I am new to the board- need formula help

Hi,

This is my first post so first I want to introduce myself. My B/G twins, Brendan and Jillian, were born on Dec. 14, 2006 at 34 wks and 3 days. Brendan weighed 4lb 14 oz at 18" (spent 1 week in NICU for body temp control issues) and Jillian weighed 5lb 6oz at 18" (spent 3 weeks in NICU for bradies). Both are now incredible 6 month olds who have caught up to their real ages according to the pedi at their last check up at 4months (their 6 month check is tomorrow). Anyway, I am a 37 yr old, SAHM and have been married to my DH, Steve since 2003.

So the reason for my post is that my DS has been on Nutramigen since a month old due to reflux and serious gastro-intestinal issues. Anyone who uses Nutramigen knows how pricey it is and there is no generic. My DD is on GentleEase which is not quite as costly, but yesterday when we were at Target, I noticed that they had a generic brand like GentleEase that was almost $10 cheaper per can. Has anyone tried the generic brands? Have they had success with them? I am afraid to mess with my DD digestive track by switching to the generic but the $10 savings per can is so tempting.

Thanks so much for any advice you can give!

 

Both my twins have been on Target from day 1. Although my boy has reflux and we tried hypo allergenic for a little bit but that didn't help so the GI specialist told us to switch back (regular Target). My babies have been fine with it from day 1, they both spit up (although my girl stopped) but all my kids do ... they just eat and eat. My ped says it's perfectly fine formula and the price difference ... it's just great. They had the super value cans on sale for $11 and $8 and I bought every can they had, around 20! With my first, everything needed to be brand, but it's all the same stuff so unless you really need a special formula I would go for it.

BTW, my babies would both spit up on the regular Enfamil at first, but not Target ...

 

All milk based formulas are the same. So Target and generic brands are the same as Enfamil. You should be able to use it unless you need a lactofree or soy and I think Target makes that too. Welcome to FY!

 

Yep, by law generic brands have to be the same as name brands. I think they can get away with an ingredient or two off, but if you compare the labels, they're the same.

We've used Target brand with DS2 (9 months) for about six months now. I got tired of paying $25/can when I could pay less than $12 for the exact same stuff. Plus, Target sometimes discounts the family size down to $15/can which is a great deal.

Blake had no problems making the switch at all.

 

I have tried different formulas for our twins since I stopped bfing and Target has been the best so far. I tried enfamil, similac, and the BRU brand. They all had so much foam and bubbles and DS spit up more on those. He does better on the Target brand although it is supposed to be the same thing. It is probably because there is less foam and bubbles when I mix it.

 

Yep, my babies don't know what the "real" stuff tastes like.... We started using the Target brand which they did great with, but we now use the Wakmart brand, Parents Choice (basically same thing) just because Walmart is always open.... they are all so close that if we don't have time for Walmart we use the Kroger brand, Comforts they do great on them all......

And my Pedi was also fine with it...... he said that with the cost of formula x2 he didn't blame me for going cheap!!!

 

Just thought i would add... I haven't noticed at Target but Walmart is also making a organic formula as well... YAH!

 

Thanks so much to all of you ladies for reassuring me it okay to go generic! I am taking the babies back to Target today to make the exchange ! I really appreciate the advice!

 

I have had my babies on the Walmart Parents choice or the Members Mark brand from Sams club from the very start. They havent had any issues with it and it costs about half what the enfamil is for the same thing.

 

We dont use the target brand but we do use the costco brand Kirkland, and we have had no problem.

 

DS was a preemie (in NICU for 10 days) and on NeoSure from the hospital, at his 1st ped visit I had already moved him to Enfamil (had free samples) and the ped said that was perfectly fine. I moved to Target formula after seeing the price of th Enfamil. He has been on it ever since. He was on the Target version of Gentlease and now on the regular Target Lipil formula. I love to save money where I can and since these have the exact same ingredients as the name brand and the cans are twice the size I am all for it.