Formula Milk

[mrsnlw]

I have already asked some of my friends but am putting this out there to see what your advice/opinions are too.

I intend on breastfeeding our baby when he/she is born until around 6 weeks when I will either combine feed or switch to formula feeding. In preparation for this, and also in the unlikely event that when baby is here I can't/don't like breastfeeding etc I want to buy a tub of formula milk.

DH and I looked at the cans in the supermarket last night and tbh, as first timers, we were baffled. Hubby said "£9, bloodyhell that's expensive!" but as I pointed out to him, a huge tin probably does a lot of feeds. We also then saw the ready made little bottles of milk.

So my questions are....

1. What brand do/will you use? We saw C&G and have heard very good reviews so would like to use that but are aware there are other brands out there too and are not sure if one if better than the other.
   

1. The MW at our antenatal session said a newborn's stomach only holds approx 7ml. The measurements on the side make up 90ml at a time... Surely that's massively wasteful to be throwing so much away? Can we make up less on demand etc?
   

1. We saw the little bottles of ready mixed and ready to go formula which has 200ml (approx 20 feeds based on the info above) so could we use those instead? Can you use one of those bottles over a whole day/two days or does it have a shelf life once opened?
   

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[angelopal]

There is little difference between brands as they all have to provide same level of nutrition. I went with SMA simply because it was the brand name I was most familiar with.

A tin probably lasts about a week. Stomachs grow quickly so will soon be able to manage 90mls. We had to give formula in hospital due to weight loss and it was 30mls a feed.

Ready made formula will last for 24hrs if kept in the fridge or 2hrs at room temp. I use the ready made when going out as it is easier. There is a lot of wasteage but it is convenient.

[dreamingbohemian]

We used the little ready-made boxes for quite a while -- yes, at first you might just use half at one feed, but you can put in the fridge and use for the next one. We were doing 4-5 feeds a day at first.

The tins do last a long time and are cheaper but I found the ready-made was great for those initial weeks when you're exhausted and figuring out so many other things -- you literally just open and pour, handy for the middle of the night. We moved on to the tins once we got the hang of things more.

[Kelly1814]

We only ate 30 mls a feed for months (very small baby) even at almost 10 months we don't drink much more than 120.

For 30 mls we just made up with half a scoop.

The powder lasts a couple of weeks at the start, now we use maybe one tub a week.

We use aptamil hypoallergenic (I think called aptamil pepti in the uk?) as had suspected cow's milk intolerance. Also our paed consultant says it's easier on their tummies and simpler to digest.

Good luck! Don't be put off by anyone who tells you FF is tricky or a faff, it's a total piece of pixx...and your DH can get involved too which is great.

[ThedementedPenguin]

I use cow&gate with this one. We used aptamil with the last.

Sma didn't agree with him and he was very sickly on it. So we changed and he was much better.

If you follow it correctly you use one scoop of formula for every 30ml/1 ounce. If you don't make it correctly you can make your baby sick.

I only use the powder, what I do is put an ounce of cool boiled water in a bottle, top up to 4oz (that's what we are on now) and then add formula. It's hot enough for the powder and takes very little time to cool down for baby.

Another way to do it is add boiling water and then powder mix and top it up with cool boiled water. To do it this way you need the cool boiled water measured in a differnt bottle to get the correct amount of water.

It really is simple to do.

Another option is to use the tommee tippee perfect prep but I found it too expensive. I did my bottles the same way but use a flask when out and about.

When making a bottle always use a full scoop and make it up to a proper ounce, for example don't make 2 and a half ounces make 3. One scoop is for one ounce or 30 mls depending on how you measure things yourself (I go by ounces some people use mls).

With us using formula and 4oz bottles we get a week from it. We buy one every Thursday night and open it just before bed.

[mrsnlw]

Ah brill thanks for your suggestions.

I would really like to give BF a try but I also want CH to be able to FF with our baby for bonding time etc so I'm not sure what we will do yet x

[beccajoh]

3oz is a lot for just after birth, but quite a few babies will be drinking that much by the time they're a week old. The formula box is just a guide. My son didn't drink more than a couple of ounces per feed until he was 8-10 weeks old. At four months his average in take was 3-4oz, however he had far more feeds than the formula box suggests. Around 10 feeds a day.

[beccajoh]

Cow and Gate is a good all-rounder really. It's the same company and more or less the same milk as Aptimil, so don't bother paying the extra £££ for Aptimil. Hipp Organic is, anecdotally, preferred by breastfed babies and reflux babies.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

We used Hipp as it's cheaper and I'd heard it tastes the most like breast milk.

Yes their stomachs are tiny but you will need to try 1-2 oz every feed. DS drank 2oz per feed and was soon up to 3oz (90mls). He was hungry!

Just go with what they want, if your baby is still hungry give them some more. Don't forget they have growth spurts so you'll often have to increase what they take.

When they're newborn they can feed 1-2 hourly so it does feel like you spend a lot of time feeding!

[badfurday]

Another cow and gate user here. I think they are all much of a muchness. We went with it as it's slightly cheaper. One tub lasts about 7-9 days. We also use the pre made bottles when out and about which are a lifesaver.

[PenguinsHatchedAnEgg]

The whole 'ff for bonding' thing is a bit of a misnomer, put about by formula companies to push their product. There are lots of very good reasons to ff. But I wouldn't do it just for 'bonding'. If you do feeds and your husband does changing, winding, cuddling, etc, guess who will be spending more time with the baby?

[SandorClegane]

My dh managed to form a very strong bond with our DS without bottle feeding him. He just did lots of other parenting stuff.

[ShineSmile]

If you do plan to mixed feed, I suggest you start one bottle per day quite early on. I would start it two weeks. Because alot of babies are bottle refusers by the time they hit 6-8 weeks.

[elQuintoConyo]

Am abroad so used different milk. But what we found useful were little stackable/screw-together pots that come as a set of four for putting different doses in. We used them out and about and for nught feeds: "now, did I just put in three scoops, or is this the third scoop I'm putting in now.... durrrrr" .

Ff is just one of many ways to bond, so don't worry too much about that part.

And congratulations

[PeterParkerSays]

Just to warn you, you may also get a baby who refuses to drink from bottles. I'd planned to express milk for DH to feed him / let me have a good night's sleep.

It never happened - DS would scream with milk pouring down his chin until I fed him. As you'll work out with other aspects of this baby lark as well - what you want to do and what baby is up for can be two very different things.