Note: This article was originally published in May 2009. I have not researched current product offerings to determine whether formulas have changed since then. I do stand by my original warning that different brands are not quite identical, and to use caution when switching to a different formula. I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned.
I’ll admit I was a little bit naive when it came to planning for the birth of my first son. I knew I was going to breastfeed because it was the best thing I could do for him…and it would save me a couple thousand dollars that would otherwise be spent on formula and bottles.
It never occurred to me that the method of feeding was more than just a simple decision I had to make, and I might not be able to breastfeed. But as it turned out, between a health condition on my part and protein sensitivities on my baby’s part, we just couldn’t do it and the cost of formula feeding soon reared its ugly head.
Formula is the single most expensive baby item that we have had to purchase on a regular basis. A 25.7-ounce can of the “regular” brand name powdered baby formula that we tried first cost about $25.00.
But my son couldn’t digest the regular stuff, so we soon found ourselves purchasing the slightly more expensive “gentle” formula (about $25.00 for 24 ounces).
Trying to find ways to make formula more affordable and put our monthly budget back into the black, I researched generic (or store brand) baby formulas (read more about affording baby formula here). After reading information from doctors, moms and formula companies, I was comfortable trying generic formula, which would cost significantly less.
The FDA has implemented strict guidelines for baby formula manufacturers. There are numerous nutritional requirements that any baby formula must meet. That means that, nutritionally, the $15 store brand formula is no different from the $25 can of brand-name powder.
Why the vast difference in price? Just like with other generic products, the companies that manufacture store brands do not spend the extra money on groundbreaking research, expensive marketing campaigns, hospital and doctors’ office freebies, and fancy packaging.
Most of the store brands you’ll find on the shelves, including Parent’s Choice at Walmart, Simply Right (formerly Member’s Mark) at Sam’s Club, Up & Up at Target, and Babies R Us are all manufactured by the same company, Perrigo Nutritionals (formerly PBM Products).
My son was doing well on the brand-name gentle formula and I thought that, all things being equal, it made sense to switch to the store brand in order to save almost $10 per can.
You’ll notice that the store brands offer a variety of different formulas to match up with the offerings from Similac and Enfamil, even copying the colors that the well-known companies use for their packaging. They tout their products as being identical to the more expensive brands, showing side-by-side the same quantities of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
These companies make a pretty convincing argument that it’s just plain silly to spend extra money when you don’t need to — I saw magazine ads that stated “The only difference is the price”. What was I waiting for?
I picked up a purple can of store-brand powder hoping my son would be able to tolerate it. But I noticed right away that it wasn’t the same as the Enfamil Gentlease I had been buying — it had a different consistency, a deeper color, and a different smell. However, I knew that nutritionally it was the same, so I carried on.
My baby’s negative reaction to the new formula was immediate and severe enough that I threw away half a can of the store brand powder, never to try it again.
While he was able to tolerate the brand-name gentle formula, his colicky symptoms returned with the store brand. Worst of all, he became severely constipated on the new formula. My baby was in a tremdous amount of pain and even bleeding just because I had switched his formula.
I was absolutely horrified that I had caused my child to suffer in order to save some money.
But why hadn’t he been able to tolerate the store brand? Wasn’t it exactly the same as the more expensive formula? That’s what I had been promised!
I decided to take a closer look. I set the two cans side by side, and reviewed the Nutrition Facts. Yes, the numbers were the same.
Next, I explored the ingredients, and that’s where I discovered some subtle differences.
The store brand listed “Nonfat Milk” as its second ingredient and Whey Protein Hydrosolate fourth. Enfamil Gentlease, meanwhile, had Partially Hydrolyzed Nonfat Milk and Whey Protein Concentrate Solids (Soy) listed second.
It would appear that in the Enfamil, both the milk and whey proteins are broken down (hydrolyzed), while in the store brand only the whey (hydrosolate) is made easier to digest. Breaking down these proteins, which some sensitive babies have difficulty digesting, is what makes a formula “gentle”.
Store brands such as Parents Choice advertised that their Gentle Formula contained 1/4 the lactose of regular formulas, while Enfamil advertised that Gentlease has about 1/5 the amount.
Too close to matter? I believe that tiny differences can make a world of difference in tiny lactose-sensitive bodies.
I also noticed that the two brands differed in the amounts and types of fillers that they used, which definitely explained the difference in appearance, and could explain the severe constipation that my baby experienced.
