Baby Formulas

There are a million and one baby formula sout there these days, so I can’t blame you for being confused. Even doctors are confused. In the old days, there were two companies that made baby formulas, and the representatives of those companies came to the doctor’s office to detail what was in each formula. That isn’t necessarily the case anymore.

The two main companies that began making baby formulas were Ross and Meade Johnson. Their initial products were labeled respectively Similac and Enfamil. Then they made soy formulas which were respectively labeled Isomil and Prosobee. Ross made Similac and Isomil. Meade Johnson made Enfamil and Prosobee.

In time both Ross and Meade Johnson got taken over by large corporations. These large corporations then began to make greater varieties of formulas. At the same time, the representatives stopped visiting the pediatricians on a regular basis.

Another factor which contributed to the confusion was that since the names, Similac and Enfamil, became so ingrained into the public consciousness, the corporations decided to use the names, Similac and Enfamil, as umbrella names for all their other products.

Here I will try to make sense of the large varieties of baby formulas. There are many types depending upon which ingredients have been added. Understanding the composition is not always easy to accomplish as the large corporations are not always crystal clear as to what their formulas contain.

When you are choosing a formula you must always try to check the ingredients as the large corporations are always constructing new variants. But first some general considerations.

General Considerations

Your doctor will often change formulas on your baby because your baby is either colicky, is fussy, or is spitting up. It’s largely a guessing game because there are not a lot of tests that can figure out precisely what is going on with your child’s gut that could be causing the symptoms. Is it a problem with the carbohydrates, or is it a problem with the proteins? Your doctor can not always know, and often it’s more practical to use a trial and error approach: Let’s try this, let’s try that. So with that stated, the doctor may try the following options:

Is it the Proteins?

Your doctor may try a partially hydrolyzed protein formula like Gentlease or a totally hydrolyzed protein formula like Alimentum or Nutramigen. Hydrolyzed means that the protein is chopped up in little parts for easier digestion. The formulas are primarily casein based. Casein is the main milk based protein. If these formulas don’t work, the doctor may try a whey-based protein formula like Similac Total Comfort or Gerber Good Start Soothe. These formulas are entirely whey protein based.

If these don’t work, the doctor may go to a soy-based formula. These formulas don’t have any cow proteins at all. Soy based formulas are principally represented by Isomil or Prosobee. There are other generic brands. Stores like Walmart and large regional supermarket chains like HEB often carry their own private labels. Foreign milks have also invaded the marketplace.

Is it the Carbohydrates?

Alternatively, the doctor may want to go to a lactose free formula. There used to be a product out there called Similac Lacto-free. That doesn’t exist anymore. Now the lactose free formula by Similac is called Similac Sensitive.

Complicating all this is that the companies have now combined many of these features in different brands of formula which is why you have to check the ingredients to see what is actually in there.

Another type of formula that is offered is that with added rice starch. You can find this in Enfamil AR and Gerber Good Start Soothe. Enfamil AR is a casein protein based formula . Gerber Good Start Soothe is a whey-based protein formula.

Those are the main categories. Formula manufacturers will also add other features such as arachidonic acid and or probiotics which they will promote prominently on their labels. Arachidonic acid is added to promote brain growth.