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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Choosing Milk Formula

110 replies

RebekahJ · 18/02/2020 15:31

Hello everyone,
How did you decide on which brand of milk formula to give your baby?
I’m finding it really hard and cannot decide between Aptamil, SMA or HIPP.

OP posts:
mollypuss1 · 18/02/2020 21:26

Aptamil and Cow and Gate are made by the same manufacturers and If you compare the ingredients list, it's identical. Aptamil is marketed as a premium brand and costs more but they are exactly the same, you’re just paying more for the brand image.

NemophilistRebel · 18/02/2020 21:27

The also have the same medical code on it meaning they are even from the same batches

SpaceDinosaur · 18/02/2020 21:29

They are all nutritionally the same. Some have "extras" which are wholly unnecessary and basically give your child more expensive urine.

If I were to need to use formula I would go for Kendamil because it's a UK company, UK made and is the only formula in this country which doesn't contain palm oil.
Yup. Palm oil is in almost all infant formulas and no, it won't be "responsibly sourced".

KnobJockey · 18/02/2020 21:31

We use mamia as it's the cheapest and we're close to aldi- at £6.99 a tin, and we're currently using approx 6 tins a month, we're saving close to £25 a month on this. We've used the aptimal ready made a few times, as we were told that the 'blueprint' for mamia milk was bought from Aptimal. However the consistency was thinner, and it didn't agree with DD. Our midwife told us if she was ever blocked up, give her a few bottles of ready made milk, it will soon come out!

Whatsername177 · 18/02/2020 21:34

When we moved on from bf I used hipp and cow & gate. I used the first stage milk even though they were past the 6 month mark. My only advice would be to avoid the hungry baby milk. My mil gave my 6 month old hungry baby milk when she had her for a day and it caused awful constipation.

NemophilistRebel · 18/02/2020 21:49

Knob - Mamia is made in same factory is SMA (it was when I was last bottle feeding) so the same product that many people buy for twice the price

avacadooo · 18/02/2020 21:59

I started on cow and gate but it didn't agree with my baby so moved onto hipp which was easier on his stomach but then we discovered it was a milk allergy and now we're on special milk. Basically my point is pick the easiest one to get them a back up to that incase baby can't tolerate it because they all process it differently.

TurquoiseDress · 18/02/2020 22:05

Any reason not to breastfeed? Happy to offer advice

I am pro babies being fed (whether that be formula or breast) and the OP is asking about formula, not breastfeeding

MarchDaffs · 18/02/2020 22:26

I'm sure OP can ask for advice on breastfeeding should she want it.

The only thing with the Aldi one is they don't do ready to use. No idea why they've not expanded to offer it, I know the powdered has been successful.

TurquoiseDress · 18/02/2020 22:33

I forgot to actually answer OP's question in my haste to post!

I chose Aptamil mainly because it seemed to be everywhere, it comes in handy ready to use bottles around 200ml so enough for one feed, also does a bigger ready made bottle...the ready made ones were great for travelling or going away to stay somewhere.

Also, both my babies loved their Aptamil milk so I was happy to carry on with it.

MuchTooTired · 18/02/2020 22:38

I went with sma because they had the pre made formula bottles that I could pack in my hospital bag, and it’s what I was fed when I was a baby.

I stuck with it for the year of ff my DTs, because they’re my pfb and I didn’t want to upset them by changing to something cheaper 😳

Peapod29 · 18/02/2020 22:39

I spoke to Aptimal in depth about this. She told me that all milk meets current nutritional MINIMUM guidelines but certain milk has different added extra vitamins that is more than the minimum required

Can I just say this is complete and utter bullshit, the type that comes from a formula sales person. All milks contains the Ingredients that are scientifically proven to be beneficial and contain all the nutrients that babies need. Anything ‘extra’ ( think extra vitamins/pro biotics/ pre biotics) does not have any proper scientific basis for its inclusion, it is PURELY there for marketing purposes. If it were needed it would have to be in there by law. Chose the cheapest and most easily available formula. Go to first steps nutrition trust for info on formulas.

Graphista · 18/02/2020 22:47

You may find it's not up to you!

When I had to change to ff when my Milk dried it wasn't until the 4th attempt we found one that dd didn't instantly vomit! That was a very expensive not fun "experiment".

At least now you can try a ready made "sample" to see if it suits baby first. When we were doing it only "full size" powder packs were available.

PineapplePen1001 · 18/02/2020 22:50

I chopped and changed with my second. He was fine. Although he was slightly older as I breastfed first.

It's marketing guff repeat ad infinitum

alohamore · 18/02/2020 22:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Rosspoldarkssaddle · 18/02/2020 23:32

Tried ds1 on cow & gate and SMA and it was too "rich" for him. Asked at my surgery and receptionist's daughter was having the same issues until trying Aptomil. At the time it was a pricier option but I would have tried anything by that stage. Swapped and never regretted it. Ds2 went on it after a few weeks of bf as my milk was tainted by antibiotics. Was delighted when they started doing cartoons. Made travelling with smalls so much easier.

atomicblonde30 · 19/02/2020 03:20

I went with Hipp for all of mine, mainly because it’s organic and seemed the least offensive of the bunch.

attatiti · 19/02/2020 03:50

Aptamil recommended buying Aptamil. Crikey, who saw that coming!

ColaFreezePop · 19/02/2020 04:31

We used C&G only initially, and then used a mixture of C&G and Aptamil as a neighbour brought the wrong formula. LO really didn't care what milk she had as she was also being breast fed. The only advantage of me mixed feeding is I didn't have to force DD into taking vitamin D drops.

DanielRicciardosSmile · 19/02/2020 05:55

Years ago now, but I used SMA with DS. He stayed on first milk until we moved him into cow's milk, never went onto "hungry baby" milk. Mind you that was largely because a friend who did use that had huge problems with her DD getting constipated all the time.

Dandelion1993 · 19/02/2020 07:29

@dontfundhate not really relevant is it?

This is a post about deciding on formula not why the OP doesn't want to bf.

Piglet89 · 19/02/2020 07:36

@DontFundHate um...why does someone have to say it?

PandaCat · 19/02/2020 07:39

We used SMA with DD1 until it was realised it was the cause of constipation, we were adviced to swap so moved on to cow and gate. DD2 we started with cow and gate, but ended up switching to Aldi brand mamia as she did not agree with cow and gate!

It really depends on the baby.

mullyluo · 19/02/2020 07:41

I choose Hipp as I found that the powder was finer and dissolved much easier than Aptamil. My son was very pukey on Aptamil which got better when I changed to Hipp.