Best formula for newborn?

[frillybiscuits]

I'll be a first time mum so need advice on what formula is best for newborn and where is best to buy it from. I've decided not to breastfeed for many reasons despite it being pushed on me by health professionals. I will give it a go at first for the colostrum etc but ff is what I want to do long term. When should I buy it too as 30 weeks at the moment?

Ffs. This isnt a debate on bf vs ff. This is a mum who has made the decision already to ff. It's not poison and quite frankly there's plenty of children who were bf who have SN. What you feed them doesn't make a difference.

OP. I used cow and gate with all 3 of mine and never had a problem. Just go with whatever is in your local shop, so easiest to source on short notice. As PP have said, the regulations are very strict and they are all pretty much the same anyway.

Hear, hear FattySantaRobin.

Sorry for not responding, been fairly busy. Thank you for the advice TBH I'm not going to BF because I don't want to have to deal with the pressure, the stress, the pain and being drained from it. I feel I will be able to be better at parenting and cope more if I FF

frilly you do not have to explain yourself. You don't want to bf that's your decision.

I ff from birth, try the Aptamil first feeding set you can get, they're little bottles with teats that are ready made and sterile so you're ready to go in hospital and when you come home. Then sterilise bottles and use the ready made stuff. For the first few months it was so easy to just have it in the fridge and heat in the microwave (swill a LOT and test before giving to dc). When we moved onto powder we had problems with dd getting constipated every time even though it's meant to be the same. Followed the instructions to the letter but we ended up keeping her on the ready made stuff until about 5mths.

FatSantaRobin I wasn't asking the op to justify her decision to ff. I was simply putting it to her to further consider the long term health implications. There is a lot of misinformation out there. Breastfeeding beyond the recommended minimum of 2 years is very rare in the west, most babies in the UK are breastfed for less than 6 weeks, and with 20-30% of births, breastfeeding is not initiated by the mother at all, so the argument that SN 'also' occurs in BF infants is null and void. I did suggest Hipp organic is a good choice of formula.

The fact that the op is concerned about which formula will offer the best nutrition for her baby, and is thinking ahead of her what her personal limits of being - and her aspirations to be - the best parent she can be to her baby, is testament enough to her already being a fantastic mother!

Fair dues, op, I fully appreciate your standpoint. You feel confident in YOUR choice, by all means go for it.

I'm pretty sure she would have already given great consideration in what she felt was best for her and her child so the fact that you brought bf into it at all was unreasonable and unnecessary.

Op - ignore the do-gooders on here who will completely ignore the fact that you are a grown adult with the capability to make your own choices about your own baby and will use every opportunity to try to push their views on you.

FF with whatever is most readily available to you locally and enjoy your baby :)

No, it's not unnecessary at all. Especially if it saves someone's heartache of their 40 year old dh and dc's daddy having to have an ileostomy bag, possibly for life, of which is most likely caused by ill health early on in life.

Yes, I'm a do-gooder Read my posts properly, please.

Honestly JipJap - bore off. This is acceptable on threads that ask 'which is best, ff or bf'

On threads where the op has considered both sides and made a decision to ff - unnecessary and unacceptable. There is enough guilt foisted on new Mums without that shit.

Of course it's unnecessary. OP didn't ask for advice on breastfeeding vs formula feeding. She asked for advice on which formula to use. Breastfeeding should not come into it, no matter your reasons for wanting to discuss, this thread is not the place.

Especially if it saves someone's heartache of their 40 year old dh and dc's daddy having to have an ileostomy bag, possibly for life, of which is most likely caused by ill health early on in life

Poor effort at guilt tripping - absolutely no way you can 'prove' this!

Bear in mind that Aptamil is heavily marketed at health care professionals to get the reputation it has of being the "best". In fact, they're all pretty much the same and the extra ingredients in the more expensive ones aren't really proven to do anything, so I agree go for the one which is most easily available, and don't worry about trying different milks if your baby doesn't take to the first one you try.

Also it doesn't have to be all or nothing with BF. Personal choice - absolutely - but if you want to continue to do some feeds alongside FF that is also an option, not everyone is aware of that so thought it was worth mentioning.

Good luck with the birth and your baby!

They're all much of a muchness. They have to be by law - the differences are minute - if you can be arsed have a look at the ingredients on the side of two cartons of 1st stage formula and try to spot the difference

They all have different marketing strategies - Aptamil are position themselves as "closest to breast milk" and the choice for women moving on from breastfeeding, but it's just a strategy - as pp have said, the milk is identical to Cow & Gate.

