Why Off Brand Formula is Just as Good as Name Brand

            Hey folks! It can be very overwhelming as a new parent, especially a first time mom. Everyone has their own opinions on things and are NOT afraid to give them! Whether you gave birth, adopted, or are still expecting your little one, I'm sure we all have our fair share of stories where someone (even strangers!) have given us unsolicited advice on parenting.

             With that being said, and in spite of potentially sounding like a hypocrite, I have my own piece of advice I'd like to share with you new moms out there today. (It's not unsolicited if you're here reading it on your own volition, right? ;) )

             Let's talk about formula. The whole breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding debate can be touchy for some people, to say the least. Do I think “breast is best”? Yes, I do. Even formula companies now say so. Do I think you're a terrible person if you won't, don't, or can't breastfeed? Absolutely not. Admittedly, I don't understand the people who won't at least give it a try, but that is not my decision and not my baby. It's as simple as that. I've had my fair share of issues with nursing, so formula feeding “is what it is” for us. That's my two cents on the issue. Moving on...

             One of my biggest beefs with formula is how insanely expensive it is! We quickly learned with our first daughter, however, that “name brand” didn't necessarily mean “better”.

You may (or may not) know how it is with your first child: You want the best of everything, right? Naturally, we started out buying the name brand formula. Well, it turned out Myka had some minor reflux issues, so we tried several different formulas and different formulations within the same brand, such as one to help with gas and fussiness. Oddly enough, her reflux got even WORSE the time we used the gas and fussiness formula!

             Eventually, we ended up trying the off brand Sam's Club formula since that was where we bought our formula at the time anyway. (I thought they used to have their own brand separate from the Walmart off brand, Paren'ts Choice, but I might be crazy because I can't find it now.) As I'm sure you can guess, this one ended up working the best for us. Between this formula and having her bed propped up slightly, her reflux issues went way down. We even took her off the medicine she was taking for it. Hooray for a child with cheap taste! Ha ha

             Moral of the story: Name brand does not always mean better and off brand does not always mean cheaper quality. Given, this is just our story and what worked for us and some babies may very well be different. (Otherwise there wouldn't be different types of formula, right?) There are some things in life that “you get what you pay for”. I don't think that is true in the case of formula, though.

Not much for anecdotes and want some numbers/actual proof? Check this out!

             First of all, you'll notice that they contain the exact same ingredients/vitamins, minerals, etc. Second, there are only two items that have different quantities listed from each other: water and linoleic acid. Admittedly, the linoleic acid content is somewhat significantly different, but I don't consider the water content to be. If anything, I'd say that the slightly lesser water content in the Parent's Choice formula means it doesn't have as much “filler”. Now, let's look at some more numbers!

(Per Walmart.com):

Parent's Choice Supplementation Infant Formula-23.2oz container-$13.98

Similac for Supplementation-23.2 oz container-$27.97

             Yes, the name brand formula quite literally costs twice as much as the off brand for THE SAME THING. So, save yourself some money AND sanity and try out the off brands. It won't make you a bad mom to “buy the cheap stuff”. ;)