Aptamil - anyone for it or against ?

[Shell001]

Hi,

Anyone use Aptamil ? Heard its good but expensive ... Better than SMA Gold ?

It's really what suits your baby. Dd1 was okay with it but it makes dd2 constipated.

couldnt bf so hosp gave it to ds1 but it didnt agree.
i found cow and gate best.

It's all marketing.

It's priced to target middle class mums who feel guiltiest about stopping bf and will pay a premium price for it.

There's no independent research about which formula is "best".

Got on fine with cow and gate but just found HIPP organic is a lot cheaper, so switched to that with no effects.

I use Aptimil for the odd bottle of ff that ds2 has (still mainly bf). ds1 had a milk intolerance and SMA was really bad, he would just throw it up again, but cow&gate was better (at the time I couldn't convince the gp/hv that he had a problem ). ds2 seems to have the same intolerance but seems ok with the Aptimil so I'm sticking with it.

I think Margo is right, different brands suit different babies

Ah Pillock - could you teach my DH to say your last phrase?

Thanks for comments ...

There's no such thing as good, better or best with formula milks. They are all fundamentally the same, although you may find that one particular brand appears to suit your baby more than others. Then that's the 'best' one for you.

Or, as I mentioned before, you could consider the one you can get hold of most easily the 'best' one for you and your baby

I think SMA is awful, but had no problems with Aptimil, Cow and Gate or Farleys.

As the others have said, different formula suits different babies.

My DS's key carer at the nursery recommended it when he started as he was exclusively bf up until then. He's happy with it and unfortunately it doesn't give him constipation

I've never looked at how much other brands cost - too depressing. I'm sure they're all much of a muchness really

SMA gold worked fine for dd - she's had no problems at all. Friends baby was on Aptamil and had some problems with wind around 4 months. Not sure why we went for SMA - I remember standing in the supermarket bamboozled all of the brands and just picking one (you get no advice if you have to go down the formula route) and I suppose we were lucky that it suited dd. So go for the one you fancy

Still bf but planning to introduce formula before weaning ...

ah, but the thing about constipation is a funny one... i kept dd on aptamil first (liked the fish oils) for her first year and it was only after she went onto cows milk that her poo went more solid. does that mean that the aptamil basically had a laxative in it? it does make a big deal of keeping poos like bm poos (as hunker said, to lure those of us who feel bad about not bfing) but how exactly are they achieving that? and is it actually healthy what they're putting in there? gawd knows...

so in answer to the OP, i think they're all much of a muchness, and things that are advertised as better are completely unproven. best thing you can do is find one you're happy with and that the baby likes.

but if the 'prebiotics' have a laxative effect... are they just laxatives? anyhoo, we'll never know because they don't tell us.

Some of the newer ingredients that Aptamil contains aren't licensed in New Zealand - see here

we use it but probably for the reasons Hunker mentioned earlier in the thread.

This is an interesting page

But remember it's been written by Aptamil, and some of their "breastmilk or formula with added prebiotic" comparisons are a bit rich, imo.

I'm not sure that the general public should have access to this page, actually, since it's for HCPs and the rest of that site seems locked unless you've got a password. Read it while you can!

us too, jingley.

"Prebiotics have been associated with an increase in stool frequency as well as softer stools. This may increase faecal water losses and put some infants at risk of dehydration. Without a safety assessment, it is unknown if this is an issue for New Zealand babies and infants." this is interesting. see, i was always pleased that dd's poos were more like bf babies, but i now think that had more to do with making me happy than her. and from the description, well, they sound like they have a laxative effect to me.

Defo different formula's suit different babies.

My DS started on SMA Gold and had a horrendous time with it, switched to Aptamil and like magic was a different baby.

Don't be afraid to swap if whichever formula you first try doesn't disagree with your LO.

i have NO idea what any of that says, hunker.

I had a squiz at Aptamil packaging in Sainsbos the other night - the ordinary infant formula doesn't mention softer poos "like a bfed infant" but the EasyDigest stuff does. I think that's sailing close to the wind (no pun intended) as regards the Code, really, since they're drawing comparisons with bmilk.

LOL Aitch - no, ironically, it's hard to digest!

It smells fishy which is a bit disgusting. But I have no idea if any of the other formulas also do.

Didn't know that about the prebiotics. Perhaps I should change brands as I am fed up of changing entire baby's outfit every time he does a poo