Formula (UK) which one is best

[lockdownpregnancy]

Hi ladies!
I was in Sainsbury's earlier and just thought I'd have a nosey at the formula and which ones which, as we are going to bottle feed baby.
They vary massively in price and I appreciate that the most expensive isn't always the best, plus it has to be suitable for baby.
Whilst I'm a way off giving birth, I was just wondering which one has been your preference?
TIA

www.firststepsnutrition.org/parents-carers

All formula meets stringent nutritional standards so there is very little difference.

Sainsbury's own brand is made by Kendamil so is the only one made in the UK, if environmental issues are something you're thinking about.

We use Aldi because it's cheap and it's near us. It's great. There's a dispatches episode about formula on all 4 and it's really interesting. They're basically all the same. If they could prove that the extra stuff put in to some formula was beneficial they would all have to add it.

Every formula is actually very similar. If something is found to be beneficial to a baby, a formula has to have it, so every formula has the same benefits. The rest is simply marketing. I bought Aptamil for my DD but I had no clue about formulas. Now that i know they all have the same benefits i will be buying Aldi brand for my next DC when its born, if breast feeding doesnt work for me.

I'd just recommend using whatever you can get most easily balanced with what is best value. Might be helpful to see what your local shop has for the inevitable time you realise you need some and have hardly any left and have to do a panic trip to the Co-op!

I used Mamia Aldi.. so much cheaper than the rest but they are so strictly regulated that they are all the same! X

I would recommend starting with something you can easily get hold of, mainly because if you ever run out you want to be able to get some quickly and easily. We used cow & gate with my first DS and now with my second DS. It’s one of the cheaper brands and it’s worked really well for us.

How eye opening! Thank you ladies.
I am a massive Aldi fan and have been buying Mamia nappies already so if the formulas are all pretty much the same I'll get it from there!
I'll be watching that documentary on the formula too!
Thank you for that 👍🏻

I came here to say what everyone else has said!

Interestingly my midwife told us to get the most expensive one we could afford as there is a difference is the vitamins or something.
We went with the aptamil plus one and never had any problems x

We went with Aptamil purely because it was available in all the shops closest to us, including the 24 hour garage. But I had friends who used Aldi and find it great - like others say there's very little in it.

I’ve tried a few different formulas with my children and the one I preferred the most was hipp organic.
I found there was less wind/reflux/constipation with hipp for some reason.

I went for the one that was in our local shop, logic being in case we got low without realising or run out we’d be able to get it quickly.

However it does depend on your DC, you might have a reflux baby or colic and need a different variation of the formula.

Also look at which one does the ready made bottles for newborns to take to hospital.

We went with cow and gate for both of ours

Oh I forgot about that. Aldi is similar to aptamil so if you need pre-made in the hospital you can use that, we still interchange the 2 when we need a pre-made bottle.

Also a prep machine is a god send!

Lots of people are going to tell you that all formulas are the same and it's simply not true.
All formulas contain the same basic ingredients to be considered safe and appropriate for babies, for not all of them are made equal and you'll find that your baby will tolerate some better than others.
We tried three different formulas until we found that was right for my DD, and it makes a big difference. We used Hipp Organic and loved it. I always recommend it for everybody, but as I said, every baby is different. Don't be afraid to test different options!

Interestingly my midwife told us to get the most expensive one we could afford as there is a difference is the vitamins or something.
As a midwife I can tell you that this is nonsense and that this midwife is not up to date with her infant feeding training.

We used the Aldi one too, started off on aptimal which is the most expensive but switched to Aldi and noticed no difference, my baby turned out fine on it too, she's not 3. I'm pregnant again and will be using the Aldi formula again xx

Thank you for the extra comments ladies.
I think I'll start with Aldi and see how baby gets on once he's here.

My experience as a new mum is far too long ago to be of use here, however when dgc was born, DIL went for Aptamil from the start and for a couple of weeks it was fine. But then dgc began to struggle with wind and was vomiting a fair bit of the feed back. The midwife suggested a change of formula and they went for Cow and Gate. No more problems and dgc absolutely thrived, so I'd just suggest being open to change if necessary. And as a gp who ended up looking after dgc for several weeks when DIL was rushed back to hospital, I can thoroughly recommend the prep machine. I wish they'd been around when my dcs were born.
Good luck.

I used sma, as that was what I was fed when I was a baby! Bonus being I could get it in the local petrol station, sma did the pre-made formula bottles for newborns and I could order it off of amazon with prime delivery.

As others have said they’re all pretty similar, just this one worked for me for convenience. Aldi is a mission to get to from where I live and they didn’t have any twin trolleys the one time I ventured down so haven’t been back since.

I used apitmal with DS1 after I stopped expressing at 3 months.

DS2 was combi fed (he lost a lot of weight in first few weeks EBF alone) aptimal to start with but I felt he was being sick a lot so used Aldi instead and it was great, so much cheaper too! He eventually just took breast and didn’t want a bottle after a while.

I am hoping to EBF this time around too, but will probably use Aldi/Sainsbury’s brand if we need to top up with formula again