Formula Question for a friend/Enfamil Lipil

I have a friend who is not planning to breastfeed (currently is pregnant
with her first baby). She was asking me questions about formula, and I know
very little about it and can't be of help to her. ALL I could advise her was
that: I have always heard to start out with cow's milk-based formula with
added iron, and only to change to something different under a doctor's
advice if the baby is showing sensitivities etc. I do know people who
started their babies out on Soy formula anyway though. I have also always
heard that formulas are strictly regulated so the store brands that are
cheaper will be just as good as Enfamil, Similac etc. That is all I can tell
her and even that is tentative knowledge on my part. Oh, I also told her I
have known a lot of people say that the ready-to-feed formulas seem to cause
more stomach upset than the powder or liquid concentrate forms....that they
are more expensive, more convenient, and evidently more likely to cause
symptoms for some reason in some babies.

What she is wondering is whch brand is "best", which is going to depend on
her baby. Around here, all the doctor's offices and hospitals really push
Enfamil Lipil with DHA/ARA. She plans to start with this since she will have
samples and was asking me if it's good. etc. ?? I don't know. The hospital
convinced me it was an ok idea to supplement until my milk came in, and I
didn't know any better-- I had certainly HEARD, but when I actually had the
baby I was getting nervous because she seemed to be hungry 2-3 days after
birth before I had milk, and she would cry and cry and still seemed hungry
etc. This is what they supplemented with in ready to feed variety, and I
only let this happen for one day or two. It constipated Rachel, and made her
scream inconsolably all night and she wouldn't even sleep, etc. All this
went away when we stopped trying to supplement, after a day of this. So, I
can't say if I ever did have to supplement again that I would give the
Enfamil another try. I asked around after this happened of my formula
feeding friends, and everyone I know uses Similac, and I knew a couple who
used soy. So, I don't know what to tell her, as I don't know WHY most people
I know use Similac, but my friend is really interested in the Enfamil Lipil
with DHA/ARA because the ads say it is the closest ever to breastmilk, and
good for brain develpment etc, and the doctors offices push it.

Does anyone here use that with good results, or....what brand of formula do
you use? my friend is definitely not going to breastfeed, I don't know all
her reasons etc. I know that when I told doctors I was planning to
breastfeed they still offered me formula samples, but only the Enfamil
Lipil, never any other brand or type. Why??? Just because it's new maybe?

Jill

Does anyone here use that with good results, or....what brand of formula
do
you use?

I started Charlotte off with plain old Similac or Enfamil. She threw up
*RIVERS* so the Dr said to give her soy formula - Prosobee. Well she threw
up expensive *RIVERS*. Lol. Didn't know any better, did what the Dr said
to do.

With Patrick I started him off with Carnation Good Start cos it was cheap.
He was fine on that then at about 6 months or so, when he was so solids, I
switched him to the Carnation Follow Up. He was fine on that too.

I tried Lewis off on the Good Start but it didn't agree with him at all. So
he was on either plain old Similac or Enfamil. No idea why I can't keep
those 2 straight. I know was more frothy than the other and upset their
stomachs. So it was the other one I used. And I used the Walmart store
brand version of the Enfamil/Similac. Much, much cheaper.

For your friend I'd say start with Carnation Good Start - it's cheap. Get
the smaller can in case it doesn't work out. I also only use the power.
The liquid/pre-made/concentrate stuff is expensive. Also she should get the
travel packets of the powder. I do remember those were Enfamil (a yellow
packet) for Lewis. You just take out a bottle of water and add a packet if
you need it. You don't waste pre-made bottles that way.

Does she have any ideas about bottles? That can be as tricky as the
formula.

Sophie
#4 due July 7, 2004

Does she have any ideas about bottles? That can be as tricky as the
formula.

I don't get this. Won't the baby just take whatever bottle you give him to
begin with? I hear this all the time, that's it's hard to find a nipple they'll
take. I guess that's why I just stick to the one's I was given. LoL
Sandy
Mama to
Josephine 4/28/01
Ian 9/28/02
and someone new edd 1/20/05

"Sophie" wrote
Does she have any ideas about bottles? That can be as tricky as the
formula.


Thanks for the info, I will pass it along. I really had no clue what to tell
her! She did ask me about bottles too, I forgot. I don't know what to tell
her about those either-- I'm still sort of iffy on those myself. I have
been trying to find a bottle that Rachel will do okay with since she seems
to dislike bottles, and I want to feed her pumped milk. I know Avents were
recommended to me but have no idea if they are as good for babies who don't
have the breastfeeding factor--and Rachel doesn't love these bottles anyway.

