When I was pregnant I always said I would breastfeed no matter what, unfortunately when it came around to it when my little girl was born, we had some big problems. I was absolutely heart broken at not being able to exclusively breast feed but when I got my head round it I realised that it wasn't about me, it was about my little girl being happy, content and being fed.

Whilst talking to a close friend of mine who'd recently had a similar problem and with my health visitor, I settled on the formula I thought would suit Freya and how she needed to be fed. Aptamil may not be as well known as Cow & Gate or SMA, but I was going on advice and recommendations on what would be best for Freya. Aptamil First milk is also a breastmilk substitute or for babies who are being combination fed.

Before I continue, there is quite a lot of bad judgement from a lot of women when I've spoken about Aptamil being a "breastmilk substitute", yes I know it's not "as good as real breastmilk" but for me it's close enough, and as I stated I had a lot of problems when it came to breast feeding so this milk was perfect for my little girl as I was combination feeding.

The milk powder is foil sealed inside a cardboard and plastic tub. The lid is securely fastened with a plastic clip in which you need to break to first get into the milk if this is broken when you purchase then do not use the powder. Inside is a foil seal and a yellow plastic scoop for you to measure the milk powder, I'm not sure if any other formula brands have this, but at the top of the tub there is a little "lip" which enables you to level off the milk powder so you have a perfect scoop and not a heaped one. This is brilliant as you know you are getting the exact amount needed for each scoop full for the feed.

The milk powder is very fine and pale in colour. On the side of the tub is instructions on how much powder is required for each feed with how many ounces of water. You can check how much your baby should roughly be having going by the age/weight ratio on the side of the tub, although every baby is different this information is just a guideline. My little lady is 13 weeks old and is currently on 6 scoops of formula with 6oz of water. When she was first born the formula would last a hell of a lot longer as she was only having a couple of bottles a day with just a few fluid ounces. Now she is up to 6oz, 6 times a day the tub obviously doesn't last as long.

One thing I found and I'm sure I'm not alone, is that when the water is too hot in the bottle the steam causes the formula to stick to the scoop. The problem with this is you aren't getting the perfect amount of formula into the feed (therefore I wait until the water is cool enough). However, if this happens to you the scoops can easily be washed/sterilised for future use.

I buy my Aptamil from Asda at the reasonable price of £8.97 for the 900g tub. Obviously if you receive milk tokens then it isn't going to cost you a penny but I still think it's a really good price and you know you are getting the best for your baby. The price obviously varies on where you buy it, I've seen it for as much as £13 in my local chemist so I think a supermarket would be your best bet.

My little girl is now only fed using Aptamil formula and has recently moved onto the Hungry Milk which is Aptamil number 2, which I will review another time.