While I do feel, like most parents, that brand-name formula is expensive, the additional research funded by the company seems to have helped produce a better, gentler product for my baby.
I believe it is wrong for retailers to mislead parents by marketing their store brands as identical to the name brands, except for the price. Identical Nutrition Facts (which list amounts of nutrients) are simply not the same thing as identical ingredient lists.
I’m certainly not trying to scare parents away from generics entirely — I know that many parents face difficult choices due to tight budgets. But as with any product, be sure to do your research and be on the lookout for adverse reactions if you decide to make a change.
If your baby has no digestive problems, you may be able to offer generic formula without ill results, and save a lot of money in doing so. If you are feeding your baby a gentle formula due to digestive problems, however, I would proceed with extra caution.
Keep in mind that generic and brand name formulas are different products, and focus on finding the one that works best for your baby.
Why I won’t buy store brand formula ever again
My son reacted to generic formula in a way that other babies might not. Many parents use store brand formula with no problem whatsoever. I am not here to tell you that store brand formula is dangerous, unhealthy, or anything else. But I personally will never try using it again, and here’s why:
- I felt betrayed by the misleading advertising I saw, and I will not help to fund more of the same. At the end of the day, generic formula companies are out to make money just like the better known corporations — there is no altruistic mission at the bottom of their enterprise. I guess you could say I’m boycotting them.
- I’ve decided that having a happy, healthy, comfortable baby is more important than saving a bit of money for one year.
- Formula feeding is not ideal, but some of us have to do it. I would rather support companies that conduct research to produce the best possible imitation of breast milk, not an imitation of other formulas.
Hi Jen, my wife and I have actually had great luck with store brand baby formula at Walmart, Parent’s Choice Infant Formula. This formula is backed by scientific trials and saved me more than $700 for each of our twin sons, which totaled close to $1400 for that trying first year. If you use infant formula, you are not improving your baby’s health because you buy the more expensive formulas. You are simply wasting the extra money, because no FDA approved infant formula has been proven to be superior to any other FDA approved infant formula. Some mothers like my wife feel guilty because they cannot breastfeed, so they buy the more expensive formulas to compensate and are being mislead into overpaying by the brand formulas who play on this guilt. That’s my opinion anyway, but we found a formula savings calculator at the Parent’s Choice site at http://www.parentschoiceformula.com and realized we could save a great deal without missing out on the nutrition. Thanks for sharing – some children react to some formulas differently and that’s the bottom line. Good luck!
This comment has been flagged as “suspicious”. I have reason to believe this commenter is affiliated with PBM Products and/or Parent’s Choice Formula.
I know that many parents are able to use generics without a problem, and I don’t want to discourage that. I just wanted to emphasize that there are differences between the formulas, and therefore certain recipes (like the generic gentle formula) may be unsuitable for some babies, like my son. The advertising is misleading, in my opinion, and I think many parents believe that the generics are identical to the name brands. The slight differences probably won’t matter to most babies, but for some they can cause a problem.
Infant formula advertising is very misleading. For example, I’ve noticed that Similac claims that store brands don’t have the same science, which is somewhat misleading. I assume this is true because a store brand company and Similac would have different science, meaning different clinical papers, etc., but it implies that store brands do not have science behind the formulas, which is not true as FDA has the same formal requirements for all formulas. I also read that the makers of Enfamil are being sued over alleged false advertising for the third time, which is also strange. What a wild industry – I wish we could have breast fed!
This comment has been flagged as “suspicious”. I have reason to believe this commenter is affiliated with PBM Products and/or Parent’s Choice Formula.
I hear ya! I was very disappointed that I had to switch to formula.
You know what also bugs me? Diaper advertising! I saw one ad in a parenting magazine recently making the ludicrous claim that their diaper will make your baby feel like he/she’s in the womb again! Being a first time parent, I remember being so torn over what diaper to choose, and when I switched a budget diaper from a premium type, I felt like I was letting down my son. And for goodness sake, it’s just something he wears for an hour or two, poops on, and then gets thrown out! Advertisers sure know how to pull on your heart strings!
