Our LO is to arrive within the month, and we've stocked up on everything except formula. Do you have any advice to share about stocking up, or even which formula to use? I'm a first time mom, so anything you have to share will be helpful! For what it's worth, our birth mom told me that her other children have all needed soy formula.
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I have heard from a few mom's that they had to try a few different formula's before they found the one that worked for their baby. I have no other advice because I'm still just pregnant. Good Luck!
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Have you gone to the formula websites and signed up? Often they will send samples that you can try.
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Ahh so exciting! Here's a guide to formula feeding that I found helpful: http://www.fearlessformulafeeder.com/2011/10/the-fff-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-formula-feeding-mixing-bottles/
Basically they suggest using the pre-mixed bottles of formula for the first couple months, because it's sterile (unlike powder) and their immune systems are so delicate.
I'm not sure about soy vs. regular but maybe you could buy a few cans of both, start out with the regular and see if it works before trying soy. Be sure to keep receipts to return whatever doesn't work since it's $$$. We use Similac Sensitive and it works well for us. We buy it in bulk off Amazon because it's cheaper, though it would be even cheaper to buy store-brand, but I don't want to change when it's working. We tried Similac Organic but it gave LO horrible constipation! Like, dry, real-people poo. Sorry to be so graphic. We have friends that use Earth's Best and like it. I don't think there's really a wrong way, just whatever agrees with LO.
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I wouldn't buy too many of too many kinds or one kind because LO may not do well on it. Samples are great! Sign up and whatever may not be used you can donate to a woman's shelter(unopened of course)
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I signed up for every formula I could to get free samples before our lo arrived. I still have some in the pantry in case we need them. Thankfully, our lo didn't have any trouble on any of the formulas we tried. Also, pediatricians get LOTS of samples, hit 'em up for the good stuff (the 2oz prepared bottles) when you're there. Ask nicely and the doctor or nurses will bring you some.
As for type? If you don't have any yet and don't have time to wait for samples, buy one container of one of the name brands at the store and try it out, if that doesn't work, have your husband on stand-by to run out and grab a different brand.
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I use Enfamil Enfacare, it's for premature babies. I signed up at both the Enfamil and Similac websites and got samples of both. LO likes the Enfamil better. My BF uses a generic brand but I use Enfacare because it was specially recomended based on our circumstances.
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We knew we wanted an organic formula. Many of the organic formulas use straight table sugar as the sweetner, so we shied away from those. Our baby was super easy about what she ate, and so when we ran out of the Enfamil from the hospital, we went straight to Earth's Best Organic.
Mr. Jacks is an Amazon mom (LOL!), so we just signed up for scheduled delivery after keeping track of how much little M ate per day. Turns out we needed a 4 pack per month while she was little. Now she uses much less.
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I knew that my hospital used Enfamil so I signed up for free samples and had 1 or 2 cans of powder and 2 cases of nursettes (the 2oz bottles they use in the hospital) waiting at home. I didn't want to stock up too much just in case we needed to switch to gentle, soy, or whatever. I used the powder during the day and saved the nursettes for night feedings (for convenience). I had to empty the nursettes into a bottle but you can now buy the nipples on amazon which would be way more convenient (and no bottle washing!).
I never got into using the liquid formula after we finished the nursettes because it goes bad pretty quickly and I didnt want to be warming bottles and going down to the fridge in the middle of the night. Instead, I bought a formula dispenser (Dr. Brown's is the best!) and brought all my bottles with sterile water up to the nursery every night and make each bottle fresh. During the day I also make each bottle fresh and I use room temp water....my thought was that if baby never had a warm bottle, he'd never know the difference, and it's worked out well!
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Definitely sign up for samples! We tried a couple different types before we found one that worked. You could also purchase a couple small containers (most big brands come in 12oz and 24oz containers). They're not too terribly expensive.
We use Gerber Gentle because my daughter had some tummy gas issues as a newborn. We receive WIC and was given 10 12oz cans per month and usually had to buy 1-2 24oz container in addition to that.
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Definitely sign up online - they'll send you a ton of full sized samples!
