Baby Formula - are Aptamil and C&G exactly the same??

astralbee · 21 July 2008 at 7:43PM

Just had our first baby and after a couple of weeks attempted breastfeeding have had to switch to formula. We tried SMA but didn't think so much to it - lots of reports of baby constipation and it was true in our case too.

So here's the decision we were faced with - Cow&Gate, or Aptimil?

A friend of ours who works in child health uses Aptimil for her own children, which she prefers because of its probiotic content. But she also gave us the impression it was much more expensive, so we went with Cow&Gate which is now boasting probiotics anyway.

Now, I'm all for saving money but I want the best for my child. Although baby is really happy with the C&G I kept picking up Aptimil in the supermarket and wondering if we should have gone with that. Turns out its only a quid or so more for the largest tub.

BUT!! Today I just noticed something. Both Aptimil and Cow&Gate are manufactured at exactly the same place, not only in this country but also in Ireland too. I mean, the manufacturing address is identical, even the unit number of the industrial estate. Coincidence?

Are these two products, one priced slightly more competively, exactly the same?? If so, you could save yourself a few quid by switching to the cheaper one. I'm interested in hearing from anyone that knows more.
:rotfl:

katiecoodle · 21 July 2008 at 7:58PM

Not sure if they're the exact same product but when my kids were little the midwives all agreed they had less reactions like colic to Aptamil fed babies, rather than any other brand. I suppose the address in Ireland is just a milk 'factory' & they have different recipes to follow for different brands...?

zebulon · 21 July 2008 at 10:16PM

did you compare full listing of ingredients maybe (incl their order in the list etc) ?

this type of situation is known for other products (food or not) so why not this one! congratulations for you baby

Gondo_2 · 21 July 2008 at 11:05PM

'Tis a little while since I was at that stage-but I was recommended Aptamil by my midwive because she felt it was the closest to breastmilk (had less long chain fats????)-but I never compared I must admit that I took advice given (have learnt since then to canvas for opinions!! :rolleyes: )

However I used to be able to buy the milk at 'cost' from the baby clinic which worked out a couple of pound cheaper than the supermarket (and they had a range of brands)-just a thought if you can access one locally to you-again I found out from the health visitor where the clinics were so that I could pick it up close to work if necessary. Not sure if this is local policy or happens nationally

Hope this helps and enjoy babe (feeding children does become a nightmare of label reading now!!) x

astralbee · 21 July 2008 at 11:24PM

zebulon wrote: »

did you compare full listing of ingredients maybe (incl their order in the list etc) ?

this type of situation is known for other products (food or not) so why not this one! congratulations for you baby

True, but normally the production lines that make multiple brands are doing them for 'off-brands' such as supermarket's own. I don't doubt that Asda cornflakes are made at the same place as Morrisons and Tescos... but Kellogs do make the claim that they don't make cornflakes for anyone else.

I'm aware of this kind of manufacturing yet the similarity between the two baby formulas still surprised me because these are both leading brands.

I saw a thread elsewhere on the forum where somebody had mentioned how Farley's brand of formula was no longer being made. This had been another brand that our health-visitor friend recommended. Today in the supermarket I saw that Heinz (who have owned Farleys for about 14 years) have their own brand of formula which I was unaware of until I saw it. Perhaps that is also a rebadged product?

I had a cursory glance at the ingredients (there are so many in formula!) and they looked identical, but not all were quite in the same order which I know can be significant but not always. The ingredients have to be in descending order of quantity, but if several ingredients are present in equal quantities then they could be ordered differently. Perhaps the few differences were deliberate so that they can market it as two seperate products?

zebulon · 22 July 2008 at 12:15AM

a bit off topic but there is a code around just now in the freebie board to use when registering on the C&G website (free), and you get a nice little cuddly cow

amandada · 22 July 2008 at 4:44AM

You might be able to buy formula at your local health centre or bac clinic. If you can, it's usually at least a couple of pounds per pack cheaper

mad&jon · 22 July 2008 at 8:13AM

I'd go with Aptimil. Tried my son on both but he didn't like cow & gate. It was quite thick and savoury smelling. Apitmal was thinner and sweeter smelling. Aptimil is closet to breast milk from what my midwife told me. SMA gold was another make that went down very well with my son and its a little bit cheaper than Aptimil. Didn't find many offers when buying baby milk though - baby jars of food etc always had some kind of deal but milk very rare.
hth and enjoy your new baby!

Sazere · 22 July 2008 at 9:08AM

The baby clinics don't sell cheap baby formula anymore due to 'breast is best' WHO recommendations.

Same reason why baby formula is not included in promotions, discounts, bogofs, etc at shops/supermarkets. Once they reach progress milk stage (if you decide to use progress milk 6+ months) then this is often on offer.

http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/code_english.pdf (Article 5)

Personally I have used SMA Gold then White for first no problems, C&G First for second (after trying every make he threw up less on this), third had aptamil/Infatrini, fourth had aptamil. I have really found it depends on what suits the child and how easily they can digest the milk.

squiggle2902 · 22 July 2008 at 9:32AM

Hi
I had my daughter on Aptamil but one day when I found it hard to get hold of I spoke to the helpline who advised me that the Cow & Gate is the same product but the ingredients in the Aptamil are of a higher quality. I didn't believe this and just took it that the products were the same - they try and push Aprtamil because it's around £1 a tub more expensive. As it happens rhe prebiotics didn't agree with my daughters tummy and she suffered terrible wind pains whilst on this milk - once I swopped over to SMA (the milk both my other children had when they were babies) she was fine!

S~

scottishgal_2 · 22 July 2008 at 10:57AM

I wondered this too, I did actually compare ingredients, and although their ingredients are all pretty much the same the order of them is different. So like that I couldn't choose between them. Aptamil is the most expensive baby formula though, and I have heard that baby is less likely to be constipated on it. I've personally never tried it though. I guess if baby is happy on C&G just stick with it, in the long run it doesn't make much odds.

Baby Formula - are Aptamil and C&G exactly the same??

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