Question by redlite302: baby formula recommendations?
I was heartbroken this week when my dr told me I should not breastfeed due to medications I am required to take. I must take the medication and the pediatrician said it is not work the risk to the baby to breastfeed. I am due in a week and had not even considered formula – so I need advice from other moms. What formula do you recommend and why?
Thanks for the recommendation “Obber”, I did get a 2nd opinion from a neonatologist and was also told not to breastfeed since the medication I am on can affect her brain development. I plan to nurse the first day or two so she gets the colestrum (against dr orders) but I believe she should at least get that!
Best answer:
Answer by tytianlove420
actually the doctors will see what formula is best for the baby. but most of the time it is Enfimil with iron. good luck
Give your answer to this question below!
I was sent home with reccomendations from the hospital of Similac .. He didn’t do good on that kind of formula so I switched him to Good Start and he was happier then a bee with a honey:]
Even with our recommendations you may find that the baby won’t do well on it. Each child is different. My son is on Enfamil Gentlease as he had bad gas with regular Enfamil Lipil with Iron. My sister’s baby used Simalac Advance and it worked great for her. I went with Enfamil b/c I have WIC and that is what it covers here. It will be a trial and error for your child until you find what is right. Hopefully you’ll get the right one the first try.
Oh, I am so sorry. I know how disappointed you must feel if you had been looking forward to nursing.
I would recommend a formula with DHA/ARA (two compounds that are found in breast milk and are associated with brain and eye development). When I started supplementing with formula, we used Enfamil Lipil and Similac Advance, although I preferred the Enfamil Lipil because the powder was easier to mix and dissolved better.
If you are a member of Sam’s Club, they sell the larger canisters of the powder there.
If the baby appears to be having problems with any formula you use, you can speak to your pediatrician for other recommendations.
i personally love the sams club brand of formula, it has the DHA and ARA in the same amounts as expensive brands, my daughter loves it!!! you get like double the biggest size of can in a regular store for half the price!! TRUST ME formula prices killed me!!!
You should definitely seek a second opinion, preferably from a certified lactation consultant. At least from a pharmacist.
What are the medications?
“Over the years, far too many women have been wrongly told they had to stop breastfeeding. The decision about continuing breastfeeding when the mother takes a drug, for example, is far more involved than whether the baby will get any in the milk. It also involves taking into consideration the risks of not breastfeeding, for the mother, the baby and the family, as well as society. And there are plenty of risks in not breastfeeding, so the question essentially boils down to: Does the addition of a small amount of medication to the mother’s milk make breastfeeding more hazardous than formula feeding? The answer is almost never. Breastfeeding with a little drug in the milk is almost always safer. In other words, being careful means continuing breastfeeding, not stopping. The same consideration needs to be taken into account when the mother or the baby is sick…”
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/09a-illness_mother_baby.html
I would avoid the DHA formulas.
” In the randomized trial, one group received a standard formula, another group received a formula that had been supplemented with DHA from fish oil, and a third group received a formula supplemented with both DHA and arachidonic acid from an egg phospholipid.
Outcome Measures. Mental and Motor Scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 12 months of age; vocabulary and gesture communication scores from the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories at 14 months of age.
Results. There were no statistically significant differences for either the Bayley Mental Scale or the Bayley Motor Scale, neither when the analysis was restricted to the three randomized formula groups nor when the analysis included all four groups. However, the DHA formula group had significantly lower scores on two of the MacArthur scales: the DHA group scored lower than the nonrandomized human milk comparison group on the Vocabulary Comprehension Scale, and the DHA group scored lower than the randomized control formula group on the Vocabulary Production Scale. Moreover, additional analyses both in the formula groups and in the human milk comparison group found significant negative correlations between DHA levels and vocabulary outcomes.
Conclusion. We believe that additional research should be undertaken before the introduction of these supplements into standard infant formulas.”
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/102/5/e59
edit: as somebody else already said, this is something worth _triple_ checking.
