How much formula will I use? Cost?

[rebekah05]

Hi ladies. I'm 3 weeks away from being a first time mommy and I need to bottle feed since I will be taking medicines after LO is born that are not compatible with BF'ing. So I am thinking about using ready to feed with powder to fill in with when we go out. I'm just trying to get an idea how much ready to feed costs on a weekly or monthly basis from birth until I would start him on table food. I do understand it is the higher priced option, but I love the convenience. I'm just wondering if this is going to cost me more like $300 or more like $600 per month....then I am trying to decide on Similac or Enfamil...nurse said they are very close in quality and either is a good option. Thanks for your insight!!

 

[vintage67]

A 32 ounce bottle of ready to feed Similac will cost between 6 and 8 dollars depending on where you live and sales, etc. For a newborn, that will last maybe 2 days. So, approximately 120 dollars the first month for the ready made.

There is ready made concentrate which is slightly cheaper.

Powder is much less expensive, of course.

And depending on your baby's appetite the 32 ounce bottles will not last 2 days for long.

It's tempting to stockpile before birth, but sometimes baby's don't respond well to certain formulas and you end up having to switch, especially to a gentler formula in the early days.

 

[seoj]

Honestly, I would recommend generic powder- much cheaper, and still JUST as good as Enfamil or any other name brand. the ONLY reason name brands cost more, is they advertise to get their products well known. All formulas have to adhere to the same strict guidelines when it comes to making infant formula. I did loads of reseach on this before switching from Enfamil to generic store brand- as it was 1/2 the cost! I even aske my LO's pediatrician about it- and the advise nurse... and friends... LOL... and they all said generic is just as good.

Just my two cents Formula is spendy, no matter how you slice it... so whatever you can do to save the better I say! LOL. I was paying about $25 per container with Enfamil compared to $13! Now even with coupons I wasn't saving that much- and now I don't have to worry about finding coupons as it's so much cheaper. Best of luck whatever you decide!

 

[vintage67]

We have also used the generic powders. Seoj is right as far as quality goes.

You may get some good coupon offers on the name brand stuff in the first few months which might make them as cost efficient as the store brands.

But I don't see store brands of the ready made.

 

[Casey3]

If you're looking for coupons, similac is the king of coupons, I'm still receiving $5 and $10 off coupons lol and I've never even used formula... I kindly leave them in the formula aisle in hopes some mom finds them

 

[DaisyBee]

Jordan isn't tolerating the generic similac very well. She is on similac sensitive and we have tried 2 different times to switch her over to the target generic of it. Both times she has a much harder time burping and also spits up more and when she spits up its a lot more liquidy vs curdled looking which is maybe why the similac stays down better? I used generic with Megan at 10 months when similac had a recall and she did fine with it so I'm not sure if it's just because Jordan is younger and not on solids yet?

My pediatrician said they usually recommend enfamil for newborns ( thinking she said more vit d or something?? ) but that she was ok with me giving Jordan similac if I wanted to. I used similac with Megan so decided to go with that. I use powder though. And it costs about $46 a week for us.

 

[LittleBoSheep]

we use gerber goodstart gentle powder formula and he uses 9-10 cans a month. where i live it costs 15$ a can so 135-150 dollars a month - there are generic versions that are just as good! you wont want to use enfamil for it is about 35$ a can here!!! so very expensive will cost way too much! its simple to fill bottles full of water then scoop unpacked scoop of powder into bottle when ready to feed baby. cheaper and doesnt go bad as quick as ready to use formula. possibly cheaper in the long run?