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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

How many cans of formula do you use each week?

69 replies

KristinaM · 28/10/2004 23:44

I'm helping my friend's daughter work out a realistic £££ budget for herself and her baby after its born. She wants to bottle feed - how many cans of formula will she need per week? I know its goes up after the first 4 weeks and stays about the same for the next 5 months. Is about 2-3 cans a week right? I mean the big 900g tins - I have already priced these at about £5.20 from the local health centre. I did try to work it out from the information on the can but its measured in scoops and the tin contents are in grams...sigh.....

OP posts:
lilsmum · 29/10/2004 05:36

the most i went through at any one time was 2. it goes further than you think !!

hth xxxx

misdee · 29/10/2004 08:33

usually around 1 tin a week, they used to last almost 7days on a hungrey week. is your friends dd on any benefits?

tiktok · 29/10/2004 09:02

Does she know breastfeeding is free, Kristina??!!

Don't forget to cost in the bottles, teats and sterilising gear, too.

Skate · 29/10/2004 09:16

Don't think I ever went through more than 1 tin a week.

Now I'm on ds3 I'm a lazy cow and buy cartons of ready made .

Original poster
KristinaM · 29/10/2004 10:23

So budgeting for 2 tins a week would be fine?

Yes she's on benefits - the price of tins from the health centre is cheaper if you are on IS.

Tiktok - you are not being completely honest - BF is NOT free as well you know. I'm BF myself so i KNOW most BF mums also buy bottles, teats and steriliser as well as a pump.And what about breast pads? Also very few mums NEVER give their babies a single bottle or cup of formula for the first 12 months!!

I accept that if her baby was entirely BF for 6 months and then she hand expressed every day from 6-12 months to get BM to mix with solids, then BF would be "free". But that's not realistic for many mums. And it also assumes that mum's time is entirely free. But I do agree that BF is cheaper in the long run and probably more convenient. But its not for everyone IYSWIM

But thank you all for your comments

OP posts:
Tinker · 29/10/2004 10:25

And add in the cost of all that constant washing of soaking wet tops, bras, towels that need to be slept on etc

misdee · 29/10/2004 10:28

if she is on income support and ctc (which she would be after baby is born) then formula milk is 1 free tin a week. or it was when i was getting it.

Skate · 29/10/2004 10:28

Eeew - yes, that takes me back to the horrendous few weeks I spend BF ds1. Never again.

beansmum · 29/10/2004 10:33

if she's on benefits she'll get milk tokens to use on formula or on normal milk, some places are funny about accepting them but I know asda takes them and most chemists. not sure how much formula you can get, i'm bfing. it's tons of normal milk though, i never get through it all.

misdee · 29/10/2004 10:35

most places where u get formula milk from is the local health clinic/doctors surgery. some have set days u can get your milks others are at any time. have never found a shop willing to take the tokens for formula milk, tho most supermarket take it for fresh milk.

Distracted · 29/10/2004 11:22

She can probably budget for about 1.5 tins per week. It will probably only be 1 tin for first few weeks but I don't think I ever got through as many as 2 per week - perhaps 1 tin lasted something like 5 days when I was using most?

First size teats only last until 1 month remember (I'm on these at the moment). Can't remember how long next sizes last, probably 1-3 months and then 3-6 months and maybe there's only 1 size after that -can easily check in shops anyway. They are also supposed to be thrown away every 3 months (dummys are supposed to be replaced every month if they're used). Also have to buy descaler for steam sterilisers.

tiktok · 29/10/2004 11:28

The Healthy Start scheme is superseding the welfare foods scheme and it will all be different soon - not got the exact info, sorry.

Bf is virtually free, surely...... and not as time consuming if you add in everything (breast pads, to take a small example, are not a necessity - and I leak like a crazy leaking thing! try soft cotton hankies, really!)

I have just written, and deleted, a post showing my logic on all this, including the sums you need to do to show the full cost to a working parent of formula feeding, but it might look provocative, and that's not my aim.

