Hi Moms! I was wandering what the difference is between regular Infant Formula and the Next Step. My daughter is 9 months old and I was thinking of switching her to the Next Step. Thanks for any advice!
I think it is to get them used to milk. I used it for my daughter and she liked it, plus it was about $4 a can cheaper.
My kids' pediatrician said it was just a marketing tool and there is no need for it. She's already nine months and in less than three months she will probably be on milk so I would not even make the switch. It's not worth it. I have 1-year-old twins and the week of their first birthday we switched to milk cold turkey and they didn't even miss the formula. Hope this helps.
I agree with Stephanie, I also switched my son to milk at 1 yr and skipped the "next step" formula based upon my ped's advice that the next step was nothing more than marketing geared toward keeping your kids on formula longer than 1 yr. I would keep her on the formula you have her on until she's 1, then switch to milk.
J. formula is expensive enough for a whole year. I agree with the rest of the moms, Its the same thing. If you are concerned about making sure your baby gets the nutrients then stay with what you are giving your daughter. Switching formulas could upset her stomach. Also when you do make the switch from formula to milk you could try what my pediatrician told me to do. My daughter hated the taste of milk at first so she told me to try mixing a little milk in the formula to get her used to the taste. We did 1 oz of milk to 3 oz of formula to start and then started to add less formula and more milk. Within a week and a half she didn't have a problem with milk anymore. Hope this helps, Good luck.
I think Stephanie's doctor made a very good point because I read the labels very closely and found hardly anything different between Next Step and regular infant formula, except for a few vitamins that were a little higher or lower. I agree, stick to your regular formula until she's ready for milk.
After my daughter turned one my doctor suggested that I might want to switch to Next Step (cheaper) as my daughter is a VERY picky eater and she still might need the vitamins from the formula. We do about 1/2 and 1/2 of milk and formula.
The only difference is that the next step formula has more calcium. My pediatrician feels that it's a marketing ploy and that if kids are ready for the next step formula, then they are ready for milk... that's what we did at 11 months.
I also never used the Next Step formula, and don't know any of my mom friends that did. Whole milk at 1 worked just fine. My son is now 2 & is healthy, happy, and very active! If I remember right, the thing they are pushing is all the nutrition. At 9 months, she's going to be very close to people food, so you will be upping a lot of the protien and other essentials naturally anyway.
Unless your child is a very good solids eater, you may want to leave them on formula vs. cows milk for several months into their first year. This ensures that they get the vitamins and minerals they won't get from regular milk. I never understood the reasoning of taking a baby off formula right at 12 months, they still have much growing and developing to do! No hurry with ending it, unless financial.
