To be shocked at the price of formula milk?

[Souredstones]

It's been 9 years since I was last pregnant and this time round I'm not going to attempt breast feeding because for my previous pregnancies I produced no milk and wasn't able to feed them. So I'm not stressing out I'm going straight in for the formula. I have medical reasons for doing so.

I get that they've put the price up to deter formula feeding. I know why. I agree breast is best. But from what I saw today it's now a sneeze under £10 a tin.

I'm lucky we can afford it, but what if you're on the threshold of not receiving help and find yourself, as I did, unable to bf even with the full intentions of bfing and being unable to afford this price.

Is there a reason it's doubled in price in the last decade? Have production techniques changed that much?

[girliefriend]

It was partly the cost of formula that made me persevere with bf!! I used to think when I was knackered and tired and wanted my body back - at least this is free!! So if that is their reason - it worked for me!!

Agree with all the posters who point out that babies in comparison to children are cheap though. However now dd is 7yo I spend less on clothes as the clothes she wears last longer, obv no nappies, wipes, baby essentials, food wise I don't notice a massive difference apart from having to buy a few extra bits for pack lunches etc. So in some ways it feels like I spend less on her that I did when she was a baby.

[ImNotBloody14]

Babies/ pregnancies rarely do stick to any sort of plan

[HappyMummyOfOne]

I dont think its expensive, even high end brands at £10 last nearly a week and you cant feed anybody but a baby on that low amount a week. Wait until they are at school or teens if you bulk at paying £10 a week for food.

It always suprises me when people moan about the cost of having chidren or say the state dont pay them enough in CB, benefits etc. Its not like its unknown that childrn cost money, most sensible people ensure they have savings to cover the early years and ensure the houseshold income can take the exoense of another person/s.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Reusable nappies are only prohibitivly expensive if you fall for the hype about brands. In 20 years I've spent about £100 on nappies as well as being given £50 worth of trendy nappies as a gift and they have done so far more than 10 kids.

Formula has always been about the same price taking into account food costs in general and its often one of the reasons given for breast feeding along with the many health related reasons.

[Souredstones]

I'm not going into this blindly. I have junior school age children I know how much children cost.

It's not about state help. It's about the affordability of a product that is for some a medical essential and needs input from some governing body or other to knock it back to a sensible price

[Talkinpeace]

Having just done a quick check, I am depressed that the Supermarkets no longer do "own brand" milk as they did when my two were little

[LookMaw]

The price of formula was pretty much my main motivation to BF. Well, that and DM's insistence that I would fail because she "didn't have any milk". (not saying you did OP, just that DM can be a toxic bitch sometimes).

I was a skint student so shelling out all this money for formula, bottles, energy to sterilise etc just wasn't an option.

[ImNotBloody14]

Well food is medically essential op, baby milk is just one item of food and for those on low income there are vouchers towards the cost of it.

[tapdancingelephant]

agree with sockreturningpixie re: nappies.

I have spent a total of £200 (am impressed by your total, sock ), and they have so far done 4 children, and are on their fifth and showing no signs of letting me down at all.

Obviously there has been washing costs over the years, but I have never tumble dried nappies, so no extra cost there.

I think it is very easy to fall into doing as expected to by large sections of society (namely large scale manufacturers who want to part you from your hard earned cash!), and go along with it without realising full cost implications (am talking about things like nappies/wipes here, not ff vs bf).

we are comfortably off, but I would hate to have to find an extra £10-£15/week for things that I would just be throwing in the bin.

[ImNotBloody14]

Cloth nappies can also be resold to get back a bit of the cost. I gave mine to a MNer when done so they didnt cost her anything to buy and she can sell them on once done.

[ImNotBloody14]

I agree that it is very easy to just buy lots of stuff because its what we are being told we need. Like those lists they put in emma's sodding diary of what equipment you need to buy. We can do with far less if we want to or if we have no choice but to.

[GoshAnneGorilla]

I do wish we could have a discussion relating to ff-Ing without someone saying "Just breastfeed then".

Some women ff. Get over it.

OP I do agree there should be gov't funded formula. Cue howls of outrage.

[parkin2010]

Willowisp how patronising is that?

[PixelAteMyFace]

In the country where I live, formula costs the equivalent of 13 pounds per tin. At four months old my DGS was getting through two and a half tins per week.

This is a country where the average salary is 600 pounds per month and the minimum wage is just under 300 pounds.

There are many babies here who are never given formula because their parents cant afford it, so they are given normal cows milk, sometimes from a very young age if the mother has difficulty breastfeeding.

[Shellywelly1973]

I was just thinking if formula is so expensive, do some parents end up using cows milk earlier then the recommended 12 months?

Im ancient but my mum put all of us on cows milk & sugar at 3 months!!

[SignoraStronza]

Cow & Gate and Aptimil are the same btw. Both owned by Dannone - responsible for some pretty heinous marketing activity in countries where there is little access to clean water supplies and a tin of formula costs most of a weekly salary.

Formula is so much cheaper here than elsewhere in Europe. Where I used to live, people used to go over the border to Switzerland to buy it at a (slightly) reduced price.

Wasn't an option for me (tightwad ex and no-one to leave dc1 with to give me a 'break' anyway) and thankfully bf worked out ok.

[Wbdn28]

YANBU. It's pretty unfair on those such as yourself who'd have loved to have breastfed and are having to pay a premium on being unable to do so.

[WestieMamma]

while I'm at it, buy cloth nappies too.

Why?

[Cravingdairy]

Cloth nappies involve an extra wash every couple of days. If you have two in nappies obviously it would be more. But it's hardly a massive time commitment.

[WestieMamma]

The percentage of women in the Nordic countries that have milk production problems is tiny.
Are we so different? Doubt it.
They just get proper help to bf, everyone does it, it's the normal thing to do.

No everyone doesn't do it. I'm in a Nordic country. Only 1 mum from my ante-natal group is breastfeeding.

[AudrinaAdare]

"they've put the price up to deter formula feeding"

Don't buy our products, oh, no. They are only for babies aged six months and over like this great hulking bruiser! Look at him - he needs REAL milk and possibly raw eggs and steak

[Crowler]

Formula companies exist to make money. Why should it be specifically regulated? Food is already regulated.

There is some small percentage of women who are physically unable to produce milk at all or in sufficient quantity (like 5%) and it makes sense, given the fact that we do live in a welfare state, to subsidize formula for these mothers.