Anyone Not Breastfeeding?? - Can anyone give help on milk etc

[AwwABaby]

Hello,

I have chosen not to breastfeed and wondered if anyone had any advice on which brand to start a newborn on?

Myself and DH were in the supermarket reading all the back's of the different brand's and they all appear to be about the same.

I was thinking of starting with the cheapest brand (I know, I know there isn't a cheap one) but I found Cow & Gate to be the current cheapest.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Please no breast is best, just advice on milk for newborns.

Many thanks :)

Ooohhh forgot to mention, was thinking of starting on cheapest and if it does not agree move upwards, seemed logical, you think??

Hi

I am also planning to FF. I haven't yet compared prices but have heard that Hipp Organic is reasonably priced, if so I may use this. I know a lot of people think Aptamil is somehow 'better' than other FF brands but this has been widely discredited, instead they have just spent huge amounts of money on marketing it as being better.

I don't know if you are registered on NetMums but I found that people on there were more receptive than here to FF.

I think these days there isn't really much in it, it just depends on what suits your lo. With my first I used SMA, but he ended up with awful reflux so was on prescription milk, then with dc2 I used cow and gate, never had a problem with this (bit did make her nappies stink!)
This time with DC3 I'm going to use Aptamil, for the simple reason I now live in Germany, but visit the uk often and it's the only brand I can buy in both countries.

how old is your baby or are you starting to plan in advance? I started with Aptamil - as I think I had read somewhere that the proteins in the milk are the most similar size to breastmilk consistency. I did end up switching to Cow & Gate hungry milk brand as the Aptamil hungry gave DS worse wind.

To be honest I think it is trial and error - what suits one baby, might not suit another. So I see no problem in starting with any brand and then changing if needed. It is recommended that if you do switch, especially whilst your baby is very small, then make the switch slowly over a few days at least to allow their digestion to adjust.

Id advise getting one tin of one brand, anyone you like, and once mear the end of the tin make a decision as to whether you stuck with it or try something else.

I got a tin of SMA gold and as dd seemed fine with it, thought if it aint broke

Dont buy tonns as a newborn will take at least a week to go through a tin. Then you can adapt according to baby.

Hipp organic is fab, doesn't smell like rotten eggs the way aptimil does and its the cheapest, plus its organic so gentler on the tummy IME.

I'm using cow & gate. Just use whatever is stocked in your local shop in case you can't get to a supermarket! I don't think there's a big difference in any of the brands tbh and aptamil is made by the same company as cow & gate.

I'd also recommend the Phillips Avent microwave steriliser as it''s very quick and doesn't take up much space!

Also I'd never heard of them before, but milk powder dispensers are very handy for pre-measuring the milk powder especially if you're out and about.

If you want to make up feeds as you go or warm up bottles the tommee tippee flask is good too!

TBH I don't think there is a huge amount of difference. Depends on the baby. C+G gave my baby wind so have switched to SMA and that seems to be fine. I express breast milk and top up with formula.

I would also recommend a microwave steriliser, quick and convenient and cheap too.

What the milks contain is regulated by law so that all milks will be suitable for a young baby, the differences are very small. Just choose one that is widely available so that if you run out, it's not a brand that is only stocked by the fancy chemist on the other side of town.

You may find one make that seems to suit your baby better in terms of wind or avoiding constipation, but there is no milk that is proven to be better than another.

The cheapest. I also found Hipp organic good. SMA and Aptamil are ridiculously expensive, probably.because people are told that they are the best. Nonsense. They are all pretty much the same.

Organic??? I haven't seen this, is it in the Asda??

I will be using Cow & Gate, again as its cheapest and they are all the same really. I have bought in a months worth ready. It will take a few weeks for any issues with it to arise anyway and another week to swap over so no loss if i have to swap. Also, if you do get a prob with baby not settling to the milk you have prebought you can swap them over and try them with it again when they start weaning, mixed in food etc to use it up etc. I must make cast iron chavvy babies though - they have always been happy with the cheapest

Good luck OP :)

It is relatively unimportant which brand you use, but make sure you are clear how to prepare it as not doing so correctly can be very dangerous.

I woukd recommend for the early days, getting in the UHT cartons.

Hipp organic was the most 'gentle ' milk I found, it's not as expensive as some others and obviously has the advantage of being organic. It's cheaper than aptimel and sma. I think iot's comparable with cow and gate in price.
I had to formula feed after a few days, tried a few kinds and I found that my DD threw up anything else other than Hipp organic.

YES asda sell it.

We started ds 10 days old on cow and gate but the normal one seemed to make him really windy and constipated so now he's on cow and gate comfort and that seems ok.

I've heard that aptamil is the same as cow and gate and even produced in the same factory but put in different boxes! Not sure how true that is!

I hadn't noticed a price difference between C&G and SMA, they are very similar in price aren't they?

All formulas are much of a muchness in terms of nutritional and calorific values, but some have slightly different ratios of certain things, and obv the proteins are processed in different ways. C&G & SMA do the incredibly useful starter packs with 2oz bottles made up with pre sterilised teats, they are great for in hospital/first few days. If you think there is a problem after that there's plenty of time to change. Please be aware that all babies throw up an inordinate amount in the first couple of days so don't make any quick decisions about milk until they are a couple of weeks old

I am also planning on formula feeding, with dd1 I used SMA this time with dd2 I am going to try Cow and gate, it's cheaper than SMA and aptamil, is widely available where I live and in my opinion i don't think there is any difference between them. x

i originally use sma gold formula but found it bound up my dd a lot so switched to cow an gate for hungry babies and have had no problems xx

They are all the same. What's in them is regulated by law, so that if any ingredient is proven to have a benefit for babies then they must all have that ingredient in them. If any formula claims to contain an ingredient which is not in all the others, then there is no proven benefit to that ingredient and the formula company is basically experimenting on your baby.

The marketing is very clever... for example, Aptamil is often described as being 'closest to breastmilk' but that's just a very successful advertising slogan - there is no actual evidence this is the case. Some brands are marketed directly to HVs and midwives, which is why they tend to be recommended by them.

Hospital recommend aptimil. It's what they gave us during the first week when dd poorly and needed top up. We also used cow and gate and sma if supermarkets had run out of aptimil

I tried breastfeeding as the midwife insisted my milk would eventually come in but it never did so my baby got really dehydrated...
anyway ...the hospital had given baby some formula but my antenatal midwife..very very experienced advised aptamil...it was great....as she was a bit constipated and colicy i put her on aptamil comfort after...she had that for almost 2 years...she is almost three now...
its a great milk