Which milk powder??

[MamaBear2be]

First pregnancy, we are due in four weeks, however I have absolutely no idea which brand of milk powder I should be buying! I won’t be breast feeding so that’s not an option, I just have no idea what milk brand we should get? There seems to be loads of different brands and some are more expensive than others, but we don’t know which one is the best option all round. Naturally we’d rather something that is more readily available than something we have to search for ages to get hold of, but I don’t know really what we should be looking for or what the difference is in each brand.

any help would be very much appreciated 🤍

The basic ingredients of first stage formula are pretty much the same because it’s highly regulated.
I went with a brand that I could get the hospital disposal pack for.

some will go off the cheapest they can find because it is pricey.

You’ll find you may need to switch around depending on how baby adapts to it.

I used Hipp Organic with my first as I combi fed (they do a hospital pack too) but in all honesty I would pick a brand that your local shop stocks so you know you can get it easily if you're caught short.

They’re honestly all the same as they have to meet the same standards, it’s all about the advertising so just buy what you can get easily.

Thank you so much! It’s such a stressful time, I hadn’t even considered milk yet as my mind has been elsewhere recently - it was only when the midwife mentioned it the other day that we realised we don’t have any and had no idea what we were looking for! Glad to hear they’re all relatively similar anyway so will see what our local Tesco has plenty of and will go with that for ease 😊 Thanks again x

They're all pretty much the same as other posters have said. Only thing I would say is go for one that do the instant mini bottles for when you're on the go. Stash them in the cupboard and if you end up having an impromptu day out you can throw one in your bag. Nothing worse than realising you can't go out as you have no bottles made up! Most of the main brands do but if for example you went with Aldis own brand they don't do the instant ones.

sma do very small 70ml bottles, which you can even buy some disposable teats and just screw them on to make a disposable bottle for the first day in hospital, saves having to figure out sterilising but then again they are not cheap. My hospital had cold water sterilisers that could be set up and some used it for pump sets but I also saw one used for bottles. Mam also have self sterilising bottles (3mins in the microwave).

I went with aptamil with my first baby thinking it was "better" due to being more expensive, but then I realised how tightly regulated it was and how they're all much the same! Chose cow and gate for my second and he's thrived too.

Choose the most readily available around you but don't buy in bulk initially in case your baby doesn't get on with it.

I went with Cow & Gate in the end and really liked it.

I really liked the look of Kendamil but went with Cow & Gate instead as it was more readily available at the time.

A few years ago there was a programme on Channel 4 Dispatches called The Great Milk Scandel and the jist was they are all basically the same as they have to all follow the same rules and regulations and its really down to clever marketing. They said Cow & Gate was made in the same factory as Aptamil. Kendamil were the only factory to let the reporters in so that's why I wad impressed with them at the time ha.

I don't think you can make a bad choice and go with what you fancy most 😊