Make mine a Pint Mum! (Cow & Gate Ready Made Premium First Infant Milk from Birth)

Member Name: lulu2004

Product:	Cow & Gate Ready Made Premium First Infant Milk from Birth
Date:	25/11/08 (691 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: So easy to use. Pre-biotics. Gluten Free,

Disadvantages: Fairly expensive, it isnt natural, 7oz cartons

Its good to know what other mums think of formulas since the big brands are not allowed to advertise from-birth formulas due to the fact that breast feeding should be promoted instead. It can be hard to decide on a formula as the information is not always readily available. Im an ex-breastfeeding mum, but I certainly dont feel like I am doing my daughter a disservice by feeding her formula now although I know others would feel differently. To me its every mums perogative to feed their baby the way we want to and not be judged on it so if someone is reading this review who is considering bottle feeding from birth Id like to help you decide by telling how problem-free we have found Cow and Gate.

I think recently my daughter has been really teasing me regarding feeding, She has out me through the mill recently, taking 3 oz then deciding that was enough, or just poking her tongue out at the teat. I had been feeding her Aptamil since I stopped breastfeeding her with no problems really, so I was completely baffled as to why she didn't want to feed. We had been getting on really well with Nuk bottles but I changed to Tommee Tippee for a day to see if that was the problem, it wasn't- she didn't like those bottles at all (even though Id had a good experience with them when my son was bottle-feeding) So I switched milks from Aptamil to Cow and Gate.

I'm not sure if changing milk was the answer but she did start to feed again so I didn't change back to Aptamil. I'm a bit on the lazy side when it comes to making formula so I buy Ready-to-drink cartons. They are more expensive on a weekly basis, but you can be quite economical with them as any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 24 hours after opening. You can also get a bigger carton of Cow and Gate than the one mentioned in this review, although the bigger size is not available everywhere. We now at 4 months go through 4-5 cartons a day, at 50p a carton. It's not too bad really when you look at it like that. And as she weans this will be less and less again.

The Ready Mix cartons are really convenient for mums-on-the-run, which I often am, I always have one in my bag, along with a recently sterilised bottle in a bottle bag in case we get caught out with a hungry baby and as she has never been given a warmed up bottle she doesn't care that it comes straight from the carton.

There are 7oz in the carton which is more than a feed for my baby, although I will have to switch to only using the bigger cartons when she wants that extra ounce.

What Cow and Gate say on the pack.
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The ready to feed in stage 1 is a breast milk substitute suitable from birth. There is a stage 2 for hungrier babies but personally I don't think we will get to that level as she's a small feeder and sleeps well. Cow and Gate say that this is easy to digest; my daughter certainly has no problems with tummy pains or constipation while on it. She gets complete nutrition for her day. I think the pre-biotics that it contains make it easy on the tummy while offering the benefits of being Gluten Free and containing sufficient iron for the baby. As baby's pre-birth iron supplies drop after 6 months it is reassuring to know that they are getting some from elsewhere.

I'm not really someone who does many reviews on foodstuffs so although I could list all the ingredients but I think that it really wouldn't make much sense to us, if it were me looking for a review on baby milk I would be more interested in a baby's reaction to the formula so I will keep in that vein. The one thing I will mention is that there is a note that one of the substances used contains Fish... some babies have intolerances to fish so it's certainly worth reading the label.

They give preparation instructions on the side of the carton, which as a carton is pretty self-explanatory really. Cut Carton and pour into an empty sterile bottle! There is also a feeding guide, which I ignore as my little one is only really drinking what they say a 2 month old should drink. It's only a guide, all babies are different.

The Pros of Using Ready-to-Feed
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Ready-to-Feed is the most convenient feeding system that I have found bar breast feeding, but I had gotten to the stage where I was ready to wean her to formula so I don't dwell too much on that.

You cannot make mistakes with measurements. I know when I used formula with my son there were more than a few times where I just couldn't remember how many scoops I had just dropped in the water. I constipated him more than once by putting an extra scoop in in my half-awake baby brain states!

The cartons are compact and recyclable. Just pop them into a bag and go- no problems.

The cartons are not easy to burst; I have never managed to burst one open. I've put them through the mill a lot as I'm a bit untidy and have left heavy shopping on top of them and thrown them about in changing bags.

The Cons of Using Ready-To-Feed
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They are more expensive than standard boxes of formula.

At the end of the day, this is formula and therefore is not natural.

I feel that another ounce in a carton would not go amiss.

So all-in-all I would be happy to recommend the Cow and Gate ready-mix to other parents out there. We certainly have not met any problems in the while that we have been using it. I do keep a tin of formula at home in case I run out, but my much-favoured way of feeding my daughter is the ready mix cartons and I know that increasingly I am not alone; there are others out there who do so too.

Summary: From Birth formula for babies