Picking holes in all formula

[Chica1990]

Hello everyone!

I'm due my first baby next month and am planning to breast feed but wanted to pick a back up formula, just in case. The problem is I think I am massively overthinking it and picking holes in every formula I come across!

I really would prefer to have a variation that comes with ready made sterilised bottle with teats which probably limits me more. I have looked at the below:

Aptimal: I was always drawn to this but am put off by the palm oil, isn't there massive fuss around palm oil?
Hipp: says organic palm oil. What are people's thoughts of palm oil in formula?
Cow and Gate: no palm oil but saw they use soy in their formula. When doing a fertility diet before it was recommended to avoid soy as it can effect hormones (something like that) so don't love the idea of it in formula.

It's a shame kendamil don't have ready made bottles as I think that would be the one for me.. please feel free to correct me if they do!

Interested to hear people's thoughts? Thanks I'm advance

All formula is pretty much the same it is very highly regulated.
First steps nutrition is a good website for unbiased information www.firststepsnutrition.org/

Also breastfeeding but have / had some formula on hand. We went with SMA as that’s what the midwives recommended in hospital. We like the individual pre mixed cartons in our own bottles as we use the same ones for expressed milk.

Had a pack of 6 70ml premise bottles with disposable tests of SMA (Asda and boots stock this as a box) to have on standby

SMA because 1) that’s why my parents used 2) they what they fed to baby elephants in the elephant sanctuary I visited in Kenya. 🤣

If you want to bf, don’t bother buying it. Save your money for Lansinoh nipple cream and nursing bras, and buy a copy of The Food of Love which is a great guide to bf. If you need it, formula will always be available but no point buying it in advance if you don’t intend to use it.

There's really no need to pre plan what formula you want. Hospital should provide while you're there if that's what you're worried about. When I had my 1st, and my baby needed a top up on the 1st night, they used a tiny cup to feed her so as not to confuse her. The premade bottles are expensive and unnecessary. Your partner can pop out to Tesco and pick up some formula and tommee tippee bottles if you do need them.

Start early with reading up on breastfeeding. Lots of great books out there...anything by la leche league or Dr Amy Brown (Cardiff based not USA).

Find your local breastfeeding support group or 2. It's a lot easier to take on information while you are pregnant rather than in the early days with new baby. Go along to a breastfeeding support group while you are pregnant. Meet other mums and actually see new borns at the breast.

First steps nutrition is an excellent evidence based guide to UK formula

www.firststepsnutrition.org/parents-carers

They’re all basically the same

You can also change brands. Use one brand of ready made and one brand of powder.

From your list of concerns though I'd probably go with core and gate, because the soy is in such low amounts it won't disrupt hormones. It's soy milk based formula you should avoid.

I tried to BF my DD but it didn't work out. She didn't get on with cow and gate, sma or aptamil, so went for Kendamil and it suited her well. Smells totally different to cow and gate etc as well, almost like normal milk. But, every baby is different!

Forgot to add, cow and gate etc have fish oil in, which makes it smell off... Kendamil doesn't, hence the difference I believe.

Thank you all for the replies!

I do have bottles and steriliser because I'd like to breastfeed and express so DH can get some feed time. Most of my friends have struggled breastfeeding and needed to top up with formula so thought best be prepared. The pre made bottles were for when I struggle in the middle of the night and cant face a baby screaming at me while I wait for boiled water to cool in the night, they wouldn't be a regular fix.

In regards to palm oil I was worried about use of it being cut down/reduced and therefore formulas being changed after the baby had got used to one.

I had indeed read aptimal and cow and gate are made by the same people but it looks like cow and hate very recently changed their formula (also removed fish oil) so they no longer seem to be the same, there is a discussion on it here - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/4287820-New-Cow-and-Gate-2021. While all the formulas do need the same baseline nutrition when I compare ingredients there does seem to be differences.

But the people who have said the baby will decide are absolutely right! I keep forgetting I can throw a lot of money and time into picking baby items but the baby can decide otherwise and then my plans need to be rewritten 😅.

@BertieBotts you are right, I suppose there's no reason I can't have powder of one and another brand of pre made for the emergencies, I think I'll do that.

Thank you for the recommendations of breastfeeding books and support groups also. Hopefully I do ok 🤞🏻

I really recommend a book called your baby week by week.

They have a section each week about why you might stop breastfeeding. They address a couple of common issues that can stop a breastfeeding journey before you're ready.

I'd also say don't put any pressure on yourself to express so dad can do a feed. It can make way more work for you than it saves and there's loads more dad can do to bond other than feed milk.

I EBF my youngest so DH has never fed her a bottle. Instead he loved having skin to skin cuddles while I napped.

My son was combi fed and we used aptimil bottles until we realised that he is allergic to milk. Really it doesn't matter what you use. Baby will decide

@Twizbe I have actually been given that book so I'm glad it has some tips in there, thank you!

Did you find you pumped when you ebf? It's one of the things I haven't bought yet and even wonder when I would fit it in anyway.

I would say pumping is one of those things that sounds a lot easier than it is. I could rarely get more than a centimetre of milk at a time after pumping for hours, but my baby had plenty at the breast. Babies are much more efficient at getting milk than pumps are. Also, there is no need for the father to feed to bond with his baby. Men have not evolved to feed babies yet they manage to be loving dads If you’re doing all the feeds, get him doing practical things to bond. Bathing the baby at night time. Putting it in the pram during the day and going for a walk so you can sleep. Cuddling the baby when it’s awake but not hungry so you can sleep then too.

I would suggest if a lot of your friends seemingly had problems, it might be that they didn’t realise what normal bf looks like (why should they, if they’ve not done it before?). Sometimes people think it’s like giving a bottle - baby has a 20 min feed every couple of hours. It’s not really like that at first (although it does eventually become that). Read up on cluster feeding. My first would be on the breast continuously from 8pm until midnight every night for the first weeks. It’s not that he didn’t have enough milk - they do it to give your breasts the stimulation they need to produce enough, and eventually it settles. I used to get through loads of box sets! But I can see why people might think that was a sign of baby not getting enough or not being satisfied, when it’s actually completely normal. I really miss those times when I had an excuse to put my feet up and just cuddle my baby!

[quote Chica1990]@Twizbe I have actually been given that book so I'm glad it has some tips in there, thank you!

Did you find you pumped when you ebf? It's one of the things I haven't bought yet and even wonder when I would fit it in anyway.[/quote]
Get a Haakaa style for now. Cheap as chips and really easy to use. I used it to help engorgement with my second. She refused bottles so most of that milk went in the bath (on that note it's not a big deal if a baby won't take a bottle)

I had a pump with my first but I didn't respond well to them. Baby got way more from me than I got out.

FWIW my eldest happily went between breast and bottle and both had bottles introduced at the same time in the same way. One liked it one didn't.

From my experience EBF was just so much easier. No faffing around with bottles. Also DH was only around at weekends so that was only 4 out of a possible 14 that he could do.