Hello everyone
I am hoping to breastfeed but very much keeping an open mind that I might not be able to, it might not be enough for baby etc.
So starting to think about stocking up some basic supplies and wondered what everyone’s thoughts are on the best brand of powdered milk? And your reasons.
Thanks in advance x
I use aptamil stage 1 as they do the powder one for at home but the ready mix stuff is easier to use when out and about x
I have been doing some research on this topic too. I'm especially keen on trying something "healthy" on baby. So I started looking for baby food without soya, I found out most of them have soya, then I went into searching for organic baby food and currently found just 2 types that fit.
I'm sceptical about soya (oestrogen, reproductive organ issue), as someone who's had fertility issue, I'm really keen on getting it right with baby.
Take a look at this link:
My Nct teacher told us that they are so strict about the nutritional content of first milk that the different brands don’t vary much. She suggested starting with the cheapest brand as your baby will get used to the taste and you don’t want to give them expensive tastes when there’s no nutritional difference! She also said the official advice is to stay on first milk for the first year and don’t go on to follow on milk or hungry baby milk or anything as it’s less tightly regulated and unnecessary as well.
Great advice x
We went for aptamil and they also do ready made bottles for out and about. Although be careful about stocking up too much in case baby doesn’t get on with it xx
If I'm honest, if you want to breastfeed then I think it's best if you don't buy any to start with. If there's a problem you can always get some, but if you stock up then you might find yourself giving up on breastfeeding and reaching for formula.
Agree. Sadly breastfeed can be hard work at first, but personally think it's worth the effort. Had to top up my first as she was losing weight, but preserved and she was then exclusively breastfeed and continued till 14 months. I had bought a pump and a couple of bottles. before baby arrived, when we thought we needed the top ups hubby just when our to buy some.
I wouldn't top up in the beginning tho unless necessary as it will make it hard to establish your flow of milk.
I also agree with this. Bf can be hard at the beginning and if you already have formula in the house the temptation would be to just use it and that would likely damage your supply and end up mean you couldn't bf in the end. Most supermarkets are open 24h and amazon delivers loads of stuff next day via prime so its not like you'd be completely stuck
Totally agree! If you want to breastfeed - try to breastfeed and then will see. I bought bottles in case, but no powder. Then I was overproducing for first 6 months or so... could have easily breastfeed twins.
For me the most important i think was to eat and sleep to produce milk. I was soooooooo hungry all the time (and angry if I have not had a food) and lost baby-weight in 1 week and then another half a stone in next few months, but that again differs from person to person- also I believe that breastfeeding helped my uterus to shrink back so quickly.
My boy had a tongue tie but we managed it ok to feed even before the revers of it.
Good luck! Hopefully it will come easy to both of you!!!x
We used Aptamil Profutura, I was the same with very much wanting to breastfeed but it just wasn’t working. You can buy the little pre loaded bottles with a teat already attached that are pre sterilised and ready to go. In the end for us my husband had to drive at some speed to the nearest shop at 11:30pm to get some of these. I so wished I’d had just one packet in the house for emergencies, would have saved a lot of hassle.
This is my fear. I don’t want to pre-empt that BF won’t work, and just be seen to be giving up. But if I can’t feed and baby is screaming hungry and distressed, I want to have stuff on hand to eliminate unnecessary added stress x
Honestly don’t worry too much. There is no reason that you won’t be able to breastfeed really successfully. Occasionally things can crop up that prevent this so it’s good to plan ahead. There can be a lot of beating yourself up about what you feel you should and shouldn’t be doing . In the end, you just need to feed your baby. Do what works for you. Carry on what your doing with being prepared. Don’t be worried about asking for help, lots and lots of people need it and feel they shouldn’t for some reason.
I agree. If you feel having formula in case you need it alleviates some worry for you then do it. Assume that you will be able to breastfeed successfully. Some people who choose to breastfeed do struggle and it’s fine that they may need to take other routes to keep their babies healthy.
