Formula / follow on milk

[thelittlestbird]

Hello

My DD is turning six months next week and has Kendamil.

I know follow on milk is a marketing ploy! But if it’s basically identical, and often cheaper because regulations allow it to be promoted, we may as well move her onto it - right?

or am I missing something?

thank you!

I thought the same with my 2nd, only reason we didn't was that he was on comfort milk and couldn't find it in stage 2

Once they turn 6 months I just buy whichever tin is the cheapest at the time 🤷🏻‍♀️

Same here.

My daughter was on first stage milk until she stopped having formula after she turned 1. The advice as far as I’ve always known is that you’re best off using first stage the whole time

From NHS website

You’re right. Legally, companies aren’t allowed to advertise first infant milk, but they are allowed to advertise follow on milk

I don't think it is quite the same, the law dictates a certain recipe/ingredients for first formula, as well as them not being able to market it. The follow on milk also doesn't need to follow that exact recipe so they can alter the ingredients more for example they typically contain higher sugars (not pure sugar but things like sucrose or glucose). The World Health Organisation suggest first formula is the closest to breastmilk and follow on formulas are therefore not recommended as they vary slightly from this (so are less close to breast milk). They're not "bad" though either, so I'm sure they won't do any harm, we just always stuck to first formula until 1 and then cow.

Unicef have a great paper that breaks down all the different formula milks

Official advice I believe is to keep them on stage one until age 1.
The very fact that they are allowed to advertise and promote it makes me not trust it!

Milk is their main food until 1 so solids are just for fun and texture rather than nutrition. You need to keep baby on regular formula for a few months longer as baby is growing rapidly and needs proper formula.

When my LO was 6months I checked the Kendamil ingredients between 1st stage & 2nd stage and they were identical other than slightly more iron (i think) in 2nd stage - we therefore switched to 2nd stage. We bought from Boots using their offers and points etc.

The WHO recommendation are that formula fed infants can switch to whole cows milk from 6. This article from western Sydney University discusses the recommendations. www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/story_archive/2024/opinion_when_can_my_baby_drink_cows_milk_its_sooner_than_you_think

You are right! They can continue on stage 1 and the decision is entirely yours. I found my daughter got a little more constipated on the Kendamil stage 2. Also you cannot use boots points for stage 1 (adding this as I went to pay with my points one day and she said oh yeah stage 2 is fine but can’t do stage 1)

We moved on to stage 2 Aptamil as I found it on sale for £5 a tub. My little boy was fine with it so we use it all the time now. He is under the dietician and a consultant due to reflux and both said it was fine to use.

This. We moved my LB onto stage 2 because it was easier to get round our way at the time and it was often a better deal as you're allowed to use clubcard vouchers (for example) to pay for it. He noticed no difference at all.

For those of you who used stage 2 can I ask if you use less or make up the same bottle size as stage 1?

The updated WHO guidelines do note that anaemia is more common in babies who switch cows milk at six months so it could make sense for babies who are slow to eat or who are not on other supplements to stay on formula. If your baby gets easily constipated while weaning then stage one is a sensible choice.

The food is just fun isn’t really right. Sons babies may eat much less than others and the window of weaning isn’t a linear reduction of milk week by week but food is nutrition from the start and many babies will be getting the bulk of their nutrients from food well before one. Even at six months iron rich options are nutritionally significant. I appreciate the overall idea that milk is a significant part of the diet but the expression doesn’t convey the significance of dietary choices.