Baby Formula - Why they taste so metallic?

I was having sleepless nights. I was breastfeeding my son every 3 hours for 4 months. I was exhausted. I tried pumping my milk but I could not get enough out and moreover it hurts. I was not getting enough sleep and I was in desperate need of help. My friends suggested me to buy baby formula and have my baby get used to the formula as well so someone else can takeover him for 1-2 feeds while I catch up on my sleep. I bought cans of Enfamil A+ but my son didn't like it. He drank it for few days but suddenly one day decided to not drink it at all. Then I bought Nestle Good Start as one of my friend's baby was doing well on it. My son hated it. Now, it was time to try Similac. Still he gave me tough time to feed him. He will keep crying and crying and won't drink anything but breast milk. Then I started to think what is it that is making my son hate these formulas. I tasted all these formulas - Enfamil A+, Nestle Good Start and Similac. They all tasted very very metallic. It was disgusting especially in comparison to the taste of my breast milk. Yes! I have tasted my breast milk. I had to.

I wanted to find out why all these formulas taste so metallic. After a lot of research, lot of reading, this is what I found out. Because of iron mainly and other high amounts of minerals. The amount of iron in breast milk is very low (0.3 milligrams of iron per liter), the infant absorbs almost half. In contrast, while iron-fortified formulas contain 10 to 12 mg per liter, babies absorb only 4 percent, amounting to 0.4 mg per liter to 0.5 mg per liter. I think iron is also the culprit of constipation in babies. Tell me another reason why doctors give laxatives when they prescribe iron supplements to adults.


So, this time I bought Similac lower iron formula. I kept my fingers crossed while I was mixing this formula with water. I was really hoping it to have a better taste than the ones I had tried earlier. Thankfully, it did have a much better taste. It tasted close to milk made with skim milk powder. It did not have any metallic taste or bad residual taste in mouth. Now, it was time for my son to give it a try. He made some funny faces but finally drank almost 3oz. He did take some time (about a week) to get adjusted to the taste. Thank God! He started drinking this formula with no fuss, no gas, no spit outs. I give him 4oz formula mixed with some cereal daily at night before sleeping. And when I need some rest, my husband takes over. He feeds him Similac lower iron formula and other solid foods.