Most people traveling to this site are going to be of the mind that breast-feeding is best. I believe the same. But it's not the only way to go. Not when breasts become infected. Not when moms return to work. Not when parents want and need a night out. Sometimes, in today's culture, we have to use alternative methods to nourish baby. The bottle is the only reasonable option I know.
But with bottles comes burps. Gas. Bloating. Crying. Maybe screaming. Perplexed first-timer parents may think they're bad parents...or worse, from frustration, become bad parents.
The good thing is, we've had an answer since the latter '90's. The bad thing is, a lot of us didn't have a clue. But now that nearly everyone has internet access, we are better educated.
Let me tell you about Dr. Brown's bottles. Here are the only two things you really need to know about them:
1) Follow the directions, and
2) They work.
Funny how we've attributed baby's gassy belly to mother's milk, or other milk, for so many years. And while casein at times is the culprit, we really jumped on the bandwagon of the idea that "SURELY, there is something man-made that is better!" (Enter the demon, soy...And now we have the reports of arsenic in baby formula. I don't want to scare people, and I know that many are looking at arsenic found in playgrounds, etc, and saying it's not really so much of a problem. But do we really want to unnecessarily add arsenic to baby's consumption? I think not.)
Okay, so some reading this are using formula. If you're using soy, get your baby the heck off of it.* And I do feel it's important to find out if your formula is among those sited for arsenic. If you're using anything else and still experiencing colicky symptoms, and you probably are, try Dr. Brown's Natural Flow bottles.
So, what if you've already made the switch from breast milk to formula? It's not like you can go back once the well's dry, so you need to find alternatives. If you're stuck on formula, I'd like to say, and would have yesterday, to find a good organic one. But since the arsenic was found in organic baby formula, now I have to qualify that recommendation by guiding you to look for an organic, soy-free formula that doesn't use organic brown rice in it's equation, since it's organic brown rice that appears to be the greatest problem. If you can take the jump into something really different, but quite effective, may I recommend goat milk? As water is the 'universal solvent', goat milk is the 'universal milk'...often tolerated by babies with diary intolerance. Goat milk is said to be lacking in some necessary vitamins babies need, but those who have a problem with this will simply put vitamin drops directly into the milk prior to feeding.
There is so much more to this dairy intolerance issue. It has been found in many cases to stem from the lack of living enzymes in today's pasteurized milk. The enzymes from real, clean, unpasteurized milk are the little critters God created to help bodies digest and assimilate everything good in milk. The bacteria within milk, the good bacteria...(Oh, you didn't know there was such a thing?...Oy!)...they are the soldiers, the first line of defense, and they kick butt when it comes to bad bacteria. They make homes in the intestinal tract, (think, "yogurt", in which healthy strains of bacteria have been reintroduced...it's a thing called, "probiotics"), and work in synergy with the all the body's many defense mechanisms to keep disease away.
In fact, pasteurized milk, because it has much less self-preservation, (the good bacteria found in unpasteurized milk kills off bad bacteria, but when milk is pasteurized, ALL the bacteria, good and bad are killed), is left defenseless from contamination, thus we have the reason for treating pasteurized milk with antibiotics.
Back to the bottles...These are great in that they don't allow air in. That's great for that poor little distended belly as well as for nutrient retention. Recent research has proven that as breast milk is oxidized, (exposed to air/air mixed in), it loses its nutrient value.
Woop-woop! That morsel requires attention since this site is dedicated, (mostly), to nutrient retention and enhancement! How wonderful to discover something of modern science that really adds to our quality of life! If plastic worries you, forget it. BPA-Free bottles. OR, choose glass. How's that for being relieved that somebody's listening!? The nipples are made of silicon and although I haven't looked into the nitty-gritty, Dr. Brown's claims they are helpful in the problem of nipple confusion.
My granddaughter choked, gasped, spit up, cried, screamed and fussed, passed gas, gas, gas and cried some more...before we switched to Dr. Brown's. Now, all that stuff is almost completely a thing of the past. And it happened just like that. (Click your fingers.) As "The Nourished Nana", I am especially pleased about the research concerning retention of milk vitamins. Nice news.
I don't see any really good reason to reiterate here all that can be taken straight from the horse's mouth via a link, so go HERE to learn about the mechanical science of Dr. Brown's bottles.
go HERE to learn more about the research about oxidation of milk causing nutrient loss.
Go HERE to learn what others have to say about them. (And if you lean towards suspicions when it comes to testimonials on a site that promotes itself, check out what folks at Amazon.com have to say about them!)
Go HERE to learn about arsenic in baby formula.
Go HERE to see how concerned we need to be/not be about arsenic consumption.
*Learn about soy.
Soy, Babies and Beyond
Soy, Sex-What Next?
What about Other Milk Substitutes?
Busy Days and Mayonnaise
Next Post: Hoping to tell you how to make pineapple vinegar. (If you're not using iodized salt anymore, you'll be happy to know that pineapple is one very good food source for natural iodine. Somebody say, "YUMMMM!) I started a batch today and it should be ready to go in about 34 more hours. One way it's used is in Mexican Sauerkraut, but I bet you can find lots more!
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