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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Aptamil closest to breastmilk... who says?

91 replies

knittynoodle · 07/02/2011 20:53

So many people have said this to me, MW's, mum, MIL, SIL, friends...

Whats the source for this statement as obviously there are no formula ad's. Its starting to annoy me that people are repeating this to me as 'advice'. Unless theres a study to prove it, its just hearsay!

Anyone know where it originated?

OP posts:

tiktok · 08/02/2011 18:13

at bubbles - yes, I can see a convo based on you asking for scientific refs would not be a good move.

I still think the use of words like 'heavy' for formula is actually pretty rubbish, and 'causes least problems' is pretty rubbish too - they're both vague notions that won't help anyone.

And HVs should be in the business of helping, I think.

WinkyWinkola · 08/02/2011 18:15

Actually Bubbles, if grand claims are made about formula then I absolutely would want to see evidence of it, especially from someone who claims to be a medical professional - a profession based on science.

It's not just good enough to say so without proof. Not in my opinion anyway.

WinkyWinkola · 08/02/2011 18:16

I'd definitely ask for scientific references. What's wrong with it? It would teach them not to pipe up unless they had proof instead of just verbage.

Bubbles1066 · 08/02/2011 18:31

Ha ha, I think I will do that you know! Ask for references for everything she says. I bet she'd try to get me out of there PDQ! And you could ask your doctor the same to. Would stop them bothering you....

aPixie · 08/02/2011 18:39

I'm pretty sure there isn't much difference but there must be some.

I never tried SMA with ds1 because i'd heard of loads of people having problems so I choose cow and gate and it made my ds1 very very sick. I don't know why. As soon as we changed to Aptamil he was fine again.

rollittherecollette · 08/02/2011 19:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

gallicgirl · 08/02/2011 21:52

My 6 day old baby and I were admitted to hospital last week as DD had lost lots of weight. As I couldn't express enough milk to feed her as the doctor wanted, I was advised to top up with formula.

I was invited to choose a brand. I pointed out that I'd had no plans to FF so knew nothing about formula. I was then told that aptamil was closest to breast milk. Being distraught and stressed at the situation, I went along with the advice.

However, I wasn't given any other information about formula, sterilising, etc and only found out today from HV that you're not supposed to change formula brands once FF. Apparently it will give baby tummy ache. I'm pretty p-ed off about the whole thing to be honest.

By the way, anyone else hate that it stains orange when baby pukes it back up? uurrgh. Makes you wonder what crap is in it.

tiktok · 08/02/2011 23:38

gallicgirl - it is fine to change formula brands. Your HV is wrong about this, and wrong to worry you. There is no evidence at all that changing brands affects babies in the way she says.

It's also wrong to leave you in the dark about sterilising :(

Hope things are better and you are back to bf - start a new thread if you need to.

TCOB · 08/02/2011 23:49

gallic sorry your DD has been poorly - how frightening. How is she now? Has the weight crept back up? Hope you are okay too.

Sorry to hijack thread - also been told Aptamil was sweeter and thinner like BM when I started FFing DS 6 years ago.

InvaderZim · 09/02/2011 11:58

gallicgirl the same thing happened to me (complete with the Aptamil recommendation) and we went along with it too.

I hope everything is going a bit better. My LO is 16 weeks now and EBF (I could never express all she needed when we were bottlefeeding though!), got there with a lot of perseverance and help. Repeat of above suggestion, start a thread if you need more support. :)

FortunateHamster · 09/02/2011 14:40

I bf but have just thought about introducing formula for when I go back to work and have to admit my mind immediately went to Aptamil without even really knowing why. Then I looked through some old forum posts (not here) and saw a bunch of people saying it was closest to breastmilk. I've bought some now so we probably will try it, but it's a reminder that it's harder and harder to cut through the spin.

Original poster

knittynoodle · 09/02/2011 14:53

Thats what I mean - this myth/advertising has obviously permeated peoples minds so much that they are passing on the information as 'advice'.

It makes a total mockery of freedom of choice.

OP posts:

oranges123 · 09/02/2011 15:16

When my DH was sent out by the midwife to get formula for our very dehydrated baby we asked for advice as to which was the best and they told us they couldn't advise. I know they can't but that was frustrating at the time as, of course, you want to give your baby the best you can even if it is not what you want to do (I wanted to breastfeed only). The only brand we had heard of was SMA as that was what I had had to buy for a friend's baby we had looked after for a weekend so that was what we got.

DD was very constipated though and somehow or other the message got through that perhaps it would be worth trying Aptamil so we switched. The HV we told that to seemed to think that was something other people experienced too, that SMA was "heavier" then other brands.

Ever since then we used Aptamil and all the stuff Tiktok talks about with packaging and the message it is closer to breastmilk very much chimes with me. Depressing really. Even when I compared the packaging and contents of Aptamil and Cow and Gate one day, and realised they were virtually if not completely identical, somehow I couldn't bring myself to change brands just in case. The fact that C&G was cheaper just made me feel it must somehow be inferior - so stupid looking back.

I am really glad DD is weaned now and I don't have to obsess over the whole formula business any more. What's done is done.

