Another issue re: iron-fortified formula is that the name implies it is a LOT!

Actually, what really should be noted is how much is bioavailable and then
USED by the baby.

According to sources I have read, only about 6% of the iron in those
high-iron formdulas is actually available to the baby.  Compare this to
about 75% of the iron in human milk that is bioavailable to the baby!

The result?  Breastfed babies are almost never identified as anemic.
Bottle-fed babies are REALLY NOT PROTECTED against anemia as a result of
the small amounts they actually can use.  Furtermore, that excess iron
enables pathogenic organisms to live and increase in the infant's gut,
contributing to the substantially higher levels of GI problems, including
some nasty infections, in the non-breastfed baby.

In this case, that means to me that not only is formula not "just as good"
as human milk, but enables a situation that CREATES problems for the babies
receiving it.  I believe mothers should be informed of this risk as part of
FULLY INFORMED CONSENT that the new AAP statement now encourages.

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Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Ferndale, WA USA) [log in to unmask]
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