If you have come across this post, you are likely a parent of a little one. You might be a new mom who is struggling with breastfeeding (which I totally empathize with! Trust me, I've been there), a dad who is trying to do some research to alleviate the burden on his partner, or a parent who has adopted, fostered, or done surrogacy and needs a healthy alternative to breastmilk! While there is so much pressure on new parents - "breast is best" is so prevalent in our society today - the reality is that for a wide variety of completely valid reasons, breastfeeding might not be an option for you and your baby. Or maybe you can breastfeed but you're exhausted and need a break. Or maybe you're just looking to supplement. No matter what the reason, searching for the best formula for your baby can be tough because there are so many options out there! And there aren't great resources to find the healthiest baby formula that will work well for your baby. That's where this post comes in. This is your Ultimate Guide to The Best Baby & Infant Formula for your little one.
All of you know that I'm an advocate for healthy, all natural, whole foods. But I actually don't believe that breast is best. Our society does not take care of new moms and new parents in the way that it should - the system isn't set up to make "breast is best" easy and doable for many parents. In fact, the system almost works against new moms breastfeeding (case in point: no nationwide paid maternity leave policy). And for those reasons, I believe that FED is best, and that formula can be a perfectly healthy, viable and guilt-free option for your little one if needed.
So if you are a new parent searching for the healthiest baby formula for your baby, this post is for you! As for which formula is best, my research (which you can read in detail in this post) has led me to European formulas as being the cleanest, safest options for little ones.
More specifically: HiPP Dutch or HiPP PRE or Lebenswert or Holle PRE are the best European formulas out there.
If you're looking to buy a US formula, I'd recommend Baby's Only with Whey Protein or Kabrita USA or Happy Baby
And if you're looking to buy a Goat's Milk formula, I'd recommend: Kabrita USA or Holle Goat (for more details on goat milk formula comparisons, you can read my post here). And if you're trying to decide between Goat's Milk or Cow's Milk formula, my post comparing the two will be helpful for you!
For hypoallergenic options, I like HiPP HA. For reflux, I'd recommend trying HiPP AR. For gas/constipation/discomfort I'd recommend HiPP Comfort.
As for where to purchase European baby formulas, I'm in personal contact with the owners of all 4 of these companies: Organic Start (and Organic Start Wholesale), Dutch Expat Shop (cheapest for HiPP Dutch), BabyKindMarket, and Organic Baby Food, and I feel comfortable recommending them to you.
So if you are a new parent struggling to find a formula you feel good about - I hope this post helped you! And If you're a new mom feeling stressed about breastfeeding, just know that you're not alone. I didn't have a great experience nursing either of my two kids - breastfeeding is something that didn't come naturally to me with either baby. I would never be that mom who could just be comfortable and carefree nursing in public - it always felt like gymnastics trying to get my baby to latch properly and painlessly and stay on without getting distracted.
I remember shedding countless tears over the excruciating pain and pressure to nurse my first baby - only to feel like a failure when I couldn't make it work the way I envisioned it would. Eventually I realized that supplementing with formula made me a much happier and healthier mom. I realized that a baby exclusively breastfed by a stressed out, constantly crying and anxious-about-nursing mom would not be better off than a happy, positive mom who supplements with formula. And since formulas like HiPP Dutch have such clean and amazing ingredients - I didn't have to feel like I was feeding either of my kids "junk" instead of the "liquid gold" I was told should be their exclusive source of nutrition for their first year of life. And believe it or not, the recent research shows that after the first month of life, for full term healthy babies, breastmilk and formula prove to be no different in terms of their long term effects!
This is all to say that if you are a new mom or a new parent choosing formula for your baby, I support you. And this post is meant to take a little bit of the stress off of new parenthood! If you have any questions about any of the formula options I've listed above, don't hesitate to reach out to me - I answer every single question I get! Leave your questions in the comments below, or feel free to email me at [email protected].
