Which baby formula to use? Confused

[dandan1331]

Sorry of this is in the wrong place. I haven't had my baby yet, I am 22 weeks pregnant (I know it's a little early to think about it but I keep thinking about baby formula)
I live in the UK and the main baby formulas we have here are SMA, Cow and Gate and Aptimel. I don't know which is best to use...
So confusing.
Me and my other two siblings were on SMA with no problems, and my nephew was on SMA for the first few weeks but got switched to cow and gate because he got really bad colwick on SMA.
I have read that Aptimel is a really good one to use, and I was leaning towards sma just because I was on it, but I have read that it vauses quite a bit of constipation in babies? But then again I have read that Aptimel does the opposite...
So confusing lol.
So I was wondering if anyone could give me their input or any information they might have to help me make my decision

Thanks for all your help

 

[MindUtopia]

They really are all the same in quality, but your baby might react differently to one or another. I would say that you're right SMA does tend to cause stomach issues more than the others (for some babies). Aptamil and Cow and Gate are exactly the same (same ingredients and same manufacturer - just marketed and priced differently). Hipp is organic and tends to be gentler on tummies (except gave my daughter terrible reflux and projectile vomiting), but it's more expensive (much like Aptamil). Frankly, I would just pick the one that's easiest to buy wherever you usually shop and that will be affordable, keeping in mind you'll be buying lots of it. We used Cow & Gate as it was one of the only one's that didn't cause tummy problems and I couldn't really justify paying extra for Aptamil (when it's the same).

 

[Wannabe Mommy]

We started on aptamil and changed to cow & gate due to expense. LO didn't notice any difference and we've not had any issues.

Do be aware in advance because it caused us some worry that FF babies poo less than BF babies in general, once a day is normal for is but can be a couple of days. FF babies can go as infrequently as once a week before DRs worry.

Also it can take a couple of months for babies to learn how to use their muscles to do a poo so it's not uncommon to hear lots of forced 'trying to pop' noises and see their little legs wriggling about.

 

[nicki01]

As others have said, my opinion is SMa causes tummy troubles and c&g and aptamil are the same only aptamil is more money!
I had both my babies on cow and gate, it easy to get in the uk too, 99% of shops round here sell it!

 

[dandan1331]

Thanks ladies

I didn't know that Aptamil and C&G are pretty much the same!

Like i said before, i was leaning towards SMA mainly because we were on it, and i never thought anything wrong with it, but then when i read about the tummy problems, and thought back to my youngest sibling (she is 6 now so i remember well) she was always constipated and had to have a certain medicine to help her go, and she was on SMA, whereas my nephew (now 2) never had the constipation problem and he was on C&G.
I don't want him to be unnecessarily uncomfortable if i can help it

 

[Ceejay123]

Thanks ladies

I didn't know that Aptamil and C&G are pretty much the same!

Like i said before, i was leaning towards SMA mainly because we were on it, and i never thought anything wrong with it, but then when i read about the tummy problems, and thought back to my youngest sibling (she is 6 now so i remember well) she was always constipated and had to have a certain medicine to help her go, and she was on SMA, whereas my nephew (now 2) never had the constipation problem and he was on C&G.
I don't want him to be unnecessarily uncomfortable if i can help it

Psst - your nephew was on sma to start with. Changed to cow and gate due to constipation, then changed to cow and gate comfort due to colic x

 

[dandan1331]

Lol i thought he changed because of the colic lol

 

[BabyMamma93]

if im totally honest, i went for the cheapest one (c&g in my local store) i thought why not, if he reacts bad ill try the next one up, so on so on, but (apart from 'reflux' which i was told isnt reflux its over eating *total BS*) he was fine with c&g, SMA made him constipated, and thats all i ever tried. as said above, they are all just about the same really, just different prices. chose what you want and go from there..

 

[bubblz82]

I never thought about milk before birth. Maybe because I wanted to breastfeed which didn't happen.
Once lo arrived she went over 12 hours no food. Trying to get latched on.
But midwife cane in with cow and gate. My lo is happy with it and I didn't need to change, which can be sore one them.
If I looked into I would have went with it is the cheapest to buy.
The hospital did have a number of brands. So if you decide let them know.
Good luck

 

[RosieRosieP]

I never thought about milk before birth. Maybe because I wanted to breastfeed which didn't happen.
Once lo arrived she went over 12 hours no food. Trying to get latched on.
But midwife cane in with cow and gate. My lo is happy with it and I didn't need to change, which can be sore one them.
If I looked into I would have went with it is the cheapest to buy.
The hospital did have a number of brands. So if you decide let them know.
Good luck

Same experience here midwife suggested C&G after baby refused BF for 12 hours.

Glad we went with it as LO is happy on it, it's easy to pick up from shops and the pre made bottles are easily available if your going out and about x

 

[bubblz82]

It was handy. At start she took room temperature. Now she likes it heated so I got machine to make it. She being fussy with her bottle now but Itthink she is teething. Her hand is never out of her mouth

 

[magicwhisper]

my lg ha a milk intollerance but before we realised this we tried lots of different milk!

she started on sma because it was cheeper and it really didnt work for her so we put her on c&g. she went on comfort, reflux and is now on soya all c&g whilst we work out which specialist milk suits her.

go with whatever is cheepist!! thats what i did . you can always change over if it dosent suit them.

making milk wise
you can pre make formula but it has to be used within 24 hours!

we used to do that but found we had to throw out a bottle and we could never remember when we made them o threw them out just be be safe.

now though i empty the kettle then fill it up and boil at night. leave it cool over night then in the morning measure it into the bottles in the morning. fasten the lid and add formula as baby is hungry. i leave the bottles of water on the side so it is at room tempreture and dosen't tae long to heat up either . whichwas another problem with making them in advance!


i hope that made sense

 

[lola_90]

We used Aptamil and switched to Hipp Organic toddler milk or stage 4 at 14 months x

 

[chicky160]

Haven't read all the replies so sorry if I'm repeating! We had an awful time with sma, I think a lot of babies do although my cousins two girls were fab on it! Cow & gate and aptimil are technically the same, as in ingredients wise however there are some extras in aptimil and the way they are blended are slightly different. When Lo was newborn after the horrendous sma incident we switched to c&g, after two weeks he hadn't really improved at all so I called a friend who works for their call centre, off record she said the ingredients although the same aren't as good quality, and she wouldn't fed it to her baby she didn't divulge much more info than that so we switched to aptimil and never looked back. I would suggest perhaps starting with some small bottles of whatever you decide to use and if littley doesn't get on with it you haven't wasted lots of pennies, every baby is so different and I'm hoping baba no 2 will do well on a less pricey milk!