Many parents admit feeling anxious about how to go about choosing a premium baby formula for their newborn baby. Maybe they’re totally overwhelmed by the choices. Or they’ve tried formula and wonder if it’s causing their baby digestive distress. These days, many parents are choosing to make their own baby formula. When you’ve decided to do this, it’s important to understand what you need. We have compiled a list of 5 things that every parent-to-be should know about this choice of food allergy in babies and how to go about making your own:
1) Breastfeeding is the best way for your child to get the nutrition they need until six months old. However, if a child is not breastfeeding, their gut microbes will develop from what they eat and drink. Babies who drink homemade formulas are more likely to have their gut microbes shaped in a way that reduces the symptoms of allergies and autoimmune diseases later in life.
2) Many of the vitamins and minerals found in commercial baby formulas are also found in breast milk. However, there are some that are not, including Vitamin C and iron. Because babies can’t make their own vitamin C, it needs to be supplemented by parents. Similarly, iron is better absorbed from infant formula than from breast milk.
3) For people who cannot use or do not want to use commercial formulas because of possible additives or concerns about quality, making your own is an option worth considering. Babies can be fed with plastic bottles and a syringe, and the ingredients are simple: water and breast milk or formula.
4) Commercial formulas are expensive. Supplementing it with breast milk can save money. It may also be possible to make your own on the cheap by using a 32 ounce container of powdered milk from Costco (around $10) as the base and adding your own breast milk. The most important thing you need to do is test the pH levels of your homemade formula for it to work at all.
5) Making bottles is a fun way for parents to get some cooking practice in before they start feeding their baby. It also helps them learn about how babies need to be fed. Also, it’s good for parents to learn how to properly function a blender because they may have one of those at home.
6) Parents are encouraged to ditch commercial formula and breastfeed as long as possible for their babies but the truth is that breast milk is a mixture of nutrients, so babies who drink it don’t necessarily get what they need. It’s better to know exactly what your baby needs, even if it means supplementing it with formula.
7) While breast milk can provide all the nutrients a baby needs, it does not provide all of the nutrients babies need. For instance, if your baby is over 6 months old, they will get enough iron from breast milk. If a baby needs more, you’ll need to feed them formula so they can compensate for the additional amount they’re missing.
Conclusion
Making your own formula is not only a way to save money, but it also helps to shape your baby’s health in ways that you might not otherwise be able to. This is because once parents become more familiar with the process of how babies feed, they learn how different food and drinks affect their bodies.