One other thing I’d say looking back is that my baby used to cry a lot in an evening & I really worried he was hungry as it’s so hard to know how much they’re getting when you’re starting out breastfeeding. I’m now pretty confident that his crying was due to tiredness and wind rather than hunger xx
Nearly all women can bf but some needs lots of help and support so the best thing you can do is find is local bf groups or lactation consultants and keep asking the midwives for help, don’t let anyone fob you off and you can also call the National bf helpline. No need to buy formula before the baby arrives. You can always buy it in emergency. But in terms of which one, they all have to contain essential ingredients by law. So the price difference basically reflects their marketing costs and packaging so expensive doesn’t mean better, some ones like Aldi are say £6 compared to double that for expensive brands but there is no evidence they are any better . If you want to bf it’s probably best not to have any in the house though x
Great advice thank you x
I would really really recommenced buying the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book by Le Leche and the Positive breastfeeding book by Amy Brown to help you read around it before baby comes! You could always buy a manual pump for about £20 so that if you ever did need some milk in an emergency then you can express some. There will always be a shop open somewhere though. I didn’t buy any and one night I know I would have used some if I’d had it in the cupboard so I’m so glad I didn’t now.
The kellymom website is also SO useful for worried about newborn feeding and reassuring what’s normal I used to read that all the time! X
I was also intending to fully breastfeed, but my LO lost so much weigh in the first 48 hours that we had to take her to hospital. They have told us to top up with formula. The problem was that when we got back from hospital almost all the shops were closed so finding the milk proved to be rather difficult! I think you are right planning ahead! We went with Aptamil and were happy with it, but choose whatever you want and get few premade bottles. You may never use them, but it's better to be safe than sorry! Good luck!
I totally understand why you’d give this advice based on your experience (and I’m not disagreeing) but am a bit sad that this was your experience in the first place. If baby had lost so much weight that their only solution was to top up with formula it’s a bit disappointing if you were sent home without actually having any formula!
If they felt formula was essential to keep baby healthy I’d have hoped they’d at least keep you there until you’d got some and supported you with trying it especially if it was a time when shops were all closed 😔 I was fortunate enough that my little boy didn’t lose too much and breastfeeding worked ok but he wouldn’t take a bottle at all until he was about 4 months so sending us home with advice to give formula probably wouldn’t have really worked for us. x
Actually, they gave us some formula straight away to check if LO would take a bottle, but couldn't give us any supplies. She took the bottle with no issues and we still successfully combo feed now when she is 13 months old. I can't fault the hospital - they've done all A&E is supposed to. If we would have to stay in hospital then they would give us the formula there, but they cannot give supplies to take home.
As for breastfeeding, I got a lot of support from the visiting midwife, but we had to keep up with the formula in order to keep our baby fed, healthy and happy. The health visitor said that if she takes the bottle, she sees no point in stopping it.
We now think that it was the best thing that could've happened. The dad got full involved in feeding giving me some respite and lots of sleep that is so needed in the first few weeks.
I would've preferred to fully breastfeed, but it is what it is and not every mum will be able to do it. I'm just annoyed at all the people that gave us hard time, because 'breast is best'. I also see nothing wrong is people trying to be prepared for any emergencies, especially that going shopping in those first few days can be difficult.
Ah that’s good then as long as they checked she took to it first rather than just chucking you out with advice to give formula! Sounds like you actually had some good support.
I agree about there being nothing wrong with being prepared. I didn’t get anything in beforehand but only because we have numerous 24/7 shop options nearby to get some.
I also agree with making sure you’re doing what feels right for you and your baby. I always said I wanted to & planned to breastfeed but if anything had prevented me from doing so I wasn’t going to be made to feel inadequate for not doing. As it is, I actually ended up resenting it at one point when I couldn’t even leave my little boy with his own Dad due to refusing a bottle (even of expressed milk). I don’t think it’s affected Dad bonding with him but I do think it’s reduced the amount of responsibility that my partner has taken for looking after him. He’s still never looked after him alone for more than about 4 hours and i never get much sleep! xx
I'm so sorry to hear that! Our experience wasn't what we were hoping for, but it worked out really well. I can now even go out for the night knowing that my partner can and will be able to care for our daughter.
I heard so much about nipple confusion that when we had to use formula, I thought our LO will never take breast again. How wrong was I? Now I'm glad that within the first week she learnt to take both.
Have you tried different bottles for your LO? We used TommeeTippee, but my cousins boy will only take NUK (available in Boots and online). Maybe it's worth a try? You need break too! You are not only a mum, but also a human being and need to things for yourself too. I hope things will finally work out for you!