Oh I can totally relate. I hate advertizing hype! 🙂 I’ve got four children and thankfully I have been able to nurse them all but my littlest is having milk protein problems now and I can understand the frustration. I don’t know if you’ve tried it but probiotics in the bottle have helped her digestion greatly. You need to look around for a milk free type but even the milk based one I started out with helps aid absorpsion enough to be worth it for my littlest. Just a thought 🙂
Thanks for the info Jessie! I just recently heard about probiotics for babies, so that is something I will keep in mind for next time. My little one is almost one now, and seems to be doing OK with milk-based products at this point. I feel like if I had more support/information from very early on I maybe could have made breastfeeding work, but he is absolutely thriving, so I’m not going to worry too much. I will definitely give it another try when we have our next one, and hopefully I’ll be better equipped to deal with any complications next time around! 🙂
I’m sure that there is some validity in using name brand over store brand for babies who have shown an extreme sensitivity to formula, and are on ‘special’ formulas, like A.R. or soy based. But for kids who prove they have very little or no sensitivity like mine, using the store brand is a no brainer! i use Member’s Mark, and it is so nice to be able to buy a 3 lb can for 20 bucks. Not only do I know I am giving my son formula just as nutritious as everything else, but I also know I’m not breaking the bank in the process.
Thanks for your comment, Mary. Yes, I agree–if your baby shows no adverse reaction to the generic formula then it is a great opportunity to save some serious money. If my son had been able to tolerate it without a problem, I wouldn’t have thought twice about using it. I buy some store brand groceries, and use generic medicines. I see nothing inherently wrong with store brands, but I have to admit that I will not test generic formula on my next child (I’m hoping I will be able to breastfeed anyway).
My only goal when I wrote this article was to make sure that parents realize that store brand formulas are similar to their name-brand counterparts, but not the same. At the time I was seeing misleading advertisements in baby magazines and elsewhere that stated the only difference was the price; I felt extremely betrayed when I learned the truth the hard way. Thankfully the advertising seems to have changed a bit. However, PBM Products has recently been paying bloggers to disseminate positive information about their company, which I do not respect. Parents need to be given all the facts so they can make decisions on their own.
I understand this article is years old I just have to comment I don’t understand how you as a parent can blame someone else for your blatant lack of research. It is common sense that you can believe everything you’ve read on the Internet, the fact that you didn’t compare the ingredients list along with the nutritional facts is nobody’s fault but your own.
Hi Jen,
I want to start off this comment by saying that I do work with PBM as a Social Media Advocate… I came across your post in my google alerts, and was really curious from your title. I have to say… I am very sorry your baby had problems with the Parent’s Choice formula. You are very correct in saying that Same Nutritional Value does not necessarily equal Same Ingredients, and that parents should always do their research.
I am a mom of twin girls, and we did do our research before making the switch to Parent’s Choice. Fortunately, my girls didn’t need the gentle formulas, and we were able to make the switch to the Parent’s Choice Lipil formula without any ill effects. In fact, they did very well on that formula. Based on my personal research, and experience with the product, and the experiences of friends who’ve also made the switch, I’ve never had an issue being an advocate for their product.
I completely agree that not every formula is for every baby, based on the varying ingredients… and that every parent should do their due diligence and research everything.
ParentsChoiceFormula.com does offer free samples from time to time, in case parents are interested in trying the formula rather than buying a whole can and feeling like they wasted their money in the case that it isn’t right for their baby.
Thanks for your article…
Thank you for your comment, Monica. I appreciate your honesty.
Jen
We had exactly the opposite happen with my grandson. We had him on soy from the time my daughter could no longer breastfeed, a name brand. He was constipated, gassy and hurting. He is also lactose intolerant. We switched on advice of our pediatrician to Parents Choice Sensitive which is lactose free. Our Walmarts in this area cannot seem to keep it on the shelves so we buy it at least 4 cans at a time. When he turns 1 we will switch to Lactaid whole milk. Just wanted you to know that our experience was the opposite of yours. Every baby is different.
Thanks for your comment, Christine! You actually helped prove my point that store brand and brand name formulas are not identical. Apparently in your case there was either something extra or less of something in the store brand formula that suited your grandson’s situation better. I’m glad it worked for him.
Thanks for the honest posts- and the note about why posts are “flagged”. It never occured to me (naiive, I guess) that people affiliated with these companies would stoop so low as to try and sway readers opinions. I like that you have flagged them as suspicious rather than deleting them!
My daughter Layla has had horrible tummy troubles since she was born. i also tried to breastfeed, and b/c of her size (9 lbs. at birth!) i could not proudce enough milk to satisfy her. I also didn’t have enough help and wasn’t able to care for myself, so that probably contributed to my supply. Anywho, Layla has tp use “sensitive” and “gentle” formula as well. She was on Similac Sensitive for Spit-up for her reflux, but was affected in BOTH recalls so i switched to PC Sensitivity. I thought she would be fine, but now she is extremely constipated and in pain. Her doc wants me to switch to the Enfamil Gentle Ease. We’ll see how it goes! She is also on some solids now, so i’m not totally convinced it’s the formula, but it may be. I believe that every baby is different, so she may be reacting to those small differences in formulas. Wish me luck!
