The first option to feed the baby in the first months of life should always be breast milk, but this is not always possible, and it may be necessary to use infant milk as an alternative to breast milk, which has a very similar nutritional composition. , adapted to each stage of the baby’s growth.
In addition to these formulas, infant milks are also available for specific medical purposes, which allow adequate nutrition even in cases of allergies, regurgitations, food intolerances and gastrointestinal disorders.
- Milk powder can be chosen when the mother cannot breastfeed or when the baby has difficulty digesting breast milk.
- Thus.
- The baby may take a bottle when:.
In temporary cases, you should choose infant milk and maintain milk production, withdrawing it with a milk extractor, until you can re-breastfeed after healing. In cases where there is no other solution, choose infant formula and talk to your doctor to dry the milk. Learn how to dry breast milk.
In cases where the baby cannot drink breast milk, cow’s milk should never be administered, as it can interfere with its development, as its composition is very different from that of breast milk.
Then, with the help of the pediatrician, choose a milk suitable for the baby, which, although different from breast milk, has a more approximate composition, being enriched to provide the nutrients the baby needs at each step. The options can be:
Healthy babies may use regular adapted milks without the risk of allergies, gastrointestinal discomfort or metabolic disorders.
There are several brands available for sale, all with a similar composition of nutrients, which may or may not be supplemented with probiotics, prebiotics, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and nucleotides.
The choice of infant formula should take into account the age of the baby, because throughout its development, it has specific needs. Then, it should be used between 0 and 6 months of milk, such as Aptamil profutura 1, Milupa 1 or Nan supreme 1, and from 6 months a transitional milk such as Aptamil 2 or Nan supreme 2 should be used, for example.
Protein allergy in cow’s milk is the most common food allergy in children, where the immune system is still immature and sensitive to antigens, so it reacts to the presence of cow’s milk proteins causing symptoms such as widespread redness and itching, vomiting and diarrhea. Learn more about baby’s milk allergy.
There is a wide variety of milks for this specific problem, which usually contain cow’s milk proteins divided into small fragments, or even divided into amino acids, so as not to cause allergies, or may also be derived from soya:
Approximately 2 to 3% of children are allergic to cow’s milk proteins in childhood and develop mainly tolerance to cow’s milk between 3 and 5 years of age. For babies who need to drink synthetic milk and have a family history of allergies, they should drink a hypoallergenic milk, called HA milk.
Gastroesophageal reflux is common in healthy babies due to the immaturity of the esophageal sphincter and involves the passage of food from the stomach to the esophagus, resulting in frequent strokes. In such cases, this can lead to weight loss and malnutrition that is detrimental to the baby’s development. Learn more about baby reflux.
Thus, there are anti-reflux milks such as Aptamil AR, Nan AR or Enfamil AR Premium, whose composition is equal to other formulas, but are thicker by the addition of corn starch, potato or rice, carob or jatai gum.
The presence of these thickeners means that, due to their thickness, milk does not suffer as easily reflux and gastric emptying occurs more quickly.
Lactose is composed of two sugars that must be separated by an enzyme present in the body, lactase, to be absorbed. However, there may be situations where this enzyme is absent or insufficient, causing cramps and diarrhea. Lactose intolerance is very common in infants because their intestines are still immature.
To do this you have to opt for infant formulas without lactose, in which lactose has been degraded to simpler sugars, which can already be absorbed by the body, as is the case of Aptamil ProExpert without lactose or Enfamil O-Lac Premium.
Bowel discomfort is very common in infants because the intestine is still immature, causing cramps and constipation.
In these cases, you should opt for prebiotic fortified milks, such as Neslac Comfort or Nan Comfort, which in addition to promoting the presence of bacteria good for the gut, also reduce colic and constipation.
The nutritional needs of premature babies are different from those of normal weight babies. In these cases, you should choose formulas suitable for this situation, until your doctor tells you the change to adjusted regular milk or breastfeeding is possible.
In addition to a good choice of formula, it is important to take certain precautions in your preparation. Thus, milk should be prepared with boiled water, always careful to let the water cool before preparation, so as not to burn the baby’s mouth or destroy the probiotics present in the milk.
The bottle and nipple should also be washed and sterilized and the dilution of the powder in the water should be performed exactly as recommended in the packaging. Learn how to properly wash and sterilize the bottle.
The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until the sixth month of life as an exclusive food source for the baby.