Aw thanks. He will now just about take a Nuk bottle of expressed milk but not every time. I’m still glad I chose to breastfeed him now but definitely had a few weeks where I was really fed up & wished I’d tried a bottle before 6 weeks!
I’m just about to start trying him with a cup now so hopefully if he takes that, Daddy can feel confident he’ll still get his milk when I’m not there! x
This doesn't quite sound right ... if baby lost so much weight (10% is the cut off) they would have admitted baby, done bloods etc. A&e shouldn't be dealing with these type.of things, midwife should send you directly to paediatric ward.
Sorry, I disagree. We went to the right department as the reason for going to the hospital wasn't weigh loss. They found out there that our LO lost 8% of her birth weight and told us to give formula.
I love aptamil baby has had no problems with this I also did combi feeding with aptamil and breast she was a hungry baby .. but my friend uses the Aldi brand stage one milk she says it's just like aptamil.
Also I breastfed but I'm so glad I had formula in the house and when leaving the hospital the doctor even gave me small formula bottles just incase i needed it through out the night as he could see how exhausted i was xxx
Thanks, Aptamil seems a popular one. Aldi has also been mentioned a few times, and as nutritionally there’s no difference then I might try that first - I think I will be combi feeding. xx
I know people say you should just breastfeed and I did for the first three months but she was so hungry she would feed all day and night so combi feeding saved me.
Yes all stage one milk are pretty much the same wish I knew about Aldi before starting aptamil x
I am open minded. My antenatal classes start next week so will get more information from those - just getting the thought process going. I want to breastfeed if I can I’m just not sure exclusively will work for us x
A friend of mine bought a pack of 8 ready made up formula (Aptamil, i think) just in case. She's been able to BF (not easily i might add) and has just donated the pack to the food bank. I will be doing the same xx
Hi there
I combination fed (expressed breast milk and formula). I had planned to exclusively breast feed but due to having two very hungry twins, I just couldn’t produce enough milk and it was making all of us miserable. Luckily I had got a tub of Aptamil as when we got back from the hospital I was quite ill after my c section and was struggling to get the babies to latch and as my milk came in late and I couldn’t get a lot of expressed milk. I would suggest buying the pre-mixed at first as it has less bubbles and not so bad for wind. We used those until the girls were about 2 months old and then went on to powder.
We used Aptamil and have never had an issue with our girls.
Xx
Thanks for your advice about the pre-mixed. Glad you got there in the end. I am dreading not knowing what to expect! I’ll have to try go with the flow 🤞🏼 so to speak 😊 xx
I used Aptamil with my daughter 10 years ago. I would definitely use it again as we had no problems with it. I was only able to bf for 8 weeks before the midwife told me I had to stop. Xx
I had a c section and the baby supposidly had a good latch. Unfortunately at our hospital in Hampshire theres little bf advice beyond the baby is 'cluster feeding' keep her on for longer. For some stupid reason i was advised to keep her on each breast for 45 minutes to an hour on both boobs each feed every three hours to bring milk on. That day broke my nipples and to add, her glucose level dropped to dangerous levels. Had i continued to go with breast is best, 1) it would have been completely painful for me with cracked bleeding nipples and 2) she wouldn't have gotten any milk and it would have got very dangerous for her health.
For me i ended up combifeeding for 6 wks. I never really had a huge milk supply. Then we went to formula. Which was great as hubby could step in and help with feeding.
My second baby will be straight to formula. It works for our family and less stress in the early weeks. My own personal opinion.
Aptamil is what they started us on in hospital. However they've recently changed the formulation and people are up on arms about it. Saying its upset their baby and doesn't mix right.
We ended up on a non cows milk formula. So whichever you buy, don't get alot Incase you need to swap.
Thanks for sharing your experience and advice Emma x
How far along are you now?
29 weeks this Sunday! The preparation/buying/nesting is in full flow lol x
Exciting times. That's about when mine kicked in lol. Didn't go as far as formula but got the tommee tippe machine and steriliser just Incase lol
Mam anti colic bottles were really good. If you go on their website they give you a free bottle and dummy for the price of postage.
My LO is drinking SMA Pro xx
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