I don't even know what all my friends who formula fed/feed used/use. I can
think of one friend who uses soy formula, who loves Playtex VentAire
bottles. I think other people I know use the plain (non-Ventaire) Playtex
nursers. Some people I know use anything and don't have any preference- I
know someone who uses the cutesy bottles with cartoon characters on them,
that aren't even a brand name but just a licensed cutesy product. I got a
Vent Aire Natural Shape to try with Rachel but haven't used it yet- but
again that's tailored to reducing nipple confusion for babies who will be
fed at the breast and with a bottle too. Rachel probably won't like it
either. Lol.

So what kind of bottles do you use? Thanks again for the info, I will pass
it on to her. I do find it funny that as hard as the Enfamil Lipil stuff is
advertised and offered by the doctors here, I don't know anyone who actually
uses it.

Does she have any ideas about bottles? That can be as tricky as the
formula.

Sophie
#4 due July 7, 2004

I know! We went through 3 or 4 differant types of bottles with bonnie and
ended up using the cheap gerber ones. She could not get the hang of the
larger Avent Nipples and it seemed like she leaked out more formula then she
drank with the platex ones with the liner. We tryed the angled vented ones
but they seemed too slow for her...

The other thing is if she quilifies for WIC she should use whatever they use
at her WIC office. We wanted to use Similac with Bonnie but the state I was
in only allowed Enfamil.

Tori

--
Bonnie 3/20/02
Anna or Xavier due 10/17/04

"Sandy" wrote
I don't get this. Won't the baby just take whatever bottle you give him
to
begin with? I hear this all the time, that's it's hard to find a nipple
they'll
take. I guess that's why I just stick to the one's I was given. LoL


One of my friends insists that her baby had bad gas and spitting up until
she changed to Playtex Vent Aire bottles.

I have no idea though....Rachel is now 6 weeks old, and I have been trying
for about 3 weeks now to get her to start taking some pumped milk in a
bottle, and I can't find one she's satisfied with and will eat from without
fighting it. I only have tried to get someone to feed her a few ounces of
pumped milk about 2-3 times each week just to try to get her more used to
it. One day she will do ok with the Avent with a Stage 1 nipple on. She
hates the Stage 2, it's too fast for her when she is a slow eater and used
to breastfeeding. I guess that's comparing apples to oranges though,
bottlefeeding formula fed babies are bottle pros, and my breastfed
bottle-hating baby is not happy with any of them. I just don't want her to
get to where she will absolutely refuse all bottles! So I am desparately
trying to find one kind of bottle to stick with that makes her happy to eat
with. At this point, I refuse to leave her with someone with a bottle of
pumped milk because it's not 100% certain on any given day that she will
take it. It *seems* like more of my friends who have formula fed, haven't
had nearly as much trouble with bottles and nipples....

"Tori M." wrote
The other thing is if she quilifies for WIC she should use whatever they
use
at her WIC office. We wanted to use Similac with Bonnie but the state I
was
in only allowed Enfamil.

Tori

Why don't they allow more of a choice? I remember when I was a teen, working
in a grocery store as a cashier I saw a ton of WIC customers, and we had
very strict lists that they had to adhere too, and I heard it all day long
"Please can't you just run this kind of cheese through, can't you just let
me substitute this cereal, it's ALL my son will eat" etc etc.

WIC is really strict...and also, I remember, that whatever size box of
cereal in a specific type they gave people certificates for, is exactly what
they had to get, and sometimes the store would be out of that exact size,
and people would have no choice but to get a smaller size and basically get
less than they were supposed to. WIC would specify , say, 24 ounces of plain
corn flakes or something and we'd be out and only have one 32 ounce box or
two 12 ounce bozes...but we couldn't run two 12 ounce boxes OR the one 32
ounce box for, if WIC said they had to have one 24 ounces of corn flakes, it
had to be that. But it would let them get ONE 12 ounce box instead of the
one 24 ounce box etc....it was annoying. The cash registers were
computerized and set up to not allow it unless it was JUST right .

WIC is a good program but boy are they ever stringent about that cheese,
cereal, milk, and peanut butter!!

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 20:59:00 GMT, "Jill" wrote:

I have no idea though....Rachel is now 6 weeks old, and I have been trying
for about 3 weeks now to get her to start taking some pumped milk in a
bottle, and I can't find one she's satisfied with and will eat from without
fighting it. I only have tried to get someone to feed her a few ounces of
pumped milk about 2-3 times each week just to try to get her more used to
it. One day she will do ok with the Avent with a Stage 1 nipple on. She
hates the Stage 2, it's too fast for her when she is a slow eater and used
to breastfeeding. I guess that's comparing apples to oranges though,
bottlefeeding formula fed babies are bottle pros, and my breastfed
bottle-hating baby is not happy with any of them. I just don't want her to
get to where she will absolutely refuse all bottles! So I am desparately
trying to find one kind of bottle to stick with that makes her happy to eat
with. At this point, I refuse to leave her with someone with a bottle of
pumped milk because it's not 100% certain on any given day that she will
take it. It *seems* like more of my friends who have formula fed, haven't
had nearly as much trouble with bottles and nipples....

