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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

FFers- why did you choose your brand of formula? Silly reasons encouraged!

41 replies

soppypreggyloon · 24/03/2011 17:02

I am not linked to any F companies before you start. I'm just intrigued.
I chose Aptamil for ds as I liked the polar bear. I'm not an idiot - I knew they were all much of a muchness nutritionally so I chose the one I liked the look of.
Dc2 is arriving soon and I'm a bit at the price of Aptamil now so may switch.
What made you pick your brand? - silly reasons like mine are the best! :)

OP posts:

breatheslowly · 24/03/2011 17:08

DH went to the local pharmacy and they said Aptamil is the most popular in our area. I do like the polar bear too. The cartons are a good size for our DD as she never drinks more than 1 carton's worth.

xmasbunny · 24/03/2011 17:18

farleys with the cute bear with ds

got some sma this time cause you can get the premade glass bottles in a pack for a few days and its the cheapest at my local shop

Sparkles23 · 24/03/2011 17:24

I use Aptimal because it's the most expensive and so obviously must be the best! I know deep down they are all pretty much the same!

DoctorDaddy · 24/03/2011 17:34

A few weeks before little one was born, I bought several cartons of SMA first 'just in case'. Ended up needing to supplement the breast feeding round about week 2-3 with a bit of formula. Our MW just told us to go and get Aptamil 1. Something to do with consistency perhaps? anyway I just did what I was told and have been using that ever since. The SMA remains unopened..

RitaMorgan · 24/03/2011 19:36

Midwifes recommend Aptimil as they target a lot of promotion at HCP

I started off with Aptimil as it was sold at our nearest shop, but when they put the price up switched to SMA. SMA really upset his tummy so I switched to Cow&Gate - it's owned by the same company as Aptimil apparently and seems identical, much cheaper too. Aptimil is only more expensive as it is marketed as the "premium" brand.

lucysnowe · 24/03/2011 19:43

I chose Aptimil as well as it is clearly the best and nearest to bm also, it was the one at the hospital. Also (this is weird) I kind of liked the high-tech scientific type label (despite the polar bear). Cow & Gate was too rustic so clearly not optimal. Oh God, aptimil sounds like optimal. I think I've been had.

FrenchLimeBlossom · 24/03/2011 19:45

I tried all four main brands and tasted each one myself and i could only stand Aptamil and HIPP organic (i found SMA really chalky and Cow and Gate just tasted odd to me). Baby liked both, so I decided we would use HIPP organic as it was, well, organic.

SweetGrapes · 24/03/2011 19:48

I chose Aptamil too because it's closest to breastfeeding and has GOS/FOS (whatever they might be . )And of course, it's the most expensive so it must be the best, mustn't it?
This weekend DH went to buy some more and came back with Cow and Gate as there wasn't any aptamil 1.
The box is exactly the same so we got suspicious and read it all.
Turns out the ingredients are exactly the same and they are both made by Danone.
Clever marketing and we suckers fell for it!!

thisisyesterday · 24/03/2011 19:49

can we have a disclaimer on here to say that

APTAMIL IS NOT CLOSEST TO BREASTMILK.

thank you

I am really shocked at how well they market it though and how many people genuinely believe it to be the case.

aaaaaaaaanyway, when we switched ds1 to formula I first used SMA gold because that is what he'd been given in hospital (then i breastfed, then i swapped back)
but being on it fulltime made him constipated. so we switched to cow and gate organic, which i don't think they make any more

wanted an organic one, HIPP was harder to make up (i think it had to be made with warm water or something) so we stuck with C&G

MerylStrop · 24/03/2011 19:52

We started off with Hipp, but supplies were erratic locally, so tried Cow and Gate, found it smelt less rank, and stuck with it.

SweetGrapes · 24/03/2011 19:55

Just to say that ds is happy with his C&G and it's exactly the same as aptamil so Cow &Gate must be closest to breastmilk too, right? So, I will not be shelling out extra bucks anymore for the cute polar bear. Instead I am now onto the cute little lamb.

theborrower · 24/03/2011 19:56

SMA Gold - because that's what they gave us in the hospital. I didn't plan to FF, we had real problems BFing and the paed said we had to give her some. When they asked me what type I wanted to give, I said I had no idea and weren't they all the same and it was just marketing? They kinda looked at each other and said 'yeah'. I told them to choose and they gave me SMA. Not had any problems with it, so never tried another.

Turns out my mum used it, so it does have the familiar 'been around a long time' feel.

