Ultra processed formula. Any alternatives?

[Cornflakes44]

I'm breastfeeding and going back to work in two months. The plan was to switch to formula for two months until she can have cow milk. But I'm now having a freak out about formula being ultra processed and all the news stories about how bad this can be. Has anyone found any formula that isn't UP? I know I could express but I'm not sure I can build up enough to cover until she can have cows milk in the time I have.

Yes it is ultra processed, but it has to be, to nourish a baby properly. I think it is one of those things where the benefits heavily outweigh the downsides - it provides the nutrients the baby needs, in a form that they can digest easily.

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about it - it is such a small part, over all, of nourishing your child over the years - you have got years ahead of you to feed her fresh, cooked-from-scratch, minimally processed food, and this will hugely outweigh a short period of formula milk.

I fed all three of my dses on formula (none of mine thrived on my milk) and they have all grown up to be healthy, happy young men who enjoy a wide variety of food.

So DD will be 10 months when you go back? How many days a week will she be at nursery and for how long?

Having Bf both my kids (and went back to work at 3 months weeks with first son) I found it incredibly difficult for them to accept anything other than a boob. First refused to drink any milk (expressed or formula) and I fed at night. Ds2 went into a nursery at 10 months and just fed at home

Non-UPF formula would be milk wouldn't it? And there are reasons why it's advised not to give babies milk.

Can you not just breastfeed morning, bedtime and maybe a dream feed? Then the baby can have cow's milk or water at snack times in the day.

She’ll be 10 months and going to nursery four days a week. She will have a bottle so that’s not the issue. She already has formula if my husband puts her down. I just hadn’t really thought about the processing and now I’m thinking about whether there’s a better option.

At 10 months she won’t need milk while at nursery. She can just feed from you before and after with solids and water at nursery.

If you want you can remove the bottle at bed as well if you want to.

The only non UPF alternative to formula is breastmilk.

She’ll have two months until she’s allowed cows milk. Maybe she won’t need much milk or could just have water. I’m happy to keep going feeding her at night/ morning.

Of course formula needs to be processed to make sure it has everything a newborn needs, it’s like saying a medical drug is processed because it comes from a lab. It’s a good thing, not remotely comparable to a turkey twizzler.

However, at 10 months she doesn’t really need anything. Breast feed first thing. 3 meals and 2 snacks at nursery. Feed when you get home. Again before bed. It’ll be fine.

I'd try expressing. You can start freezing it now.

Please don’t worry, @Cornflakes44 - a couple of months of formula is going to be fine.

I guess it’s less the process and the fact it’s manufactured and more the ingredients they add, like emulsifiers. She eats food well so I will aim for that during the day and keep breastfeeding around that. I’ll also start expressing and see if I can switch it out. It’s good to hear that could be an option.

Mine just had water and food during the day at nursery and breast milk at home. But if you want them to have milk then really formula is fine.

I use Kendamil because I could understand more what was in it. It's still UPF. But I needed mine to take a bottle of formula in case I was kept away from her for longer than expected when a family member was dying - I want to be there, and not be worrying about whether there was enough pumped milk etc. I use the ready to feed stuff, and she takes it well. I give probably one bottle of it a week to keep her familiar with it. I feel the benefits outweigh the negatives on such a small scale? And in my family we try to keep a balance of foods, rather than get rid of all UPFs entirely so I know eventually she will have a malted milk biscuit with her sister or whatever, so can't get too hung up on the occasional bit of formula.

If you're away from her during the day, you will probably find you want to express for your own comfort/prevention of leaks and your work should support this by providing expressing facilities, including a fridge to store milk (I got some little insulating jackets so I could keep a bottle of expressed milk it cool on the way home). You should find that it's much easier to express when you're doing it instead of a feed rather than trying to express and feed as well.

But don't beat yourself up if that doesn't work for you. I think reducing UPF to the minimum manageable amount is a good goal but that doesn't have to mean cutting it out entirely - most of the problems seem to be reported on diets of more than 50% UPF which this wouldn't be (and of course formula is lifesaving for babies where breastfeeding isn't feasible).

I'm trying to avoid all upf but formula is probably the one thing that wouldn't fuss me - because generally upf risks are so unknown, under researched etc whereas effects of formula feeding has been sooooo extensively researched that although formula is necessarily upf - I don't think it's a label which tells us any more about it.

I felt the same but you just do what you have to do to get them through those few months. It won't be the only thing he has and you can try and build up the solids quicker (including full fat natural greek yoghurt) to get the milk needs down. DS is 12m now and is pretty much off the formula now, yippee!

I have been on the UPF-avoidance bandwagon for quite some time, and very much planned to exclusively breastfeed my babies but unfortunately life had other ideas! Like you, I was worried about the UPF-ness of formula but I had no alternative, so I use Kendamil Organic and have filled my head with the nice marketing and pretty tubs, and put any thoughts of UPF out my mind.

I have been avoiding looking at the ingredients, but I just have now - I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I don't know how it compares to other formulas, but whilst it is UPF it's definitely better than I thought it would be.

Some UPF are wonderful - formula being top of the list.

Honestly, posts like this make me despair at the bullshit people spout and then worry parents who are doing a perfectly normal, healthy thing for their babies.

Having said that, mine never took a bottle and were fine. I would have been happier with a bottle of formula than not though!

You don't have to give your baba it. Breastfeed morning and when you get back. Can have water at nursery x

Well. Babies have been fed formula for decades. I don’t see people dropping dead because of it.

This is good to hear. I might give that one a go. It’s really tough to avoid UPF generally so maybe just focusing on the actual food I give her rather than formula is a more practical way to go.

Ultra processed food is different to formula.
I had to formula feed all 4 of my kids because I take some medications that you can't breastfed while taking. I need to the medication so didn't have the choice to breastfed.

Formula helped my very poorly baby to get better...I really do not care that it's classed as an UPF, I will be eternally grateful that it exists.

I went back to work when DS2 was 10 months old and he didn't need any milk, he just ate food while I was gone and then fed in the evening/night/morning. You do have to be prepared for more feeding overnight though.

My son didn't need any feeding overnight.