No baby formula

[maa1992]

Hi,

DH has gone the shops and there isn't any baby formula (we use SMA first infant milk) DS is 5 months and we haven't weaned yet as he's too little and not ready.

DH says shops only have 6 months+ milk

Could we give this to DS?

I breastfed for 4 months so I haven't got much of a clue about formula, our HV recommended SMA so we went with it.

DH has been to 7 shops this morning, we're from a big city so it's not as though we only have one local shop

I just don't understand how it's already all sold out

I would imagine the 6 plus months is fine xx

Any brand is fine to give and you can change brands- they're all essentially the same unless a specific allergy milk. And you can give 6+ months milk. It's a scam to get around advertising rules, there's no magic button in your baby to be ready to drink it!

And yes, stock pilers are wankers and causing unnecessary heart ache and problems!

@Ohidontknow99 I'm so scared to give him jt incase it's not suitable, can't find much online!! Thanks so much for the reply, looks like it's the o my formula we can get

Yes just give 6 months milk or change brand. When my son was a baby there was some Chinese milk crisis so we were only allowed to buy two and it was scarce. I swapped brands a couple of times and no harm came of him

Can you go back to bf for a bit? If you were breastfeeding till a month ago you will be able to restart.

I don't know how true it is but I have saw on social media you can ask your local chemist to order baby formula for you so maybe that's worth a try

@GalOopNorth I can't, would love to but baby was hospitalised due to breastfeeding not working out for us. He was significantly underweight even though the hospital monitored our feeds my milk just didn't seem to be enough. I tried combination feeding but ultimately formula got his weight up and seems to work best

@Justme10 I'll try that!

Hopefully you can get some, worrying about how to feed your baby is just the last thing you want to be worrying about at the moment

Not only will it be fine but have you checked local shops. I went to our local shops and chemist yesterday and they were all fully stocked with formulas, loo roll and soap.

Ah ok, hope you find what you need today 💐💐💐

I would try and stick to first stage milk. It really doesn't matter which brand you use and there's no evidence that swapping brands will cause problems, but definitely try to get hold of some first stage milk and only use follow on formula as a super last resort.

A local Facebook group might be able to help. If you don't have one start one. I have formula here for my grandchildren I would happily share with neighbours.

I'm not sure how true it is but I've seen a post going around on sites saying if you call the number on the back of the tin they can send you some directly x

Also try the local off licence, nearest pharmacy even.

any first or stage 1 milk is preferable to the same brand in 6 Months +

@maa1992 giving the 6+ milk should be fine.

When my DS was 6 months I took him to baby clinic to be weighed and the HV said not to bother worrying about first milk and 6+ milk as it is exactly the same. I hadn’t realised until she mentioned it.

My DS is 7 months now, if I couldn’t get 6+ milk I’d be fine giving him the first milk based on her advice.

Hope you manage to get some, I had the same issue myself at the weekend. I don’t want to panic buy but couldn’t help but get an extra box as you just don’t know when more will be available and we are staying at home now as both have immune system issues.

I was in M&S last night and saw they had SMA, cow and gate and Aptamil. Sorry I didn’t check what age.

Thanks everyone xx

DH managed to get some from two local pharmacies, he managed to get us 2 pots to see us through the next ten days.

When he was in Tesco, staff told him that a lady was buying 6 tins of SMA to put in her coffee!!!! She said it would last longer than regular milk

Honestly, this is so scary. I didn't want to stock pile but now I wish I did!!

I think follow on milk has extra iron in it. May be a slight risk of constipation judging by when I took iron supplements while pregnant

Wow people are so greedy, babies and the elderly are the most vulnerable here , just cant believe this is what its come to🤦🏻‍♀️

Ive seemed to find lots of sma 1st milk however nukber 2 is where im struggling with. My DS is 5 months coming on to 6 and the shelves are all cleaned out and no nappies or wipes. So frustrating

I wouldn't try swapping brands, most babies get upset stomach if they cant take one formula, i gave my DS aptamil and he had stomach pains and knees were always up his belly.

6+ will be fine.
🤢 to those putting it in tea, formula tastes rank.

The Stage 2 milk is not the same! And most babies can swap brands just fine. See the First Steps Nutrition page for detailed information on formula. I wouldn’t stress too much about a nearly 6 month old on stage 2 but it’s not a good idea for babies younger than that.

Babies of any age can have stage 1 though.

Have you tried looking on amazon? They had alot but god knows maybe those greedy people got to them too.