Was it the first formula? I had to look up what SMA stood for, and it's 'simulated milk adapted', according to Wiki.

Tidey · 24/03/2011 19:56

C&G - it was what both DC were given as their first feed in hospital so we carried on with it. Can't remember if the hospital gave us a choice actually. Bit boring really.

NorkyButNice · 24/03/2011 20:00

We were given Enfamil in the hospital in New York for DS1 when he was born.

When we moved back to the UK and DS2 was born we went for Aptimil as it's the UK equivalent and we had no problems when DS1 used it.

asuwere · 24/03/2011 20:05

I choose to switch to formula for DS3 when he was approx 8/9months old, I remember standing in Tesco looking at the formulas and nearly crying (could blame mastitis/hormones for that!) as I didn't have a clue what to buy... Didn't even know what the difference was between stage1/2/3 etc.. Ended up choosing Hipp Organic because it was the only one at the time that didn't have "closest to BM" on the front! I figured that made it the most honest!

notquitenormal · 24/03/2011 20:06

I was fairly confident that all formulas are basically the same, so we used HIPP because it was the cheapest. Sometimes they were sold out so I used Farley's, which was the second cheapest.

I still think 'yogurt drink' whenever I hear Aptimel (get it confused with Actimel!)

mousesma · 24/03/2011 20:08

C&G because it was the only one that came in half tins. I was mix feeding and only giving one bottle a day and wouldn't have used all of a big box within the 4 week use by date.

TattyCatty · 24/03/2011 20:12

I had planned to breastfeed but reluctantly switched to formula before leaving hospital (long story - won't go into it now). We were therefore faced with a newborn and zero formula in the house, so DH was swiftly despatched to the supermarket with instructions to buy "whichever formula has the most ready made cartons on the shelf" (as our Midwife had insisted that newborns weren't allowed to use powdered formula - she changed her mind next time she came round). Based on this instruction, DD was a Cow and Gate baby for the first 12 months of her life.

Dumbledoresgirl · 24/03/2011 20:14

I actually mix fed. I had always planned on breastfeeding so hadn't given the different formulas much thought. Then, with my first baby, while still in hospital, I decided to mix feed. The MW asked me which brand I wanted to use and I said Cow and Gate because it was the only brand I could think of. Also, I liked the name - it sounded nice and rural. I stuck with C&G through 4 babies. There you go, is that a silly enough reason for you?!

DramaInPyjamas · 24/03/2011 20:18

SMA Gold. Because of the cute baby chick on the packaging

Carikube · 24/03/2011 20:20

SMA with DD1 as it was the only one I had heard of before giving birth. The MW had used a bit of Aptamil in the 48 hours after she as born when I was having difficulty feeding but when we moved her permanently on to ff at 6 weeks, it was SMA we went with. Just as well as it was the cheapest option . DD2 (10 months) is currently having a cup of SMA each day as we had a tin left over from DD1 and I'm trying to get her used to drinking from a cup ready for when I go back to work...

Mercedes519 · 24/03/2011 20:23

I 'chose' when DS was 5 minutes old. I was lying on the table as they rummaged in my insides and came over and said "we need to feed DS, is Farleys OK?". I'd just had some morphine and they were washing up in my stomach and I just remember thinking WTF "they want me to have an opinion on formula?"

So Farleys it was for the rest of the time he drank formula!

DISCLAIMER TO AVOID FLAMING: DS was IUGR and came out pretty much starved so he had to be fed to survive.

ladyintheradiator · 24/03/2011 20:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Firawla · 24/03/2011 20:30

cow & gate, when i was in hosp with ds1 he needed to be supplimented with some formula as he was losing weight, midwife asked what one and i said i don't know she told me apparently all the muslim people go for cow & gate (it does say halal on it but i think most of them also do?) so i thought okay then will go with that! so used it again for ds2, did briefly try aptamil just due to all the claims that it is the "best" but was not impressed - c&g much better imo, aptamil made his poo go weird. i wouldn't stray from c&g now at all unless baby really didnt like it or something

hubbard86 · 24/03/2011 20:45

tried sma, C&G and hipp with ds1. Sma was given at hospital and we bought 1 tin when we went home but it made ds1 constipated. Hipp organic, when i sent my dad to buy a box of formula but it made his pee smell funny so we stuck with cow and gate comfort as it didn't irritate his reflux as badly. Dd is 4 weeks and was a cow and gate baby from 5 days post birth

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