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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Which formula?

71 replies

PutThatInYourPipeandSmokeIt · 11/05/2007 22:40

DD is BF but I'm thinking about giving her the odd bottle of formula if I fancy a red wine or two. I express for her childminding days but it's just if I end up without the breastmilk to give her etc.....does it matter which formlua one and for occasional use does it make any difference if it's ready made in a carton rather than powdered?

OP posts:

Surfermum · 12/05/2007 23:09

DD had no problems on SMA. We chose it because it's what dh came back from the shops with it and as it seemed to suit dd OK I never bothered to look at any others.

rebeccalm · 12/05/2007 23:23

I promise there are no looks from here! Should have mentioned that DS was on SMA Staydown from very little as he had reflux. I always assumed that the looks were about my lack of breastfeeding rather than the brand.

Surfermum · 12/05/2007 23:31

I don't think I ever got looks, or maybe I just didn't notice . I really couldn't have cared less at the time.

tiktok · 13/05/2007 18:09

Putthatin....you do not need to give formula even if you have a lot of wine

Midwives recommend Aptamil because Aptamil advertises itself a lot to midwives - there is no reason at all why it should be regarded as any better than any other formula, and they have been martketed to...that's all. Shame on them for recommending a brand without any decent independent evidence.

If you need to buy formula, choose a brand you can buy locally, if you want to be fussy about it

Original poster

PutThatInYourPipeandSmokeIt · 14/05/2007 12:04

oooh Tiktok - tell me more! Are you serious - I thought about 20% of the alcohol made it in to the milk? Is there no upper limit at all? Please do expand!!

OP posts:

Chandra · 14/05/2007 21:32

"Shame on them for recommending a brand without any decent independent evidence."

But, but, but... is there any decent independent evidence available at all? It is my belief that any mention about a brand being better than another one is completely forbidden?

A pregnant paediatrician who saw DS give us a summary of the problems she saw in children under different brands, before saying "oh, and I NEVER said what I have just said!" All other medical staff I have talked to repeat exactly the same ready made phrase about all formulas being similar and nutritionally correct.

[Chandra sits awaiting a bashing for daring to ask a heretical question]

Chandra · 14/05/2007 21:36

P.S. And no HV, GP or paediatrician we saw dared to recommend a brand. (not even the one who gave us the summary, she just mentioned what she had noticed but refused to recommend one in particular)

tiktok · 14/05/2007 22:51

Putthatin - I have no idea of the percentage that goes into the milk, sorry. If you search archives on my name and alcohol you'll find loads of info.

Upper limit? Not sure how to answer that. Alcohol does reach the breastmilk in small amounts. The more you drink and the more quickly you drink it, the more is in the breastmilk, but it's still only going to be a small amount. I don't think it's good for babies to be in the care of a drunk mother, but this is more dangerous (IMO) than the small amount of alcohol the baby will get

tiktok · 14/05/2007 23:01

Chandra - that was my point. There is no independent comparison of the brands of formula on sale in the UK. And in the absence of this, no one can recommend any brand...I don't think it's a question of 'not daring' to.

Why not say, 'I can't recommend a brand because I don't have any good evidence to say one is better for your baby than another. However, all brands on sale have to conform to UK rules on safety of their ingredients and to include the correct amounts of them. So in this respect, any brand you choose will be the same as another...sorry, I can't help you any more than this because no one has the information.'

It is a disgrace that there is no good evidence. One paediatrician's experience with problems with Brand X and another set of problems with Brand Y is anecdotal - maybe she is right, maybe she is wrong, but without a proper study, perhaps asking lots of paediatricians (and mothers), then who knows? I accept she was trying to help by sharing her experience, but it's a very poor show for babies and mothers not to have more to go on than this.

I don't think it's that people don't 'dare' to recommend a brand....they don't have the knowledge to do so, so why would they?

wattie · 14/05/2007 23:56

I need some further advice about formula. My ten month old was BF until 6 months and since then has been on Cow and Gate step up. I have not moved her on to the 9 month plus one yet. Should I? I thought that at 12 months she could have full fat milk insteada. Is this right?

By the way she only has 2 bottles a day now, morning and night. So at most about 16 oz. Is that too little? She drinks water during the day.

mears · 15/05/2007 00:01

Agree with Tiktok about Aptamil - it is no better than the rest (and yes I am a midwife!)

Can't see why you are bothering with formula just to get a drink of wine TBH. Breastmilk with minute traces of alcohol in it is better than any type of formula

mears · 15/05/2007 00:01

wattie - don't bother changing milk now - there is no need. And yes, you can use full fat cows milk from 1 year

Original poster

PutThatInYourPipeandSmokeIt · 15/05/2007 16:51

oh that's great - I would much rather stick with the breast milk if I can. A friend was asking me if milk is still a staple part of their diet when they're 1+ yrs old - at what point should solids only be sufficient?

OP posts:

mears · 15/05/2007 19:04

WHO guidance is that babies should have breastmilk well into their second year - sadly I never achieved that. The longest I breastfed was 15 months. At 1 year most babies have solids as their main diet and milk as supplementary drinks. There is actually no need for children to drink milk as such after a year - my children had yogurt, cheese, milk puddings, milk in breakfast so got plenty of dairy. They didn't like it as a drink (only 1 child did)

oldwomanwholivedinashoe · 15/05/2007 19:08

I would recommend cow and gate. I htink its def best adn most like breast milk. Almost no difference in poos when I went from breast to cow and gate at 5months - that must mean consitution is as close as possible

mears · 15/05/2007 19:17

Sorry - oldwomanwholivedinashoe - cow&gate isn't any closer to breastmilk than the others. Glad your baby was happy on it though.

Rosa5 · 15/05/2007 19:20

Suggest avoiding Nestle after reading other thread...

For the record I used HIPP when I had to.

tiktok · 15/05/2007 19:22

Nestle not on sale in the UK, Rosa!

Oldwoman - glad your baby was happy on it, too, but can I ask a question...is it only because of the poos you thought it was closest to breastmilk, or was there some other reason?

Genuinely interested!

oldwomanwholivedinashoe · 15/05/2007 19:29

Maybe niave of me to relate poos and them being the same but I was recommended cow and gate by midwives who said it would be easiest for babies to digest after breast. Both my babies liked it.
I once had to use SMA and their poos looked like clay!!

Rosa5 · 16/05/2007 08:08

Well thats a good thing ..sorry am in Italy where it is !!

Chelseamum · 16/05/2007 08:33

We used Aptamil from the start!

Powder during the day and cartoons for those middle of the night feeds.

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