To ask which formula brand you would recommend for a newborn?

[MissMattyJenkins]

I'm posting in AIBU for traffic as I'm running out of time before the baby arrives and I want to buy some for the house. I couldn't find any recent threads on this when I searched.

A couple of pharmacist friends have suggested Aptamil (with the proviso that they think the brands should all be much the same). I've noticed since then that aptamil is more expensive than SMA or cow and gate!

Anecdotally I've heard a few people saying aptamil is easier on the baby's digestive system when browsing older threads on mumsnet but not consistently.

What do people think?

EnoughAlready, the "disposable" bottles/cartons are recyclable (plastic bottles or tetrapak containers), so not sure why they would be any worse for the environment than tubs of powder?

Sod off Beebar.

That's total bollocks. Formula was better for mine.

I like cows.

Sounds like thing have moved on a lot in five and a half years. Prep machines and pre made bottles with teats!

We ended up in SCBU and FF with a tube, we chose aptimil just on being the most expensive, silly really. We used nuk bottles once the nurses advised we try bottle feeding. I think they felt these bottles were better for continuing to BF which I did and had no nipple confusion. Luckily aptimil was sold in our local shop in ready made cartons. I didn't have any in the house beforehand either time. I hated making bottles and the faff of sterilising, but didn't quite have enough milk so added pumping to the task list. BF is the hardest thing I've ever done! Fortunately it was much easier second time, especially as #2 was allergic to milk. I have to say that I did feel judged by one nurse in SCBU for giving formula but they didn't give any support either.

I had an emcs and was very poorly afterwards. Transfusions, 8 hours in ic and 3 days nil by mouth.

I kept trying to bf but didn't have much milk.Dd was malnourished and hypoglycemic. At first mws made bottles and bought it to me. They asked me which brand I wanted. They put aside a tin for me and said I'd take the rest of the tin home when I left hospital.

The room where you make the milk was quite a way from the ward. As soon as I was able I was told to make bottles myself but I must try feeding dd myself first so I would do that, have dd screaming because she wasn't getting anything, then have to put her back in her cot while I got dressed to take her with me to make her bottle. The mws helped every time I wanted to bf but not making the formula although they did suggest I did both.

I was in hospital for 5 days. The ready made bottles bottles were a godsend.just wanted to explain my situation after I read that parallel universe business.

Also I do know a lot of people in the UK who have had a normal straightforward birth and been discharged within a couple of hours and made their own decision about feeding. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

i hope things have changed for those who do want to breast feed i was totally put off by the lack of support with ds1 he was a small baby, i was a neurotic first time mum everytime i asked the staff for help with breast feeding i got a very disinterested yes hes latched whilst they hurried off without checking so i gave up within 48 hours and never looked back with formula feeding i didnt even bother trying with ds2 .

There's always one isn't there Beebar! I was lucky in the hospital that when DS was getting very distressed in the hospital and I hadn't managed to latch him once they made me a little cup of formula and cup fed him until I could figure it out so he didn't go hungry. A different hospital did the same for Dd. The little ready made bottles are perfect to have on hand in case you have trouble.

well of course people feed there babies in hospital carabos i was in for 48 hours after birth both times, i didnt just starve them because i wasnt breastfeeding with ds1 hospital provided formula with ds2 i had to provide my own.

My first was bf but in the end i had to stop, i ended up with such bad mastisis (sorry if spelt wrong!) that i had to have it drained twice by needle, in the end i had to stay in hospital and have it drained whilst asleep, it was then left as an open wound so it could "heal from the inside" which meant i had to go to the gp EVERY day to have it packed with gauze, which was extremely painful, and got in the way of bonding with my beautiful newborn
Since then i've ff the rest, midwife's and hv's have asked why i didin't try to bf again, and the honest answer is i couldn't go through that again.

This thread has moved on a bit since yesterday!

for mrsnec and bigfam. Those situations sound so stressful.

