There have been so many blogs lately about breastfeeding. Even at my local pool club, it seems every mother with an infant breastfeeds. I have to admit, I’m envious. With 4 sons, I have never been able to breastfeed. I tried with William, he didn’t take. I tried with Alexander, he didn’t take. When it came to Benjamin and Henry… with 2 little toddlers and then 3 little toddlers, bottle feeding was the only way for us to go. It just made sense for us at the time. I didn’t even attempt to breastfeed.
When I tell people that I formula fed all 4 boys… within the last 5 years, usually the response is, “OMG. How expensive!”
And yes, it wasn’t free. As a matter of fact, my husband and I did the happy dance right after July 4th of this year when we successfully had switched Henry from formula to whole milk. 5 years of buying formula… and now just gallons of milk. It definitely makes things easier financially for us.
Our 3 oldest sons all used Enfamil LIPIL… from beginning to end. It worked well for us, all the boys took to it, but it was expensive. It was. We were spending $25-30/week on formula. Throughout those 3 years, I had my mother-in-law asking me (all the time!) why I wouldn’t use store brands, like Parent’s Choice. I remember the night she called and said, “So I went to Target… picked up a can of Enfamil and a can of Parent’s Choice — it’s the SAME thing.” If you knew my mother-in-law, you’d 100% hear her voice in this statement. And well, she was right. It was.
So… it took me 4 boys… and 6 months into using Enfamil with my youngest son to finally “get it,” but I did. I got it. We needed to save some money, and I knew that the formula was a big expense for us each week, so I tried Parent’s Choice. I bought one can and made the decision that if Henry didn’t take to it right away, I wouldn’t keep going with it. Well, he took to it. Like a bee to honey. And like that — my weekly formula expense went from $25 a week to $12. Just like that.
And yes… I’ll admit it. I was one of those mothers who thought there couldn’t be anything better than Enfamil. I surely didn’t expect or think a store brand had exactly the same ingredients in it… and well, I was wrong. They do.
I officially made the switch with Henry from Enfamil LIPIL to Parent’s Choice Milk Based DHA & ARA right after New Year’s Eve.
So if you’re a formula feeding mother, and looking for ways to cut down on some of the formula expense (believe me, I’ve been there – 4 times), try store brands at retailers like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, CVS, Babies R’ Us, and Walgreens.
And if you need some “expert advice” — Consumer Reports recommends buying store-brand formulas because they are nutritionally comparable to Enfamil® LIPIL® and other name-brand formulas like Similac and Good Start:
“We found that the store brand of formula at a local Wal-Mart (Parent’s Choice) cost 50 percent less per ounce than a leading national brand (Enfamil). According to the FDA, all formula marketed in the United States must meet the same nutrient specifications, which are set at levels to fulfill the needs of infants.”
Have some fun with this the baby formula savings calculator
This could have been my savings per year (oh, man):
Pretty amazing, huh?
I’ve saved $359.92. At this point in my life, that’s about 190 gallons of milk. In my former life, that was 2 pairs of Paige Denim Jeans. 🙂