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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be worried about feeding baby formula ?

64 replies

Julias21 · 16/12/2023 12:17

My baby is 8 weeks old formula fed aptimal from day one . She only drinks the ready made bottles (won’t take the powdered) but seeing all the thing online about it being filled with crap ingredients /sugar etc and all the risks for Sid’s/ diabetes and all these health problems due to formula , my anxiety is just through the roof . I did try breast feed but she wouldn’t latch and pumping was absolutely exhausting. Parents who formula fed their babies can u reassure me ?

OP posts:
Kpo58 · 16/12/2023 12:21

The baby formula industry in the UK is very well regulated. My DD had premade formula and she's absolutely fine.

FionnulaTheCooler · 16/12/2023 12:21

Ignore all the scaremongering about how awful formula is. Breastfeeding does have lots of benefits and is the ideal outcome, but it's not physically possible for all mothers, for various reasons. I was one of them and I beat myself up too for failing to be able to breastfeed but my DD thrived just fine on formula, just like millions of other babies do, and is now a healthy teenager with no allergies etc.

SeaToSki · 16/12/2023 12:22

My ff baby is 16 now, smart as a whip and healthy as a horse

AmazingDayz · 16/12/2023 12:23

Not this again

Tinkerbyebye · 16/12/2023 12:23

I was FF and now in my 50s with no issues

maybe you need to seek help with your anxiety

TheShellBeach · 16/12/2023 12:25

It certainly isn't ideal but it isn't harmful either.
More babies are fed formula than breast milk anyway.

MrsSkylerWhite · 16/12/2023 12:26

our grandchild was on optimal from day one, too. A healthier, brighter, happier child you’d struggle to find.

ChillysWaterBottle · 16/12/2023 12:26

Sweets you've done the best thing getting her properly fed. Well done. Ignore the scaremongering and hysteria and judgement and misinformation. She will be absolutely fine. Congrats on your new baby I bet she's lovely x x x

MrsSkylerWhite · 16/12/2023 12:27

Aptimil, not optimal!

Worriedmum86 · 16/12/2023 12:27

Both mine were ff for various reasons bf didn't work. They're both healthy teens now.

My youngest would only drink cold- room temp formula. She'd scream if it was even slightly warm.

EmotionalSupportWyrm · 16/12/2023 12:28

If it helps @Julias21 - I'm almost 70, formula fed from birth, fantastically healthy, have a PhD and until retirement was a Uni lecturer.

And formula is so much better now than it was in the 50's. If BF isn't possible then formula is fine.

PicaK · 16/12/2023 12:29

I breast fed my birth dc for 18 months. I bottle fed my adopted dc.
There is nothing wrong with baby milk at all. It's a very carefully controlled substitute. It's nutritious and it's fine.
Please don't beat yourself up.
Are you feeling down generally? 2 months in is tough.

adomizo · 16/12/2023 12:29

Formula is perfectly safe and very well balanced for babies. Worry not.

Soubriquet · 16/12/2023 12:30

You know, billions of babies are formula fed. It’s a perfectly healthy diet for many babies. Please stop stressing.

BabyMinnie · 16/12/2023 12:30

The costs of the ready made bottles will certainly add up over time. When you say that she won’t take the powdered formula, how so? Will she just not drink it at all or something?

MrsSchrute · 16/12/2023 12:31

O OP, I could have written your post when my eldest was that small! Honestly, some of the awful things people said to me about formula, I felt like a total failure of a mother for at least a year.
But now my boy is big and strong and healthy. It makes virtually no difference on an individual level.
Try to filter out the noise, you're doing a good job.

BingoMarieHeeler · 16/12/2023 12:31

I mean, what else are you gonna do?

I BFed my eldest to the point of failure to thrive, he was skin and bone.

The other 2 had formula from day 1. All fine!

Formula has all essential nutrients in it and I’m sure your baby will be eating all sorts of processed food in a few years time!

It will all be fine :)

TruJay · 16/12/2023 12:33

Millions of babies are formula fed every day. They’re absolutely fine and your baby will be absolutely fine too. What’s the alternative…not to feed them? You say breastfeeding didn’t work for you so the alternative is formula, that’s what it’s there for if breastfeeding doesn’t work out, you don’t like it or simply don’t want to.

The whole breast vs bottle debate is so tiring, just feed your baby and enjoy them. They’re only tiny for such a short time. You’ll start solids at 6 months and their required milk starts to dwindle.

If it makes you feel any better I have no idea which of my pupils were breastfed and which were bottlefed. It doesn’t go on your CV, the same as what age you took your first steps, said your first word or what score you got on your age 6 spelling test.

Honestly you get judged on so much as a parent, just do what works for you. We’re mostly all just winging it anyway.

Congratulations and enjoy your little baby x

DialMforMummy · 16/12/2023 12:33

TheShellBeach · 16/12/2023 12:25

It certainly isn't ideal but it isn't harmful either.
More babies are fed formula than breast milk anyway.

Very helpful, well done.
FF is ideal for many of us and does not have a tangible impact on a child's outcomes.

LemonLight · 16/12/2023 12:34

Fed is best! ☺️

Onesidedagain · 16/12/2023 12:36

Formula will not cause diabetes . I think jdrf actually did a study on this and there’s no link

idontlikealdi · 16/12/2023 12:40

This reply has been deleted

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Toddlerteaplease · 16/12/2023 12:44

It's made for babies. It's not poison.

Bobbotgegrinch · 16/12/2023 12:48

My FF baby is now 16yo, predicted straight As at GCSEs and a black belt in karate. If formula did any harm, I'm struggling to see it.

You had two options OP, feed your baby formula or starve her. I'd say you made the right choice.

Kittylala · 16/12/2023 12:51

Omg did my baby die cos I fed it formula!!!!!! Course not. Move on.

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