Hipp position themselves as being best because of the organic aspect but check your local shop sells it. Certainly up till fairly recently they had added something to the formula that meant it had to be prepared at a lower temperature to that recommended which put me off. This may have changed. There are very, very strict rules re: antibiotic use in dairy cattle and the period that the milk has to be dumped before it can be sold so I personally don't put much store by that argument (and anyway it's bacteria that build up resistance to antibiotics, not babies).

You can swap if you like (and your baby's ok with it). Some people find one brand more constipating/wind making than another but there's no one brand that people find this more than another. Depends on the baby.

The recommendation is not to use Stage 2 "hungry baby" milks. These are old-style formulas which are casein based rather than whey based. They have no more calories per ounce but take longer to digest which is why your baby may go longer between feeds on them, however this will mean they will take in fewer calories over the day and some babies find them very constipating.

OP please don't listen to these posters trying to guilt trip over BF. You have made a decision that you feel is best for you and your baby. It's such a personal and individual choice and really nothing to do with anyone else.

My DS ended up in special care and I was unable to BF. The consultant and the special care nurse both told me that it really doesn't matter what a baby is fed, it just matters that the baby is fed and loved. You will bond with your baby just as well and your baby will still be fit and healthy from FF.

I used aptamil as that was recommended by the special care nurse, but I think they are all pretty much the same. So whatever you can get in the corner shop!

We use Aptimil for our daughter.

Guilt tripping? Really? Well, that's entirely up to the individual's perspective. It seems some posters have completely overlooked my admiration and encouragement for the op to stand by/for standing by her decision to choose formula feeding. No where have I suggested the op has not at all considered her decision. It was simply stated there is a lot of biased, misinformation in the mainstream and beyond.

A baby's gut flora can very well become antibiotic resistant. We are merely 10 years away from the very potential end of modern medicine as we know it. Meat and non-meat animal food sources are laced with traces of antibiotics: contributing to cancer, antibiotic resistance and climate change. If you can't even begin to conceive this, then you are naive.

I will post elsewhere next time/start my own thread, maybe I should post in AIBU? but maybe then I'd still be unreasonable to do so!?

I second the point on ff :'/ health
I'm BF ds2 after mix feeding ds1, because I needed to totally cut out dairy
It's not fun but it's fine- all off shelf formula has dairy content so I could face only got the prescription milk which is hard to get in places are a k so high rejection rate
In comparison BF is less stressful and easy to control ingredients - fwiw I also can't have certain other things as they trigger issues too

Not ff bashing- I will be doing it again soon, but if BF comes easily for you I'd try and stick with it even if only short term

To answer your actual question- aptamil

*rank

A baby's gut flora can very well become antibiotic resistant. We are merely 10 years away from the very potential end of modern medicine as we know it. Meat and non-meat animal food sources are laced with traces of antibiotics: contributing to cancer, antibiotic resistance and climate change. If you can't even begin to conceive this, then you are naive.

So formula feeding causes cancer and antibiotic resistance? OK then.
Cancer is a bastard and it will strike wherever the hell it likes. Antibiotic resistance is because of over prescribing antibiotics, and if it comes from animals then it comes from humans too. If cows milk has traces then so will your breast milk. Your breast milk has traces of whatever you eat, hence the PP who had to cut out dairy.

Op, I'm a breastfeeding peer supporter and was told during my training that The Caroline Walker Trust has unbiased reviews regarding differences with formula.

If you google it then search formula feeding the articles will come up.

Please try and not feel pressure to breastfeed, as it's a very personal decision and only you know how you feel.

If ff fed babies have cmp or similar there is prescription formula available for them.

No, formula feeding does not cause cancer. Red meat products can cause cancer and animal non-meat food sources can be contributory risk factors to getting cancer. You're right, antibiotic resistance can be passed from human to human, especially if you live or work in close proximity of a person who has become antibiotic resistant and has been treated with antibiotics for the same strain of bacterial infection.

I don't eat much dairy, I eat organically sourced animal products, was myself breastfed for 18 months, and for the most of my life have eaten mostly white meat/fish. I had to cut out cow's milk when I realised my son was cow's milk intolerant - whilst bf I consumed daily a half pint of milk to boost my calcium intake - I learnt that dairy is not the only nor the healthiest source of calcium.

Toxins consumed by the mother are first broken down in the liver and eliminated by the kidneys and further broken down in breast milk and then by the bf baby's healthy gut flora and own liver and excretory system. Toxins in formula are not broken down in the same way as breast milk is as it is not constituted in the same way human milk is nor is it suckled directly from a cow and therefore does not have the chemical processes.

the same chemical processes