Is Aptamil really 'closest to breastmilk' ??

[smallpotato]

Just wondering really - I have heard this time and time again and don't really see how it's possible - can they really make these claims?

DD1 was mix-fed from 2 weeks, and part of the reason I chose Aptamil was in my sleep-deprived haze I remembered someone saying it was the 'best'. We switched to Hipp Organic soon after though as I compared the ingredients and decided to go with the one that seemed to have the fewest additives.

DD2 is 11 months and still BF, so it's not an issue for me now, but a friend is struggling with BF and she mentioned she is thinking of topping up with Aptamil as she had heard it's 'closest to breastmilk'.

Is this actually true or just a clever marketing strategy??

marketing.

It's a marketing strategy.

The mainstream formula milks are all modified cows' milk with various fortifications. It's a perfectly good thing on which to feed your baby. But it's a whole species away from breast milk.

It's a bit like Granny Smith, Cox's, Golden Delicious etc are all being perfectly good choices of fruit, but they'll never be a pear.

Clever marketing strategy.

It's supposed to taste closest to breastmilk, so it's better for mixed feeding... I don't know how true that actually is, but it is slightly less disgusting tasting than some other formulas

what, do you not try them? Lol

I had heard that aptamil was the worst tasting of the mainstream formulas? I havent tried any myself, but one of my friends did when she was trying to persuade her babies to take formula.

Of course it isn't. It's a good formula but it's dried cows milk, essentially.
Breastmilk is a living bodily fluid which grows, changes and adapts to the baby as it grows and is full of hormones and antibodies and stuff we can never even begin to think of replicating.

There really is no comparison.

I'll also add that Aptimil are VERY clever at marketing. they have pushed their product at the middle class market who traditionally are more likely to breastfeed. They make their product more expensive and by marketing it as , " closest to breastmilk" so that middle class mothers who couldn't breastfeed or have to stop or couldn't start, choose it.

It's the Waitrose of the formula world, not better than any other formula just cleverly marketed.

Oh no, SMA was disgusting, I mean, want to boke horrible, aptamil was just slightly odd tasting.
The others were somewhere in between.

Not that I did a huge sampling, rofl, just a few because I'm bad for testing temperature on my wrist and then going, hmm wonder what that tastes like then...

Greenstocking, that's very true actually, thinking about it there isn't much advertising for the other brands (that sticks in my mind anyway) but I always see Aptamil adverts. And when I used it, the fact it was a few pence more expensive did on some level make me think it must be better. More fool me!

Aptamil and Cow and Gate are made by the same company IIRC. And if I also remember correctly, the ingredients are identical? And Cow and Gate is a bit cheaper?

I compared aptimal and cow and gate in the supermarket

They were almost identical. Aptimal contained a different amount of 1 thing, though i cant remember which one thing it was!

I did that too nannyl, the difference seems very little, but for the £1 a tin price difference!!

Rosie, yes C&G and Aptamil are made in the factory, by the same company, with the same ingredients.

I have always wanted to know if there are 2 diff production lines.
Doubt it cos that would be unneccesary but I don't know how the price difference is justifiable.

Unless it's to pay for the extra advertising

I know everyone says it's marketing etc. etc. and I would love to believe that all formula are the same so I could buy a cheaper brand for DS2, but in my experience they're not really the same. DS1 could only have First Aptamil or he would get stomach problems, diarrhoea, loads of illnesses and so on. I'm trying to convince myself it's co-incidence but after 2 years of DS1 being on and off Aptamil First milk(tried all sorts of other first, follow on and toddler milk in between), my favourite is still Aptamil first. Not so sure if it's co-incidence that he's always very healthy and happy on Aptamil First.

Now with DS2, loads of feeding problems, reflux, strange poo, trouble sucking - so have tried changing milk. Once again Aptamil First has come up trumps against Hipp, SMA, Cow and Gate, even it's own Aptamil Comfort. Strange..

Ps. Hipp tastes lovely! DS1(drank in milk form) and I(ate it in powder form) finished the leftovers. cheeky

I have 2 friends who used Aptimil and both of them said it was terrible and resulted in both children having runny, smelly poos and loads of nappy rash.
they have changed brands and they are both better and putting on weight again.

It is clever advertising, I remember using Farleys with dc1&2 as that was closer to breastmilk.
How they can get away with saying 'closer to breastmilk' i don't know as it is obviously nowhere near, they wouldn't put 'closer to human milk' would they?

How can it taste closest to breastmilk?

Breastmilk tastes different depending on whose boobies it comes out of, what the woman has been eating and drinking, what time of day it is, how warm the weather is and how old the baby is.

good point all hail!

breast milk tastes different every time, formular will always taste the same, which is so opposite of breastmilk its unbelievable!

They all claim to be closest to breastmilk don't they?

None of them are like breastmilk though, they are all skimmed cow's milk with fish and vegetable oils, vitamins, sweetener and flavourings Except for Hipp, that doesn't have fish.

anonMum - they are basically all the same, but with minor differences, and babies may prefer the flavour of one, or be upset by another. My ds is fine with C&G and Aptimil (they taste identical) but SMA gave him the runs.

Aptimil is marked particularly well though as the Middle Class brand - the brand for breastfeeders. It's also promoted aggressively to HCPs.

to be fair allhailtheaubergine - I don't think it tasted anything like breastmilk, just not as disgusting as other ones
I didn't try Hipp though, lol

Rita, just checked my hipp first which I bought last week and it does contain fish, just to make you aware

Ah, I thought Hipp didn't contain fish as there wasn't an organic source - maybe that has changed now.

I have also heard that cow and gate and aptamil are the same - they seem to have the same ingredients in the same order, the same vitamin distribution and are made by the same company in the same plant. The only difference I've found so far is that Aptamil is more expensive!!!!
My baby is very happy on SMA and I know for sure that it does not contain fish ingredient (not like other milks) :)

Clever Marketing

Aptamil was the first formula milk to introduce LCP's (derived from seaweed/fish algae if I remember correctly) which are found naturally in breastmilk.

Now virtually all formulas contain them although when I ised formula I avoided the fish algae brands as I didn't like the idea.

Here's a thought, if breastmilk changes all the time why do we assume babies have to have the same formula brand consistently? Don't they all have to meet some minimum legal requirements?