What Did They Do Before Baby Formula?

What did they do in the old day before baby formula was created? I am sure someone knows the answer, but I am completely befuddled. If you have a newborn who is fussier than you think they should be and breastfeeding either did not work for you or is just not an option, you are no doubt drowning in the sea of infant formula despair.

Not only are there a vast number of companies that sell infant formula, but the options are endless. Anyone who is not able to, or chooses not to breast feed, goes home from the hospital using whatever it was that the hospital introduced you to.

The hidden secret is that the formula that they gave you in the hospital always seems to work in the hospital. It is not until days or weeks after returning home, after they wake up from their “newborn hangover,” that the feeding troubles begin, leading you down the path of endless options and no real good advice.

They have different brands that have all different options. There is DHA and RHA that is supposed to be good for brain and eye development. There is also less gas formulas, soy formulas, AR (acid reflux) formulas, gentle ease, nutrimagen (a protein differential), there is a whole isle at your local pharmacy just filled with options for your fussy baby.

For those of us with fussy babies, the whole feeding issue can drive you crazy and completely drain your pocketbook. You have to buy about two weeks worth of each, but usually know within two days if it is not working, which just leaves you with can upon can of formula that is not opened and cannot be returned. In the end, you are left with a baby whose system is all messed up from switching formulas and a shelf full of half used canisters that haunt you as you add up the cost.

Some babies will just have feeding problems. Don’t buy into the hype that there will be a formula that will change that. Talk to your pediatrician and let them tell you which to try and which ones will really make a difference. Don’t be guided by the formula’s marketing department. In the end, the fussiness is probably something that they will have to outgrow, hopefully before you spend their college fund on formula that you will never finish.

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