QUICK POLL, IF YOU BOTTLE-FED ......... NOT FOR A ROW, GENUINELY INTERESTED!

[lissielou]

if you ff, did you choose to because of packaging?
advertising?
logos?
and if not, why not?

that's my point, though, liesel. there is no real information out there. HVs have only read 'closest to BM' on the pack, same as everyone else. althoughC&G used to say the same as well. now they're not allowed to make those claims, because they weren't substantiable, so now people are relying on hearsay and pretty boxes to make their decisions. we need a Which report, basically.

I dont need a "Which" report - SMA worked very well for me, if Actimel has a good record on here then I may try that this time instead.

I mixed fed DS1 from six weeks and chose Cow & Gate because someone had spun me the 'it's closest to breastmilk' line and it had IMO classier packaging than the other brands at that time (1999). Then DS1 ended up with a lactose intollerance and was prescribed SMA Soya for a few weeks and when he started back on cows milk formula we used SMA as it was a few pence cheaper per tin and by that time I couldn't care less what the packaging was like.

all of them have a good record on here, though. with only a very few exceptions, everyone says that their baby thrived on the milk they chose. why would they say anything else, given that they are all much of a muchness?

just in case you think that i am getting at you, i'm really not.

By AitchTwoOh on Mon 16-Apr-07 13:55:17
mix fed ,chose aptamil because it said 'closer to bm' and because the doc had recommended it. i did occasionally look wistfully at the C&G organic because it had a prettier box, so yes, i am an idiot.

Our unit offers Aptamil, Cow & Gate, SMA and Farley's.

Most commonly used is C&G and SMA I would say. Our NNU uses Aptamil. Stinks less when vomited!

I remember when it was only SMA on offer.

A lot of women have not got milk in when bottle feeding for going home. They wait to see what we advise. As I have said before we cannot advise which is best - there is no answer to that.

OK just had a quick scan of the thread and see that I am 'thick as mince' to have been influenced by the packaging!

mears - are you not allowed to advise due to current guidelines, or just because there's no answer to that question?

Because there is no answer to the question TBH

I used Aptamil because I knew through a friend that it was used in a lot of NNUs - it worked for DS (he thrived, poos said to resemble bf baby ones, no constipation), and I only switched him when we went travelling (he was 10 months) and I wanted one which came in stick packs - and then switched him again in Australia cos we couldn't get the same brands. By that time I had concluded that he really didn't care - and I will do the same with DD when we go to the US in the summer (can anyone give recommendations on brands in the US?)
I do know other people who have had problems and DC have only been happy with one brand - so as in all things I guess it depends on your DC!

Yep, moondog, there are more brands than that, but I really don't know why they aren't all there.

Aptamil is very rarely there (except as I say in SCBU), and neither is Farleys. There may be regional differences, though.

I'm guessing it will have something to do with marketing strategies . Or it could be cost. Aptamil is a premium brand, and that is its strength in marketing terms. The reps may not push it into maternity units, in case it becomes a 'pleb' formula.....Aptamil is the posho's formula, doncha know, marketed primarily to mothers who start off breastfeeding, and having it share shelf space with SMA and C&G in the maternity unit might ruin its image, dahling......

Ack, liesel, not Actimel.....that is something else entirely.

Havin said that, I have heard of two cases where the mum gave Actimel 'because the midwife said he needed topping up and recommended Actimel'.

sorry Aptamil

With dd (i was young) I just chose the one I'd heard of which was C&G

With ds I chose aptamil because it was recommended by the mw as closest to breastmilk (and I had fed for 2 weeks).

DS was ff for the first 5 days (via tube in SCBU), then bf until 12 weeks (unmitigated disaster from start to finish), then ff again. The hospital gave him SMA so I used that when I started ffing him as I knew it didn't disagree with him.

Packaging, advertising, logos would have been irrelevant to my decision.

pckaging had nothing to do with my choice to FF.

i knew i would FF before i even fell pregnant. it may have influenced which brand i used had i not just used the formula known to me from my siblings use.

SMA because it was the only one I'd heard of when they offered me a selection in the hospital. I think it was the one I was fed with. Was so adamant I was breastfeeding I hadn't thought to do any research into formulas at all.

I used a Aptamil for my DS - think it was recomended by HV, after 2 weeks BF. With my DD is just started straight into Aptamil - as it seemed fine before. Dead easy to wean onto cows milk too from it.

this is just to respond to exbury's question of formulas in the US,

The big three formulas are:

"Good Start" which is made by Nestle.
"Similac" which is made by Ross Labs
"Enfamil" which is made by Wyeth

Hope this helps.

Have to add I recommend Good Start but, Similac and Enfamil are easier to find in most stores. In all three you can get soy, and Similac and Enfamil have more hypoallergenic formulas to choose from.

I thought I'd breast feed, my mum did and all my friends did. I was looking forward to it but then, one day, during pregnancy, I saw a tin of SMA in the shop and the picture on it was so pretty, and the colours worked so well with my kitchen scheme that I just thought, sod breast feeding. This is the way forward for me.

I don't think any new mum cares much about packaging when your baby is screaming and for whatever reason bf isn't an option you pick the nearest to hand.

Also I remember it saying on the tins of sma that it was closest to bm aswell.

botbot, i was exactly the same. when you are unable to bf, which milk you do use becomes irrelevant, you just tend to focus on the milk you are not iykwim.

Nestle??
Evil.