Whats everybodies experiences with different brands?  
 
It appears we may have to start using formula for our newborn and was wondering if Parents Choice was any good as its half the price of Enfamil and Goodstarts

family doctor as you will be running back and forth with ear infection as that is one comman problem with all formulas

Works great... and my girls never had an ear infection.

I too had to start giving my little man formula as a newborn. I use goodstart and we have no sickness at all and he likes it. My sister-in-law used Parents Choice for her daughter and her daughter was also never sick. I think it just depends if your child likes it or not. They are all the same I think its just in a name and smell!

Your baby will tell you what he or she can handle. My babies couldn't digest Parent's choice. It gave them terrible constipation. The only brand they could handle was Good Start. If you think you need to start using formula you might want to sign up with a few companies and get some free samples.  
 
Don't let people make you feel guilty for bottle feeding. You can be just as good a parent cuddling a baby with a bottle as you can be cuddling a baby with a boob.  
 

We did not have any issues with ear infections. Our daughter is almost 2 and has NEVER had an ear infection. We also had to put her on formula. She needed to be on Nutramigen until 6 months, so I can't speak as to Parent's Choice over other brands, but I know of people who have used it with no problem. Just make sure it has the required levels of iron and vitamin D, and if you are mixing it use boiled water and not just bottled water. Also stay strong and know that you are doing what is right for your baby. You will face people who will judge you for not breast feeding, but they do not know your situation. Trust that you know your child better than strangers who want to judge.

SAP said "We did not have any issues with ear infections. Our daughter is almost 2 and has NEVER had an ear infection. We also had to put her on formula. She needed to be on Nutramigen until 6 months, so I can't speak as to Parent's Choice over other brands, but I know of people who have used it with no problem. Just make sure it has the required levels of iron and vitamin D, and if you are mixing it use boiled water and not just bottled water. Also stay strong and know that you are doing what is right for your baby. You will face people who will judge you for not breast feeding, but they do not know your situation. Trust that you know your child better than strangers who want to judge."

am exclusively breast feeding my baby, because that is what I chose, but I completely agree with you. Take what others tell you with a grain of salt.  
 
While ear infections are very common in children who are bottlefed, not all children get them. The most important thing you can do is cuddle and love that little baby with all of your heart .  
 
P.S. When my first daughter was about 6 months old, I supplemented with Similac concentrate. She didn't like the powder stuff. Register on the various websites and they will mail you samples and coupons. Good luck!  
 
Edited by Anne Tellope, 2012-06-23 21:53:29

I bottle fed both my babies. I hate the stigma that lies around it, as I often get that "look" when I say it. I COULD NOT breast feed my children...I had a reduction at 17, so it was physically not possible. Therefore, I require no judgement.  
 
That being said, I had both of my kids on the Parents Choice (Wal-Mart brand), as exclusively formula feeding can be costly. I checked with two family doctors, two nutritionists, and a pediatrician, and all said that it was exactly the same as any other brand. Think about it...they all (formulas) MUST pass code in order to be sold. If it WASN'T good, it wouldn't be on the shelves.  
 
And, my children do suffer from ear infections, and no, it is not because they were formula fed. if you actually talk to an ENT (we have, as both my babies have t-tubes) ear infections have absolutely nothing to do with formula or breast milk, rather the direction of the tube from the ear to the sinuses and how well it drains..

I found that I couldn't choose what rand I used based on how cheap and how expensive formula is! It depends on your baby!! I started off with good start powder then I notice the parents choice was basically the same but cheaper...my child had such problems got fissures and tears and bad xonstipation.....ended up having to switch to enfamil concentrate....that costs about 40 bucks for 12 cans!!!! Do what ur baby needs

RonHart said "family doctor as you will be running back and forth with ear infection as that is one comman problem with all formulas "

Funny, I nursed every one of my kids and 2 of them had chronic ear infections, while nursing. The doctor actually blamed nursing on the infections because of the different positioning. I guess everyone has an opinion.

We started with the Nestle Good start premixed glass bottles. They are a little bit more costly but very convenient and do not require warming as already at room temperature. You can apply a nipple ring directly to it but I preferred to transfer them into our playtex ventaire bottles (highly recommended btw). Best of all since we were not using tap water I had no worries about how his gut would respond to it until such a time that his digestive system started to better mature. If I remember correctly we started to implement the good start powder formula at about 5 or 6 months. We never had issues with gas or constipation at any time while using these products. Prior to turning 1yr we started purchasing more generics.  
 
It was basically trial and error and from what I remember the parents choice brand did not have any untoward effect on him and he certainly enjoyed the vanilla and chocolate toddler formulations when it came time to transition him over to whole milk. From what I remembered reading online the parents choice brand did rate highly when compared to those like Nestle. Best you can do is purchase a tin or two and see how well your little one responds. Just FYI If you haven't already signed up for online clubs like nestle, similac, infamil, heinz etc I suggest you look into it as it is certainly worth doing. I remember receiving a ton of samples (both small and full size tins) which were great to trial and for use once he was a bit older and it was noted that no significant concerns had arisen with use of alternate brands of formula.  
 
