Back up formula question from a first time mum

[moomin35]

So I am planning on breastfeeding and really hope i can do it. However, i do have some bottles and a steriliser in the cupboard "just in case"! I know this isnt always advised as it means you can give up too early too early on but I thought I ought to have a tub of formula powder milk ready to use should I encounter real issues and I am on my own. I just wanted to know what to go for. There seems to be 3 main brands (SMA, Aptamil and Cow and Gate) and I guess i need the one marked "from birth/newborn" etc but what should I go for or does it really not matter?

Hi there
It honestly doesn't really matter. I didn't have any in and then needed it so you're exactly right to be prepared.

Sorry, should add that it doesn't matter re brand. You'd need 'from birth'

They're expensive for what they are but you can buy 6 packs of premade bottles with teats etc all ready to go. I plan on buying a pack before my little one so that I have a fall-back plan without buying loads of bottles/ steriliser etc.
Def need from birth, companies are much of a muchness. Some studies a while back showed Aptamil was closer to breast milk but I would imagine by now they're all basically the same. only Aptamil of those 3 is halal if that is important to you.

They're expensive for what they are but you can buy 6 packs of premade bottles with teats etc all ready to go. I plan on buying a pack before my little one so that I have a fall-back plan without buying loads of bottles/ steriliser etc.
Def need from birth, companies are much of a muchness. Some studies a while back showed Aptamil was closer to breast milk but I would imagine by now they're all basically the same. only Aptamil of those 3 is halal if that is important to you.

There isn't really anything to choose between the brands - although I'd recommend starting off on whatever you can get in your corner shop or garage at 10pm on a Sunday!

If it's genuinely a just in case and you're determined to succeed at bf, I'd get a few ready made cartons. Then if you use one or two you won't feel you have to finish the tin. Also you'll be using them at the end of your tether inthe middle of the night and won't want to have to count scoops or boil and measure water - just pour out a couple of ounces from the carton and put the rest of the carton in the fridge.

The Aptamil closer to breastmilk thing was so untrue the ad campaign was banned, but people still trot out the line. All brands are as close as they can be to bm (nutrient levels controlled by law) and only differ in what ingredients they use to provide those nutrients.

If you can get to a chemist then it would be a good idea to buy a feeding syringe (or a few), that way the baby doesn't get confused with the different type of sucking required for a bottle. They are 50p -£1 each dependent on size. A midwife gave me one with dd1 when I had delayed milk production and it was the most helpful thing for me, at a time when I was feeling horrendous.

We got some ready made formula and did use it occasionally (not more than twice a week) in the first few weeks as I had an emergency Caesarean and was feeling very fragile to start with and not up to hours of battling with feeding. I definitely think it helped keep me calm enough to carry on breastfeeding, so it worked for me. Baby is now almost 10 weeks and hasn't had any formula since about 2-3 weeks old. I was fairly determined to carry on breastfeeding though, mainly out of sheer laziness (could not face the idea of faffing about with bottles in the middle of the night or when out and about).
I think the ready made is definitely much easier than worrying about measuring if it's only for occasional use or 'just in case'. And I agree about not opening a pot of powder as it did feel like a waste throwing away most of the bottle of ready to use formula. (I had to persuade husband that we shouldn't give the rest just because we'd opened it).

I had back up formula in the house as due to my health problems there was a chance I could be hospitalised within the first few weeks following the birth so me and DH had to prepare for that.

I found breast feeding very difficult during the first few weeks and on two occasions I cracked as I couldn't cope with DS's hungry screams at silly hours in the morning when I couldn't get him to attach. I told DH to go and make up a bottle but by the time he'd boiled the kettle and then waited for it to cool I'd managed to get DS attach somehow. After two episodes of 'cracking' and the bottle taking forever I told DH to go and buy the ready made bottles of Aptamil. They are more expensive but if they are only being used as a one-off then the convenience makes up for the price.

However, in hindsight maybe it's a good thing that making up the bottle of formula took so long as on both occasions I ended up breast feeding anyway. If I'd had the ready made bottles in the house then I'm about 99% sure I'd have given them and would have missed the opportunities to feed and stimulate my supply. I also worry that I would have seen how easy it was to just offer formula and that it would have left me taking that route as opposed to persevering with the BF.

However, I do believe that having an alternative feeding option in the house is a good thing, it's just important to establish how and when you intend to use it.

The best of luck with your new baby when it arrives

I did last time and have this time bought bottle feeding essentials just in case, even though I breastfed successfully last time so am quite confident all will be ok with time fingers crossed I bought a couple of bottles of ready made as if I did need it there's enough to get by a day or so before buying a tub without the expense if you end up wasting a tub.

With my last baby, on the first night I was already home and at 11pm when everyone was asleep I felt very unsure (I should have gone to the living room and turned lights on and fed him, I guess I felt uncomfortable suddenly having to feed in the dark in bed) I made up some formula and let him sip out of the tommee tippee bottle lid until he seemed full enough and we both then slept til morning. I was having trouble feeding and he was losing weight and not having wet or dirty nappies so I did the same thing a couple of days later. Turns out I hadn't been holding him firmly enough to keep his grasp which is why he wasn't feeding :( once I corrected that breastfeeding went much better and I had only used about 5 scoops from the entire tub! Good luck with breastfeeding, it can be hard at first but in the end it is easier than washing and sterilising bottles!

I used cow & gate when I couldn't feed, I'm going to get some in just incase I can't this time around, I'm gonna stick with ow & gate again as my other 2 had no problems with it. However it's much of a muchness between them. Check what you local shop sells

Marking place, useful thread.

Hi I didn't breastfeed but I used hipp organic stage 1 they say is "most like breast milk" but if you end up combi feeding for a few days it's very easy for babies to digest and comes in pre made bottles or cartons and a powder. If you are planning to breastfeed I would go with pre made for emergencies as making bottles when sleep deprived isnt fun let alone if your feeling sad/stressed about not breastfeeding. Hth

Agree with buying any brand of premade bottles/cartons. I planned to breastfeed but bought 2 bottles and 4 bottles of milk just incase. As it was while I had excellent milk flow (literally poured out of me) my daughter couldn't latch so I expressed for 3 weeks before switching to formula.

For what it's worth, when we switched to formula I started on sma, it left her totally constipated. We switched to cow and gate and she got on much better with that. But nutritionally they are all one and the same.

Good luck :)

Cow & Gate and Aptimal are made in the same factory by the same people and there is only 1 ingredient difference between the two. Yet on average Aptimal costs around £2 more.

I used formula with my first child and tried SMA which caused constipation and a sore stomach so we stuck with Cow & Gate afterwards.