I know this thread has moved on but I recommend Hipp. I used it for both of mine.

Just reading through these posts now - clearly are in order for you too shamelessbreadaddict. What an awful time you had. Not how you want your first week to go. I hope things improved after that?

Jeffrey thanks for the recommendation. Several other PPs recommended Hipp. The only thing putting me off was the comment earlier about availability of Hipp being a bit sporadic, what do you think?

I've never had that problem and I've been using it over a period of three years.

I buy it in Tesco. I've also bought in in Boots and superdrug before. I found that they were more settled on Hipp, I don't know why, it just suited them better.

Me again, I did attempt bf, but having an untreated underactive thyroid meant I didn't produce enough milk. DS lost 9% in 3 days and screamed consistently and arch himself away from me, until I gave him some formula. He was starving. It was a stressful time. DS2 partially bf for 7 months until he decided to stop. Bf was a much more enjoyable experience second time round.

Just had another thought, where I live aptamil was in the old style tin but the supermarkets have just started selling a different one which is called almiron and is in the same packaging as aptamil in the UK. So we asked our pediatrician about it the other day.

Because our pediatrician was getting so many questions about the difference in formula she compiled a chart comparing them all against each other and it did prove that there wasn't much difference certainly not between aptamil and hipp. (haven't seen cow and gate or sma here) I have no idea why I was so brand loyal!

She did say it's confusing though because sometimes the nutrients are called different things between different brands ie.omegas can be dha or amino acids and she also said here aptamil has pre-biotics in them whereas some of the others don't but it was interesting reading.

Thanks jeffrey, which other brands did you use which didn't suit your DCs so well?

That sounds very stressful with your first DS!! I'm glad your second experience was much more positive :)

mrsnec I would LOVE to see a comparison chart like that with all the brands on it.

I used Aptamil with dc1 and C&G with dc2. Although they are made by the same company. Then changed to Hipp a few weeks in I think.

I thought I'd mention it in case any other gps or hcps have done the same. I know they are not supposed to recommend formula though which is probably why the info was handwritten in the back of the appointment book! Definitely handy because it is hard to choose. Over here it's all the same price everywhere, you don't get loyalty points on it anywhere and it's never on offer.

Her info didn't cover everything though only what she considered appropriate so for example it doesn't mention vitamin d because that isn't a concern here but I'd look at that if I was still in the UK.

Thanks mrsnec

Op go to your local shop that is open into late hours and buy one of the brand they stock. That way you won't have to do mad dash across town if you run out.

Re Hipp availability, it depends on what you have locally for stores. My local tiddly boots doesn't stock it, but if you order some on their website before 8pm you can pick it up the next day from midday. My local superdrug doesn't stock it and only had the stage 3 ready made milk on their website.

I have a coop supermarket (it's proper supermarket size - unusual for coop!) and pharmacy nearby, neither stocks it. The pokey local waitrose has it, as do the tesco and sainsbury's in the next town. I can't remember about morrisons. Amazon have it but it is overpriced. The Hipp site sell it.

My local 24hr tesco sometimes runs out, like it did yesterday. This resulted in a mad dash to sainsbury's where I was the last customer let in before closing. The store is placed badly for access, and to make it in time I had to park in a local mini car park with only disabled spots in (the regular spots were sectioned off for something and I didn't know in advance). I still feel guilty, even though there were 7 more convenient spots left for less able folk.

So in conclusion, Hipp may turn you into an antisocial scumbag.

No no, I take full responsibility!

Normally I have plenty in just in case, but we'd moved him onto the stage 2 milk for 6 month plus. It became apparent that he was having tummy pain and trouble passing poo, so there was no way I was coming home empty handed.

I was about to recommend Farleys, but it seems it isn't available any more!

Much luck with your decision :)

Vote here for Hipp Organic - Aptamil gave mine the runs. We started on formula at 5.5 months.

I get mine from Tesco but you can't get it in the little Tesco Express stores.