Choose milk for your baby

Making a decision about baby's milk is often not easy, especially when there are so many different products on the market.

Which milk is the best?

Until now, breast milk is considered the top nutritional choice for infants. Breast milk contains the best nutritional ingredients to help your baby fight infections and also affect their baby's nutritional needs. Moreover, breastfeeding also brings many positive things for the mother herself. It not only tightens the relationship between mother and child, but also reduces the risk of ovarian and cervical cancer.

Breast milk is important, but this doesn't mean formula won't work. Infant formula is a healthy alternative to breast milk. This milk contains a number of vitamins and nutrients that breast milk does not provide enough for your baby, such as vitamin D. Like breast milk, formula milk comes in different types for each age.

No matter what kind of milk a mother chooses to breastfeed, she should at least breastfeed her baby during the first month. In this way, the baby will somewhat inherit immunity passed from the mother.

There are also many mothers who choose to combine breastfeeding with formula milk. When the baby is in the lactation stage, the mother can give the baby formula milk once a day, if the quality of the breast milk is guaranteed. This is also a convenient solution to ensure mom's sleep every night and mothers can ask dad to take care of the baby when tired.

If you are still concerned about your choice, ask your doctor for further advice. Doctors will make sure your baby gets all the nutrients needed for growth. In the end, the most important thing that is left to do is let the baby feel the love and care the way she chooses.

In fact, there are many reasons mothers are forced to choose infant formula. The reasons can be mentioned as: weak suckling reflexes (common in premature babies), cutting breast milk early, avoiding pain when breastfeeding, mothers worrying about lack of milk, mothers going to work, mothers having some problems. Health problems require taking medications that could potentially affect the safety of the baby or the mother wants to let other family members help with the feeding process.

Which brand of milk formula is good?

Most formula milk comes from cow's milk or soy milk, with cow's milk the majority.

Based on the formulas, milk manufacturers make specials specifically for babies who are allergic to milk or soy protein, or milk for premature babies or underweight babies at birth.

Regardless of which brand of mother chooses, formula milk still ensures adequate iron supplementation to prevent anemia in children and other essential vitamins and minerals.

In all cases, mothers do not give cows milk to babies when they are not yet 1 year old. Ordinary milk does not contain nutrients in accordance with the proportion that babies need to develop, not to mention it sometimes causes problems for the child's digestion. 

Formula 2

Formula 2, also known as follow-on milk for babies from 4 to 12 months old, when the baby enters the weaning phase. This milk contains more calcium, iron, protein and produces more energy than formula 1 for children aged 0-3 months.

Formula 2 may not be necessary for healthy babies. Parents can familiarize their baby with solid foods like baby cereals, diluted fruit juices and pureed vegetables.

Conversely, if your baby has food allergies , food sensitivities or a family history of poor growth, formula should be given.

Should or not supplement the missing breastmilk with formula?

Either way, during the first month breast milk is still the best choice for your baby. Your baby will probably get used to the feeling of breastfeeding, but with time of only one month it will be difficult for your baby to distinguish between a pacifier and a pacifier. It would be best if mom let me or someone bottle me the first time. This will prevent your baby from feeling the smell of the mother or the smell of breast milk and will refuse to bottle feed.

If you are planning to breastfeed your baby regularly, it's best not to breastfeed more than 1 bottle within 24 hours because it can reduce the amount of breast milk if the mother doesn't breastfeed as often as before. If the mother's maternity leave ends earlier than planned, she should practice bottle-feeding and find an alternate caregiver while she is away from home.