Has anybody switched from Aptamil to Cow and Gate...

[TokenGinger]

... and experienced any problems?

DS goes through a tub of Aptamil Hungry Baby every 3 days, so it's costing us £110 a month for his milk! He's 5 months and I was going to switch him to follow-on milk from 6 months until I researched it yesterday and it turns out you don't have to change at 6 months and there's no research to say there's any benefit to the follow-on milk.

I had planned to switch to C&G at this point purely for cost, as it's often on offer for two tubs for £13.50 rather than the £22 for two we currently pay.

Even still, remaining on Hungry Baby but switching brands will save us a few pounds per tub, but I don't really want to do it if it might mess with DS's tummy.

Has anybody done the same and found it okay, or experienced any problems? I know they're made by the same manufacturer but the ingredients are different.

I didn’t even realise that you’re meant to stick to one formula so got whichever for DS. He was fine. I’m sure you can easily try to change, perhaps gradually and see how it goes.

As far as I remember from looking at nutritional info on tubs, follow on milk has more vitamins and minerals than the first formula so it made sense for me to switch at 6 months.

Thank you for responding :) That's good to know about the extra vitamins and minerals. I'm just a bit worried in case the lack of casein protein from the hungry baby milk he's currently on makes him hungrier.

We used premade aptamil and the aldi mania formula as the ingredients are basically the same (think theres one or two vitamins that are .1 different). £6.99 a tub so much cheaper!

Oh also follow on is basically an advertising scheme - formula providers arent allowed to promote formula for under 6 month olds so they came up with something they could market above 6 months. First infant milk is absolutely enough until cows milk and vitamins at 1 year.

Isn't follow on milk cheaper than the first milk? Makes no sense not to switch.

We swapped from Aptamil to C&G with DD once we copped on to the price difference 🙈. No bother at all.

I think at 5/6 months, as long as he doesn’t have any allergies or intolerances, it’s unlikely to cause any issues that can’t be solved by swapping back to the original formula.

@meow1989 We also used Mamia and Aptamil ready made before he switched to hungry baby, but Mamia don't do a hungry baby milk 😩

@JoJoSM2 It is cheaper which is why I wanted to switch, but they don't do a hungry baby milk so our worry was that DS wouldn't get enough from the follow-on milk. I know that the milk is eaten alongside foods but if he doesn't take to food too well, I don't want him going hungry from the difference in milk.

@TerribleCustomerCervix That's exactly my thought process. I'm sure he'll be okay given his age. And the price difference is definitely appealing!

Bear in mind, that once your baby is old enough for follow-on milk, you’ll be weaning too, do he’ll be getting food from other sources, and may not want/need Hungry baby milk.

@BikeRunSki You're completely right! Maybe I should just do follow-on or maybe once he's taking enough food, I'll switch him over to that.

Aptamil and Cow & Gate are the same product, just different packaging and pricing. Shocking, but there you go. Ds will be fine and you'll be richer.

Thank you, @Duckyneedsaclean. I read that they're the same manufacturer but different ingredients? Either way, I'm sure it can't be that different after comparing the NVs which are identical.

We're definitely going to make the switch when he finishes his last tub :)

No, @TokenGinger is right. I Dirk with a girl who is a biochemist and used to work for Milupa. She told me that they were exactly the same product. So did my MW! I spent hours in supermarkets scrutinising the ingredients and nutritional information to convince myself. My youngest is 8 now, so things may have changed, but I think, essentially, that the strength of Apatamil lies largely in its marketing.

Sorry, I meant @Duckyneedsaclean is right.