where to begin with formula

[ash1971]

Sorry to be dense, but, could you please advise on which stage formula I should be getting: dd (7mnths) has been ebf and is happily munching away on all sorts of foods now. She'll be starting ft nursery next month and so I need to get her used to formula. If I used my common sense, I'd get the stage 2 (combined with weaning stuff), but just need a prod in the right direction from people who've been there. Thanks.

You don't necessarily need to start her on formula unless you want to, if you wanted to continue BF you could feed before/after nursery and she could have maybe a bit of expressed milk when she is there if you wanted?

Do you want to stop BF or just add some formula while at nursery, because stopping is best done gradually by dropping one feed every few days so that you are less likely to get engorged and uncomfortable.

If you want to go for formula, any first milk is suitable right up to 12 months, I would go for a normal one rather than a 'hungry' one as they are even harder to digest. Follow on milks tend to be a bit cheaper but tend to have a lot of hard to absorb iron in them which can cause constipation and interesting poo all round.

If you don't currently give any bottles I wouldn't start now - you can go straight to a sippy cup/beaker with a freeflow spout.

I would offer some milk in the daytimes to start with, so if it gave her tummy ache or anything she would be uncomfortable overnight.

It's stage 1 infant formula you need. Also don't get so fixated on formula when weaning off day feeds. Also offer solid snacks and water as a choice. My DD picked to have no milk by 8mo when she is at nursery. (Or more accurately she only drank about 15ml from her bottles and I stopped sending them to nursery by 9mo as I was pouring money down the drain).

And brilliant that she is still BF at 7 months , it gets easier than ever now if you wanted to carry on (it was about this age that I realised it would be more faff to switch to FF but I hadn't thought through any plan of how long to feed for)

Neither of mine were at all fussy about milk , one was FF from 13 weeks and drank any milk happily, the other BF for a long time but had some formula topups in the early days for big weight loss, he was just as happy with BF or formula to be honest.

Thanks for your replies. I do plan to carry on bfing morn and night, but won't be expressing for nursery as I'm so slow and haven't the time (she's dd3)! I'll go for the first stage stuff and see how she goes. Got myself in a ? when I started looking at it all - didn't realise there were so many different 'stages', now thinking rationally, realise it's prob part of their marketing! Thanks again.

I don't blame you, I hated expressing, it was such a drag. Handy when you have to though. DS was a little older when I went back to work and he just had food and water when I was out, I expressed a few times at work to start with, for my own comfort really, then I adjusted and didn't need to, so I stopped.

Lovely to have a feed and a snuggle when you get home though.

1st stage formula is and would be fine for your LO but it is subject to a discount/promotion embargo so cannot be offered at a reduced sale or as part of any promotion. 6m+ formula (stage 2 or 3 i believe depending on whether the brand has a hungry baby forumla) is not restricted so you can often pick it up onsale or part of 2 for 3 etc promotions and obtain tesco/nectar/boots points for your purchases.

That's useful to know, lynlynnicebutdim, thanks. Right, next stop - putting the brakes on our daytime feeds. Boo, I can't believe how quickly this has all come round.