Help - how do you choose which baby formula to give?

[oldermama2021]

Hi everyone,
I am so confused - I am going to bottle feed my baby which is due in a few weeks time and I am starting to think about which formula we should choose for baby. The pregnancy book says to look for the whey and casein content..but that sometimes the most expensive isn't always the best? Can anyone please help me with what I should be looking for? FTM and getting a bit confused about the different types of milk formula available! Thank you for your help.

Any first stage infant formula is suitable. They are regulated so all have to contain specific amounts of nutrients. Some have extras added but if they were required the rest would need them added too.

If it’s still on there channel 4 has a dispatchers programme on baby formula, it’s worth a watch :)

@KB13

If it’s still on there channel 4 has a dispatchers programme on baby formula, it’s worth a watch :)

Agreed. After watching this I just fed Aldi’s own when I started combi feeding/weaning.

Just get what's available and suits your pocket. They're so heavily regulated, they are pretty similar. The main difference is the cost.

I have read many times that the best one to get is whichever is most easily accessible to you at any time. So what they have in stock at your local shop. So you will have easy access if you ever run out.

They are all pretty similar but I would choose one available at you closest shop in case of emergency and/or one that does ready made up milk as well as powder so you can use it in the first few days or if out and about
I recommend Dr Brown anti colic bottles too - we saw such a difference when we switched DD to those.

Go into Tesco/Asda/Waitrose wherever and take photos of the ingredients lists of all of the first milks (to be honest, I bet you can get all of this online).

Then at your leisure you can observe that they are all basically the same.

Formula used to be more caesin based but that was changed years ago (for all of them) to be whey based as it was found to be easier for babies' digestion.

There are milks that keep the old caesin-based formulation - they are now marketed as "hungry baby" milks because they stay in the gut longer.

The vast, vast, vast, vast bulk of the price of formula is spent on marketing so you are doing yourself and your baby a service by buying whichever brand is cheapest and most convenient for you. Put the difference into a savings account for them if you want/can afford to.

Thank you all for your advice....I will definitely look up the dispatches programme and see if it is still available online. I would think that a lot is down to the marketing of the product. Some people say that if the formula contains more whey they its more like breast feeding...but I have no idea. Will casein or whey actually be listed on the ingredients list?

I was also considering a prep machine but apparently midwives do not recommend it? Any thoughts? They seem very handy instead of having to wait 30 minutes on boiling water to cool.

All first milks are whey based. Hungry milk is casein based. Dont overthink it.
There are concerns that the hot shot is not hot enough for long enough to kill bacteria in the powder but its your choice.

I had the perfect prep with my first and didn’t get it out of the box, got one gifted with my second and it was the single best thing I had. If I was to have another (definitely not happening!!) it’d be top of the must have list! Smallest amount they do is 4oz so for the first few weeks I used the Aptimil ready made stuff, they do a starter pack that’s so handy for your hospital bag although my hospital supplied the milk both times. Not sure about midwives but think there’s a lot of people on here swear by them. If maintained and cleaned properly it was a game changer for me.

There isn't really too much difference. I chose sma because it's what my mum used every time. But someone else used cow and gate, someone else used aptimel

Cow and Gate and Aptamil have the same manufacturer but C&G is cheaper

I combination fed so wasn't worth the space or anything expense of a perfect prep. But I had a dedicated flask of cooked boiled water and used to put about half the water needed in first that was hot from the kettle and then top up from the flask.

Sterilises the powder without the wait of the kettle or the expense of the machine.

Cooled not cooked!

I would choose one available at you closest shop in case of emergency

Absolutely this!

The perfect prep machines aren’t recommended as they apparently don’t get hot enough to sterilise the powder and they don’t clean properly leading to mould and bacterial growth. can make babies very poorly.

All formula is basically the same. For some reason sma really smells bad so I switched to aptamil which is loads better but just go with whatever you can afford, they’re all the same.

Choose one you can get easily and easily afford. We mostly bought SMA or C&G because they were regularly on offers in our local shop.

No point going for LIDL milk if your local LIDL closes at 5 and is 20+ mins away and you’re like me and never remember to buy milk.