Switching milk formulae for
babies |
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1. Will it affect my baby's health if I switch to another brand? Answer: Standard infant formula milk is essentially cow's milk based and manufactured with reference to the nutritional content of breast milk. As manufacturers have to adhere to international or national standards of infant formulae, they are very similar in composition. In general, healthcare professionals would not recommend parents to switch their babies to another brand for minor problems. Yet, if there are genuine needs, switching to another brand should not affect babies' health. It is, however, important that parents ought to choose the appropriate formulae for their babies. Specifically, for children- a) from birth to 6 months - b) 6-12 months – At around 6 months, babies should start to take complementary foods. In the beginning, milk still remains as the main source of nutrients. However, when your children consume substantial amounts and varieties of other foods, the amount of milk intake can be decreased gradually. Regular cow's milk is not recommended for infants less than 1 year old; c) 1 year or beyond – d) on special formulae – |
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2. How exactly should I change my baby to another brand of
formula milk? Is there anything I need to pay special attention
to?
Answer: Different brands of formula milk have different dilution methods. Therefore, it is definitely against recommendation for parents to mix two or more brands of milk powder when preparing one feed. There is actually no fix rule on how to switch formula milk. The pace will depend on individual baby's acceptance. As the taste of different formulae does differ, it is not unexpected that some children may need more time to adapt. Parents can increase the number of feeds of the new brand gradually. If everything goes smoothly, you can adopt a faster pace until all feeds are replaced by the new brand. Another piece of advice: Parents may notice a change in their
children's bowel habits, whether in terms of frequency, texture
and/or colour of the stool. This is accountable and acceptable
as the amount of additives like iron, prebiotics, etc, does
vary amongst the different brands. Do not over-worry and try
to switch to a third brand. In fact, if children do not have
allergy to the original cow milk-based formula, it is unlikely
that they will develop allergy on switching to another cow
milk-based formula. |
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