HELP! Confused on which formula to use 🤔

[Paw220911]

Hello Everyone,
First time Post - first time mum to be, please be kind as this is probably something so trivial and easy for some.
I am really over thinking & working myself up over which formula to use for my little one due end of this month. As the time is getting closer I really need to pick which brand to go with.
Unfortunately I am unable to breastfeed due to medication, current health problems & treatment.
I am looking for an option that has ready made bottles & formal, and am really struggling between picking between Aptamil, SMA & Cow & Gate.
Is there really much difference, can I go wrong with any of them?
As myself & my husband are only children we haven't had any babies born in the family & all my friends have breastfed.
Thank you so much in advance 🥰

It's pretty tightly regulated so just go with what's available and cheapest! If your baby seems unsettled or fussy, no harm in trying a different one.

Good luck.

I don't really have much advice but I used cow & gate for 6 months and then during the first lockdown when people were stockpiling and going mad I couldn't get any anywhere so I had to switch to aptimal and my baby was fine with both milks!

@ShowOfHands thank you 😊 I feel like I know nothing at the moment, I have heard that 1st infant milk has laws & regulations but didn't know if they are pretty much all the same 👍🏼 Good to hear I can always switch if needs be x

Aptamil and Cow And Gate have the same manufacturer but a different price point!
It doesn't really matter which you use as they are all regulated and need to contain the same key ingredients. I think Aldi has their own brand milk too.

You're best off getting one that is available in the shop you use most. Aldi has their own brand and aptamil, Lidl just does Cow and Gate I think. The bigger chains obviously have a bigger range.

I've found no difference in them to be honest.

We used aptamil to start which was good, switched to Aldi mammia when it came out which was great, less frothy when shaken to mix

Formula is very heavily regulated and this means they are all incredibly similar and different brands even manufactured in the same place! We live in quite a rural village and a friend advised me to check what the nearest shop stocks so you can get some easily if stuck! The village shop had cow and gate thats why I went with that for my first and it was grand (also the cheaper option!) good luck x

I used Cow & Gate. It was a few years ago now but I remember doing some research on it and realising Cow & Gate and Aptamil were basically the same, but Aptamil was priced a lot higher. I seem to remember finding a reason why those two might be marginally better than SMA but I can't remember what that was now!

They are all pretty much exactly the same due to legislation so just choose the one that's easiest to get and affordable.

I remember telling my health visitor I was using Aptimil, and she told me if I ever couldn't get any, Cow and Gate are identical, and it wouldn't hurt my DS stomach if I had to switch, so I'd go for either of those just for that reason.

Best place for info is first steps nutrition. Evidence based, unbiased and regularly updated. But as has been said they are all broadly similar, by law must contain the same basic nutrients. The rest is just advertising. All you need for the first year is 1st stage milk.

I started my LO on SMA but it gave her really bad constipation (I’ve heard this happens a lot with SMA) so I switched to Kendamil Organic which is a really nice formula but unfortunately made her reflux worse. I went back to SMA in the end but all babies are different, if one formula doesn’t work there’s no harm trying another.

I was recommended to use what my local supermarket stocked the most of so it would be easy to get hold of.

They are all pretty much the same.

However, on my third baby, after problems with reflux (medicated), I switched to Hipp Organic and it seems a much nicer milk IMO. Smells nicer, rates nicer (yes, I've tried it ), it's creamier. Dd went from pooing twice a week on C&G to everyday on HIpp and is much more settled with her stomach.

I've also heard marvellous things about Kendamil, but it's v expensive.

So while they are all the same really, I did find Hipp lived up to the hype and I wish I'd had her on it from birth.

Oh and C&G/Aptimil is the biggest swindle going! As others have said it's just marketed differently, it's exactly the same.

If you want a sustainable\veggie friendly option definetley try Kendamil. No palm oil, no fish oil, whole milk instead of semi skimmed... Need I say more?? It's a really amazing formula and my lo's only been on it a few weeks or so and already I see such an amazing difference!!

@LisaIrwin24 where do you get your kendamil from?

I would love to use it, but Dd is 16 weeks and a useless feeder.

We try to get 5oz in her, four/five times a day but she usually takes 2-4, usually just 2 (she has only ever taken a max of 20z in 24 hours since birth).

We still make the 5oz bottles as she will occasionally take it all and we have to live in hope.

We Chuck so much milk away and kendamil is so expensive.

Sorry scrap that. I didn't realise you could buy it through the site!

Although the organic is still £14 - that is too steep. Non organic is £10. So now I'm confused if it's worth changing from Hipp.

@WankPuffins Sainsbury’s Little Ones formula is made by Kendamil, has basically the same Ingredients from what I can tell and a hell of a lot cheaper!

@Vicky1989x blimey! Thank you!

@Vicky1989x This isn't actually true. They used to do the formula for Sainsburys however earlier this year Kendamil updated their recipe so no longer is the same

Make sure you can get it from your local shop. My DD was on lactose free aptimal and it wasn't easy to get at all and expensive. The only place close was Waitrose and then I would buy things there, so not cheap 😂 we went with Aldi own for DD2 because second child and was easily accessible.

All formula has to meet the same basic nutritional requirements but they don't all have the same ingredients. As a PP mentioned, the First Steps Nutrition website is the best and most objective comparison of everything that's currently available so I would look there if I were you.
But whilst there's no "best" or "worst" formula, there are formulas that suit particular babies better than others. On every thread like this someone will say "I started with brand X and it was awful, really didn't suit my baby. So we swapped to brand Y and it was brilliant" and further down the thread another Mum will say the exact opposite. They are both telling the truth, they just have different babies!
So do read up and decide what you think is best, but be prepared for the possibility that your baby will disagree! You might be happy with your first choice or you might need to try a few brands til you settle on what suits baby best so don't buy a large quantity of anything at first or you might end up with a cupboard full of a formula your baby doesn't get on with.

@MrsAvocet so true.

You read so many people saying "I switched from cow and gate to aptimil and they were like a different baby" when it's exactly the same. I think sometimes we are naturally so caught up in wanting the best for our babies that we are things that aren't there.

*see things that aren't there