What the best milk formula

[Goldenmother]

Hi
I'm not due for 12 weeks but I'm trying to figure out with milk formula is best for baby, I know breast is best but I want to have formula as a back up and I'm looking at supermarkets have starter packs to bring in hospital bag just incase breast feeding doesn't work out. Any tips on how to decide which formula is best

There is no best one tbh. Its whatever suits your baby. More expensive doesnt mean better either as they all need certain amounts of key ingredients

You baby will decide.

We were given SMA in hospital (because it one of the cheapest so that's what they use) but when we got home we found DS was always sick and constipated. We then switched to Aptimal and that worked perfectly

I would suggest starting off with the cheapest and seeing how it goes.

And do not let anyone tell you all formulas are the same because they definitely aren't

I found that having formula in the house made it very easy for me to give up breastfeeding. I breastfed for 8 months but gave him lots of top ups with formula etc, I personally regret not breastfeeding him for longer. In this current climate with all that's going on, breast really is the best thing for baby and if it can be helped, with no formula as it changes the gut flora in babies tummy, kind of disrupting the good work your breast milk is doing if that makes sense. This is by no means a preach, just one mum to another x

In terms of formula if I really had to, my experience with Hipp organic was that it made my LO constipated, aptamil agreed with him much more. I just stuck with that until he was 1..

Think I used sma with dd. Started with aptamil with ds but switched to cow and gate as it was cheaper

@maria2bela she wasn't asking for your opinion on whether you regretted not breastfeeding more, was she. Get out your ivory tower and stop preaching.

Ahhhh only 5 posts in an its already turned to "formula is giving up" "formula is bad for babies tummy"

@Pentium85 it was only the 3rd post in before the breast is best brigade engaged the pitchforks. Sad times when you can't ask a valid question without someone voicing their opinion on your choices.

@NewDOOFUSfor20

Just giving my opinion as a Mum, I also told her which formula I preferred to use for my DS, also made it clear I wasn't preaching either..This seems like a touchy subject for you, so sorry you're feeling triggered by my answer.

No one is saying formula feeding is giving up, just that breastfeeding can be very hard at times and having formula handy can make it easy to give up breastfeeding, what's offensive about that? My midwife told me the same thing!

@maria2bela

Saying something but then going "but I'm not preaching" doesn't excuse what you are saying.

If 2 people have said you have come across a bit preachy over breastfeeding, you probably have.

No one is triggered, but we do like to support both methods of feeding because there are benefits for both.

Phrases like "giving up" etc are not beneficial.

@maria2bela

My midwife also told me the same thing, and if I had listened to her, my baby would have died.
They have very very very limited training when it comes to feeding babies.

I also found the post “preachy”.

Personally I didn’t breast feed either of my daughters and I won’t breast feed the daughter I’m carrying.

Eldest is nearly 14 and she used to have Farleys milk but they don’t make that anymore.

Youngest daughter I tried on Aptimil but she didn’t like it at all - changed her to Cow & Gate and she loved it.

Hi @Goldenmother, they are all very similar, and made to the same guidelines. I formula fed both my babies, with no ill effects. They are 8 and 11 now. Amongst the ff babies that I knew, one or two became constipated by SMA, but that seems to be the main difference between them all. Aptamil and C&G were identical in all but price and marketing 7 years ago when I last used formula.

The thing is @maria2bela, she didn't ask for your opinion as a mum, she asked for opinions on formula. I'm sure her reasons for not breastfeeding are entirely valid to her, she doesn't need (nor did she ask for opinions) people questioning her choices.

The only reason it is a touchy subject for me is because there are many new/expectant mothers who will made to feel inadequate and guilty for feeding their baby as they choose. In these "current times", as you call them, the issue of supporting and rallying around this group of people is needed more than ever. They do not need to hear why you wished you breast fed for longer, why breast is best or any other guff that may escape.

Yup, preachy and unnecessary.

I would look in the closest shop to where you live, see what they have and try that first. If you run out of formula late at night (or we are still in lockdown) you don’t want to have to be driving miles for Hipp Organic if the local shop only sells Aptamil, if you see what I mean.

I've been looking into this and it seems there's no consensus - some babies have issues with one brand and get on really well with another and vice versa. I think it just depends on the baby really.

I'm planning to EBF but will be getting a few tins of formula in just in case. I wasn't planning to do that but given the current situation, I'm not taking any chances.

I used Aptamil and never had any issues but it is pricey. Whatever you choose just don’t buy more than one box in case it doesn’t work for your baby.

I had trouble getting going with breastfeeding so ended up having to give formula to feed my daughter I was still determined I wanted to breastfeed so kept trying before giving formula so I think it is a good idea to have the formula as a backup as dh had to rush to the shop to get some as we weren't prepared. The hospital have us the first bit but then says we had to get our own as I had to stay in for nearly a week after birth. I successfully got breastfeeding established with a very occasional bottle of formula where I hadn't managed to express enough for dh help with the odd feed so I could have a break when needed. DD was predominantly breastfed until 7 months then I switched to formula as it was the right time for us. We now use sma but the the current situation have ended up having to get a couple of tins of aptimal as we couldn't get any sma and DD (now 10 months) has been fine with either.

Thank you everyone for your help I will try to breast feed but wasn't able to with my first child who 13 so will give it a try and hopefully I can but wanted to get some formula in my hospital bag just incase I can't.

Many thanks

We used Aptimel with my first when we tried to combination feed. We going to try to breastfeed this time round too, but again we're bringing Aptimel as a back up in case baby doesn't take to breast x

Find out what your closest shop stocks and go for that brand. It's much easier if you run out or drop a tin to have supplies close to hand. They are all pretty much the same in ingredients.

And don't get hungry baby formula!

Find out what your closest shop stocks and go for that brand

Absolutely! The best one is whichever you can get most easily.

My baby really likes Hipp Organic (although I can’t find it anywhere at the moment) and Nanny goat milk formula. We started on Aptamil but it made his colic really bad. I guess it depends on the baby. Worth trying out a few at the beginning so you can find the right one for you and your baby. I couldn’t breast feed my baby. My colostrum and milk just never came in. Having some ready made formula in my hospital bag was a life saver as otherwise the poor cherub wouldn’t have been able to eat anything.