Enfamil Enspire, 102.5 Ounce

PLEASE DON'T SKIP THE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM. The rest of the review has been left unedited.Like many others, my first instinct was to be very skeptical of this formula. Heck, I'm still partly skeptical but have certainly reached the point of "if there is any chance it is half as good as it seems, for the price, it's worth it." The basic premise is that adding bovine MFGM, a mixture of lipids (think - cell membranes and mitrochondria) and proteins closely resembling that found in breast milk, to formula will narrow the gap between formula and breast milk. My search to the legitimacy of this claim took me to 3 articles in particular, all centered around a randomized trial conducted in Sweden with a similar MFGM-based formula (not Enfamil in particular, but to my knowledge the Enfamil is the only formula with MFGM we have for consumer purchase at this time)1. Timby Am J Clinc Nutr 2014 - a Swedish randomized controlled trial MFGM formula and neurodevelopment, nutrition and growth (this is a very reputable journal)- Starting off on the journal investigating the Swedish trial, researchers took 160 infants less than 2 months of age and randomly assigned them (double-blinded (the parents and researchers didn't know which formula they were receiving)) to be fed an MFGM-supplemented, low-energy, low-protein experimental formula (EF) or a standard formula (SF) until 6 months of age. They used the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, a well validated test of cognitive function in kids, to assess the neurodevelopment of the kids (I can tell you from my job that this test is respected and is used, for example, to assess cognitive function in kids long-term after radiation therapy in national clinical trials). Cutting to the chase, the researchers found "no significant differences in linear growth, weight gain, body mass iindex, percentage body fat, or head circumference were found between the EF and SF groups" but the cognitive function was better in the EF group and breast-fed control group (another 80 kids) than the SF group (average scores of 105.8, 106.4, and 101.8 on the Bayley scale). Not 100% conclusive that the formula made the difference, but intriguing...2. Timby JPGN 2015 - MFGM fomula and infant infections- if you're reading this, you likely know that breast milk supplies antibodies to the baby, something I highly doubt we will be able to commercially replicate in formula during my lifetime. It was thought for many years (and continues to be thought) that this leads to fewer infections in breast milk-fed babies compared to formula-fed babies, for instance with ear infections. That's not the goal with the Enfamil Enspire and it wasn't the goal with the formula used in the Swedish trial. Instead, these formulas have added lactoferrin, a protein of the innate immune system (think - attacks whatever is foreign, in general doesn't retain memory of previous invaders). Lactoferrin is a tricky little bugger, something we still don't understand completely but incredibly fascinating nonetheless (for your reading pleasure, you might consider looking up the research into lactoferrin and detecting inflammatory bowel disease). By adding lactoferrin to the formula, the Swedish researchers thought they might see fewer infections. They looked at ear infections in their sample of 160 kids. What did they find? A statistically significant difference (1% v 9%) in the MFGM formula-fed infants compared to the standard formula-fed infants. For fairness, THIS DOES NOT prove that the lactoferrin or the MFGM-based formula led to fewer infections (the original design of the trial was not to assess this endpoint), but it is interesting...3. Timby Ped Res 2014 - Cardiovascular risk markers in the Swedish Trial (this is from a daughter journal of Nature, a very very reputable scientific journal)- For brevity, the researchers from the Swedish trial found that kids fed the MFGM-based formula had similar lipid profiles to the breast-fed control-group babies, with both of those groups being quite different from the standard formula group. They went on to comment on the potential long-term effect on obesity, atherosclerosis, and inflammatory reactivity in general, but that was pretty much all a bunch of talk without strong scientific backing. It is interesting nonethelessAnd finally, after all that reading and more, my wife and I decided to just taste it. Comparing this Enspire formula to the standard yellow-tin Enfamil formula, the Enspire without a doubt tastes better. I like that my little guy does have to drink the metallic testing standard formula anymoreSo to summarize, there may be a chance that this formula legitimately narrows the gap between breast milk and formula in terms of cognitive development in infancy and infection rates. The data is not 100% conclusive but is very interesting. You could read for hours on this stuff, just be cautious to stay to reputable journals. When we broke down the cost for our little guy based upon how much he eats, for the 6 months we'd be supplementing him with this formula, it was going to cost us about $400 more than the standard formula. Well worth it in our opinion if it will help him a tenth as much as those articles suggest it will. Feel free to reply with questions and I will respond as time permitsUPDATE: I've been looking more into this, mainly because my wife is (understandably) frustrated with the cost of this formula. If you search in Google, you may find the patent on using MFGM in formula (patent EP 2509429 A1). I'm not sure how Enfamil relates to this patent (whether they own it, etc) and won't comment on that, but it may explain why we aren't seeing it in other brands, and it may explain the high cost of this formula (I won't say they are monopolizing... I won't say it). That patent description from google.com/patents is very interesting, though. It basically says they think the MFGM is most beneficial over standard formula in pre-term infants and in other infants during the first few weeks of life, during a sensitive time in development of the immune system. It goes on to talk about probiotics in formulas (which you can get in many other brands) but left me believing that it is totally reasonable to ditch this expensive brand once your kid is eating a reasonable amount of solid foods. In the end, once your child is eating a significant amount of solids (e.g. during the last few months of his/her first year), the content of those solids will likely more than make up for the MFGM v non-MFGM formula difference. Thanks for reading

