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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

How much do you spend on formula a week/month/any period of time you'd like to tell me about, please?

62 replies

hunkermunker · 20/05/2008 14:59

Just doing some market research - for a reason you may see one day soon.

Also, which formula do you use? And how much does your baby tend to get through in a week/month, etc?

TIA

OP posts:
nickytwotimes · 20/05/2008 15:02

Hi Hunker
When ds was ff, we used just under a tin a week of SMA Gold. Can't remember what it cost, £7 ish i think.
It was great to get onto cow's milk, I htought...except he likes it better and we actually spend the same now!

I am hoping to manage to bf next one and will be looking for help

MuffinMclay · 20/05/2008 15:14

Aptamil. Ds2 (13 weeks) gets through one box (about £7.50) and around 15 little packets (£0.60? each) per week. So I guess that is around £17 per week.

meglet · 20/05/2008 15:16

about a tub a week. So approx £7 a week on Aptamil. Plus a few ready made cartons a week costing about £2 for 4.

Original poster
hunkermunker · 20/05/2008 15:24

Thank you very much indeed!

Keep 'em coming, please

OP posts:
ConnorTraceptive · 20/05/2008 15:27

with ds1 i used to get through a tin a week, I think it was Farley's and was about 5.99.

I'm still B-feeding ds2 and must admit cost is an incentive to keep going

Cicatrice · 20/05/2008 15:29

SMA Gold ready made up in 250ml (because Tesco doesn't seem to carry the litre packs) £16. odd per week usually.

Thats about 30 packs for an average week.

PuppyMonkey · 20/05/2008 15:31

Used to get through a pack of week of Aptamil.. God i can't remember how much it was and that was only last year!??? About £6.95 and then I think it shot up in price for no particular reason...or was that just Tesco??

She's on cow's milk now... much cheaper!

2point4kids · 20/05/2008 15:31

DS2 gets through about a carton a week.
Its atamil easy digest so £9 a carton

pinata · 20/05/2008 16:17

DD gets through about 1 box of aptamil a week - £7.98 in tescos, i think

FAQ · 20/05/2008 16:20

OK - DS3 just gone on to cows milk - but I was (up until he was 11 1/2 months old!) buying approx 6 tins of SMA white a month - one tin would last 4/5 days, at a cost of £6.89 a tin....

When he was younger it was more like 7/8 tins a month!!!

ScoobyDoo · 20/05/2008 16:28

When ds was on it couple of years ago now, he was on 1 tin a week & it was about £7.50, it was aptamil by the way.

sitdownpleasegeorge · 20/05/2008 16:46

We got through a tub a week and they were £6.49 or £6.98 depending on where I bought them.

Presumably if you're doing a ff and bf costs comparison you'll also factor in electricity and metered water costs plus bottles/teats/sterlising equipment etc.

Then on the breastfeeding side you'll factor in the cost of nursing bras and breastfeeding tops, breastpads, extra washing of leaked on clothes and bedclothes, expressing equipment/bottles and sterilising equipment, kamillosan etc plus some bottle feeding costs for mixed feeding (there's lots of people who mixed fed but threads seem to polarise between exclusive breastfed and wholly formula fed. The cost of the additional 500 calories a day (in food) that bf mums should consume to keep their strength up.

I could go on.....

BabiesEverywhere · 20/05/2008 19:01

"Then on the breastfeeding side you'll factor in the cost of nursing bras and breastfeeding tops, breastpads, extra washing of leaked on clothes and bedclothes, expressing equipment/bottles and sterilising equipment, kamillosan etc plus some bottle feeding costs for mixed feeding (there's lots of people who mixed fed but threads seem to polarise between exclusive breastfed and wholly formula fed. The cost of the additional 500 calories a day (in food) that bf mums should consume to keep their strength up."

The only essential thing which is needed for breastfeeding in additional to normal life is the breastpads and food everything else is optional.

3madboys · 20/05/2008 19:06

i am using hipp organic powder formula, it was less than £5 for a box, despite being organic its one of the cheaper ones.

but basically to get started with bottle feeding (which i did yesterday) i went out and bought a sterilser £25, some bottles £20ish, teats another £5 and then when i got home i realised my microwave was broken (had bought a microwave sterilser) so dp had to go and buy new microwave £50 (and that was in the sale) so £100 easily to get started, oh i almost bought a diff sterilser, an electric one, but it was £60, however that would have been cheaper than the combination of the microwave and the other sterilser, but only just and tbh a microwave is a useful thing to have...... i guess we hadnt used ours in years, hence why i didnt know it was broken

chipmonkey · 20/05/2008 19:08

why would you factor in the cost of nursing bras/breastfeeding clothes? Most women buy new clothes from time to time and even if you do buy special breastfeeding clothes they are not any more expensive than normal clothes.

FAQ · 20/05/2008 19:11

have to say I didn't do any extra washing from leaking boobs (although I had plenty of those) - the snots and sick (from both FF and BF DS's) made sure I had the same amount.......

missblythe · 20/05/2008 19:27

Nanny Goat, about £11 a week

meep · 20/05/2008 19:35

to answer the OP - when dd drank the most milk it was about 1 tin of SMA Gold a week - approx £6.98

EyeballsintheSky · 20/05/2008 19:39

Tub and a bit of Aptamil, roughly per week plus a couple of cartons. So about £13 per week.

ilovewashingnappies · 20/05/2008 19:42

Also use Hipps and it is consistantly cheaper per hundred grams. Also I can stand the smell of it.

Mainly breast feed and solids now so use only around a tup every 3/4 weeks. Use it for Daddy bottles.

Reusable breast pads, a few vests to go under ma boob faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar ways out faf and cost of bottling.

ilovewashingnappies · 20/05/2008 19:43

Bottles - £6, steriliser - £5 off ebay, most people have microwaves...

MamaChris · 20/05/2008 21:36

"The only essential thing which is needed for breastfeeding in additional to normal life is the breastpads and food everything else is optional."

Or, in my case, just extra chocolate Not everyone needs breastpads.

BabiesEverywhere · 20/05/2008 21:42

"Not everyone needs breastpads."

I needed breastpads day and night for the first few months. That said they were cheap cloth ones, thrown in with my existing washing so barely cost anything over purchase cost.

MamaChris · 20/05/2008 21:50

Sorry BE

Caz10 · 20/05/2008 21:58

"The only essential thing which is needed for breastfeeding in additional to normal life is the breastpads and food everything else is optional. "

Sorry to throw a spanner in the works, but I have to disagree, bf-ing has cost me a small fortune, mainly in bras (I would never at any other time have bought this many new bras in such a short space of time - and I only have the minimum no. I can get by on!) and clothes. I have bought a few special breastfeeding tops but only from Ebay, but I have virtually nothing in my pre-existing wardrobe that was workable - tops either not pullable-uppable or pullable-downable! So although I'm buying non-bfing tops, I've still needed new tops.

Expressing equipment - essential as I want to continue bfing when I go back to work.

A whole variety of cushions etc - yes, you can argue these are non essential but as a 1st timer trying desperately to get it right you'll try anything!

SORRY hunker that was not what you asked, I will leave now!