I am interested about this prebiotics stuff though. Do the added prebiotics/"immunofortis" (whatever that is) have no benefits for the baby at all?

Ieattoomuchcake · 09/02/2011 15:25

Advertising does stick in your mind though (kind of the purpose of it I guess!!)

For example that C&G huge cup of milk advert seems to have hammered home that older babies need more iron and lots of folk in my family are assuming that when my DD is one I will need to put her on follow on milk otherwise she'll be iron deficient.

onimolap · 09/02/2011 15:30

It's fine to give an infant any type of formula if that's what you want to do - they're all safe and adequately nutritious.

But they are modified cow's milk, not close to breast milk.

So to go back to the question in the title: the formula milks are like, for example, golden delicious, gala, granny smith, bramley etc - all perfectly good choices of apple. But none of them an orange.

tiktok · 09/02/2011 15:33

oranges - when manufacturers add a new ingredient to their formulas, they have to demonstrate it does not interfere with growth in any way, and that it appears to be a safe addition.

They do actually recruit mothers and babies to these studies (always amazing to me why anyone would agree to have their baby used in this way - 'hey, we have this new ingredient but while the test tubes and the lab rats seem to do ok on it, we're not sure about human babies. Can we give you our product to try out for a few months?' I mean....WTF?).

They don't actually have to prove it is an additional benefit in order for it to be approved for sale.

'Immunofortis' is simply the branded prebiotic formulation used in a specific formula. They could have called it 'Fred' but for some reason they did not :) It's not a generic substance.

The research on prebiotics is not conclusive. Cochrane was not impressed
www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab006474.html but this was to do with allergy and food sensitivity. I can't find anything that backs up any claims for other long term benefits.

I don't think there are any widely-available formulas without some sort of prebiotic in them nowadays - once one product has it in, all the others follow suit in what the marketing bods call 'me too marketing'.

doireallywant3 · 09/02/2011 15:46

i used it because that's what they used at the hospital (i bf for 5 weeks then switched over). if you compare the ingredients and nutrients etc list to that of SMA or C&G they are pretty similar. my DD tried all three (e.g. if i was out an about and could only get hold of a carton of C&G/SMA)... she was fine with all three

oranges123 · 09/02/2011 15:55

Thanks Tiktok. That is really interesting although a bit depressing as I was hoping naively some of the stuff about the things they added to formula making it closer to breast milk or at least better for babies than it used to be might have been true. But hey ho.

I know what you mean about how amazing it is anyone is prepared to put their baby in for this kind of safety testing but I suppose thank goodness people like that exist or those of us who can't or don't breast feed would still be feeding our babies cows' milk or pap or whatever it was they used to feed babies (my brother born in the 70s was on some sort of extra thick gloop the hospital sent out for because he was a big baby - they told my mother he was too big for her to feed herself) with predictable and tragic results.

Monstermuncher · 09/02/2011 16:08

It made my son fart like a cart horse so we went back to SMA

tiktok · 09/02/2011 16:12

oranges - it might be true that formula is better than it used to be. We just don't know for sure because the independent testing and assessing and comparing is not done.

The big risk from cows milk - which as you say was what most babies were fed on before powdered formula - was infection from stale or unsafe milk. Few people had fridges, and those who did not breastfeed used normal cows milk, diluted and with sugar added, and then boiled (or maybe they boiled it and then diluted it - it was before my time :) ) If they used 'off' milk or milk that was warm and about to go 'off' then babies would fall ill and some died.

This is the big advance in formula, IMO - we now have dried skimmed milk powder with the fat soluble vitamins restored, which makes it easier to prepare a safer, hygienic milk feed.

I think the rest - the protein changes and the prebiotics and so on - is pretty much tinkering. But I am not a nutritionist; I have just done a lot of reading on the topic.

mrsgordonfreeman · 09/02/2011 20:26

I was comparing formula tins the other day, out of curiosity about the current directions for making up feeds. I don't know much about formula milk, as I've never used it myself you see...

Most of the instructions had the same wording, in the same font, presumably because they're made by the same company.

allsquareknickersnofurcoat · 09/02/2011 20:52

Have you tried it in comparison to BM? EEEEEEWWWWWWWWW, it really is MINGING!!!!

allsquareknickersnofurcoat · 09/02/2011 20:57

DS hates it with a passion. If I'm not there, he has EBM or water, he wont take any formula at all.

Personally, I think they all taste like slimfast so I can see why he doesnt. Very much a powdery aftertaste, and not sweet at all.

CrystalStair · 09/02/2011 21:57

Frankly breast milk is hideous as well. I can't believe it - I used to LIVE on that stuff. Thank god for tequila.

BlackSwan · 09/02/2011 22:13

When I left hospital the nurse offered to give me a few bottles of formula in case EBF didn't work out... she said you can have SMA Gold, which has been around for ages (read, tried and tested) or Aptamil First... which is the newest (regard suspiciously). I took the Aptamil First and when my plans to EBF did fall apart DS threw the Aptamil First up all over our couch. SMA Gold for us, until we hit reflux. But that's another thread.

'Closest to BM' must be marketing BS. Whichever formula doesn't make your baby throw up, get diarrhea or become constipated will suffice.

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