Ask at your doctor's office, too. They probably have something there for you. -
We started immediately on powdered formula. I've read that babies can develop a preference for liquid formula, which is more expensive, so unless your ped has concerns, you might consider just starting with powder. I think the non-sterility of powder is most important with preemies or immuno-compromised babies.
We were given both similac and enfamil. We liked that the similac was thinner and more like my breastmilk. The newborn enfamil was pretty thick. and dark, and stained their clothes. Since they didn't have trouble, we had the luxury of choosing similac. We also tried kirkland formula to cut out costs, and it made my kids spit up more, but was otherwise very similar to the similac. But it works great for others and is half the price!
Once we found what works, we stock up at Costco. It's hands down the cheapest for Similac.
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We just used enfamil original formula. It was what Costco sold and he ate it just fine. He did have some trouble when we went from the premixed stuff the hospital gave us to the powder. He got a little constipated but he adjusted.
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We received lots of Similac samples when I had DD so we used those without any problems. However my sister works in a doctor's office where they provide samples of Enfamil so when we switched to that since she could get it for us for free. With DS we plan to just use Enfamil Gentlease since he is a gassy little guy. I will note that we only supplement with formula as they were both primarily breastfed.
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Sign up online - we had enough to test out what worked and we donated what we didn't use to a local woman's shelter. I think we bought our first thing of non-free formula after a month or so.
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I second the suggestion to never get LO used to warm bottles. It's so much easier to just start with room temperature. For night feedings, we pre-make bottles with filtered water and pre-measure the powder into this: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-AVENT-Formula-Dispenser-Snack/dp/B0006BAJIG
And set it all on my nightstand so it's fast and easy to make.
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@hummusgirl: Yes!!! If there is no alternative to room temperature or chilled, life is so much easier
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Agree with not heating it up from the get go! My son is on Nutramigen due to food intolerances and you CANT warm it up or it destroys nutritional properties. It sounds like maybe your future baby has the potential for a food intolerance, so I'd start off giving it room temp to him/her!
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I just wanted to chime in and say that in both NICUs I have worked at we have transitioned babies to powder babies for discharge, so I don't think in most cases liquid or premixed formula is necessary, and a lot of babies actually prefer e powder formula taste wise (liquid concentrate or ready to feed both have a weird smell to them, so I can imagine that means they also have a different taste)
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All of this is so helpful. I appreciate each of your answers!
So far I've gotten Similac samples, but none others. I signed up about two months ago too. Maybe they're running behind.
Additional question: I registered for a bottle warmer. Skip it?
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@mrs. polish: yes, I'd skip the bottle warmer! sooo much easier to use room temp water!
@msmini: i totally agree that the liquid has such a weird smell, and it stains like crazy!
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@buffalove: Skip the bottle warmer.
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@Mrs. Polish: Definitely skip the bottle warmer... so many cute things to register for instead!
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@Mrs. Polish: totally skip the warmer
We use room temperature bottled water. -
@Mrs. Jacks: Have you heard of Baby's Only formula? They use organic brown rice syrup (as opposed to corn syrup as in many other formula brands) but I wasn't sure how beneficial it was to use rice syrup vs corn syrup. Earth's Best is one of the other formula brands I'm considering as well. Would you recommend one over the other?
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@banana: That sounds promising, actually. I'm off to look it up and compare the two. We've been very happy with Earth's Best and their customer service as well, but I want to check out the one you are talking about.
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@banana: Ah, that formula is not intended for infants! I was surprised I hadn't found it in my hyper-researchy search for the perfect formula for M.
Baby’s Only Organic is not intended for infants under 1-year of age unless specified by a healthcare professional. After formula feeding or breast feeding the first year, Baby’s Only Organic formula is a good choice.
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@Mrs. Jacks: Thank you! That would be great! I also read that Earth's Best (as well as many other formula brands) use hexane processed DHA, whereas Baby's Only uses naturally derived DHA. So that was another thing I was considering as well. There was recently an arsenic scare on brown rice syrup, but Nature's One (which is the company that makes Baby's Only) reported that there were undetectable amounts of arsenic in their formula (something like 4 parts per billion). I was initially scared off by the arsenic in brown rice syrup, but I'm thinking that I'd rather go with a little tiny bit of undetectable arsenic than the hexane processed DHA + glucose syrup in Earth's Best. But I don't know! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this after your research!