Aw, I hope you’re able to get things figured out soon! My sister has gone through the same problems with my nephew. With babies it is so tough to figure out exactly what the problem may be. Sometimes they just grow out of it, and you never really do figure it out. Good luck!
I tried nursing in the hospital, and after 2 days with my 5 lb daughter not getting anything from me, I had the hospital nurse bring me some Similac formula. She was on the ready-to-feed stuff of Similac Advance for probably about 6 months, since her stomach wouldn’t tolerate the consistency of the powdered formulas. When she was starting at a new daycare, at about 7 months old, the daycare would provide formula, but only Parent’s Choice. Since she was older now and her stomach seemed to have settled down a bit, I decided to try switching her over. The first week or so was a bit rough. We were giving her gas drops like crazy because of the way the formula was affecting her. But the doctor said it was normal for a baby to experience discomfort, spit up, gas, and fussiness when switching formulas. So we gave it another week, and she did great! We switched over completely to the Parent’s Choice formula and had no further problems with it. We did have to use the Dr. Brown’s formula pitcher and a mixing wand to get the mixture as smooth as possible, but once it was smooth, she was fine with it. The money we saved was a lifesaver, as my husband lost his job a couple months later!
I wish it would have worked out for you and your baby, but I completely understand that sometimes it just doesn’t. I had so many people giving me grief over buying RTF formula instead of powder when our daughter was little. It was hard to get people to understand that we had tried powder and she couldn’t keep it down. I am definitely with you on the fact that I would rather have my baby eat, and without uncomfortable side affects, even if I have to pay more.
Hi. Thank you for your article. I have been researching this topic to become a more informed consumer. We all want what is best for our baby, and we all know breaatfeeding is best. However, there are plenty of moms out there for whatever reason have to turn to formula. My son was 9 weeks early and had to be tube fed. We used donor milk and once I was able to produce, we used my milk. Unfortunately, we discovered my son was lactose intolerant and we turned to formula. I chose Enfamil Gentlease. Trying to keep up with my son’s voracious appetite was costing us a pretty penny. One day I noticed that the Target brand (Up & Up) had “*compared to the nutrition in Enfamil Gentlease” on the label. I decided to give it a try. I noticed the difference in color and texture. My son took to it fine and we didn’t have any problems with it. I still wanted to do further research on this before I continued on. The FDA regulates all formulas on the market to ensure it contains necessary nutrients and does not have any harmful ingredients. Also, in 2010 PBM filed a lawsuit against Mead Johnson due to false advertising. Mead Johnson sent out fliers to state that store-brand formula was inferior to Enfamil. PBM won the case because they proved that while their ingredients were not identical, they were mostly similar to Enfamil. Thus, the court allowed PBM to keep the “compare to” on the label and that PBM’s formula was not inferior to Mead Johnson’s Enfamil. PBM can afford a cheaper product because of the lack of advertising and free samples. The reason your pediatrician will give you a sample of a name brand is strictly to do with money. Our pediatrician said that the two were practically the same. While for some children, such as yours, the store brand doesn’t work for them. For others, it works just fine. Both are good choices. It just depends on what works for you and your family.
Thank you soo much for this article/blog. I just switched from Enfamil Gentle ease because we shop at SAMs and those prices right next to each other always taunt me! Almost half the price. I researched it first of course but was still confused about how if they were so similar, why is the price so different. Thank you for clearing that up. We are on day one and so far my 5 month old seems to tolerate it with no problems, but I will not hesitate to go back at te first sign of discomfort. I just really appreciate all the non biased info I receive here. I didn’t feel like I was being sold one way or another.
Thank you, Kristin! Some people seem to have the idea that the cheaper brands are trying to help them. But you’re totally right–both name brand and generic brand companies are in it to make money. I’m glad my article helped, and I’m happy to hear that the store brand is working for you so far!
You are absolutely right!! I’ve been thinking the same thing. Thanks for posting.
Thank you Jen for posting this.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Parents need to do their research before switching formulas.
