Myth: In case lactation fails, infant formulas of different makes for different age groups are the best alternatives.
Fact: Lactation nearly never fails. Breastfeeding, however, may fail, if the infant is not initiated to suckling properly. Mammary glands are modified eccerine glands, similar to tear glands and sweat glands. Breast milk is secreted only if the infant suckles properly. The more the 'emptying' in the previous feeding, the more the refilling. Breast milk also changes in composition if the baby is born prematurely, to fulfill the needs of the premature baby. Good lactation counselors are able to re-initiate breastfeeding even after gaps due to illness of the mother or other such reasons.
Let us proceed to see as to what are the ingredients of infant formulas. Most of the parents that I have met during my 35 years of practice seem to believe that these formulas are "special". The fact is, that all of them are processed from cows' and buffaloes' milk. The first step is to separate cream/fats and sell it separately at a high price. The remaining milk is called 'skimmed milk', which for many rich milk producing countries is a by-product. This milk is spray-dried and made into skimmed milk powder (SMP), which is very cheap. My research showed that all different formulas have SMP as a base ingredient. Now, inexpensive vegetable oils (some of them suspected to be from GM seeds) are mixed with the SMP base. Many of them have maltodextrins and some micronutrients . When we taught nutrition in our M.D., these additive ingredients were not mentioned anywhere. They are propagated only by the formula industry and are not proven to have any beneficial effects.
Many young parents simply believe the formulas to be beneficial simply because of the name of the multinational attached without ever having read the ingredient label!
Recommendations: The IYCF program in India recommends the following priority order for neonates and infants:
1. Own mother's milk
2. Other mother's milk (Human Milk Bank/Wet Nurse)
3. Fresh boiled bovine milk
For complimentary feeding after six months of age, home cooked multi ingredient food should be used as it is far more nutritionally superior to packaged cereals.
For reference of ingredients of some popular infant formulae, please visit the links here:
https://www.amazon.in/Nestl%C3%A9-Starter-Infant-Formula-Probiotics/dp/B00I4SZJUG
https://www.amazon.in/Nestle-Nan-Pro-Infant-Formula/dp/B00HQFRQRC
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbrucebradley.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F11%2FFormulaGerber.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbrucebradley.com%2Ffood%2Fbabys-first-encounter-with-big-food%2F&docid=gfTeXXED-KXXDM&tbnid=sA2Q2DhZbMN1TM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiXn9fRzbfmAhXi7HMBHRbMCMQQMwhsKAEwAQ..i&w=1024&h=768&bih=625&biw=1280&q=infant%20food%20ingredients&ved=0ahUKEwiXn9fRzbfmAhXi7HMBHRbMCMQQMwhsKAEwAQ&iact=mrc&uact=8
https://www.arlafoodsingredients.com/industries/early-life-nutrition/early-life-nutrition-ingredients/ingredients--concepts/infant-nutrition/
For further information on breastfeeding and complementary feeding, please visit: http://www.bpni.org/
For risks involved with formula feeding and bottle feeding, please visit: http://www.infactcanada.ca/RisksofFormulaFeeding.pdf
Please do not buy into the marketing tactics and feed a sub standard product to your child. In poor tropical countries like India, another concern is about sterility of baby food. While fresh milk is usually boiled before feeding and thus made sterile, formulas are not boiled after reconstitution and run a risk of infection. Complementary foods made at home are not only cheaper, but superior in all aspects.
Fact: Lactation nearly never fails. Breastfeeding, however, may fail, if the infant is not initiated to suckling properly. Mammary glands are modified eccerine glands, similar to tear glands and sweat glands. Breast milk is secreted only if the infant suckles properly. The more the 'emptying' in the previous feeding, the more the refilling. Breast milk also changes in composition if the baby is born prematurely, to fulfill the needs of the premature baby. Good lactation counselors are able to re-initiate breastfeeding even after gaps due to illness of the mother or other such reasons.
Let us proceed to see as to what are the ingredients of infant formulas. Most of the parents that I have met during my 35 years of practice seem to believe that these formulas are "special". The fact is, that all of them are processed from cows' and buffaloes' milk. The first step is to separate cream/fats and sell it separately at a high price. The remaining milk is called 'skimmed milk', which for many rich milk producing countries is a by-product. This milk is spray-dried and made into skimmed milk powder (SMP), which is very cheap. My research showed that all different formulas have SMP as a base ingredient. Now, inexpensive vegetable oils (some of them suspected to be from GM seeds) are mixed with the SMP base. Many of them have maltodextrins and some micronutrients . When we taught nutrition in our M.D., these additive ingredients were not mentioned anywhere. They are propagated only by the formula industry and are not proven to have any beneficial effects.
Many young parents simply believe the formulas to be beneficial simply because of the name of the multinational attached without ever having read the ingredient label!
Recommendations: The IYCF program in India recommends the following priority order for neonates and infants:
1. Own mother's milk
2. Other mother's milk (Human Milk Bank/Wet Nurse)
3. Fresh boiled bovine milk
For complimentary feeding after six months of age, home cooked multi ingredient food should be used as it is far more nutritionally superior to packaged cereals.
For reference of ingredients of some popular infant formulae, please visit the links here:
https://www.amazon.in/Nestl%C3%A9-Starter-Infant-Formula-Probiotics/dp/B00I4SZJUG
https://www.amazon.in/Nestle-Nan-Pro-Infant-Formula/dp/B00HQFRQRC
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbrucebradley.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F11%2FFormulaGerber.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbrucebradley.com%2Ffood%2Fbabys-first-encounter-with-big-food%2F&docid=gfTeXXED-KXXDM&tbnid=sA2Q2DhZbMN1TM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiXn9fRzbfmAhXi7HMBHRbMCMQQMwhsKAEwAQ..i&w=1024&h=768&bih=625&biw=1280&q=infant%20food%20ingredients&ved=0ahUKEwiXn9fRzbfmAhXi7HMBHRbMCMQQMwhsKAEwAQ&iact=mrc&uact=8
https://www.arlafoodsingredients.com/industries/early-life-nutrition/early-life-nutrition-ingredients/ingredients--concepts/infant-nutrition/
For further information on breastfeeding and complementary feeding, please visit: http://www.bpni.org/
For risks involved with formula feeding and bottle feeding, please visit: http://www.infactcanada.ca/RisksofFormulaFeeding.pdf
Please do not buy into the marketing tactics and feed a sub standard product to your child. In poor tropical countries like India, another concern is about sterility of baby food. While fresh milk is usually boiled before feeding and thus made sterile, formulas are not boiled after reconstitution and run a risk of infection. Complementary foods made at home are not only cheaper, but superior in all aspects.
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