The new regulation needs to be better promoted

Zhang, a 25-year-old university administrator in Beijing who preferred not to give her full name.

In my experience, parents can be divided into two groups based on their attitudes toward formula milk. Those who breastfeed do not regard milk powder as a necessity or bother to put all their energy into choosing among the various brands. However, those whose baby drinks formula from birth will try their best to find the safest and most nutritious brand.

My son was breastfed for the first 10 months. After I returned to work, I switched to bottle-feeding combined with food supplements.

Before making the decision, I researched the ingredients of various formulas and assessed different brands’ reputations among mothers and from comments on the internet. Eventually, I chose Aptamil, which is made in Germany, from a cross-border e-commerce app called Meitun. Ganlai, my 1-year-old son, has adapted to it very well.

Generally speaking, after parents find the most appropriate formula for their baby, they won’t risk trying a different brand because the change may cause problems to their baby’s sensitive, immature digestive system.

Also, both mothers and fathers need to work nowadays, and as most of them are their family’s only child they don’t have a brother or sister to share the burden of taking care of their elderly parents. With both parents and a child to care for, it could be very costly if their baby gets sick.

It’s hard to change people’s attitudes to the formula milk market. I think the government should find a more efficient way of publicizing the new regulation. After all, how many people will visit the food and drug administration’s official website and read about the regulation?