I have 3 kids. My son was breastfed for a while and when we switched him to formula he didn’t do well with Parent’s Choice, Like your child, mine was very colic and was not easy finding a formula that he did well with. Luckily he thrived with Target’s brand.
I just had twin girls and they didn’t do so well with breastfeeding but they are doing well with Parent’s choice formula.
Every child is different and every parents should invest all their time in doing what’s best to their individual child.
I appreciate your honesty.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment, Wanessa. It’s great that the less expensive option is working for you with twins to feed.
Thank you for your post!! We have a sensitive tummy here and just tried 24 hours of simply right formula from similac. I thought the fussy clinginess was slowly errupting because our daughter hasn’t been able to settle long to get good sleep. After an episode of crying tonight I started to think it was the formula switch. Thank god for 24 hour Walgreen’s!! We stopped the simply right. Hoping to see our happy baby again soon! Granted– it could very well not be the formula….but my money is in that jar! Thanks again!
Thank you for reading! I hope she’s feeling better now.
My daughter had constipation problems when switching from similac advance to sensitive . She would go 5days without bm. Pedi told me to every now and then add 0.5 oz extra of water to her bottle to dilute the formula. Now she is fine. I switched to walmart brand sensitive formula and I do the same thing within the 0.5 oz and stool is issue is same as in similac sensitive.
I have two children, both were breastfed for 8 weeks, but low supply made us switch to formula. With both children, we tried a sample can first. We realized that specific type was not going to work for us. My first needed gentle formula. Our doctor gave us a sample of Enfamil Gentlease and our baby did better. After several months of buying the crazy expensive formula, we got the go-ahead to try the Sam’s brand gentle formula. We gave it a couple weeks, but our son’s constipation returned. So, we switched back to Enfamil Gentlease. With our second child, we again tried a sample (Similac Advance). She needed a gentle formula too. So, this time we bought the Sam’s brand gentle first. She is doing fine on it. I did have some ready made bottles of Enfamil Gentlease, which in a pinch tried to give to her. She wouldn’t drink it. Even at 3 months, she was spitting it out and pushing the bottle away. Every child is different. I understand where you are coming from. You needed a formula that would help your baby. But, there are parents on both sides. Please do not make parents feel they are not giving their baby a quality product because they are not using a name brand formula.
I came across this article because I had just bought my reflux son babies r us soy formuLa. After each bottle (I tried) two, he choked, cried and forcibly vomited. So bad that after 2 ounces of one I dumped it and made a new bottle with the enfamil soy backup I keep in the diaper bag. He ate it no problem. I read above someone’s doctor said it takes two weeks to switch with some discomfort expected. I just can’t do it. Is rather spend the extra then see my baby so misrable just from trying to eat
Thanks for reading, Courtney. I felt the same way — I wasn’t going to put my son through that horrible suffering for two weeks while he maybe “adjusted”. Formula costs are a real burden, but fortunately it’s only for a year.
I am having the exact same problem with the the exact same formula – Target’s brand and Gentlease. I didn’t realize what it was until just now… with my SECOND child.
Your baby can experience constipation from switching formulas period not just from store brand my daughter was constipated from switching from nutramigen to Similac sensitive which was doctors orders that she didn’t need the nutramigen anymore But she can switch between Similac and parents choice just fine. And you wanna talk buying an expensive formula try being to by nutramigen with enflora lgg
Wow, that’s a big leap to assume ALL store brands are bad because your baby didn’t like the ONLY one you tried. Switching from one formula to ANY other formula can cause these same issues. It has nothing to do with whether its a generic or name brand.
Not really. Perrigo Nutritionals makes the majority of store brands, including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Toys R Us, Kroger, Target, Sam’s Club and Whole Foods. Back when I purchased their product, their ads said “The only difference is the price.” They lied, and my baby got hurt. Forgive me for holding a grudge.
I wanted to breast feed too, but wasn’t able. I had gestational diabetes and when my son was born (via c-section) his sugar was low and my colostrum wasn’t enough to bring it up to where it needed to be. So, we had to give him formula through a syringe. He was already spitting up a lot because where he was born c -section he didn’t get his amniotic fluid squeezed out like vaginally born babies and I felt like he was suckino air through the syringe and making it worse. So, I gave him a bottle. Big mistake. He got nipple confusion. I tried pumping but eventually my milk dried up. We give him simply right sensitivity from sams club because it’s so cheap, and 3 ver since then he has had really dry hard stools and a lot of pain trying to have a bm. Now the dr. Diagnosed him with acid reflux and he is on zantac. Zantax constipates, so now he is going days without a bm. Took him to childrens….nothing. so out pediatrician switched him to a new enfamil formula called reguline with 2 prebiotics in it. It really helped for the first day but then he had explosive diarrhea which led to bad diaper rash. So we are back to square one. We have an appointment at the GI specialist monday.
