What infant formula do you suggest?

Have you ruled out breast milk?There are huge health and nutritional advantags for your daughter (and for you) including giving her a really strong immune system.

Formulae all cause some forms of indigestion; they are nutritional but no substitute for mother’s milk.

*****

Breastfeeding protects your baby from a long list of illnesses (Numerous studies from around the world have shown that stomach viruses, lower respiratory illnesses, ear infections, and meningitis occur less often in breastfed babies and are less severe when they do happen.)

Breastfeeding can protect your baby from developing allergies
Breastfeeding may boost your child’s intelligence
Breastfeeding may protect your child from obesity
Breastfeeding may lower your baby’s risk of SIDS
Breastfeeding can reduce your stress level and your risk of postpartum depression
Breastfeeding may reduce your risk of some types of cancer Source

Nothing is better than good old booby milk.

The only formula I can/would recommend is breast milk.

Is there a reason you want to feed your baby with formula rather than breastfeeding?

Great list that @gailcalled offered above. A woman who breastfeeds for the first year not only does the best thing for the baby’s health, she also lowers her own risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, the nursing mother’s body releases hormones that help the body recover from pregnancy and delivery, and help with maternal bonding and reduced postpartum depression.

Breast milk is FREE and portable and sterile. Whether you believe in creation or evolution, the breasts exist for the purpose of nourishing our infants, and it is how humans and other mammals survived through millennia.

I encourage your daughter to consult the La Leche League group in her area and to attend prenatal and breastfeeding classes.

Great info in all comments above. And like @hearkat mentions, seek out La Leche League. My wife is a lactation consultant, but spent 7 years as a La Leche leader and volunteer as well. Support is critical.

If you are interested in additional random articles on breastfeeding….

Breastfeeding benefits babies’ brains

Breast Milk Protein HAMLET Reverses Antibiotic Resistance in MRSA, Pneumococcus

The Secrets of Breast Milk

Breast-Feeding in Infancy May Shield Adults from Depression

Breastfeeding Linked to Healthy Infant Gut: Bacterial Colonization Leads to Changes in the Infant’s Expression of Genes

Breast-Feeding Makes Women ‘Mama Bears’

Hospitals Need to Increase Support of Breastfeeding Moms: CDC

Breast-Feeding Lowers Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Brains of Breast-Feeding Moms More Responsive to Baby’s Cries

I nursed my son for nearly two years, an I’m a huge supporter of breastfeeding. Have you SEEN the price of formula?

However, I don’t know you very well, and maybe there’s some reason you can’t nurse—lost your breasts in a fire or something, I don’t know.

I can’t recommend a formula, because every baby is different, every formula is different, and you’re manifestly feeding your child something his little body isn’t designed to process. So, while some little ones do fine on anything, others need only the low iron organic soy nonsense.

Just stick a boob in his face. Best part is you don’t actually have to be awake for midnight feedings.

I agree with all of the breastfeeding comments. I am currently still breastfeeding my 17 month old 1–2 times a day.

If you’re set on formula, please consider whether the baby has a family history of milk/lactose intolerance. Find out what kind of formula (if any) you and the baby daddy had. Then talk to the pediatrician.

We used enfamil newborn as a back-up to breast milk, but I wish I had just stuck with exclusive breastfeeding (the poop is much easier to tolerate, less cost, etc.).

Guys, she didn’t ask for your opinions about breastfeeding, she asked for formula recommendations. I am reasonably confident that @Brenna_o is familiar with the fact that breastfeeding is an option.

We understand the question; there is really no truly satisfactory answer. She wants something that won’t cause gas or vomiting…ain’t no such animal. Infants’ GI tract is designed for breast milk only…it was patented millenna ago.

That said, brand doesn’t matter.

“Although manufacturers may vary somewhat in their formula recipes, the FDA requires that all formulas contain the same nutrient density.” “Source.”

For special needs. “In addition, there are infant formulas using soybean as a protein source in place of cow’s milk (mostly in the United States and Great Britain) and formulas using protein hydrolysed into its component amino acids for infants who are allergic to other proteins.” Same source.

” ...formulas are sold by many leading food and drug retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Loblaws, and Walgreens. **All infant formula brands in the United States are required to adhere to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines*.As reported by the Mayo Clinic: “... brand-name infant formulas cost more than generic brands.”

Whatever formula you use, get a good probiotic to go along with it. Breast feeding naturally gives probiotics to babies and formula fed babies are missing out.

She wasn’t asking about nutrient density either!

What is it with pregnancy and parenting that makes people so eager to judge? If someone posted asking for a cake recipe, you wouldn’t see the first ten responses gently explaining that cake is unhealthy, and you should seriously consider a salad.

I have weighed the pros and cons long ago. For me being in college full time and my husband working full time and me needing a certain prescription medication formula feeding is my best option. I don’t want my baby girl getting the medicine in her system through my breast milk.

@Brenna_o I’m glad you thought it through. Did you or your husband need soy formula when you were babies?

I was on steroids for asthma and a non natural source was my only option. I did not use cow dairy as it is way too heavy, and my daughter was raised vegan. Soy is a big mucus creator, so I skipped that as well. See what your physician recommends after taking your family history on both sides into consideration. Much happiness to you, and your new baby!

my mom used Enfamil sensitive and my husbands mom gave him breast milk

Thank you for explaining why you want to use formula instead of breastfeeding. I’m sure you investigated your options.

I’m not in the US so I can’t really say which formula might be best. Can you talk to your mother/baby expert or even call some organisations who work with mothers? I found this site which is for mothers to review baby formulas. Perhaps you can check out some of these or even post a question here? Might be worth looking for something similar in the US. I doubt a large percentage of Fluther people have recently had babies. I know some have, but as you can see from the responses here, most (including me) breastfed.

I hope you find something that’s right for you and your baby (or your daughter’s baby).

I used Enfamil for my son. It was the low iron formula because the regular stuff gave him horrible gas.

there is really no truly satisfactory answer. @gailcalled is right.

Every child is different. I switched to formula after breastfeeding my first son for the first six months of his life. We tried several formulas before we found out he was lactose intolerant. We had to use a soy based formula for him.

@Brenna_o: Ha! I misinterpreted your question – I thought you were a maternal-grandmother-to-be. Oooops!

I was in graduate school through my pregnancy and my son’s first year. I did cut my coursework back to part time the second year. If there’s any way you can arrange that, I would recommend it – but I had no idea the bank was going to demand that I start paying my loan back before I graduated because I was no longer full-time… I explained the situation to them but they had no sympathy (and that was 22 years ago – they’re probably less sympathetic nowadays).

You don’t say what the medication is, but I imagine you’ve checked that it can pass through the milk – because not all medications do. La Leche League is probably a good resource if you want to look into it further – they help many women who think there’s no way they could ever nurse a baby find ways to make it happen – but obviously the mother’s motivation is a key factor, and there are some for whom even the best effort does not succeed. So if you are already clear in your decision, I respect that.

I worked in a Children’s Hospital with a Level III NICU, and even there, the variability of what babies tolerated. If I had a baby dropped on my doorstep and I had to choose a formula, I would try to find one that was as close to natural and as far removed from a laboratory as possible. This question now has me wondering whether there are baby formulas that are more like a food than a drug? I do like the probiotic suggestion, too.

The issue of meds. that the nursing mom is taking is a complicated one that I had not considered since it was not a concern for me.

Here’s an extensive chart. It is confusing, I admit, but the baby’s safety is the overriding concern.

For example, acetaminophen is safe; Aspirin is not.