Similac or Enfamil?

abatkins · June 2011

I asked my doc today and she said Enfamil...

thoughts?

womancake · June 2011

Well, take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I plan on breastfeeding, so I haven't done a ton of research on one formula vs. another. But from what I understand, the name brands are pretty much the same nutritionally. A lot of people will even tell you that the off-brands are the same nutritionally, but I've seen some that disagree with that. Call me cynical, but chances are if your doc recommended Enfamil over Similac, it's because she gets a kick-back from Enfamil. Between this pregnancy and one of my previous pregnancies, I've been to 3 different OBs, and each office only pimped one brand of formula. So I'm sure they have some sort of deal with the formula companies. I'm not saying all that to be anti-formula. Just to encourage you that I don't think it's a decision you have to stress over. Smile

abatkins · June 2011

Thank you for the advice!

I certainly hope and plan to breastfeed, but in case I need to supplement I would like to be ready. My SIL uses Similac and has been impressed with it's results. She didn't breastfeed. I like the Similac since it comes pre-made.

TheFannins729 · June 2011

they are all pretty much the same. we started off on similac and then switched to target brand. it was cheaper and essentially the same (check out the nutrition labels sometime). but, you might find that your baby prefers one over the other. definitely don't stock up on anything. we went through three different types of similac before one finally worked for us.

TheFannins729 · June 2011

also, if you do end up formula feeding, you probably won't want to use the premade stuff. it's pretty expensive compared to the powder. and you can make the powder in a big pitcher and then just pour into bottles.

tpandr08 · June 2011

Not sure what state you live in or your financial situation but I know here in the Midwest we have a program called WIC (Women, Infant, Children) that basically gives you checks every month for things like milk, cereal, and I know they only provdie Enfamil so if you are doing a program like that, you will need to look into those stipulations.

We used Similac because that is what the hospital provided to her while she was in NICU and then we tried breastfeeding and failed and then were on Similac Soy for 7 months then the great recall of 2010 happened and we ended up using Target Up&Up and it was almost identical.

From what I was told, the only difference between generic and name brand powder is that generic is cheaper because it uses cheaper grains to make the powder with.

Like pp said, don't stock up on anything. Wait and see what happens but the choice is ultimately your Lo's!

justrachet · June 2011

Enfamil made DS1 super constipated. Similac gave him lots of gas. We settled on Good Start.

melissawillr · June 2011

We used Earths Best Organic and never had any issues. I was unable to breast feed and I was able to research formulas before giving birth to my son. We will start new baby on Earths Best when he arrives.

mabma80 · June 2011

It depends on the baby's preference. DS#1 did not like Enfamil, so he took Similac Soy. DS#2 did not like Similac, so he took Enfamil. The baby will prefer one over the other or maybe neither.

I would keep the samples you get and try each to see which one LO likes best. : )

LAHN · June 2011

I breastfed and then transitioned to formula around 6 months, we started off with Enfamil because I had all the samples, once those ran out we used Kirkland's brand and it was awesome! great savings too.

kimmiedu · June 2011

we used sililac to suppliment with breastfeeding.

lauren&matt · June 2011

So I BF'd my dd the first year, so take this w/ a grain of salt. But I would totally buy generic... look into it!

CariBriel · June 2011

With DD I used the Enfamil Nutramigen. It is for babies with a soy and lactose allergy, which she had. At that point in time we were receiving WIC so I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket for it. I like this formula a lot. It really helped with all of her tummy issues (gas, throwing up constantly, etc..) However, I have a feeling we are going to be formula feeding LO to if breastfeeding turns out to as frustrating as it was with DD, and if we do I will totally be using generic. We will not be receiving WIC this time and that formula was horrendously expensive. I have been doing a little research on it so far, and I have heard good things about the Target brand. It has the same ingredients as the name brand for much less.

Azrayla · June 2011

DD used nestle good start. Had no issues with it. I had a sample can of enfamil we used before I went to good start. Its the cheaper of the name brands. I was told though that good start isn't as sweet as the others so if you start with one brand and want to switch sometimes babies don take to it right away but since we only had a tiny enfamil can she didn't care.

also the hosptal gave us instant made similacs and we used two.. after she had the second she spit up a lot.. so I didn't risk the similac anymore (DD hardly ever spit up.. I can count on one hand how many times so we avoided the brand)

memali26 · June 2011

We started off with Similac because her pedi gave us some samples when BFing failed and she lost a ton of weight. After a few weeks we switched to Target Up&Up and will be using that for this LO, too. Our pedi okay'd the switch to generic, and I did enough research to be comfortable with it - the nutrition is the same because all formula, name grand and generic, is regulated by the FDA, and I've been told that several generics are even produced by the same companies that produce the name brands. The ingredients differ just slightly only so there are no copyright infringements.

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