I’m so sorry you’re going through all that. I know it’s so hard to see your baby suffer and not know exactly what to do. It’s very expensive, but you may want to ask about hypoallergenic formula (such as Nutramigen). That’s what I ended up having to use for both of my boys. I hope you’re able to get some answers and find something that works soon!
Thank you so much for putting your experience out there! My first and second child both needed to be on soy formula. For our first we only used Simliac and started out with Similac for the second. I wanted to try to cut costs so after researching and only finding everything saying they are basically the same I decided to switch him to the Walmart brand. Before switching he was sleeping for a 9 hour stretch, after switching he was up every 1-2 hours crying. He was also much more fussy during the day. After a month I decided it must be the formula so I did some more research and found your article. We switched him back to Similac the next day and he is back to being our happy baby sleeping up to a 9 hour stretch at night.
I’m glad you found the answer, Shannon! I know it stinks not being able to save that money, but some babies are apparently just very sensitive to those subtle differences.
First of all every baby is different. The labeling is NOT misleading. My child was constipated on Enfamil gentlease and is not abymore now that he is on parents choice gentle. It sounds like you didn’t mix the two formulas first when introducing the new formula. I kade that mistake when trying similac. I find your article very biased.
I had the same problem. I couldn’t breastfeed my first. I tried with the second, and the lactation consultants informed me that I am one of the few who can’t. Also, my first had reflux, and my second has protein sensitivities. With my second, we can only find one formula that works for her. It’s hypoallergenic, expensive (and not covered by my insurance), and there is no generic. Soon, I get to try and switch my DD to regular formula. I will probably stick with the same brand (Similac) because my first child reacted poorly to generic formula. I’m sure it works great for some but not so much for kids with sensitive stomachs.
I was in SAMs and had their store brand formula in my cart. I googled infant formula recalls and up popped your website. Really felt like it was a God send. I’ve breast fed for 8 months and started my baby on similac. Wanted something cheaper, but as with anything sometimes you get why you pay for. The consistency of store brand formula is different. Wether anyone wants to address that or not!! So thankful for your website. It helped me so much today????????
This article was very helpful. I may try switching to Target brand as I use Enfamil, but as all others above…won’t hesitate to switch back. Again this was so helpful to figure out which formulas really compare most equally.
My daughter is very sensitive to milk proteins, she was breaking out in a prickly heat rash and red patches from head to toe on milk based formula (enfamil) so I switched her to Prosobee which worked perfectly. So decided to try Parents Choice Soy, found out it is produced on milk equipment. We are now back to Prosobee. I learned that reading labels and paying a bit more money can be a life saving experience.
Thank you for posting this article. I am a mother to a 4.5 month old and was EBF for about 3 months and chose to supplement due to low milk supply. To start off, I did do some research before choosing which formula would be best and we chose Enfamil Gentlease. The product itself is great and did wonders for my son’s weight gain but the only downside was the price (which is between $29.00-$31.99 in Canada). Like you, I chose to explore other affordable brands and stumbled upon Parents Choice – Gentle Formula. I thought why not, since it was similar in regards to the ingredients & benefits and of course half the price. I believe in the saying, ‘You get what you pay for’ and just because it was more cost-effective does not mean it is better. Not for my son anyways. My husband was turned off by the strong scent of the Parents Choice formula lol. For now, until I can find something in between, Enfamil Gentlease it is!
Thank you for posting this article
i wish I would of seen this before my 3 month old girl just had to go through…She has had gas problems since we had to start using formula. ( we tried and tried to breastfeed but had to switch to a formula) after trying enfamal infant noticed she had a lot of gas so switched to enfamal gentalease and everything cleared up. Acouple days ago I was shopping at target and noticed the store brand “gentalease” after reading the label and comparing the two was excited I was getting the same thing for less. A couple days later my poor child was crying/screaming in pain to go. After a hour of this she finely passed a small clay pebble with blood. I took her to the walkin children’s clinic this morning, And really don’t want to explain what she just had to go through to remove the rest but it was horrible and all due to me trying to save a few bucks… I feel so bad I can’t even explain. So to every one thinking about trying the off brand please , due some research first. I thought I had by reading the labels but apparently it’s ok to leave out information . i guess sometimes it’s true ” you get what you pay for”
Aww…I’m sorry you experienced that. It’s exactly what happened to us. Don’t beat yourself up!
