If I am unable to breastfeed what powdered milk should I have on standby.

[Lauracrazygirl]

I don't have any reason to believe that I will have any problems breast feeding. But it's always good to have a back up plan.

So can anyone recommend a baby formula for a newborn that can be a back up incase I struggle.

any formula you like the look of. just make sure it is "stage 1"

We liked hipp because it's organic, but they are really all the same quality as they have to be.

Get a pack of the ready-to-drink ones - there’s no point buying a big tub of powder if you might not need to use it.

They say most women can BF if they commit to trying for 30 days! (I didn’t make it that far myself!)

I did the same as you (did breastfeed in the end) and I think I got Nannycare.

It does not contain palm oil or soya (from memory) which was important to me

Aptamil do ready made bottles with sterilised teats. Means you don't have to fuss with bottles. I took some in my hospital bag as my hospital don't give out formula at all. I used it with my first baby as she was starving and my milk hadn't come in but didn't need it with my second.

www.boots.com/baby-child/babyfeeding/baby-milk-formula/aptamil-1-first-milk-starter-pack-ready-to-feed-6x70ml-10175040

Whichever is available in your closest, latest opening shop

Yes yes to the pre-made bottles. We've given DD a few at really desperate times but other than that she's just BF. It would be a pain to faff with powder when you don't really need to.

We're using Cow and Gate because it's basically identical to Aptimil, but cheeper.

You could express instead!

If you're keen to breastfeed but experience any difficulty, badger every midwife, health visitor and helpline you can for support! It can be very hard for various reasons but it's very, very rare to not actually be able to breastfeed.

Just get a small bottle of ready to drink. It will only be about 75p, so doesn't matter if you don't need it, but will give you enough time to get more if you do.

Also if you wanted to, you could look up colostrum harvesting, for the last week or so before babies due, then you would have a small amount of colostrum to top up with if you do have feeding problems.

I agree, get the premade bottles

Gosh! Thank you everyone 💐

All your advice is greatly appreciated, especially to ask/insist for help if I struggle. @skylucy
A couple of premade bottles sound like the best option for me.

Personally I’d get the cheapest, readily available formula you can and work your way up from there

We started on cow and gate (which made DS gassy) and then moved onto HIPP. At the time HIPP was only slightly more expensive but seems to have jumped in price in the last 6 months

Also definitely get the premade bottles to start with- if you do end up going over to bottles (even just the odd one) premades are so much easier when you’re getting the hang of it

If you want to be Uber prepared most brands do newborn starter kits with pre sterilised teats which are very handy. We gave DS2 these to top up in the first few days

I Really rate aptamil