My point was that anyone needing to cost out formula feeding in order to budget also needs to know they can save (virtually) all of that by breastfeeding. If they want to formula feed, then of course that's fine....but it might be helpful to some to know the whole picture.

That's all.

beansmum · 29/10/2004 11:44

I always wanted to breastfeed but even if I wasn't that keen I would have definitely thought really hard about it when I realised how tight money was going to be.

I have bought a breast pump (£30ish with a cool bag) and I have 3 bottles and only used breast pads for the first week. Once my milk supply had settled down there was no need.

I do think its a lot cheaper than bottle feeding, and I can spend my milk tokens on fresh milk which cuts down my shopping bill a bit. In asda they have a fixed amount of money they take off regardless of how much the milk actually cost so if you buy the cheapest milk you actually make money(sort of)

Has your friend definitely decided not to try bfing? It might be worth pointing out the financial benefits if she's that worried about money.

hunkermunker · 29/10/2004 15:46

I was going to post that breastfeeding's much cheaper too - yes, you do need breastpads (or as Tiktok says, hankies) to begin with, but don't you need them for a little while anyway until your milk dries up if you're bottlefeeding? Plus if you buy the washable ones, that's only about a fiver for six (all I ever needed - they wash well and dry very quickly) - and they're MUCH comfier!

It's not totally necessary to express - I've gone back to work very part time, so I do express for DS while I'm there (he's nearly seven months). However, I only have a couple of bottles, I got given a steam steriliser and compared to giving formula for every feed, the price is nothing.

I just think it's a shame it sounds like she's not even considering breastfeeding - after all, if she doesn't even try, she'll never know whether it might be the best thing she's ever done!

zebra · 29/10/2004 16:09

Chemical sterilising is also very cheap, if you only need to sterilise once in a while.
AS a breastfeeder, never used breastpads myself, wouldn't need the pump either except I went back to work so early.

I am curious as to the answers, how much does a 900g tin cost, if you need 2 tins a week, what does it cost to FF a baby for the first year?

Anyway, KristinaM's friend could consider combi-feeding, best of all worlds, some say.

One good thing about those big tins, they make great storage jars & baby toys afterwards, don't they?

beansmum · 29/10/2004 16:12

sorry to go on about this, but for someone on a tight budget bfing makes so much sense. Also it's a lot easier to change from bfing to giving formula than it is to change from bottle back to breast. Couldn't she just try it and see how she gets on?

hercules · 29/10/2004 16:15

You only need breastpads for a short while and can use hankies instead. I sterilised using chemical stuff and water and that was very cheap. I must have spent about £3 for the whole time I had to sterilise.
You dont need a breastpump, you can hand express which for some is easier if you need to leave the baby although if she doesnt need to leave the baby that's unecessary anyway.

hercules · 29/10/2004 16:16

I dont think money should be an issue though in a decision to bf or bottle feed.

zebra · 29/10/2004 16:21

On the Boots website it says £6 a bottle for formula, typically. So that's a budget of £9-£12/week.
Boy, I could buy a load of really tasty cakes for that.

hercules · 29/10/2004 16:23

That's a lot of money.

hercules · 29/10/2004 16:23

Does that mean we can spend it on frivilous items instead? Such as makeup?

beansmum · 29/10/2004 16:27

so thats about £500 a year (not including bottles, teats etc) to spend on shoes

zebra · 29/10/2004 16:27

Why not? Better clothes, childcare, faster Internet Access, good books, Fine wine...

zebra · 29/10/2004 16:29

Or you can spend all your time figuring out clever ways to reuse those big metal tins.... Well, to each their own!

misdee · 29/10/2004 17:49

we dont know this ladies reason for not breastfeeding, and altho using formula is expensive she may be budgeting in case she cant breastfeed, or to make sure that if she decides for bottle over breast she is fully informed on the cost.

and from what i remember a tin of SMA white cost around £6, but only had top but one occasionally as dd2 rarely went over 1 tin a week.

me otoh, after using formula and breast for both dd's i am determined to breastfeed for as long as possible. the cost and the health issues are whats doing it for me.

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