Question for FFing mums

[swmum]

I'm considering ff my baby from the start (37 weeks at the mo) and wondered if I should feed on demand in the early days or aim for the three/four hour routine that my mum and her friends say worked a treat for them?
I've read a lot about ff babies going for longer between feeds - is that true?
Any tips would be great. Especially for the early days.
Also what formula would you recommend?
My mates have said Aptimal and Dr Brown's bottles - any opinions?
Thanks!

That seems like a good combination, Aitch. How do you know how much oil to give though?

Very true swc - although I've ended up being an "extended" breastfeeder, dd's first really good feed was from a bottle, and it was a blissful thing to see.

lol, no idea, i'd just make it up as i go along. maybe i'd just wait until 6 months actually, because in all likelihood i'd be mix feeding for a while? it's hard to know. it's just that i remember reading that bm poo thing on the back of the packet and feeling so comforted by it, but then i remember when we started weaning her pals (bf and ff on SMA) were doing more solid poo and dd was still like bm poo (despite the fact she hadn't had bm for at least a month).

anyway... those bm poos more or less kept going for... you've guessed it, a year. stopped aptamil, started cow's milk, poo firmed up, i read a thread on here and put two and two together. i was sincerely upset, tbh, felt very conned. not just out of money but also aptamil is aimed at m/c mums and failed bfers and it just felt like a pisstake to be using a product with known laxative effect to mimic bm poo. people talk about it as 'better' but tbh it's only cos they read the side of the pack, there isn't any other info out there.

sorry OP, a bit of a side-track there but there is NO easy answer to your 'which formula' question as no-one has the foggiest idea what's in them. personally, i'd go for the one that is stocked in your nearby shops so that if you, gulp, run out you can get hold of it quickly.