Which baby formula is best?

[Spockrates]

This is my first pregnancy, I want to try breast feeding but if for whatever reason it doesn’t work out and I have to choose baby formula i want her on the best healthiest, most comfortable baby milk, I initially chose SMA baby milk but one friend swears by aptamil, another swears by C&G another swears by Hipp organic and now I’m totally confused about what milk to feed my baby I was told sma is the oldest and best my mum fed all of us on sma and she said she never had a problem and all her kids have very good immune systems and were never sick which she credits to sma baby formula, what do you think the best is and why, nutrition wise and also comfort wise as I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable with constipation or colic (I heard some milks can cause that)

@Spockrates just following as interested to know as also pregnant with my first! My sister swore by C&G and had no issues what’soever and she’s had 5 healthy babies lol. I have other family members who have used different ones - and in all honestly I do think it comes down baby’s preference and which they get on with the most. As they’re all different and may have colic etc - my SILs little boy is lactose intolerant and they’ve only just figured that out so he’s been super unsettled and now on a specific formula.

But still interested to know others opinions as I have no clue haha x

I have always been told that all baby formula sold in the UK meets the recommended criteria and that there is essentially no difference between them in terms of nutrition etc. This is quite a good article which explains in more detail:

www.nct.org.uk/baby-toddler/feeding/practical-tips/why-are-there-different-types-infant-formula

You're best off choosing one that is stocked at your most local store or where you regularly do your shopping. As above, they all conform to strict nutritional standards and anything above and beyond that is more marketing to charge you more money.
There's no way to know if your baby will suffer with constipation or colic. It's not caused by the milk necessarily, if that was the case with specific milks then they wouldn't be on sale.

There’s not much difference between them as their is strict rules around formula. I tried sma with my first but it stank like off milk (was in date and sealed) so I binned it and went for aptamil as it used to be recommended as the best (but they’re all very similar these days) never had any issues with constipation or colic on either of my two. This time I’m looking At kendamil as it’s supposed to be just as good as aptamil but it’s cheaper.

There isn’t really a better or worse one but when I had to start combo feeding with my daughter she would only drink the aptimal one for some reason so I think it may be a case your baby has a preference. I started with SMA but she refused it but took to aptimal ok. I then tried c&g as cheaper but she didn’t like that either 🤦🏻‍♀️.

I would try the one that you can hold of the easiest

I don’t think there’s a great deal of difference between them as they have to be of a certain standard.
I used Aldi Mamia with my first and he’s an incredible, thriving 3 year old. He didn’t drop any birth weight at his first weigh in.
I’m using Kendamil with our newborn and she put on an oz at her first weigh in to 7lbs 7 and then went to 8lbs 1 at the first HV check. MW I spoke to told me the babies she’s seeing putting on weight from birth are Kendamil babies.
We are having lots of issues with crying episodes at the moment which I’m trying to work out what it may be but don’t think it’s the milk.

As others have said they all have to meet the same strict criteria to be sold so no one brand is ‘better’ than any other, it often comes down to personal preference.

Also because of this, any formula which offers ‘extras’ (good for colic! Extra hungry babies!) etc aren’t worth getting because it’s just marketing - they all have the same level of nourishment so none of them really offer what they say they do.

I use Cow&Gate. Tried Aptamil and Kendamil, but my daughter didn’t get on well with either of those and Aptamil wouldn’t dissolve properly in my experience.

I think for ingredients/ provenance/ nutrition you can't really beat Kendamil Organic. But you won't know if it agrees with your baby until you try, what's good for one isn't always good for another.

I went through ingredients of most major brands and kendamil organic is the one with the least emulsifiers/ stabilisers etc.

The powdered form of all formulas is better than the ready made bottles as they contain more of the stabilisers etc.

Had been awhile though so I'm a bit rusty. My advice is to pick a few, go through the ingredients and Google anything you don't know what it is x

I used Hipp Organic

I used hipp and had no issues so will use it again this time, as well as expressing more milk if I can. I nearly went for aptamil last time but due to a shortage in the supermarkets near me I changed to Hipp. In all the googling I did those two seemed to come out as the top two but as others have said they’re all very similar nowadays

I agree with @Number1number2 check what you notice has plenty of stock where you shop. Like others have said, I believe it is regulated. My daughter has SMA, but sometimes we have to go to two or three shops to find it