Baby Milk Brands - can you mix them

[mumsrthebest]

Hi All,
I bought my cartoned baby milk for the hospital yesterday and I decided on Cow and Gate (cheapest). I noticed when I got home that I had been given a box of powdered Aptimal milk from my sister. Can I use the Cow and Gate and then come home and use the Aptimal? Does this affect the baby if I change the product?

Also, I am taking my bottles and everything to the hospital but how do I sterilies them? I have a microwave steriliser and obviously I won't have a microwave in the hospital room. I have sterilised the bottles already but dont they loose their sterilisation after a certian time?

It's all new to me. Any advice would be helpful.

You can change. It may cause a few loose nappies or constipation but it won't harm your baby as such.

In hospital take some Milton and a large box that you can deal. After washing the bottles in hot soapy water you can sterilise them in Milton. The solution only needs replacing every 24 hours and you can make sterile bottle systems for use as needed.

Hi, I heard the other day not to mix milk, apparently midwives say it can cause allergies..... But if it's only swapping once then I would But I'd try to find one and stick to it.

Congrats on having your baby :-)

Breastmilk changes all the time. Formula is a breastmilk substitute (obviously!) and every brand has to meet the same nutritional standards. There's no reason not to swap all the time if you choose, unless it causes your baby issues. Obviously the manufacturers prefer you to choose their brand and then go on and on buying that, so it's not surprising there's a lot of talk about sticking. I've never seen any evidence of any benefit of sticking with one type or any evidence of disadvantage in swapping. Price is as good a reason as any to pick one.

Taking Milton in is a good idea, you just need tupperwares big enough to fit a few bottles. Alternatively, you could ask your partner or a relative to bring sterilised bottles in when they visit and take away your old ones. You just need enough to see you through regular feeding (every 3 hours roughly).

I've went from Aptamil to Aptamil Comfort to SMA to Aptamil and then a bit of Aptamil Comfort and SMA whilst I waited for shopping to arrive. My main brand being Aptamil. Didn't do my William any harm. He had 2 bouts of green poo a week apart (after being on SMA) and slightly pained but that was about it. I also BF for first two weeks and the fact that Aptamil gives poo the same colour and consistency as breast milk has made me more comfortable with that.

No problem with switching milks as they all meet the same standards.