Apart from Dr Hale’s site already posted, check out http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT
Because formula is so closely regulated by the government, they all have very similar ingredients and nutritional value. The most important factor is whether they negatively affect your baby’s digestive system. For example, the Nestle formula made my daughter constipated, so we stopped using that one.
We started on Enfamil, then Similac, and tried all the ones that we had coupons for. Now, we use generic – Target brand or Safeway brand, because they’re cheapest and, based on everything I read, nutritionally identical.
If your baby has sensitivity to all milk-based formulas, you may wish to try soy, but this isn’t too common and I would start with milk-based and wait for a recommendation from your doctor if you need to switch later.
Good luck, and keep your chin up! As good as breastfeeding is, formula provides great nutrition. Congratulations on the new baby.
I used Parents Choice (walmart brand) with my doctors ok for both of mine. It is half the price of the national brands and is just as good. All baby formula is FDA regulated so it all must meet the same requirements. I saw no point in paying more for the name on the can.
I agree with Obber. I would double and triple check as many med are ok to take while breastfeeding, but doctors will tell you not to take it to cover their own butts. Dr. Hale is a doctors whose sole job is to check if a medication is ok to take while breastfeeding. I would look at this site and see what he says.
http://neonatal.ama.ttuhsc.edu/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics&access=guest
If you still choose to formula feed then i’d start off with a milk based formula like just Enfamil with Lipil or similac advance. Some babies will not tolerate this and you will just have to go with trial and error, but those two are good ones to start off with and one of the ones the hospital would give the baby if you do not breastfeed
I’ m sorry to hear you won’t be able to breastfeed your baby. My recommendation is enfamil with lipil…..I breastfed my son but switched him to formula once I went back to work, and the enfamil never gave him any problems. Also, they sell premeasured travel packs of the enfamil that make it easier to feed your baby while you’re out. Good luck, hope this helps
Well honestly it all depends on ur baby, I would say Enfamil because it is the best formula and has almost all the nutrients that breast milk has. BUT ur baby might not be able to disgust it, so ur just going to have to wait until there born. Because when my daughter was born in the hospital they gave her good start, and we notice that she could not keep it down she would constantly keep spitting up then the doctor told us she was allergic to milk-based formulas so they switch us to similac soy formula that didnt work either, the point is we went thru 5 formulas until we found the right one.
I would ask the doctor. My doc recommended the soy Similac because he said it was about the same as Enfamil only cheaper. But according to how your baby is your doc should be able to recommend the best one for the baby.
Oh the hospital is going to supply you with some..im guessing most will give you Enfamil or Similac (that was my case) and they will give you some sample cans.
You can also sign up at formula sites (Enfamil, Similac, Nestle GoodStart, and probably others) for free samples and coupons.
Good Luck!!!!!!! and congrats!
I recommend Similac. That’s what my son uses. I also have a friend that uses the Good Start with the natural cultures in it. She loves it! Good luck!
In my job and with my daughter the old saying of what works for one may not work for another is true. I know out of the formulas that I have used through the years I always come back to Good Start as being one of the best. I work with high needs babies and have found this formula to often eliminate their fussing, gas problems. But the best advice I can give you is to not buy a lot of the kind you are going to use because you may have to try a few formulas before you find the right one. It can take a few weeks before you even realize there may be a problem, so buy in small amounts until you know it is the right one. I also couldn’t breastfeed due to meds, I pumped for a short while for my girl but by three weeks she was completely on formula. I am disappointed also but I know it was best for both of us in the long run. I am a healthy happy mom for her and she is not getting the chemicals in her system. Best of luck to you, congrats and enjoy this special time.
You should check again with some one who knows breast feeding.
Most doctors, peds, OB’s are clue less, did you know Nestle maker of Good Start formula does ‘nutrition’ and ‘breast feeding lessons’ for doctors and peds? You can not except doctors to have a clue if they are getting influenced information.
You need to contact an Internation Board Certified Lactation Consulatant ‘IBCLC’ and ask them.
About drugs and breast feeding.
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/09a-drugs_and_bf.html
If you feel you have done enough by talking to the doctor, it doesn’t seem like you were that heart broken. :/