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Milk mixtures for newborns

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Milk mixtures for newborns can be used as milk substitutes in certain cases. Each mother always wants to give her child all the best, so the approach to choosing a mixture is very important. There are many different companies and products that differ in price, and to choose a quality product for the baby, you need to know some nuances.

Varieties of infant formula

Breast milk is the most proper food for a child. Women of all ages with small or large breasts can breastfeed their children. Breastfeeding does not spoil the figure of a woman. Your milk is the perfect milk for your child. The human brain must grow very rapidly in the first years of life. Breast milk is ideal for stimulating this growth. It provides complete nutrition for your child during the first 6 months. This food is very easy to digest, since it has protein and fat in its composition only in accessible form and in the right quantities. Milk of the mother has more lactose (milk sugar), which the child needs; enough vitamins and iron; enough water for your child even in extremely hot climates; the right amount of salt, calcium and phosphate and a special enzyme that digests fat. Absorption of zinc and iron from breast milk is undeniable for any other source in early childhood. This protects the child from early deficiency of zinc and iron deficiency anemia. In later childhood, the ideal balance of amino acids provided by breast milk adds to the quality of protein in the overall diet, which is often insufficient for other sources of protein. That's why breastfeeding is recommended for the second year of your child's life. Being a rich source of vitamin A, breast milk reduces the risk of vitamin A deficiency and blindness.

Children with breastfeeding do not need multivitamins and drops of vitamin C. Your baby, breastfeeding, also does not need digestive enzyme preparations, antimicrobial mixtures and fungal water. All this already contains your milk. It is very difficult to find that mixture that could completely replace all these qualities of mother's milk. It is clear that there are situations in which the mother can not fully meet the needs, or there is no milk at all. If your mother's milk volume decreases, because you and your child are separated in the hospital for longer than usual, or for another reason - the formation of milk can be disrupted. Even when everything goes right, some women do not have enough to meet their child's needs. This is most often found in mothers who have had a breast reduction operation, and, perhaps, in women who give birth at a later age.

If your child is hungry after you breastfeed, you may have a low milk level. Therefore, in order for the baby to gain weight sufficiently, it is necessary to supplement it. All substitutes are not only inferior, but can also be harmful. Therefore, we must take a very responsible approach to the choice of a mixture.

According to their properties, mixtures for newborns are divided into two main groups - unadapted mixtures and highly adapted ones. Unadapted mixtures provide only energy potential (so that the baby is not hungry), but all the vitamins and useful properties in such products do not meet the needs of a growing and developing organism.

Highly adapted mixtures are the best thing you can give your child if you do not have milk. The very process of "adaptation" is when each component of the breast milk the manufacturer tries to replace with an analog and as close as possible to the composition of its product to the mother's milk. That's why these products are expensive (after all, all the high-quality is not cheap), and they can provide the maximum benefit for your baby.

Another important issue is the palm oil content in food for children. This component is not considered harmful or prohibited. But it is believed that palm oil is one of the saturated fats, which leads to an increased risk of development of the pathology of the vascular system, as well as metabolic disorders. There is no direct data on the direct negative effect of this product, but nevertheless, I want the babies not to get such harmful products. Milk mixtures for newborns without palm oil are some manufacturers Similak, Nenni, Nan.

Varieties of milk formulas

There are several types of these products. First of all, depending on the method of preparation, they can be divided into dry and liquid. Liquid infant formula is products that are already ready for use. They, as a rule, have this kind because the components in the mixture have complete or partial hydrolysis, that is, they are very quickly and easily absorbed. Such mixtures are used for premature babies, which helps them more easily absorb all the elements of the mixture. Therefore, liquid mixtures are released in a small volume, and they are used only in special cases. In everyday life, mothers encounter only dry mixtures.

Dry infant formula is used very often, as the only kind of food or in combination with mother's milk. The composition of infant formula is not particularly different, but there are certain elements from different manufacturers. Vitamins, in particular vitamin D, probiotics and prebiotics, trace elements are added to the mixture. The whole composition of the mixture is so balanced that it is as close as possible to mother's milk.

Hypoallergenic infant formula is a special group that is a therapeutic mixture. That is, such food is not used only at the request of the mother, but must be strictly controlled and appointed by the doctor. Such mixtures are used in children who have allergy manifestations, as well as for prevention. If the parents have allergic diseases in the family, but the baby still does not have any manifestations, then in children with artificial feeding in this case, a preventive intake of hypoallergenic mixture can be recommended. This method lasts four months, with the further transition to a normal diet with a mixture of the same firm.

When the baby has allergy symptoms, the hypoallergenic mixture is also prescribed for 4 months, but here preference is given to mixtures with deeper hydrolysis of the protein. Such nuances the doctor should solve, therefore it is important in such question to address to the doctor, instead of asking advice in a drugstore.

The names of infant formula for today are very diverse. Many manufacturers promise a wide composition of the mixture and a high adaptation to breast milk. The only thing that parents should remember is that there are not many unadapted mixtures. These include the mixture of Malyutka and Malysh. Other mixtures are highly adapted, therefore here it is already possible to judge by the price, as the quality of them is almost the same.

The names of milk formulas for babies are also very diverse - they are mixtures of Human, Similak, Nestozhen, Nan, Nutrilon and many others. Each mixture has certain characteristics, but all of them can be used with the same benefit.

The rating of infant formula is very difficult, because for each child something is appropriate. Parents themselves can advise this or that mixture, but not the fact that it is your baby that is suitable. After all, they can affect the child's chair in different ways, on gas formation, on digestion processes, regurgitation. All this must be taken into account, and only parents can find something that fits the child accurately.

The best baby formula, according to pediatricians - is the one that is suitable for your baby. You can not define one favorite, since many mixtures are highly adapted. Therefore, moms then have a wide choice of how to feed the baby.

No one can dispute the fact that breast milk is the most useful and most convenient way of feeding an infant. But not all mothers have such a pleasure to feed the baby with their milk. Some mothers need to decide on the formula, and definitely stay on the one that will be most useful for the child and will suit him. After all, you will have to eat this mixture for at least a year.

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