According to the Food and drug administration that regulates all infant and baby formula brands in the United States, both Target brand formula and Enfamil are safe for your baby and meet all your infant’s basic nutritional needs with quality control procedures.
Baby formula will play a significant role for the first year of your baby’s life. In the first six months, breastmilk or formula milk will be your baby’s exclusive source of nutrition. Then the second 6 months, along with the gradual introduction of solid foods, the formula will be the primary source of nutrition.
Due to the high cost of formula-only feeding, many parents are switching to less expensive store brands.
Some of these parents may switch formulas- no questions asked, while others have to do the research first and ask the important question first like:
- Is there a store-bought brand that is equivalent to what I am feeding my baby on now?
- Are there major differences in nutritional value or ingredients used?
- Will it be harder to find the store brand in stock in the stores?
- Are there any major recalls or major complaints about this particular store brand?
- What is the price difference?
- Is there feedback from other parents about some formulas doing weird things like foaming up or tasting bad to their little ones?
In light of this comparison, we will take an in-depth look at the differences in nutrition, ingredients, and the cost of Target brand formula vs. Enfamil.
Target brand formula in brief
Target brand baby formula is only available at Target stores or through its website and retail under Up & Up. According to the product’s reviews, it has a rating of 4.6 stars on Target.com, and 85% of parents recommend it. But are they any good? Is it worth the switch?
Pros and cons of Target brand baby formula
- Target’s Up & Up brand baby formulas are inexpensive compared to other name brand baby formulas in the market.
- The entire Up & Up baby formula brand line is non-GMO.
- The entire Target brand baby formula line is produced by a national infant formula leader in FDA inspected facilities within the U.S.
- The nutritional value of Target brand formula is in most cases virtually identical to their counterparts from more priced brands.
- Most parents find that children do just as well on a generic formula from Target as they might be doing on some of the more priced brand formulas from other manufacturers.
- While the nutritional values of Target brand baby formulas are mostly identical, there are huge differences in the ingredients that make them stand out.
- According to Baby Formula Experts, these variations in ingredients are worth more careful consideration if your baby has had a problem which the Enfamil they are now on has resolved for them.
Enfamil formula in brief
Enfamil has a broad range of baby food products that make it as easy as possible for parents to find the right formula based on their little one’s specific Nutritional Needs.
Pros and cons of Enfamil infant brand of formula
- Contains a dual prebiotic blend for healthy digestion. The dual prebiotic in the Enfamil brand of formula which promotes a healthy gut and immune system is found in breast milk which gives it a huge plus in helping your baby build and maintain a good bacteria base.
- Has a healthy ratio of fat, carbs, and protein to mimic breast milk.
- Enfamil brand of baby formula is manufactured in different stages for nutrition that grows with your baby.
- Uses lactose which is the highest quality sugar that can be used in baby formula as a sweetener, and also contains Whey to Casein ratio that is very similar to breast milk.
- This is a budget friendly formula when compared to other brands.
- Causes more tummy upsets and spit-ups than other formulas.
- Hexane is used to extract ingredients that can be toxic for human consumption.
- Palm Olein Oil is used for added fat and is a big no when we want babies with healthy bones and fat levels as it has been shown to reduce the rate of fat absorption and calcium in babies. It has also been proven to harden stool which can lead to constipation.
- Enfamil’s infant brand of formula is not organic and does not hold the ingredients used in this formula to high organic standards.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it wrong to switch brands of formula?
Switching between different baby formula brands is not a problem, even though we parents wonder if doing so may cause gas, stool changes, business, and other lifestyle changes for our little ones.
The truth is that you can even mix different brands of the same type of formula if you feel that your child responds better to a mixture of one brand with another.
Is generic formula the same as Enfamil?
The Enfamil formula brand contains partly hydrolyzed proteins, whereas the generic brands are made of unchanged milk protein and partly hydrolyzed whey protein.
This difference is huge because a blend of partially hydrolyzed and intact protein would likely not provide the same benefits and protection to your baby after consumption.
Who manufactures Target brand formula?
Almost all baby formula brands, including store brands made for Targets Up & Up, Parents Choice for Walmart, and Well beginnings for Walgreens, and comfort for babies made for Kroger, are all made by the Perrigo Nutritionals. They all must meet the minimum nutritional requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which is the Infant Formula Act.
Take away
As a parent, you don’t always have an extensive choice in which formula to feed your baby, as it usually ends up being what your little one can tolerate. Some babies can only handle a specific brand, while other babies will take any brand.
Therefore, you must consider what your baby will take, what they don’t recommend, and what you can afford as It seems to me that these two formulas have the same nutritional content overall, but there’s a big gap in the prices. You will pay much more for name brands than store brands.