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Because my milk supply hadn't come in yet and DS was starving at his appointment with his pediatrician, she sent us home with some Enfamil Newborn formula, the liquid kind. Even while I tried to breast feed (very difficult, I had a breast reduction a few years prior to DS birth) we stuck with the Enfamil Newborn. After it became apparent I could produce some but not enough, we bought the powdered version of the Newborn, then the Infant, then later the Toddler. Right now we're still on Toddler and we're introducing whole milk this week since he's a year old.
Love Enfamil but that's because I haven't tried any other.
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@Mrs. Jacks: I think I've heard that Baby's Only markets as a toddler formula because they promote breastfeeding as the best option for the first year. But they have several great comparison charts on their website to other infant formulas.
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@Mrs. Jacks: I had read that the reason they state that it's recommended for toddlers (over 1 yr) is that the company wants to take a stand for breastfeeding as a baby's sole source of nourishment for the first year. I have a lot of mommy friends that have been feeding their baby's Baby's Only from birth (approved by their pediatricians).
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@Thehistoryofus: Ah! You beat me to it!
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@banana: So it looks like that formula is specifically designed for over age one :(. The caesin to other protein ratio is not correct for an infant. It is designed for toddlers.
I've done some research on the hexane issue. In testing, the hexane was found to be undetectable after the process.
Earth's Best Organic Infant Formula
"Earth's Best said they use Life DHA and ARA from the Martek Corporation. They say the hexane solvent method is the only US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved method of extracting these oils. However, no hexane is detectable in the product. Furthermore, no bleach is used in this process."
So when faced with the choice between using an organic formula which has the theoretical risk of hexane (that can't be detected in analysis) vs a non organic which has exposure to very real chemical fertilizers and insecticides, I opted to take my risks with the theoretical hexane.
Hope this helps!
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@banana: Otherwise it sounds amazing! And they get a great rating for using locally sourced organics with a high rating from Cornucopia. Really, it sounds great. I just wish they'd change the proteins to reflect the infant needs.
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We use Similac. The hospital started LO on it when he stayed an extra night at birth. He was pretty gassy for a while but we never switched to the sensitive formula. We waited for his digestive system to mature and at 15 weeks, he has hardly any gas at all. He also rarely spits up and I have heard that can be a big problem with Similac.
Another vote against a bottle warmer. LO was born a week before Hurricane Sandy, in which we lost power for six days. Warming bottles went right out the window! I did use it when his gas was really bad, but it never really made a difference and he doesn't care either way!
@hummusgirl: I am totally getting one of those dispensers! I can't believe I never knew they existed!!!
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@MsMini: interesting! In our NICU we still recommend concentrate/RTF formula for 6 months. It would be soo much cheaper for the parents to buy powder though! Must look into this!
I know a lot of people who have had good luck with Nestlé Goodstart (just the plain stuff, not the stuff with the Omegas).
We use Enfamil at our hospital.
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@JoeysMama: It's amazing! A little finicky to get all the powder - you have to shake a few times at different angles - but so convenient for nighttime and especially on-the-go.
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We supplemented with ready to use bottles of newborn enfamil in the early days. It was in two oz bottles and was very convenient. Only downside was it was pretty pricey (around $10 for six pack I think?).
As for bottle warmer - we actually used ours quite a bit bc lo hated cold bottles. It took less than a minute to warm up her bottle which helped when we had a screaming hungry baby on our hands
Good luck!!
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I really wanted to use organic formula but it gave DD the worst constipation so we just stuck with similac advance that they gave us at the hospital. We also used the 2 oz ready to feed for a couple weeks.
My helpful hint: never give them a warm bottle. Dd always took room temperature which made preparing bottles at home and on the go so much easier!
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@Mrs. Jacks: Thanks so much for clarifying! I"m gonna give Earth's Best a try!
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