We had used a mix of Enfamil Gentlease and Breastmilk in our baby's first 8 weeks. After going strictly formula we decided to switch to Enspire as her main source of nutrition. This decision was mainly due to the promising benefits of Lactoferrin and MFGM. I'm naturally a skeptical buyer, especially when it comes to some promised health benefits of foods, however there are real studies done that show objective benefits to these components.Some things we noticed when switching from Gentlease to Enspire was that our baby seemed just as happy to drink this as she did the prior formula. The smell of Enspire was slightly subdued. It produced more milky bubbles than the Gentlease when mixing. Our baby seems to be pooping a bit easier on Enspire and is less overall constipated. Her poops have gone from a dark green to a more greenish-yellow as well, and are a bit less stinky. So far it's been a net positive with the switch, outside the price.We almost went to a cheaper more organic brand, however the coupons, sales and subscribe and save discounts along with 5% Amazon Store Card savings make this a manageable price to swallow. However I still think Enfamil has priced this in a sticker shock category that makes it difficult for families who want the improved immunity boost to afford it. Similac has Pro-Advance which uses an effective prebiotic to boost baby immune systems at a significantly lower price after subscribe and save discounts. Enfamil needs to be more competitive.It's also important to note that all formula is required by the FDA to use a specific blend of ingredients. Even the much cheaper store brand formula has an essential blend of ingredients that works well. There's a lot of debate about how certain ingredients get extracted, which leads to supporters of organic formula. Then you have the large companies with brands like Enfamil and Similac who spend money researching breast milk to implement ingredients that go above and beyond the FDA requirement. Enspire falls in this category.If you don't mind spending the extra money, this is probably the best formula you can buy from a standpoint of science and research. And it's worked quite well with our baby.

I remember having a newborn and being torn between buying this very expensive, Cadillac-like option of baby food, versus a cheaper regular organic baby food that lacked all the designer additives.When you have a new baby it's sad that financial considerations butt-into your thinking about what you can afford to provide, but that's life. I ended up at least splitting his feedings with this formula and the less expensive options, thinking that he would at least get some amount of these researched ingredients.Fast forward now to my son being a happy, healthy, 22 month old, and he does things today that literally make my jaw drop open with how fast he is in his ability to learn. He somehow knows, the entire alphabet, how to count to 20, has memorized his favorite books, asks for help when he needs it, and knows more words upon words than I thought he would at this age.I had a thought to myself this morning I will never know if its genes or maybe this food, but it was not environment as we definitely are just average parents. But just to make a long story short I have a very satisfied feeling knowing that I did not skimp out entirely on this part of his upbringing, because they only have these feedings one time in their lives before they become toddlers. I do not miss the money I spent on the food some 20 months ago but I have a very precious little one with an intelligent spark and that's all I could ask for.

My baby loves this formula. We have tried a variety of formula from Enfamil (Newborn, Infant, Gentlease, AR) but we believe Enspire is the best. First, our baby was breastfed exclusively. But we were worried as my baby dropped 10 ounces in 1st 2 weeks of life, which made her only 8% of normal and became jaundiced. My wife also had complications after delivery, which required more rest for her. So we were forced to supplement our baby with formula milk. After giving her formula milk, we noticed she (baby) was cranky after the formula, and her pooped changed color. We tried other blends, until we discovered Enspire when baby was 2 months old. At this time, she was exclusively formula. Her poop changed and was noticeably similar in color and smell as with breastmilk. She was less fuzzy, but that maybe because she was older. She was gaining weight faster and longer. Now, we have a happy baby. She still have issues, like spit ups and occasional cranky. But with this formula and with our last MD check up, she has reached 58% for weight. She has surpassed her milestones for age and can do some of the next month's milestones. We are a subscriber of this milk, to save a few $.For those who are reading this.. My advice is always breast milk first. This formula is the 2nd best. Aside from price, there's more preparation needed for formula. Water should be lukewarm. Bottle and nipple need to be the right size and clean. Obviously, this is all expensive. Breast milk is free and has antibodies. There's more reason why this is so. But if breast milk is not an option, then this formula works.

My son loves this formula! It is so high quality. While other formulas are yellow-ish this formula is the closest color to breast milk I have ever seen. I pumped for about four months until I dried up and wasn’t able to do it anymore. We tried several different kinds of formula and my little man wasn’t really interested. He ate it because he was hungry but he often spit it up and it just didn’t sit well with him. He was born big, almost 10lbs, and has never been colicky. He just didn’t like formula after breast milk. Then we got a free sample of ensure from a vendor at an event we attended. He loved it. He didn’t spit up anything and he sucked the whole bottle down. We’ve used it ever since. We had a hard time finding it in stores near us so we came to amazon. This is the best deal we’ve found. Honestly I wouldn’t even try any other formulas. This is the best. While it is more expensive than the others, you just can’t beat the quality.