Formula feeding

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Hi 👋👋👋👋

Planning to formula feed so what is the best to use, has anyone used Hipp organic was going to use this and get the ready made bottles when we're out?

I'm guessing th ready made bottles we don't have to warm up?

Thanks xx

I've not used HIPP organic because it's expensive. I know a woman who tried her baby on pretty much every brand and non-brand going and settled on cow and gate. I used C&G from the get go and used the pre-made whilst out and about unheated. My baby was unfussy but I have known babies who will only drink warmed milk.

My three were all mixed fed and Hipp organic was the formula we chose for them (18 years ago!) I can't remember details now, but I remember we researched the options and the oils in it were 'better' although I can't remember what they were or why that was a factor. 18 years ago it was £5.90 a box and our local Sainsbury's had a load reduced to 59p a box so I bought the lot

The best advice is to go with whichever one it will be easiest for you to get and just stick with it. Formula is so tightly regulated they’re all basically the same.

Have a look at first steps nutrition Trust, they have the info on all the UK brands of formula.

It is very highly regulated so it's fine to choose any brand as long as you stick to first stage.

Ready made can be warmed up or fed at room temperature, but once you've opened a carton if you only use part of it, you'll need to keep the rest refrigerated.

We used Hipp and DD did well on it.

We used SMA or cow and gate
Yes the cartons are fine to be used at room temperature, so handy for out and about too.

We used the cans of powder at home and ready made for any outings so it was always fresh and just opened

We used hipp organic for my recent baby, it was fine and I don't remember it being particularly expensive compared to the other brands, but it is a bit harder to come by in some shops. Aptamil is pretty much available everywhere - corner shops etc - so I would have used that but it made my baby constipated.

Whether you warm the ready made bottles is up to your baby really but be warned - I have got three children who were all formula fed and none of them would go near the ready made stuff, no matter what temperature it was! So I just used to take a sterilised bottle of pre boiled cooled water and a flask of boiling water, plus one of those little tubs with the segments for the powder and made it up as I went. I would use a couple of oz boiling water, add the powder and then top up with the cooled water. Which is pretty much a replication of what the perfect prep machine does. It sounds a faff but it takes seconds.

There's no "best" formula but there are formulas that suit different babies better than others. All formulas have to meet the same basic standards but they don't all have the same ingredients. As a PP mentioned, the best place to look for objective information is the First Steps Nutrition Trust website but just bear in mind that your baby might not get along with your initial choice, so don't buy masses of whatever you choose, until baby is here and you can see that everything is going well with feeding.

I just started with the cheapest that was widely available in supermarkets, which at the time was C&G. It appeared to be made at the same factory as Aptamil, and with the same ingredients, and put into the same packaging, just with a different colour lid and picture on the box. It’s all just branding and market segmentation. Baby milk is a product where a lot of people will actually choose a more expensive product because they think more expensive must be better, they want “the best” for their baby etc so manufacturers invent premium brands that actually aren’t really different from the standard ones. Since they’re all similar and very tightly regulated, I figured we’d save the money!

I just tested them all and found which one worked best for my babies.