FWIW-
I went through this EXACT thing (Avent bottles, nipple sizes & all)
with Victor and one day on a whim at Target, I bought a 2 pack of
playtex bottles (just the original, not the vent-air) and picked up a
pack of the "Orthodontic" nipples (even though the playtex set came
with 2 silicone nipples that were similar to the Avent he hates) and
now I am amazed at how smoothly he goes between bottle & breast.
Sometimes even in the same feeding -- like if mt husband fed him a
bottle and he still seemed hungry or was having trouble going to
sleep, I'll put him on the breast not 5 minutes later and it's like
it's no difference to him and he's out like a light with a FULL belly.
I usually do a bottle at night so that I KNOW how much he's getting
and he sleeps WAY longer that way.

The cool thing about that particular nipple is that it says medium
flow (which I was wary of because of the Avent deal) *but* unlike most
bottles, the hole is on the side instead of the tip so if you put the
hole facing down against the tongue it works like a slow flow and if
he seems to be straining too hard we just twist the bottle around so
he can get it a little faster (which is not even as fast as the Avent
#2) Plus Wal-mart & Target have their own brand of the drop-ins that
are way cheaper and you don't have to wash bottles!

This may work for you or may not but it was a relatively cheap and
easy way to experiment with bottles. I think Playtex, also sells a
starter kit with like 5 different nipples but they all but one (the
Orthodontic) seemed to be fast flow, so I didn't bother.


Carla
Mom to Victor Paul born 5.16.04
www.victorpictures.com --See him here!

"Jill" wrote in message
. com...

Why don't they allow more of a choice?

(FWIK) A lot of the items are donated to or heavily discounted for WIC by
specific companies. They have to have strict guidelines or people would be
substituting a $6 jar of expensive name brand peanut butter for the $2 jar
that WIC would get no discount or reimbursement for.

Plus, it's a government program.... Same reason Social Security wouldn't
take my daughters birth certificate as proof of her identity so she could
get a new Social Security card... It's not fun for them if it isn't
complicated for us

The WIC checks I have I can get say in a month
6 gallons any sort of milk I like, we get Fat Free Skim
3 Dozen Any size Eggs
36 oz Cerial as long as it is WIC aproved in whatever oz we like as long as
it = under 36 oz.so I can get 9 oz of Kix 11 oz of another kind and then
the last 16 in anouther. WIC has a sugar thing.. no more then X% sugar for
cerial and I still have not figured out why I can get frosted mini wheats
but not frosted flakes
1 Jar Peanut Butter or dried peas or beans
16 oz of cheese
6 cans of juice

Bonnie who is 2 gets
3 1/4 galons of milk
2 doz eggs
36 oz cerial
1 jar p/b or the beans or peas
16 oz of cheese
6 cans of juice

Jeff gets NOTHING hehe as soon as he can get pregnant and walk arround in
stretchy banded pants for months at a time he can have WIC to
BTW What you can get on WIC depends on the state that you are in. In NH you
could get oatmeal but only if it was in a can not single serv. In wisconsin
you can get oatmeal as long as it is in single serv packets no cans
allowed... I dont get oatmel because I only like the kind that is single
serv and it has to be strawberries and cream or peaches and cream.


Tori
--
Bonnie 3/20/02
Anna or Xavier due 10/17/04
"Jill" wrote in message
. com...

"Tori M." wrote
The other thing is if she quilifies for WIC she should use whatever they
use
at her WIC office. We wanted to use Similac with Bonnie but the state I
was
in only allowed Enfamil.

Tori

Why don't they allow more of a choice? I remember when I was a teen,
working
in a grocery store as a cashier I saw a ton of WIC customers, and we had
very strict lists that they had to adhere too, and I heard it all day long
"Please can't you just run this kind of cheese through, can't you just let
me substitute this cereal, it's ALL my son will eat" etc etc.

WIC is really strict...and also, I remember, that whatever size box of
cereal in a specific type they gave people certificates for, is exactly
what
they had to get, and sometimes the store would be out of that exact size,
and people would have no choice but to get a smaller size and basically
get
less than they were supposed to. WIC would specify , say, 24 ounces of
plain
corn flakes or something and we'd be out and only have one 32 ounce box or
two 12 ounce bozes...but we couldn't run two 12 ounce boxes OR the one 32
ounce box for, if WIC said they had to have one 24 ounces of corn flakes,
it
had to be that. But it would let them get ONE 12 ounce box instead of the
one 24 ounce box etc....it was annoying. The cash registers were
computerized and set up to not allow it unless it was JUST right .

WIC is a good program but boy are they ever stringent about that cheese,
cereal, milk, and peanut butter!!