented.

Infectious Diseases
Research in developed and developing countries of the world, including middle-class populations in developed countries, provides strong evidence that human milk feeding decreases the incidence and/or severity of a wide range of infectious diseases23 including bacterial meningitis,24,25 bacteremia,25,26 diarrhea,27-33 respiratory tract infection,22,33-40 necrotizing enterocolitis,20,21 otitis media,27,41-45 urinary tract infection,46,47 and late-onset sepsis in preterm infants.17,20 In addition, postneonatal infant mortality rates in the United States are reduced by 21% in breastfed infants.48

Other Health Outcomes
Some studies suggest decreased rates of sudden infant death syndrome in the first year of life49-55 and reduction in incidence of insulin-dependent (type 1) and non-insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes mellitus,56-59 lymphoma, leukemia, and Hodgkin disease,60-62 overweight and obesity,19,63-70 hypercholesterolemia,71 and asthma36-39 in older children and adults who were breastfed, compared with individuals who were not breastfed. Additional research in this area is warranted.

Neurodevelopment
Breastfeeding has been associated with slightly enhanced performance on tests of cognitive development.14,15,72-80 Breastfeeding during a painful procedure such as a heel-stick for newborn screening provides analgesia to infants.81,82

Maternal Health Benefits
Important health benefits of breastfeeding and lactation are also described for mothers.83 The benefits include decreased postpartum bleeding and more rapid uterine involution attributable to increased concentrations of oxytocin,84 decreased menstrual blood loss and increased child spacing attributable to lactational amenorrhea,85 earlier return to prepregnancy weight,86 decreased risk of breast cancer,87-92 decreased risk of ovarian cancer,93 and possibly decreased risk of hip fractures and osteoporosis in the postmenopausal period.94-96

All those numbers are cites -- the science is pretty overwhelming on this one.

There's more, much more:

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496

Please read it. And I'll REALLY try to keep my mouth shut if I know you have.

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I don't know about the health of breastfed children vs. children who weren't breastfed, but I would think the bonding between a mother and a child when it is being breastfed is quite unique.

But, as you said. It's you choice.

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soz, I appreciate the concern but I haven't just decided this on a whim.

I have several personal reasons that I don't want to go into here on a public forum.

I have been 50/50 on this whole thing from the start. It wasn't like I started out gung-ho about breastfeeding and then decided suddenly it wasn't for me. I have been debating this since really I first got pregnant. I've talked to women who've both breastfed and formula fed. I went to La Lache League and read up there.

This is my child. I didn't come to this decision lightly.

And do I have concerns that this is the right decision? Of course. Will I change my mind between now and then? Maybe. I don't think so but who knows.

Everyone (and I mean everyone) around me has been on the "at least TRY it" boat and are relentlessly trying to shove me on that boat as well. I haven't told anyone other than my husband and my mom my decision as i truly don't want to deal with the fall out for the next 2-3 months. Once the baby is born and people find out I am not breastfeeding, there will be enough to deal with. I want to avoid it now.

Bonding while breastfeeding is unique and I am sure wonderful if you can get it right (latching and all that) but it's not the only way. And what about the father? He isn't allowed to bond with the baby in the first few weeks? That is one of my concerns. My husband has been a huge part of this whole pregnancy. I want him to be a part of this baby from the minute she pops out. I don't want to be the sole feeder. I know they have pumps but you can't use them right away until you get the baby latched right and your milk is in and flowing. I want dad front and center from the start and with breastfeeding you can't do it.

That is not the major reason or the only reason. Just A reason.

And yes, my study sample is small. But my brother is not the only healthy formula fed baby out there.

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Re: Choosing a Baby Formula

Bella Dea wrote:

No real reason in particular....I just feel like it's not for me.

That sounded a bit light. (No real reason?)

If it's not, and you've done all the research, nothing little ol' me can do so I'll commence with the shutting up.

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What I meant by that is that I don't have a big "this is why" reason.

I don't have a "because I physically can't" reason.

I have a lot of small, maybe stupid to you, reasons.

And one of them is simply that it just doesn't feel right for me.

I know that probably doesn't make any sense to you, but it's the honest truth.

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On top of that, I have my thyroid meds that I take and frankly, don't want to continue passing that on to my baby.

It's necessary now to keep from going hyperthyroid while in me, but in a normal thryoid after she is born, do I really want to be feeding her supressive medication every day?

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Im more than sure I was breastfed and Im as thick as pig poo.

Whatever you decide Bella, good for you.
At least your thinking about your baby in advance.

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Please don't let the tone of La Leche League turn you off of breastfeeding. They are too strident for my taste, but there are other resources out there.

Have you researched the cost of bottle feeding? Several thousand dollars a year.

Plus, it stinks.

Plus, it makes baby's poop stink. Breastfed baby poop barely smells.

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I guess I was stupid to start this thread and think that someone would actually answer my question.

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Buy whatever's on sale. There's no significant difference.

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I don't mean to sound shitty. I know you've all been there done that.

But honestly, I already decided and re-reading all the literature isn't going to change my mind.

If I change it, I change it. I am not dead set against changing my mind.

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We're all just so used to people on Internet boards being open minded and willing to change....

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Well, I am willing to change....if I decide to change.

But as of now, I don't want advice on whether or not to make the decision to breastfeed. I want advice on what formula to use.

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Find the one that's most like breastmilk. Twisted Evil

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Choosing a Baby Formula

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