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

[soppypreggyloon]

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! :)

SMA because the individual cartons were 250ml instead of 200ml and I KNEW that extra 50ml would be a godsend when he got bigger/hungrier! (I was right!)

I used cow and gate for 3 babies. There was only a choice between that and SMA and I had heard that SMA was too rich for some babies. I did use Boots own formula for my 3rd baby [due to being slightly cheaper] but Boots never seemed to have it in stock so I went back to Cow and Gate.

I used SMA with dd (my mum and sister both used it in the past). I used Aptamil to start with for ds (got told about it being closest to breastmilk) but eventually ended up on Cow and Gate as it is made by the same company and was cheaper

We were lucky as DS1 seemed to like them all, but went with Hipp organic as it is organic and it was by far the cheapest, the packaging was annoying at first, but once decanted into a tin was fine.

We did like the Farleys one as that was also cheap and we could be nostalgic about eating Farleys rusks when we were kids but then they re-branded it to Heinz and it suddenly became the most expensive!!!

Wouldn't touch SMA with a ten foot barge pole

So, which one is nestle? I was thinking about the boycott and really couldn't figure it out (in 10 mnts standing at the aisle).

I used SMA gold with DS1 as thats what they used at the hospital (it took a long time to come around after EMCS and they needed to feed him).

With DS2 I used SMA for a few weeks then switched to Aptimil as he had bad colic, my SIL recommended the change as she had done the same with her DS.

I dont think Nestle sells formula in the UK

DS2 has Hipp Organic as it has 1 Cal more per 100ml of feed than the others...and yes I realise that is a very silly reason lol!

He was 2 months prem and got discharged from Hospital on Nutriprem 2 which he absolutely hated and would only drink a tiny amount so I decided to change to "normal" formula so while looking at them all I realised that it had slightly more calories (though I have no idea why) so picked that.

I like the fact that it's smaller packets but not everywhere sells it and the pre-made cartons are more difficult to get hold on which is a bit of a pain but DS2 loves it and is doing well on so thats all I care about really!

Insofar as DS had formula also nutriprem 2 (which is cow and gate) as that was prescribed. Now he has whatever I get round to buying, so mainly hipp organic (cos its organic) some cow and ate and some sma because the ready made cartons are 250 ml not 200ml and its useful to have a mixture

sweetgrapes I wondered what formula Nestle made too, but after some googling, I couldn't find out at all - I take it that they don't make it in the UK either. Does anyone actually know?

No Nestle don't market formula in the uk.

thisisyesterday - ah ha, thanks. I thought that must have been the case as I just couldn't see it anywhere (unless they had done a good job in keeping it quiet!).

As a midwife some women who have just given birth look at me blankly when I ask them which formula they want me to fetch for their baby. They haven't given it any thought and tell me which ever one I think is best. So I explain that they're all the same, etc and ask the woman if she knows which one is in her corner shop incase she runs out, etc. If they still don't know then I'll get either Cow and Gate or SMA which ever one I see first. I never get Aptamil as its more expensive. I mean it will be more expensive for the family in the long run if they stick with that brand.

well i was asked what formula i wanted to give ds1 when they insisted on it because he wouldn't breastfeed and i had no idea either.

nothing to do with not thinking about it or finding out beforehand, i just never expected to need it.

i was just like "why are they asking me this? i have no idea". he had SMA but I can't remember why they chose it

although, i do think that women who are planning on formula feeding ought to have a vague idea? they must've bought some in advance you would think

Thisisyesterday - sorry I should have been clearer, I was thinking about women who have intended to formula feed from the start. I don't mind that they haven't thought about it. I suppose maybe they have thought about it and come to the conclusion that they'll just ask the m/w to recommend one. Which is fair enough I guess.