I will be bottle feeding from the start, but how on earth do you choose a formula?

[IAmTheOneAndOnly]

I am expecting my first baby in six weeks.

I will be bottle feeding from the start, but there are so many different brands of formula that I have no idea which one to go for.

Can anyone advise?

We were advised to choose based on availability at all outlets near you, including late night shops, garages and anywhere else as you are bound to run low.

We went for SMA as it's available everywhere, and also because it comes ready-made in small cartons and also in the more economical 1 litre cartons, which most don't.

They are much of a muchness, none are nutritionally better than the others, despite their claims (all denaturised cows milk powder, dextrose + added synthetic vits plus sometimes fish oils and "prebiotics").

I think the only true difference is that some make baby more constipated than others. That's as much as I managed to glean from ff friends anyway.

You can't really pick one as your baby needs to settle with it when my son was born I tried SMA but he couldn't atke it for some reason went to cow and gate and he was fine so try in hospital and just see what baby prefers.

They're all pretty similar. I used Aptamil when I stopped BFing DS. If I was to use formula now I'd probably go for an organic one but it depends on availability as flowery says.

I think as they're all the same go for the cheapest.

my DB is a paediatric nurse. He used to tell me that when they got really overweight babies in on the ward they used to call them 'sma gold' babies. I am assuming it's supposed to be a formula for hungrier babies.
probably a reason not to buy that one!

It was SMA White that was for hungrier babies in my day. Nice to know how nurses talk behind their patients back!

Go for whichever is freely available at a local shop/garage that is open late at night. However organised you are you will run out at some point, or have a power cut and be unable to make up the powdered stuff.

I went for Aptamil with ds2 because it was available in the little cartons at my nearest supermarket. I think Cow & Gate is the same as Aptamil in content but cheaper.

SMA gold is the starter feed not the hungry baby feed. What a horrible thing to say about babies.

I trained as a paediatric nurse and i've never heard anyone call 'overweight' babies "SMA babies"

at comments about 'overweight' babies.

HV advised me that they are basically all the same, except Farleys, which is awful (but also the cheapest)

at SMA baby comment and frankly mable1973 pretty offensive to those of us who do use that brand to put in your last comment

Glad to hear that not all like that fivedollar shake

But to answer your question all of them are pretty much of a muchness, SMA is a bit more binding (as my grandma would say) than others but would agree with findiing the best one for price/convenience for you.

DS was on 75th centile the whole time on SMA, literally followed the line.

yep dd the same... very healthy and happy little thing

Farley's doesn't exist any more.

They're all much of a muchness. Choose one that's readily available in your area. If you're vegetarian, choose one without fish oils in (I think Hipp is vegetarian - some of the others may be, but off the top of my head I can't think of any).

Since stopping BF, I use Aptimal.

I asked the midwife what was best and she said she wasnt allowed to recommend any. She did however tell me that they used Aptimal in the hosptial special care unit and gave me a grin so we went with that one!

DS1 started on SMA but kept being sick. changed to aptimal but then realised that it and cow & gate were made by the same people in the same factory with the same ingrediants and the same package but £1 cheaper so swapped.

with DS2 (90% BF) when he has a bottle of formula he has Hipp Organic as i have been told it is the most similar in taste and consistency to breastmilk (also the cheapest) and he has no probs with it.

I personally feel they are all much of muchness and its mainly the packaging and image you are choosing.

Pigley, Aptamil is advertised incredibly heavily to health professionals, so it doesn't surprise me your midwife has believed the hype.

It's marketed at middle class women who wanted to breastfeed and will pay the extra in order to use "the best" for their child. There's been no independent testing to demonstrate it is the best and there's every chance there's nothing better about it.

I think it depends which one suits baby best.

I used SMA gold with dd1 and she was fine on that. Used it with dd2 and she was ok but hungry all the tie so switched to Sma white.

When I had Ds I started using SMA gold, but it didn't suit his stomach at all and every feed would end in him screaming.

I switched to Farleys and then eventually to Cow and Gate Omneo Comfort.

We use C&G, available in local chemist and spar.

Good advice to check out your nearest all-night-garage and corner shop. I work in a maternity unit, and we stock all kinds simply because people request what they know. No difference between them, except maybe the organic ones. How about EBM ?

I was told that Aptamil makes for brainy babies - don't ask me why.

Annabell - who told you that , if you can remember?