Which formula?

[Nickinakinoo]

I no the base of every formula is the same (has to be by law) but they have different extras added, but which brand is best from birth?

 

[mummywanabe]

We started our son on cow and gate but he ended up having a milk allergy we had to do a weaning test and weaned him in to aptimel, but still not good for him and back to special milk, after a 11 months we weaned him on to hipp organic, very settled thankfully, I'm not saying it was that milk but I'm going with hipp organic this time round from the start and see how it goes

 

[Phoenix85]

If you would be willing to breastfeed in the first few days your baby would really benefit from your colostrum at least.
You could also look into donor breastmilk.

I think Hipp Organic or Aptimil are probably best, they seem to be the most gentle compared with SMA and Cow & Gate. (SMA made my baby puke loads, in hindsight I'd have switched to Hipp Organic but just assumed it was normal... duh!)
Also I think hospitals like you to bring in powder now so they can check you know how to make it up properly, however the ready-made bottles are better for newborns as they are pasturised/heat treated so completely sterile til opened, so safer in terms of risk of bacteria and upset stomach etc.

Last of all, a newborn's stomach can only hold around 7ml/half an ounce of milk at a time (this increases to around 1oz at day 3-4 and 2oz around day 7) so your baby won't take much in one go and that's fine.

 

[Nickinakinoo]

I'm not able to breast feed and I don't like the idea of donated milk.

I'm not going to bulk buy just in case he has an allergies. I've seen on which.com that SMA is the only brand that doesn't add additional prebiotic ingredient which are being looked at by the European health people so I might try him on that and if he is sick on it, swap to another.

 

[JD.Deedee]

A couple of brands have recently updated their formulas so it's worth double checking that out.

It's probably worth getting some ready milk bottles for the first couple of days you can get them in bigger stores or boots or online x

 

[flexilexi394]

When my little girl was about 6 months old I decided to go from breastfeeding to combination feeding and I used Hipp Organic and that would definitely be the first choice again if I had to bottle feed this time around, she never ever got any colic or bad reflux etc on it and a lot of friends babies were constantly unwell with reflux and colic with cow and gate and aptamil xx

 

[MrsMcc]

When I stopped breastfeeding I used aptimil and we used it for top ups when I had a small baby. I've used hipp organic too and that's been fine also.

 

[Poispinner]

When I was trying to decise I found a website (typically cannot find it now) but it compared all brands of formula and they were all the same!! I therefore went with Cow and Gate as it was the cheapest but also a trusted brand. I have since had to change to Cow and Gate Comfort as my DD suffered with bad constipation but getting on just fine with this. Its all a bit trial and error really so go with whatever you feel is right. X

 

[MrsB2105]

With our son we started on cow and gate and only bought one tub incase of allergies with the logic that if it suit him we would change brand, we never had to as he was perfectly ok with it, we are doing the same again this time ... The only reason being is I think cow and gate was £1 cheaper? But as it worked last time we are starting from the same point again x

 

[Summergurl]

Look into if your hospital supply it. I did and found that I don't need to take in any with me in my hospital bag (I too can't breastfeed & don't want to give baby somebody else's breast milk) but they only supply 2 brands; cow and gate & aptimel. So we've decided on cow and gate for the easiest reason, it's cheaper to buy. We have only bought 1 tub because there's no guarantee baby will take to that one.

 

[Pambi]

This site generally is an excellent source of info on formula feeding. I found this article really helpful last time around:

http://www.fearlessformulafeeder.com/2011/12/the-fff-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-formula-feeding-differences-between-formulas-and-bottles/

 

[MandyMom]

Not sure which formula, but I do know that breastfeeding has more benefits

 

[Shanivy]

Not helpful mandymom she's not asking about breastfeeding

 

[megsmeadow]

My midwife said she had recently but to a conference where they shared research that showed all stage one milks were nutritionally the same. She said that includes aldis own brand which she said is £4 or so a tin!!! So it seems there is no 'best' type. You're baby may tolerate one over another but it's all down to branding!!

 

[GBLiz]

when i stopped bf we used aldi my LO seemed to prefer it to the branded one we started off with.

 

[PeanutButter]

Dd sufferd with bad reflux even with breastmilk. After 2 weeks switched her to formula only which was cow and gate, but made her reflux soo bad.... Had to use the special cow and gate for reflux and that was amazing! TBH the only reason we went with cow and gate cos kt was the cheapest! It's all the same lol

 

[JulyBug]

I never breastfed, weve use do Aptamil from birth and have had no problems. It really is babies choice, just buy one tub and see how they get on xx

 

[Jon7up]

We used Cow and Gate, maybe buy the little premixed sample ones and see which brand baby likes most