Every baby is different your experience may not happen to others, my experience with my children however, my first born had no problems on Enfamil. My other two babies however spit up mad so I had to change down to generic then changed to PC for AR and have now stopped any spit up issues. They are coming up under the 50% average of weight so I’m lucky to find something that will help reduce the spit up plus cost effectively so I can afford other things for them like clothes and diapers. 🙂
I too switched to the less expensive formula (up&up) with my first child. She would spit up all the time so I switched to the up&up sensitive. It helped a little but not much. Her doctors put her on acid reflux meds and that didn’t really help either. I just lived with her spitting up and figured that’s just how it is. It has been 5 years since then and now we have a baby boy. He was on similac for many weeks since we gotten so many samples in the mail and through a friend at the Dr office. Almost 2 weeks ago I bought the up&up brand for him because it is much cheaper. He soon after started spitting up like my daughter did! I wish I would have figured this out with my first one. NOT ALL FORMULAS ARE CREATED EQUAL!!!! We have switched him back to regular similac and everything is back to normal. I will never buy store brand again!
Chiming in to agree that not all babies are the same. Our 3 month old is a fast and big eater that my supply couldn’t keep up no matter what I did. We started her off with Enfamil Gentlease but times were tough so we tried Parent’s a Choice Gentle after consulting with her pediatrician. We were given a go signal and the transition is smooth and no hiccups whatsoever.
I am a firm believer in ‘you get what you pay for’. Every time I have bought store brand before ever becoming a parent, the product was cheaper, tasteless or just plain cheap. When it came to my baby, no way was I spending less money on formula considering the formala was giving my child the nutrition she needs for life. My child has never been constipated, my child has slept through the night practically from day 1. Compare her to my friends child who has been on Parents choice since day 1, she stays constipated, stays miserable. Nothing can comfort her, she moves all over the place & cries, not wine/whimper, cries hysterically. The formula is different colors & the power is different. When it comes to your child, spend the extra money. Enfamil sends coupons, stores put it on sale all the time. This is your child’s health, put their needs first & do what you need to do to keep them healthy & happy.
I know this is an old post but All babies are different you women are total idiots. I have a 6 month old daughter that has had to have her formula switched twice and both were brand names (similac & enfamil) and she cried constantly tossing, turning & whining every night in her sleep not to mention she was always constipated. I switched over to a store brand formula and have had no problems since. To say that one brand is better than another because it’s more expensive is absolutely ludicrous.
Thanks for your article. We use Enfamil Infant and I bought some Similac because I had coupons and it didn’t mix as well and baby had solid poop where with Enfamil his poop was just like they describe the breastfed baby poop. I haven’t wanted to try anything else. My theory is that a pizza can be made of all the same ingredients (cheese, sauce, etc) and even though they are the same, some are just better! Better ingredients equals better taste.
I just switched my 10 month old to Simply Right Complete recently. I had been using name brand Similac and Enfamil regular formulas (whatever I had a coupon for) with no issues . When I switched, I did it slowly over a couple days. I noticed that my son started having more poopy diapers and would vomit after eating sometimes. I thought he was sick, so continued with Simply Right, but my gut instinct thought it may be the formula. My husband said that he’s just sick and it wasn’t the forumula. After almost 10 days of 4-5 daily poopy (sometimes watery) diapers and vomiting almost every day, I opened the plastic sleeve that surrounds the package to look at the ingredients and a VERY STRANGE SMELL came from the container. I immediately tossed it in the garbage. No formula container should smell like that! I went back to similac and no vomiting, no diarrhea since. I feel awful I didn’t switch him back sooner!!! I wonder if I should contact the company.
Thank you for this post. I breastfed my baby boy for 6 months, supplementing approximately 8 oz of Enfamil Gentlease daily. Between 6 months and 7 months my breastmilk slowly decreased, leaving me with formula as my only option. I have contemplated using store brand formula comparable to Enfamil Gentlease, but after reading your post I will continue to feed my baby Enfamil only. My almost 7 month old has had no issue whatsoever with breastmilk or formula thus far, but he has highly sensitive skin and a touch of eczema. Thus I am always cautious when I give him a new food and watch to see if his eczema flares due to a food sensitivity. Thank you for sharing your personal research with brand name v. store brand formula. I too will not put the healthy and happiness of my baby in jeopardy to simply save a few dollars. Their first year goes by too fast and formula feeding will be over in the blink of an eye. It is absolutely worth it to spend a little more to have the peace of mind that your baby is getting the nutrition they need and deserve without adding in any discomfort. Again, thank you, your post was and is very helpful!
