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?

Oh and I used cartons of ready made milk for the first 4 weeks because I read on here that there had been one or two problems with powder milk before 1 month old.

people may not have time to read the packaging, but i still think they should give detailed info of the contents of formula on their pacakaging - do they do this ? is there an ingredients list on them ?

may be i should just use my common sense and have look when i am in tesco next time instead of asking silly question on MN ?

I breast fed for 6 weeks the first time and 8 weeks the second time.

I didn't like the sensation and to keep my sanity I switched to formula feeding.

The formula I chose was Aptimil because that was supposed to be the closest to breast milk.

I FF all 4 of my kids( had no choice, I didnt produce any milk) with a brand the hospital recommended to me, All 4 loved it and I never had any problems with it,

but I can't recall a 'grab me off the shelf' picture either. All I can remember is that SMA was in a round tin with a yellow plastic lid - great for storage after use and C&G was in cardboard boxes covered with cellophane. In fact I think I bought my formula from the clinic.

I ff DTDs cos I couldn't establish bf, which was hugely confounded by teh fct they were 3m prem (they had ebm just about exclusively until 3m tho) and I had no support in trying.

I bf dd3 for 3m. I forced myself to give up on medical grounds - huge, painful, post-natal swelling (some days I couldn't even wear mens sandals ), GP couldn't/wouldn't treat medically as I was bf, I was worried it was DVT (couldn't scan whole of leg as too swollen), when father died at 11wks of pulmonary embolism I just couldn't settle myself with the incomplete DVT scan. In the 3wks after stopping I spent hours on the loo weeing teh exces fluid out, and lost over a stone, which I believe was all/mostly fluid.

Some days I think it was the best decision I have made. Others I think that I should have dealt with the swelling - I just couldn't. It was the middle of summer and I couldn't wear any shoes some days let alone nice ones.

I chose a random brand each time. With DD3 I even changed her brand after a few weeks as her nappies were most unpleasant. For this I used MN to guide me in my decision...

i boobed and bottled and used the brand the hospital were primarily using.
other than that, think i would have chosen by what the price labels say rather than the product labels as they are all pretty identical and blardy expensive?

Message withdrawn

nope. i topped up with formula because i really thought - and was told, lots - that i wasn't producing enough milk. i loved bf, fwiw, but didn't know enough to understand that i would have enough milk for even my 10lb 4oz at birth baby. so i fed everything i thought i had and gave formula on top. (not understanding that my production would have met demand if i had let it!)

packaging didn't come into it.

it is only since coming here and reading all the bf v ff bunfights that i realised i could have exclusively fed them. i feel robbed, stupidly!

advertising, logos, packaging had absolutely zero to do with me FFing.

When I chose the actual formula in a shop those things had zero to do with which one I bought; that decision was based on advice I sought from healthcare professionals, about what would be best for ds given that BFing was not a possibility for me.

I could not BF, but I was not swayed by any brand because of the Ads or packs.

fiofio, my dad had the SMA tins filled with screws and gizmos, nailed up to the side of his garage. it must have been on some tv show as a top tip!

I bottle fed, just carried on using the brand that the hospital used (think it was Farley's??)

Didn't try breast feeding at all - was advised that as I was going back to school it probably wouldn't be that practical.

Looking back it is strange that although DD was premature they didn't seem to mention breast feeding at all.

I bottle fed 7 of my 8 children. I used SMA with most, but DD1 couldn't keep it down so switched to Farleys oster milk which helped.

Last set of twins were alwasys sicky with their milk, so we tried SMA-stay down milk (i think that was the name-in a lilac tin)..it didn't make much difference and a nightmare to make up!My H/v recommended it-had never heard of it before.

We used SMA becasue that is what they were started on in hospital.

I couldn't bf successfully either - I hate hearing that all women can do it, that is a big fat lie

ff is a no-brainer in those circs

Do ASDA not do a smart price one Seriously though this thread has been very englightening cause I thought it was only me that couldnt BF.

When I had to stop breast feeding (due to lack of weight gain etc etc) I put ds onto SMA. He was terribly sick on it and the dr suggested aptimil, which they use in hospital for prem babies.

I chose SMA initially as it seemed to be the brand everyone uses.

On reflection, I think Aptimil probably was the best to chose, although I'm basing that opinion on the sole fact that it's what they use in the hospital with prem babies - so it must be ok - isn't it?

I couldn't bf either although I wanted to. Was terrified to tell mw but she just called me daft and told hubby to get down to the supermarket for some formula before she had to readmit dd due to weight loss etc. Hubby bought the cheapest formula and we stuck with it. SMA I think. He also has old tins filled with screws etc in the garage.

Tbh, before I had ds2 I thought I would take to bf really well so i bought bf bras and cami-tops in preparation, but I got such a shock when I realised how painful it was and how it was so bad that it brought on a terrible migraine. I think if I had another now I would push myself to get through the pain barrier!

Is it really painful for everyone or was I just being a big wuss?

When I went onto FF with DD I chose SMA as it was the name I was most familiar with. I remembered the tins from when I was at school - the pens, etc. used to be in them SMA suited DD so I stuck with it.

It can be agony while you're getting the latch right IME - the more experienced help (BF counsellors not just MWs/HVs) you can get with checking latch and giving info the better, to speed that up.

I think we're all influenced by advertising for all sorts of things, directly but also indirectly. The health professionals recommending certain formulas don't have any more information than normal customers about what's in them, so all they've got to go on is advertising and anecdote, too. Same goes for hospitals deciding to stock one or another. So even someone using a particular formula only because it was the one used in hospital has had their choice influenced by marketing, indirectly.

Mums who only BF are just as influenced by advertising etc., but they're a different market so it's different products. The Avent Isis pump was recommended to me by loads of people but I'd be lying if I said I didn't see loads of adverts for it and other Avent products as well - probably far more than I'm even aware I saw, given how subtly advertising works. It's not the only manual pump out there but it has huge visibility thanks partly to all those adverts, so it seems like one of the main options. Successful marketing at work and I don't think it's that great a pump, either.

Now with hindsight don't think it's that great, I mean (now I've used others too).

topped up DTs with cow and gate in hospital to start with (they asked me what I wanted to use when the paed told me to top them up, I had no idea, didn't know any brands, hadn't inteneded to use formula at all ) then tried to exclusively bf them but advised by MW to use aptamil as a supplement in evenings or to let DH feed one while I bf other...little support with bf and choice of formula down to MW advice, nothing else. Still not happy about it more the 3 yrs later