Infant Formula Problems

There are so many problems with formula as opposed to breast milk it is hard to know where to start. In this post I’ll set out three serious problems for you to consider. That doesn’t mean there aren’t more than three, or that these three reasons are the most compelling. It’s just a start to help you understand why many people feel that formula should only be a last resort food for parents to feed infants who cannot breastfeed for medical reasons.

Problem #1 – Formula Can Be Contaminated

Formula is frequently contaminated with Enterobacter sakazakii, which can cause sepsis and meningitis in newborns. Other contaminants which have been identified in formula include; aluminum, silicon, cadmium, genetically engineered corn and soy, MSG, phytoestrogens, phthalates and bisphenol-A, lead, nitrates, and atrazine. While some of these things are not in the powder itself, just using tap water to make the formula mixture potentially puts them there and can quickly put children at risk of very serious diseases. For more information visit the Food And Drug Administration’s web page, Alerts, Safety Information and Reporting Illnesses, Injuries and Problems related to infant formula.

Problem #2 – Formula is Dead
Breast milk is full of living cells that protect babies from life threatening infections. Babies need these living cells because they are born with weak, immature immune systems. Using raw goat milk from healthy animals milked in a grade-A facility might make up for this to a large degree, but human milk from the child’s mother has an even greater range of protective immune factors. Breastfeeding mothers can even respond to viruses and bacteria that their child gets exposed to away from her and send appropriate antibodies into the milk to fight infection. Formula has none of these factors because it is essentially dead.

Problem #3 – Formula is incomplete

This is not to say that a baby can’t ever grow and thrive without breast milk, but it cannot compare to mother’s milk when it comes to the full compliment of nutrients. For example, there are important beneficial hormones naturally present in mother’s milk that have not been duplicated in formula. In fact, there are enzymes and nutritional factors in breast milk that we haven’t even discovered yet, or know what their uses are. Many formulas have vastly different compositions from one another, because many formulas are trying to capitalize on this or that discovery of a nutrient that has been discovered in breast milk. For example, Some are low in iron, unlike breast milk, and some have more iron.

While breastfeeding may not always be possible, it is a superior form of nutrition for most babies and cannot be equaled in quality by artificial infant foods. If you have an infant but cannot breastfeed, there are other alternatives to infant formula, such as breastmilk donors. Educate yourself as to the options, to see if you can find a healthier alternative to infant formula.