Best amino acid baby formulas 2024

If you’ve landed on this post about the best amino acid baby formulas, we’re going to assume you already know a thing or two about choosing baby formula. These formulas are basically the last step in the journey for babies that have severe immune and/or gastrointestinal responses to the proteins found in most baby formulas. 

So if you haven’t yet consulted with your doctor and tried partially hydrolyzed formulas, extensively hydrolyzed formulas, goat milk formulas or anything else, we suggest you do that before switching to an amino acid-based formula. These are for babies that have been diagnosed by a medical professional.

For those of you that have already tried just about everything else and have yet to find a formula your little one can tolerate, we’ve got you covered. And we also want to say, hang in there, we know it can be really tough seeing your baby struggle to be comfortable and/or grow and develop like you want them to be. Let’s get started.

What is an amino acid-based formula?

Also known as “elemental” formulas, amino acid-based formulas offer complete nutrition for infants, toddlers and older children who are unable to tolerate extensively hydrolyzed formulas. Amino acids are the building blocks for proteins and therefore are so small that your baby’s immune system won’t even register them as a threat, and therefore won’t trigger any sort of allergic reaction when digested. Because these formulas do not contain any intact proteins, they are tolerated by most children. Amino acid-based formulas are also known as “elemental” formulas.

These formulas can also be used by babies with multiple allergies. They tend to be the most expensive and hardest to find, so they are typically used as a last resort. Often, you will need to get a prescription from your doctor.

No matter how you choose to feed your baby, don’t be afraid to do some trial and error under the guidance of your health care team. It is usually recommended to give a new amino acid-based formula 2 weeks before you decide whether your baby is going to tolerate it or not.

As you’re testing out new formulas, continue to observe and record any notable changes so you can relay that information to your pediatrician. We’d also recommend sharing that information with a pediatric registered dietician if you can afford to. They can also help determine how long you should stick with each formula you are testing to ensure you’ve given your baby the appropriate amount of time to adjust. 

So which formula is “best” for milk protein allergy?

The honest truth is that the “best” amino acid-based formula is whichever one your baby can finally tolerate. All of the options below are nutritionally complete. 

The biggest ranking factor in our other articles on best overall formula, best goat milk formula, best gentle formula and best hypoallergenic formula is the protein source and how much they are hydrolyzed. 

With amino acid-based formulas, the proteins are all basically the same since they are broken down into individual amino acids. WIth less differentiation in the products themselves. we’ve weighted our recommendations more off of:

• Speaking with pediatricians about which ones they recommend first
• Which ones help make it easy to get insurance reimbursements
• Reviews from parents we have spoken with 
• Reviews that we have found online
• Brand reputation, history and customer experience

Please reach out to us in the comments or at hello@thebabyswag.com if you have any feedback, questions or advice to share with other parents.

Best amino-acid (elemental) baby formulas

Best overall amino-acid based formula

Similac Elecare

Similac Elecare was the top choice for parents and pediatricians that we spoke with. It has DHA and ARA added and it’s considered a complete source of nutrition for babies under 12 months of age. Elecare formula does have soy oil so if your baby is known to react to soy, it might be better to start with Neocate instead (the 4th option on this list).

Many parents found their baby was quick to tolerate this formula and they didn’t have to look much further. Even better news is that it’s typically the cheapest option and the easiest to find. We sometimes see it at our local Walmart, CVS or Walgreens but we always check Amazon first as they typically have the best price.

Elecare also has Pathways Plus, a service available to help determine if your insurance will cover this type of formula since it’s medically required. 

Lastly, they also have two junior formulas for when your baby turns 1 which is great to know. 

BUY FROM AMAZON

2nd best amino-acid based formula

Nestle Health Science Alfamino

Alfamino has recently updated its recipe to include 2’FL (2′-Fucosyllactose) and LNnt (Lacto-N-neotetraose). It is specifically designed for babies with severe cow’s milk protein allergy, eosinophilic oesophagitis, intestinal malabsorption and/or multiple food intolerances.

It contains medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) (24% of total fat) to support fat absorption as well as specially designed structured lipids to help facilitate fat and calcium absorption. 

The base for Alfamino formula continues to use potato starch vs tapioca starch. Alfamino also uses soy oil, so just be aware of this if your child is very soy reactive. You might want to start with Neocate or Neocate Syneo since they are soy free. 

WIC, Medicaid and SNAP Eligible and their formula4success® program offers insurance support to help you get the formula you need for your little one

They also have an Alfamino Junior formula you can switch to once your baby is 1+ years old. 

BUY FROM AMAZON

3rd best amino-acid based formula

Nurticia Neocate Syneo

Neocate Syneo is the upgraded version of their flagship amino acid-based formula Neocate Infant formula. Both version are soy free, but this one has some extra ingredients compared to the regular Neocate which they describe on their website as “a patented blend of prebiotics and probiotics, backed by years of research, and designed to help support a balanced gut microbiota in food-allergic infants.” 

