I've been feeding my baby normal yogurt for months. He likes it with fruit puree mixed in or just a bit of juice, and even just straight.
But I keep seeing the baby yogurt on the shelf at the grocery store. I'm suspicious of it--it doesn't need refrigerated, apparently, which means it's full of preservatives, and is probably loaded with sugar and artificial colors.
But my "hey, am I doing this mom thing right?" alarm keeps buzzing at me. Is there any *real* reason normal grown-up yogurt from the dairy section is bad for my baby? Or is this baby yogurt just a marketing ploy? He's almost 1, and like I said, has been eating yog for a while now.
2010-11-10T13:14:48Z
Our pediatrician listed yogurt pretty early in his "new foods" schedule. I think that because it's cooked, or because of the active cultures it's easier to digest than milk.
2010-11-10T13:20:30Z
We buy plain yogurt and add straight fruit. We only get flavored yogurt if we're out and about and he needs something to eat. I'm not worried about the sugar.
The non-refrigerated stuff still has more ingredients than the normal stuff. I definitely prefer shorter ingredients lists.
2010-11-10T13:21:42Z
rache_ole: Are the serving sizes the same? Sugar per serving comparisons only work if the serving sizes are the same, which I doubt.
?2010-11-10T13:25:11Z
Favorite Answer
Baby yogurt comes in smaller servings, which is why it has less sugar. The Dannon comparison in the other answer ignores the fact that the Dannon serving is almost twice as large.
Some baby yogurt is hyperpasteurized, so it does not need refrigeration. (In Europe, you can get hyperpasteurized adult yogurt, but adults are needlessly suspicious of anything that does not need refrigeration.) Hyperpasteurization is completely fine, and it doesn't hurt the yogurt or your baby in any way. As is done with milk, the yogurt is heated to kill the bacteria in it. Hyperpasteurization just heats it for a little longer. With the bacteria killed, you don't need refridgeration. The same thing is done in canning food.
If you prefer a shorter ingredient list, go for that. I looked at Dannon all-natural (adult) yogurt, Yo baby, and Gerber yogurt. The ingredients, not surprisingly, are almost identical. If you think "naturally milled organic sugar" is somehow different from "sugar", then go that way. Neither of them contain "lead paint chips", which is what you should worry about your baby eating.
The unrefrigerated baby yogurt is NOT packed with preservatives, sugars OR artificial colors. Adult yogurt, though, IS packed with way more sugar than you will find in baby yogurt.
now this is Dannon ALL NATURAL, VANILLA yogurt (25 GRAMS OF SUGAR PER SERVING!)
% DV* Calories 150 Calories from Fat 25 Total Fat 2.5g 4% Saturated Fat 1.5g 8% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 10mg 3% Sodium 100mg 4% Potassium 330mg 9% Total Carbohydrates 25g 8% Dietary Fiber 0g 0% Sugars 25g Protein 7g 14% Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 2% Thiamin (Vitamin B1) 6% Riboflavin 25% Vitamin B6 6% Vitamin B12 15% Biotin 0% Iron 0% Vitamin D 0% Calcium 25% Phosphorus 20% Magnesium 6% Pantothenic Acid 8% Zinc 6% Selenium 0%
*%DV means % Daily Value based on a 2000-calorie diet
Ingredients: Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, natural vanilla flavor, pectin. Contains active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus.
EDIT*** However, it is still better to buy the refrigerated Yo-Baby yogurt as it is made from whole milk, has no artificial ANYTHING, and has way less sugar than adult yogurt.
EDIT 2** The Gerber website does not say how many grams there are per serving, but the YoBaby yogurt website does, and that yogurt has 12 g. of sugar per serving, so it's pretty similar.
YoBaby has 12 g. of sugar per serving (113g) Dannon ALL natural has 25 g of sugar per (170g)
So for ever 6.8g of dannon you are feeding your baby they are ingesting 1 g of sugar.
Where-as a baby has to eat 9.4 g of YoBaby yogurt to ingest 1 g of sugar.
I fed my son normal yogurt, too. I don't see any reason to avoid normal yogurt unless your pediatrician wants your child to avoid dairy. I'm not familiar with the baby yogurt that's on the shelf -- maybe it's dairy free? Some pediatricians say you should hold off on introducing dairy until your baby is 1 year old.
Marketing ploy. We usually buy plain yogurt (ingredients: milk, active cultures.) and add fresh fruit. When we need portable yogurt, I buy Brown Cow or Chobani flavored yogurts, which have fewer additives and less sugar than others.
My 15 month old has only ever had normal yogurt (usually greek style) and occasionally that yo-baby stuff b/c it is the only whole milk yogurt I can find.