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.

Finally - I did say the link doesn't show the text but if anyone has access to journal databases they may be able to get that one if they are interested. And If you are genuinely interested you can get the book i mentioned from the library and it is also referenced in there. I have just checked and it is on page 2.

"OP, I agree, if all the formula companies got together and swapped notes to come up with one single formula that was least processed, organic and "best" (I have no idea what that would be, but the men and women in white coats should ) and then agreed to sell it without free cows, polar bears and pens at a permanent low price (maybe linked to the price of skimmed milk) they would be the good guys."

:o

They would be the idiot guys.

Producing and selling formula is not a charitable service.

PMSL at "processed, organic and best" if you are trying to argue that advertising is unnecessary and doesn't provide a competetive advantage.

Yes I agree they'd be commercially stupid to do it now, but I'd be impressed
Also, I am not arguing that advertising doesn't work. I get quite annoyed when people try to tell me they are influenced by that

think you need to read what I have actually written :)

Stealth the problem with powdered infant formula is that it's not sterile. You can catch all sorts of bugs from it if you don't prep it right (ie never ever make it with cold water,, even if said water has been boiled). The recommendation is to use the guaranteed sterile stuff till baby is a few weeks old to rule out any chance of picking up enterobacter or something similar.

Can't remember where I read the reference. Probably in the reams of WHO guidelines for safe preparation of formula!

I do agree that less money spent on marketing could help reduce the cost, and that there is little reason not to give boots points etc - i dont think that sort of thing affects peoples decision to BF or not.

I don't think there could be any such thing as one formula that is "best". Different variants will suit different people. Plenty of anecdotes on here about babies who didn't get on with one brand but did well on another.

I actually came on to say what Rilla said: It's made for a profit, not out of the goodness of the companies' hearts. and feeding your baby/toddler/child isn't going to ever go down in price.

Thanks for clarification about tiny babies - I didn't realise that was actually a guideline.

Do you not think it should be available outside of normal commercial concerns? I know now it's not but I fail to see how it couldn't be.

I think there are pretty good provisions for those on small incomes (healthy start vouchers which are £6.20 a week for under 1s) and those with medical needs (severe reflux/allergies etc.) to get free formula and the everyone else does get CB as others have said. Babies don't need much else other than nappies so CB should cover it pretty much.

People can choose the cheaper formula brands. Obv. their child might not like it but there are some slightly different prices in the formula market. I can't see how no choice would improve anything.

But you only formula feed for a short time - you are going to have to pay for lots more food after that!

If i 'choose' to buy the ready made meals and jars when weaning instead of BLW or making my own baby food, should that be subsidised too? Its not really so different (not saying a lot of people don't have difficulties with BF).

Similarly, what about the price of car seats? There are legally required and very very expensive. What if i want a generally more expensive but safer rear facing seat? At the end of the day its my choice both to drive and choose the safer seat. I can't expect companies to make these things for nothing for me.

I DO agree it is a lot of money. But so are lots of things in life that many of us would consider essential.

But weaning food varies and you have the option to buy cheaper substitutes if needed

It's a pretty big challenge to entirely feed a child on less than £8 a week unless you are making a good proportion of that food in your boobs.

There might be cheap "weaning food" but only if it's combined with either formula or breastmilk.

If people can't afford to feed their children formula then they are unlikely to be able to feed them human food, so something is going wrong here.

(someone said Boots sold Cow & Gate for £8 so that's the minimum-formula-price that I'm going for here)

Joyful puddle jumper, you can get SMA lactose free on prescription if you need to. It is twice the price of normal formula. Go see your doctor, ignore the hv.

Stealth - the same applies to formula - sma is generally cheaper than aptamil . And the vast majority have the option to breastfeed (yes i know there are people who have been let down by midwives/Hv/ can't/ dont want to/ dont have good support). Its all about the choices we make. Some are more expensive than others.

Puddlejumper ignore your HV and go see your GP, since they are the ones qualified to prescribe things. Explain exactly what happens when your DS has regular formula. In detail. You may well qualify for the dairy-free formula on prescription.

The Healthy Start vouchers no longer cover the cost of a tin of formula, they did when my oldest 3 DC were little, you exchanged them at the HV clinic for the tins and paid nothing, yet with DS3, you have to use them in the supermarket.

Formula here roughly £8.99 a tin, Healthy Start vouchers are £6.20 a week for DC under 1yo. The week of their first birthday, they drop to £3.10 a week.

AND if you have a baby who is dairy allergic, you can't use the Healthy Start vouchers to lower the cost of Nutramigen. And my local NHS will only prescribe a MAXIMUM of 6 tins a month, usually only 4, I have to argue with the GP to get 6, and Nutramigen only comes in half-sized tins.

It's really expensive, too. For each tin over and above what is given on prescription, it now costs £14.28 for every 400g tin. If you are on benefits and are having to pay for that ( DS3 gets through 8-10 in a month, I have to use it in his cooking too), it gets very expensive.

It annoys me that I didn't choose for DS3 to be dairy, soy, nut allergic, he still has to use formula milk at 16mo, and I can't even get a discount of £3.10 a tin by using my Healthy Start vouchers!

Careful trills, it is mn crime %234 to suggest, even obliquely, that it's not a good idea to have children you can't afford. Although I completely agree with you.

Agreed my local shop has increased their cartons of SMA 250 mils from £.70 to 89p this week it just seems to be complete profiteering im intending on complaining even though my little one is six months next week and we will be moving onto follow-on milk so that at least they're occasionally On offer unlike first stage milk (though I do Agree with this).

I was determined to bf but was unsuccessful, mix fed for 8 weeks before fully ffing, I dread to think how much weve spent as I have a bottomless pit monster baby

Oh, and SMA lactose free still has CMP (Cow's Milk Protein) in, so would not be any good for someone with a CMP allergy!!

Not all GP's rush to provide 'specialist' formula on prescription, they have financial constraints too, and they'd even in cases with proven medical need, with severe, even life threatening allergies to CMP.

I wasn't suggesting that at all.

Something has gone wrong if people can't afford to feed their children. All children should be fed. I think we all agree on this.

If someone on benefits can't afford formula, should benefits be higher?

If someone not on benefits can't afford formula, maybe they need some?

If someone in general can't afford to feed their children then they either need:
1 - more money
2 - budgeting lessons

I'm not in any way suggesting which applies in any particular cases.

Goodness me! Not all these posts are as supportive as they could be. I am very pro breastfeeding. I fed my first DD up until she was 1. Due to being seriously ill this time, I had no choice but to ff. Yes I can afford it, but it doesn't make it fair.

Anyway, to cut through some of this nonsense, some people have mentioned that Cow and Gate is the same as Aptamil. Is is right, in which case I will swap.

And still no-one has told me what I can do with the empty tins!

Those with horses, please go and muck them out or somethng!

Puddlejumper - I don't understand why the £10 of formula is coming out of your food budget if you receive Child Benefit of £20 per week. Surely this is additional income that you wouldn't have had if you hadn't had DC and some of which can be put towards feeding your child.

The last time I had to buy formula in 2004 it was just over £5.00 a tin for SMA Gold. Not sure how much that would be now.
I had the most horrendous time trying to breastfeed. I did all I could but probably was not supported enough in hospital.
I had an emergency csection with GA so did not get off to the best start.
In the end I felt pressurised into giving dd a bottle as they would not discharge me from hospital until feeding properly established.
Still feel bitter bout it today.
So no formula feeding was not a lifestyle choice.