We like to see formula companies pushing the boundaries as to what other healthy ingredients are in these types of baby formulas since they are typically missing out on some of the good stuff found in more routine formulas. 

If you try Neocate Syneo first and it doesn’t work, maybe try the regular Neocate simply since the ingredient list is simpler. 

Their Nutricia Navigator Team is ready to help with reimbursement questions or concerns. 

BUY FROM AMAZON

4th best amino acid-based formula

Nutricia Neocate Infant

This is the original Neocate amino acid-based formula they have been selling for over 30 years. It’s the OG amino acid-based formulas and was the second most recommended product by the parents and pediatricians we spoke with. 

It’s cheaper than the Neocate Syneo but is missing the patented prebiotic and probiotic blend. But they’ve still got the DHA and ARA, the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids everyone likes to see in formula. This formula is also soy free.

Nutricia offers a variety of toddler products that will grow with your baby that are also great to consider as you choose which formula is right for your family. 

Their Nutricia Navigator Team is ready to help with reimbursement questions or concerns. 

BUY FROM AMAZON

5th best amino acid-based formula

Enfamil Puramino

Enfamil has been making Puramino for a long time. This one also uses soy oil as well as tapioca starch, so if your child reacts strongly to soy or tapioca, this might not be one that will work for you. 

Of all the formulas we reviewed, this one seemed to work the best for parents that have kids with Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) would tolerate. It’s the most expensive (by quite a bit) so we hope one of the formulas above works before you have to get to this one. But if you’ve tried everything else it would be best to give this one a go as well because you never know. 

BUY ON AMAZON

---

What is a cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA)?

Cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA), also referred to as cow’s milk allergy (CMA), is the most common food allergy for infants. That being said, it’s quite rare. Most babies are able to tolerate a routine cow’s milk formula without any issues but some babies need a bit of help (or a lot of help) digesting the proteins found in formula. 

A food allergy occurs when the body’s immune system sees a certain food as harmful and kicks into gear to try and protect the body, which is when it’s considered an allergic reaction.

Foods that cause allergic reactions are called allergens and even a small amount of an allergen can cause a reaction. That’s why children that are truly allergic to milk proteins will likely struggle to tolerate breast milk if mom has a heavy dairy diet, and they will definitely struggle with partially hydrolyzed formula (pHF) and sometimes even extensively hydrolyzed formulas (eHF). 

These formulas as well as other animal milks, like goat, will still trigger an allergic reaction after being consumed with babies that have severe allergic reactions..

What are the different types of food allergies?

There are two types of food allergies: IgE mediated and non-IgE mediated.

Symptoms from IgE mediated food allergies usually occur within two hours of feeding vs many hours or even days after feeding for non-IgE mediated.

The symptoms may present as:

IgE mediated	Non igE mediated
Typically described as more of the classic symptoms of an allergic reaction that you can physically see like:	Most symptoms of non-IgE mediated food allergies involve the digestive tract, including:
Rash	Bloody, mucousy stools
Hives and swelling	Colic, reflux, more severe spitting up
Vomiting	Vomiting
Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)	Diarrhea

The symptoms of non-IgE mediated food allergies usually go away when the food allergen is removed from the infant’s diet.

There are other medical conditions besides food allergy that can cause symptoms in infants and toddlers that are very rare but are worth noting and talking through with your doctor. This includes:

• Lactose intolerance (an inability to digest lactose, the primary carbohydrate found in breast milk and routine cow’s milk)
• Celiac disease (the immune system damages the small intestine when gluten is consumed)
• Crohn’s disease (rare in infants/toddlers, but may cause diarrhea or low weight gain)

If your infant or toddler is having any of these symptoms, it is important to work with your healthcare team to get accurately diagnosed.

What if none of these options work?

If you’ve already tried some of the best hypoallergenic formulas plus ALL of the best amino acid-based formulas above, then we’re truly sorry. This is a tough spot to be in and we wish we could provide more tailored advice to you, but you will need to speak with your healthcare team to determine the next best steps. 

The one thing we will say though is that with any food trial, it’s going to be a lot of trial and error. You’ll need to do this under close supervision with your healthcare team because there are specific things you’ll want to observe and document along the way. 

And lastly, just please keep in mind that most of the formula companies as well as parents we’ve spoken to recommend giving at least 2 weeks for each trial with a new formula before ruling them out whenever possible.

A final word

A quote from one of our readers sums up our thoughts on this subject better than we can do it ourselves…

We hope our research on the best amino acid baby formulas was exactly what you were looking for. We love talking with parents that have had experience in this area because it can be so helpful to share stories with our other readers who are embarking on a similar journey.

Please leave a comment below or email us at hello@thebabyswag.com if you have any questions, comments or feedback. 

And best of luck!