Annoyed with the price of formula

[pigletmania]

I am mixed feeding, after a rocky start bf and ds not latching found myself having to express and supplement with formula. The formula is over 10 pounds a tin, and the tin is never full up. This is an essential product if a mum is not able to bf, or chooses not to. There should be an upper limit on price, and formula should be unbranded.

It is unfair that it's so expensive. I can barely afford to mix feed so i dread him being fully on formula. We use Cow and Gate Comfort and it costs £9.50 a tub. I'm in the north west. As far as I know it's the same price all over the country in the supermarkets but maybe 'convenience' shops like a small tesco or co op do charge more.

The healthy start vouchers are just for low income/those on benefits isn't it? We don't fall in the low income bracket but on maternity pay and after all the bills have been paid I don't have have a spare £10 for an extra tub of formula.

Its a disgrace, it has gone up nearly £5 a tim since i has pfb nine years ago!
You get next to no change out of a tenner, and in month that is nearly £40.
I do wonder though whether this is down to the goverment bf drive though as well as greedy companies???
Its a shame Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys dont have own brands that could save money

I'm sure I saw yesterday that the double clubcard offer that Tesco's is running can be used on formula, so if you have any vouchers it might be worth a look?

Don't buy any baby stuff in 'local' shops if you can possibly avoid it - nappies and wipes are also far cheaper bought in bulk from Asda.

How long does one tin last?

Well 40 pound a month isn't much to feed a baby surely?

Why should it be sold for cost - these are profit making companies - both the manufacturer and the reseller.

All food is sold for some sort of profit.

It's £500 a year, which is a lot of money. It presumably costs a bit more than that as well, as you're bound to have times where you get caught short and have to grab a couple of pre mixed bottles from a shop when you're out. It's only a few scoops of powdered milk at the end of the day.

Boots used to do their own brand - I presume they stopped cos it didn't sell well.

The price is high to pay for all the advertising that people keep saying they need

Look at the price of powdered skimmed milk and compare with formula - which is basically the same thing tinkered with and veg or fish oils added. Tha markup is shocking

£40 a month is a lot to feed a baby when your food budget is only £50 per week anyway. So that leaves you with £40 a week to buy food for you and dp, not to mention any other dc, plus nappies and wipes and essential toiletries (toothpaste/shampoo), cleaning products and toilet roll. Even if you buy the basic range of everything it still mounts up.

My mum used to have to go without meals so she could buy nappies and formula. Not very good for her as a diabetic, 20 years later and she still hasn't got her diabetes under control. A quick read of the "you know when you're skint" thread tells you this kind of thing is still going on today.

Ff is not a lifestyle choice for many families, it's a necessity. Adult food doesn't cost this much so why should a baby's food?

Amazon are goodfor bulk buying nappies by the way, and boots often have 3 for 2 offers on the jumbo packs online. I used to get SMA formula from Asda, it was about £7.99 per tin (North west) that was the cheapest around here.

An upper limit on price?

Because something is an essential product?

For all essential products, or just baby-related ones?

Has to be said - for the majority of people formula is not an essential product.

One tin used to last us just under a week when ds was under 6 months, just over a week once he was being weaned.

Asdas is absolutely cheapest for happies and wipes.

Re formula - if as many people who think they can't BF actually couldn't - the western world would have died out pre formula.

Better bf education would help a lot there.

And if ff is a choice - you can't complain about the cost.

The idea of a medical indicator for those who can't for whatever meaning formula is cheaper isn't a bad idea.

Ds1 used to do a Tin and a Half a week - that's just one of the costs of having a baby.

I know! I couldn't bf (very inverted nipples) - our twins are now almost 8 months. A box of aptamil lasts us about 3.5 days. £9.49 is the cheapest for aptamil - all places are the same (if not more). I tried to move them on to a cheaper brand but they wouldn't go with it. I am spending shed loads on formula - but at least now we can buy stage 3 and get boots points on it (nearly a quid off per box - provided you spend all your points on yet more formula!)

You can get milk tokens or whatever they are now but it's not much use if you earn just that little but too much to qualify is it?

I can't believe how much the price has gone up since dd was a baby 14 years ago, £10 a tin??

I would have struggled to afford that every week tbh and I would not have qualified for milk vouchers.

I think there should just be a standard price across the board so every supermarket, etc should sell for the same price, after all if it is cheaper in asda but you don't drive and it cost you £3 on thebus to get there you aren't saving money IYSWIM.

Formula IS available on prescription for those who 'need' it, for example women with HIV or for babies who needs a certain type of formula, for example to put on weight more quickly if they have been ill in scbu.

The formula feeding age of having your baby is pretty cheap compared to when they get older. Formula is very heavily regulated to make sure it contains adequate nutrition for babies and is constantly being researched and improved upon to make sure it is as good as it can be - there are at least 100 changes every year. That research has to be paid for and if it was sold at cost that research would be limited.

£10 a week can seem a lot out of your budget, especially when on maternity leave, but all in all i don't think it seems expensive for what it is. Its like lots of things that would be nice if it were cheaper (e.g. childcare, fruit and veg, sanitary protection) but if you want a certain quality it has to be paid for.

Btw I challenge anyone to tell me I could have actually bf!! If they had been born before formula, they would have had a wet nurse (not died)!

I think ownbrand would be a good idea, but isn't Child Benefit supposed to cover these sorts of costs anyway?

Stop buying the expensive milk then. Go to Boots and get some cow and gate first stage milk for £7.99.

If the baby is over six months you'll also get 10 points per pound and use special offers when they are on. They have just come off 3 for 2.

Tbh I find them much more expensive now they are 6 and 8. So I'd be thankful just now you only spend that on feeding them!

goodygumdrops- I wasn't aware that there were 100 changes a year to formula, have you got any information about that?

and adult food costs a hell of a lot more than £10 a week. Why should Govt subsidise feeding your baby?

Yes, you can read about it in Successful Breastfeeding published by the Royal College of midwives ( i read it when i was pregnant).

It is in this article if you are interested and want to get hold of it - i cant find a full text on line:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8063585