 
 
 
 
Edited by Je suis un ananas, 2012-06-24 01:13:33

Not a mother myself however took my sister and her twins to every peds appointment for the first year. At the first appt the dr. told my sister, who was breastfeeding at the time that if and when she started formula not to bounce around on them. He told her switching from breast milk to formula could cause some discomfort for the kids, but nothing serious, so to stick out the formula for 2 full weeks as a test period unless there was projectile vomitting. When she did go to formula at 4 months she had projectile vomiting from both. Turned out one was lactose intolerant and the other was protien intolerant.  
 
As for ear infections, they are now 10, one has no problems with her ears, and the other has had surgery twice and still has tubes. The next surgery if required will be to constuct new tubes to be placed permenantly in her ears. Had nothing to do with how or what they were fed, simply her canals are tiny.

after I went back to work I supplimented with Similac. My boy did fine for the few months he was on it before cow's milk and had no ear infections...

Frankly I would never use parents choice. babies eat twice as much of it therefor it's not really saving you money and they always seem to be hungry on it. Now every baby is different but this is what I have seen.  
Goodstart is a good brand. When I had my daughter we used similac sensitive as our daughter had lactose issues. But I would reccomend either goodstart or similac.

We put our son on formula at 6 weeks and tried Enfamil and Good Start before using Parent's Choice. He didn't like the taste of the Enfamil or the Good Start so we tried PC and have been using it ever since. It keeps him full and he doesn't drink anymore than when he was on a different brand. It also hurts the wallet way less. $14 a tin compared to $22 or more when he drank 4 tins a month give or take. All babies are different. Try a few to figure out what works for you.

i ended up in the hospital after 3 weeks and had to start my baby on formula... we started her on life brand from shoppers.... its about 20.00 a can but she loves it.... the only downside is tha you can only get it from shoppers drug mart  

RonHart said "family doctor as you will be running back and forth with ear infection as that is one comman problem with all formulas "

You are wrong. Both of my girls were formula fed and neither of them have ever had an ear infection.  
 

Now as to your question, OP ...  
 
We used Enfamil for the first couple of months, then switched to the Parents Choice from Walmart. If you look at the ingredients in each brand, they are very similar.  
 
Sometimes it is just trial and error as well. Some babies can eat some formula's and not others.

To breast feed, but my baby would not take to it, so i pumped for 4 months, but having other children, pumping was not practical. It took up alot of time and energy. I had to resort to formula. I use parents choice with iron, and all the omegas. Its 20$ cheaper, it has the omegas that some others do not have, and if you compare the brand names to the no names, the ingrediants are the same. spending 50$( concentrated liquid), was crazy! My child hasnt had an ear infection, or serious illness of any kind. Hes a very energetic, happy child. I did use the powder, but found the cans lasted longer. The powder was kind of a pain too. Anyway, its your choice, but if you doubt, just compare the ingrediants.

The presidents choice formula with my oldest child and had no issues. The ingredient list read similarly and the price was much better than the brand name....but still a pricey option.  
 
After that I really wanted to breastfeed longer so I went to LLL meetings in town and found a lot of great information and support there! I went on to exclusively breastfeed my next 3 kids  
 
Not saying you haven't tried everything but just thought id offer a resource for you if you feel you need one . I felt very unsupported in my choice to breastfeed actually. I kinda got the feeling that if it didn't come easy then I shouldn't do it and I better not do it in front of ppl, pump and bring a bottle! Which can actually mess with some ppls milk supply. Anyways, good luck and no matter what you decide, I'm sure you're a great mom! <3  
 

good start for my first child and ended with parents choice.. the only reason we started with good start was i didn't realize there was any other kind.. we got free containers and when we had baby my parents and my husbands parents went and bought a pile more so we were golden for almost 7 mths!!! second child my breast milk didn't come in and she wasn't getting enough so we went and just bought parents choice.. they are all the same just different prices. i would stick with parents choice it's cheaper and you will need alot in the start

our first, we used tried several brands until we concluded that our son had a milk intolerance, we then, after a lot of research, went to President's Choice Soy Concentrate (wouldn't take powder). We then had twin boys and 1 is allergic to milk and the other is not. We spoke to our pediatrician and he told us to put them both on soy, as all formulas are made very much the same. There are a few slight differences, but all follow the Canadian Food and Drug Administration guidelines and are equally healthy, this includes soy, low lactose, ect. When you choose your formula....you have to give it some time for your babies system to adjust. At first, they may not tolerate it well, but in time you will know if it needs to be changed. I just want to stress, not to be afraid to use soy as an option if needed. I have 3 very healthy strong boys. Good luck.

I have three kids and the third was breast fed until she was over one and she was the only one who had an ear infection. The first two had formula after 3 and 6 months and they have never had an ear infection... I think all babies are different and all will react to different formulas different your baby will let you know what works best:-) Good luck!

last baby used Enfamil.....no earaches...

I used Parent's Choice on all my kids and I had asked my kids pediatrician if it was okay. He said it's all the same with just a different name on it....my kids never had a problem with it...it is cheaper....but it is also your choice on what you feel is better for your child...

isn't that an old wives tale?

Both of my sons were bottle fed and no ear infections here.  
 
First child used similac and it worked wonders.  
 
Second child used enfamil and it worked the best for him.  
 
doesnt really matter what formula you choose as long as you stick with it, and dont switch up the brands often.

I tried Similac with my son. I didn't see anyone else mentioning it so I was starting to think there was something bad about it! The powder form mixed up great and had no lumpy issues like the one can of enfamil I tried at the start. Plus they always send 5-10$ coupons. :D