March 2008 Expecting Club

My baby had unexplained diareah and I took him off of the formula he was using that contained Martek's DHA and ARA many formulas are using right now....he did not have any diareah until he was on their formula...he was on Similac which also contains it. I have just put him on Baby's Only Organic Formula which does not contain Martek's DHA and ARA. There are nurses who call it the diareah formula.

Read for yourself the possible other side effects ( including seizures) ....

here are a few of the websites that you can go to to read on it....

WOW! Thanks for posting this. I had no idea. It's scary how many things out there can be harmful and are marketed as being good for you.

 I am currently BF'ing but am planning to supplement with formula when I go back to work. I will certainly look into Baby's Only formula.

I am going to stop taking that extra prenatal vitamin too. It's upsetting to know that I took that through my whole pregnancy. You think it's safe because the dr's tell you take it. It just goes to show it's called the "practice of medicine" for a reason.

Thanks again.

Deege

Baby's Only does have DHA and ARA..but it does not use Martek's ( Martek's Bioscience Corp.). If you looked at any of the websites I posted you will see what Martek's does with their DHA and ARA which I guess is basically in the majority of store baught formulas. Martek's DHA is derived by two strains of algae; the ARA is manufactured using a non-toxigenic soil fungus. These algae and fungus are grown by the manufacturer in stainless steel tanks, extracted using hexane solvent then bleached and deodorized for purification.

Baby's Only Essentials in the only naturally derived source of DHA and ARA available for purchase. It is derived from egg phospholipid (egg yolk) using a gentle aqueous (water) process. Egg phospholipid also contains Choline, which is an important nutrient needed for the production of neurotransmitters and development of the memory center in the brain.

There is also DHA that comes from fish oil but fish sources may contain farm land chemical run-off and various toxins from ocean pollution including murcury.The FDA warns that a young child's consumation should be restricted.

That is one of the reasons why I have chosen Baby's Only to use for my baby. You can get their supplements to take at a health food store also.

They also use DHA and ARA in their formulas..but they do not use Martek's...Martek's is plain scary to me and I do not want to chance it on my baby....

You  can get on the Baby's Only brand website NaturesOne.com  and request a free sample..in which they will send you a coupon in the mail to get a free sample ( which is a free can of formula of your choice)...you just take the coupon in to a health food store near by who carries their products and they will give you a free whole can.

My baby likes it alot, he is 7 weeks old. The only thing that I do not like ( I use the dairy) is that after you shake the bottle it makes alot of foam...and in turn my son gets gas pains from the bubbles..but i found a trick to take the bubbles out...just mix the formula with hot water and shake really good until at the bottom of the bottle you cannot see any clumps any more..then put a lid on the bottle and put it in the refrigerator and by the time his next feeding comes the bubbles should be gone or most of the bubbles...(you do not have to shake the bottle again after taking it out of the refrigerator) i just stick it in a bottle warmer for a few minutes when he is hungry and give it to him using Dr.Brown's glass bottle system (the glass bottle is BPA free and I could only find the glass ones of his at Burlington..Walmart here and Target do not sale it in which I hope they do soon...

I wish more people were educated on the DHA and ARA, in this money hungry world who are putting our baby's at risk we Mother's have to look extra into everything to protect our little ones...never stop learning and don't just trust anyone and anything.. you must research for yourself then make the best judgement for your child. I wish I had looked further into things with my first born..but instead I blindly trusted ...if it was on the shelf I thought..it was fine to use. She turned out fine...but..I just wish I knew to just research more for myself.

My doctor's office said that Baby's Only formula was fine to use for my baby...it says for Toddlers on their cans but they say they do that because they are trying to encourage breastfeeding until they are atleast 12 mos. of age...but they checked it out at the Doctor's office and said it was fine to use for my infant also.

I hope some of what I have found helps you... :)

Rachel

This information is a tremendous help to me. Thanks again.

The DHA in my prenatals is from Martek which again is so disturbing since I've been taking it for almost a year now. I sotpped taking it after I read some of the info you provided.

I stopped and grabbed a can of baby's only and will run it by the docs at our next appointment. Thanks for the tips on mixing. I'm using the Born Free PBA free bottles. I used the plastic Dr Browns with my older two but wanted the PBA since learning about that. I didn't want to go glass which is why I chose the Born Free. The nipple needs some getting used to for my guy so we will be doing more and more bottle feeding since I will be going back to work in a couple of months.

Thanks again for all you research... it was very helpful.

Deege