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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

What Formula is best?

97 replies

SANA · 18/11/2004 11:34

I am a new mum to be and have been looking at the diff formulas availible, so what do most mners go for? any one know why Farleys is more expensive?

OP posts:

stripey · 18/11/2004 11:57

I used SMA Gold and never had a problem was advised by hv never to use the hungry baby ones as they are too hard to digest.

Nikkichik · 18/11/2004 12:02

I used SMA Gold and dd was fine on it. My sil and a friend used Aptimil (good but expensive!) If you want to do organic Hipp do one but I don't know what it's like.

nailpolish · 18/11/2004 12:04

sana, around here farleys is cheaper. strange. i use farleys and dd loves it. i found sma makes her windy. its ok to have a trial and error, as long as you dont chop and change too much, in my humble opinion. good luck with the baby!

LIZS · 18/11/2004 12:06

Perhaps you use less powder per feed so that the number of 8 oz feeds possible is more than the equivalent sized can of another brand? ie. price per feed may be the same as another can the same size which may not last as long. Scoop size and number of scoops used per fluid oz water can vary form one to another making comparison difficult.

Angeliz · 18/11/2004 12:08

I used Cow and Gate with dd and she never had any problems with it.
Am thinking the same myself at the moment!!

Good luck with everything SANA

artyjoe · 18/11/2004 12:11

Hi Sana, I'm also a new mum to be and after reading through several MN posts I decided on SMA Gold...I've got the ready made up cartons already in my hospital bag!

LIZS · 18/11/2004 12:15

artyjoe

Surely they will supply you with formula in hospital if that is your decision (or have you already checked which brands they stock). I had a struggle for them not to give ds formula, although admittedly it was 6 years ago.

alicatsg · 18/11/2004 12:19

We used SMA but ut made him very constipated so then switched to aptamil which he loved

worth checking with the hospital tho as they have a limited choice - SMA or C&G at Kingston from memory

MrsDoolittle · 18/11/2004 12:19

Hipp Organic - their poos don't smell as bad!

artyjoe · 18/11/2004 12:20

Hi Lizs, after reading all the posts the last few days regarding bottle and breast feeding I've decided I'm not prepared to risk any distress after the birth, hence the ready made formula and single sterilising bottles in my bag!

artyjoe · 18/11/2004 12:21

MissDoolittle, may switch to Hipp Organic after the first week if that's the case...DP gets to change the nappies for the first few days

Gobbledigook · 18/11/2004 12:22

Jeez artyjoe - hope noone lynches you for that!!

I used SMA gold for ds1 but it did make him quite constipated - changed to Cow and Gate and then used that for ds2 and ds3 too and they've all been fine on that.

Think you have to just see what suits your baby as I think others have found the opposite.

Good luck with the birth!

MrsDoolittle · 18/11/2004 12:24

I am imagining it's because unlike other formulas it doesn't have fish oils in it. Don't quote me on that though!!

JoolsToo · 18/11/2004 12:29

used SMA for dd - she was a lousy feeder - but I stuck with it - however my mother told me I'd go to hell for making dd drink such revolting stuff - it really does taste like cardboard!

with ds1 & 2 changed to C&G which they lapped up - might have been the taste - might have been they were greedy blighters

artyjoe · 18/11/2004 12:30

Gobbeldegook, why would I be lynched...have re-read my post and can't find anything inflamatory in it...or am I being naieve and missing something staring me in the face?

MrsDoolittle · 18/11/2004 12:48

Depends which hospital you go to artyjoe. Many hospital call themseves "babyfriendly" and will not discuss bottle feeding with you believing that breat is best. They will go through all other options first. The current thinking is that one should try to breastfeed as much as possible. Mears is the residnet expert on this on mumsnet - she has loads of advice.

Gobbledigook · 18/11/2004 12:51

artyjoe - don't worry! You won't be lynched by me! Just been a few nasty 'breast vs bottle' threads recently and a few of the breast feeding brigade are on a bit of a crusade! Hopefully they'll avoid this thread!

I was just joking with you but I suppose it's lost if you didn't see the other threads!

LIZS · 18/11/2004 12:59

Hope my post wasn't interpreted as the start of a lynching ! I'm just shocked at the amount of stuff of your own you seem to have to take into hospitals in UK these days, having had one baby in NHS hospital and second outside UK where you just take regular overnight stuff !

MummyToSteven · 18/11/2004 13:02

artyjoe - i was at a "baby-friendly" hospital but they still provided formula, teats etc (but the poor HCAs had to go round hiding them away in cupboards(!)so it didn't look like they were encouraging bottlefeeding!). so i would be surprised if there was any issue as to you having to provide your own, but no harm in being prepared.

Sana - I used SMA Gold too, without much problem. MNetters in general seem to quite like aptimil. I think they are much of a muchness tbh, tho of course some formulas suit different babies more than others so it can be a bit trial and errorish.

Angeliz · 18/11/2004 13:04

artyjoe, i think thats a good idea anyway if you've chosen a brand of formula as where i had dd they only gave Cow and Gate, (which i'd chosen anyway).

advocateofthedevil · 18/11/2004 13:05

Aptimil is meant to be good.

wobblyknicks · 18/11/2004 13:07

I used Aptamil on the advice of the HV - she said it was kinder to dd's stomach or something like that. Then, at about 6 months I switched to Cow&Gate because the Aptamil seemed to be making dd constipated and she loved the C&G.

wobblyknicks · 18/11/2004 13:08

Oops, forgot to say, the Aptamil never seemed to cause dd major problems (she possetted lots, but I think that was down to her, not the brand) - only the constipation at 6 months-ish.

miam · 18/11/2004 13:09

Used SMA with them all. Seem to remember the Gold did not satisfy them for very long though and wasnt long before they were on the white.

mears · 18/11/2004 13:13

Artyjoe - I work in a Babyfriendly hospital and we supply Aptamil, SMA Gold, Cow & Gate Premium and Farley's first milk in ready made feed form.
It is not true that bottlefeeding is not dicussed. There are no antenatal group talks on demonstating bottlefeeding because research has shown that demonstrating making up bottles at that stage does not stay in a woman's mind.

Breastfeeding is discussed in depth to try and encourage it to be viewed as the 'norm' when feeding a baby and to ensure women are making an informed choice.

When a woman chooses to bottlefeed, she is supported in that choice. Written information is given on formula and one-to-one feeding demonstrations are given.

There is no one formula better than another (except where there is known intolerance to cow's milk, lactose etc.) therefore a midwife will not advise you which is best. They all have minimum nutitional requirements in them.

I personally don't particularly like SMA because it smells rancid when vomited. Our special care baby unit tends to use Aptamil if a mother has not expressed a preference.

There is some info here

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