I just bought the Parents choice 0-12 months GENTLE formula and when I opened it there was a weevil in it. The expiration date is March 3 2018… always check before you scoop!!!
thank you for posting this. On Sunday we switched from Enfamil Gentle a Ease to Target’s Up and Up. Suddenly my baby is screaming daily and constipated. As I’m rocking him right now I went on Google and found your post. Right away I knew that was it! I just sent my husband out to get the Enfamil formula so we can have our happy baby back.
Thank you for this! I couldn’t breastfeed as well. Had an extremely slow let down and my baby has mouth ties, so even exclusive pumping didn’t work because it took me an hour to let down! Of course, we switched to formula.
Just wanted to say I agree hardcore with this post. Parents’ Choice works for some, but not all. And it frustrates me when I see people posting with their experiences trying to sway a writer who said her experience wasn’t universal. Your responses to those people have been so kind.
I tried 4 different types of Parents Choice and my baby had horrible reactions, from constipation to formula POURING out of her mouth. We tried the blue container, Sensitivity, Gentle, and Infant. My daughter responded well to the namebrand versions of all of the above, but not PC. It was so disappointing because I am low income and can barely afford formula as it is. I use Target brand now with good results, but it’s so disappointing not to be able to breastfeed and to have to watch your baby in pain because of formula. I’ve cried so much and I feel awful for my baby.
Just wanted to reiterate that all babies are different. Mine actively hated nursing, so that’s the point. They’re individuals! Thank you so much for the info in this post. I’ve been wondering why my daughter had such bad reactions. Now I know :/
Jenn you are a complete uninformed idiot
I understand that you’re able to speak your mind, and we all have opinions, but this was totally uncalled for and really harsh. :/
My 2 year old was on Enfamil Gentle ease and we were able to switch to PC Gentle just fine. But, I do understand where she is coming from, with things being mislabeled. As a parent, we don’t want to see our kids suffering, so yes, she has a reason to be upset, but what didn’t work for her, worked well for others, like myself. If you don’t have anything nice to say, we’ll keep it to yourself cause in the long run, this comment just made you look like the idiot. Sorry, not sorry.
I have switched formula’s with no problem and my baby had digestive issues since birth. I did my research too and found out the store brands are made in US and are very close to the same.
I read your article and it did catch my attention. From the expression of your article and some of your comments to some people who have taken the time to write to you, seems like your experience was horrible with what you purchased. I personally buy similar advance. I feel very comfortable using a product that I know and seen being used at hospitals for newborns. Unfortunately as parents sometimes generic seems like an option since the dollar bill can only stretch so far. when you try to research on formula all you can really do is read what each one has to offer and customers reviews. Try them and hope for the better.
I think formula feeding parents need to make sure to just keep switching formulas until they find their baby’s “formula soulmate”. Both of my girls had no problems on store brand formula, but I had to switch both of them a few times to find the right one. My oldest had some big gas issues and we went through a handful of formulas, both name brand and store brand, until finding one that worked. My youngest has dairy issues so I immediately assumed I’d have to do a name brand because the whey protein is broken down further to make it a more sensitive formula (the same reason your little one needed that specific formula). We ended up trying most name brands without luck before circling around to a store brand sensitive formula and I found our “perfect fit”. Because of my daughter’s sensitivity, I automatically thought I’d have to buy name brand, but (luckily for my budget) she only tolerates a cheap brand. Formula is one of those things where brand loyalty is something that you have to throw out the window. You may love that little blue container and all the goodies they give you at your OBGYN visits, but your little one is the one who will tell you what works and what doesn’t, regardless of the name on the bottle.
My son is 11 weeks old and we ended up putting him on Parents Choice Advantage because Similac and Enfamil both made him terribly gassy. Even the Parents Choice Sensitive appeared to make him uncomfortable. I am not sure exactly why he does better on it, but his pediatrician said it was safe and he tolerates it well… That’s what matters to me. I do notice that the powder definitely mixes better than Similac and Enfamil.
Anyway, I appreciate all of this because it does just come down to every baby being different… makes me feel better knowing we are saving money AND my baby boy is safe. 🙂