Baby formula is a nutritionally balanced substitute for a mother's breast milk. Most baby formula is made with a combination of ingredients, primarily either soy or cow's milk. It is manufactured under dozens of name brands and sold in powder, liquid, and concentrate forms. Besides breast milk, baby formula is the only recommended infant milk recommended by medical experts - and that recommendation come with severe qualifications.

In recent times, as medical research has shown the benefits of breastfeeding, the use of baby formula has declined dramatically in many nations. Nevertheless, doctors will still recommend baby formula over breastfeeding in some special rare cases.

Early History

The earliest baby formulas were homemade and meant to provide a means for mothers to feed their children without breastfeeding or use of a wet nurse. These early formulas were usually made from animal milk or what was available to their economic means. As food manufacturing and technology advanced, commercially produced baby formula became a staple of baby nutrition.

By the 1920s evaporated milk formula was readily available through much of the United States, and breastfeeding diminished as mothers increased formula use. In the 1950s, agressive marketing of Similac and Enfamil provoked a shift away from evaporated milk formula to formulas that chemically approximated real mother's breast milk. These campaigns were so successful that by the 1970s more than 75% of American babies were fed on baby formulas.

The success was short-lived. With increased women's liberation and a publicly fostered return to breastfeeding, the use of commercial baby formula quickly diminished. At the same time, medical research began to show breastfeeding offered vastly superior health benefits to babies over commercially produced formula, including the prevention of ear infections, asthma, and many other disorders.

Baby Formula Ingredients

All baby formula manufacturers are required by law to meet nutritional guidelines supplied by the Food and Drug Administration. These guidelines are taken from recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on nutrition.

Baby formula must contain protein, niacin, folic acid, vitamins A, C, D, E, K, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B6 and B12. There should also be minimum percentages of calcium, iodine, and iron.

The recipes for baby formula vary according to each manufacturer, with each one advertising they have the most healthy ingredients or the most recommended by pediatricians. The choice of baby formula for each child is then left to the parent or family doctor. Overall, however, any store bought baby formula brand will at least satisfy your baby's most basic nutritional requirements.

Baby Formula & Breastfeeding

Pediatricians warn against the use of baby formula as even a supplement to breast milk, for fear the mother's lactation will slow due to decreased demand. Recent studies attempting to bolster baby formula's public image have also been of mixed success, with little conclusive results.

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