Formula.
Sometimes you have to feed your child formula.
Sometimes you want to feed your child formula.
Sometimes you really don’t want to, but there’s no other option.
Your baby needs to eat, and if you use some formula or all formula, let’s just get baby fed and growing so that they have the energy to move, play & develop their brain, bones, neurons and muscles!
I had some formula purchased before baby was born, in case I needed to use it. When it came time to pull it out…it was still really hard for me.
I continue to feel guilty about the fact that I had to supplement with formula (my child is currently 15 months old and no longer on formula… #momguilt lives on).
I wish I didn’t, but I do. I’m working on that. Who knows, maybe with all of the weird health issues I had postpartum, formula was actually better than my breastmilk. We’ll never know!
Anyway, however you feel about formula and supplementing, let me at least summarize my research on the best quality and nutrient dense brands that I found to save you some time.
Of course we’re told tons of times over and over the breastfeeding is best. But sometimes it’s not, and sometimes it’s not an option or only partially an option.
So, formula it is.
Here we go:
Many people are concerned about formula because, especially in the U.S., it’s full of a lot of crap. Truth. Sorry, not sorry!
I feel lucky that when my infant needed some supplementation, we had better options than when I was a baby. We are in a good place here, guys. Formula is joining the new age.
I prefer European formula (note: it’s not FDA approved, so do your own research, chat with your doc, look at your budget etc.). Just know that you have to plan ahead because you’ll need to order it online if you’re going this route. The websites are usually quite quick about the shipping, though.
We used Organic Baby Shop after trying a few and preferring their ordering platform and shipping speed!
You can find a lot of good articles on the specifics of why one formula is better than the others, but I am going to spare the details here and just share my top 3 formula choices (2 European, 1 US formula, which we used as a backup in case ours didn’t arrive by post on time. Never had to use it though).
Loulouka - Organic Swiss Formula
Newer (been out on the market a few months as of the date on this post) so less info/research, fewer websites have it to purchase, Uses coconut oil and whole milk; has whey, not bioland certified yet, more expensive
Lebenswert Bio(land) - Organic and Bioland Certified German Formula
Has been around longer, gluten free, superior to Holle in terms of ingredients, no whey, Stage 1 uses lactose as sweetener, Bioland certified
Happy Baby Organics - Organic and best U.S. alternative to Euro formula
no corn syrup, lactose over maltodextrin, available in the U.S. and easier to get quickly
Loulouka & Lebenswert - Some websites and raters will rank one over the other, but you may choose each one for different reasons so I think they even out in their rankings.
Loulouka just came out a month before my kid turned 1, so we didn’t switch, but I think if I had another kid I would try this one first if it was more readily available. At the time of my child’s needs, Lebenswert Bio was the BEST option, now Loulouka is rivaling that with some nice ingredient swaps! As of the writing of this post, it’s about $4-6 more per box.
Happy Baby Organics - This is the best of the U.S. formulas that I could find. I also found it was more expensive than the European ones, at my local store. Check your store to make sure that’s accurate where you live!
One more thing, I recommend using filtered water or if you prefer bottled, Fiji water is the cleanest I’ve found.
If you have any questions about bottles or bottle feeding, let me know!
Additionally, there are lots of other types of formulas within the European (and U.S.) markets that I’ve researched and we’ve tried (I.e. goat milk, hypoallergenic formulas, easily digestible ones, etc.) for one reason or the other. I won’t write about them here, but I can send you in the right direction to minimize your research time if you send me a message!
As always, do your own research, this is not medical advice just my experience & check with your child’s pediatrician and all the other stuff I have to say in my disclaimer ;) I will update this post as soon as I can if anything changes.
Also NONE of this post is affiliate linked, just my preferences here!
Happy Feeding!