What's with baby yogurt?

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.

Gerber NON-refrigerated yogurt contains the following:

CULTURED WHOLE MILK, SUGAR, BANANA PUREE, TAPIOCA STARCH NONFAT DRY MILK, CITRUS PECTIN, GELATIN, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL BANANA FLAVOR, BANANA JUICE CONCENTRATE, TURMERIC EXTRACT COLOR

and has 11 g. of sugar per serving...

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.

Un-refrigerated yogurt? Ew.

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.

They say babies are not supposed to have real milk products like yogurt etc until after they are 1 due to milk allergies. All I have seen is those products are more expensive and smaller. Examples: They have cereal grain fruit bars just like nutri-grain, cheese crackers just like goldfish or cheese nips, fruit snacks as well. I look at the ingredients and then make the call.