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Something I wondered about - re cost of formula.  

post #1 of 23
8/25/08 at 6:51am
Thread Starter 
So I am in the UK, where they are not allowed to advertise formula for babies under 6 months, formula coupons are not allowed, hospitals do not give out bags, no freebies in the mail.

A regular can of formula here costs about £7. (I think that is about $12)

How does that compare to the cost of formula in the US? Curious to find out if it is pricier due to the costs of alllll the marketing the formula companies do.
post #2 of 23
8/25/08 at 9:09am
formula-name brand- is more expensive than that here-
you can get generic for that price. advertising increases price definantly!
i bet the UK has better BF rates than the us too
post #3 of 23
8/25/08 at 9:37am
2 years ago it was about 13-14 dollars per can (can't remember the net weight). It's been a long time since I purchased formula, though.
post #4 of 23
8/25/08 at 9:41am
I buy the generic (for my foster child) at BJs for 20 dollars for 50 oz (that'a double the size of a regular can). A regular 25 oz can at CVS or the grocery store is more than double that- 25 oz for about $27.
post #5 of 23
8/25/08 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, that was for the brand name formula. I will have to check the price of the store brands as well.
post #6 of 23
8/25/08 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by liz-hippymom View Post
i bet the UK has better BF rates than the us too
Do they, Claire?
post #7 of 23
8/25/08 at 10:12am
Generic formula is less than that, name brand, about the same. Then there are specialty and hypoallergenic formulas that cost more. A can of nutramigen costs about $27 I think.

ETA: I just read a few of the replies. Do formula prices vary by region? Because I'm pretty sure where I am, generic is about $9-10 and name-brand is $12-13.
post #8 of 23
8/25/08 at 1:15pm
For a small can of the WIC provided (Similac I believe) it is around $10 a can. For the larger cans it's closer to $20. For the SUPER big cans it's like $30 I think. Organics run closer to $30. (this is simply a guess because I occasionally look and say to DH "My boobs saved us $35 this week."

My friend bought name brand at Walmart and she said it cost between $30 and $40 a week to feed her DD birth to age 1.

My nephew had severe reflux and it cost like $75 a week I think? It was just over $200 a month!
post #9 of 23
8/25/08 at 1:15pm
It all depends on brand, where you buy it, organic, specialty etc. The formula my dd drinks is about $37/can and it only makes 65ozs of formula.
post #10 of 23
8/25/08 at 1:17pm
Totally OT.

Jennifer!! It's Nae from the other places. I'm so happy to se you're PG! Congrats!!!
post #11 of 23
8/25/08 at 1:47pm
Thread Starter 
OK, I went on Tesco.com and checked all the prices

SMA Progress (follow on milk) 900g (30oz) is £7.21 - that's $13.4
Cow & Gate infant formula 900g (30oz) £6.98 - that's $12.97
SMA Gold (infant formula) 450g (15oz) - £4.15 - that's $7.71
Soy - SMA Wysoy Soy Protein Baby Formula 860g (29oz) ££8.95 - that's $16.64

Ready to feed - SMA Gold 4x500ml £3.75 - that's $6.97

Could not find organic formula, or generic anywhere.

As for breastfeeding rates - they're not good. According to UNICEF, 35% were breastfed at one week, 21% at six weeks, 7% at four months and 3% at six months.
IMO it's all about the support. The Government is supposedly about increasing breastfeeding rates, and some of their initiatives are good, but the actual support once you get home is lacking, while we get 9 months paid leave now there is no requirements for employers to provide pumping breaks or rooms to pump. There's a long, long way to go.
post #12 of 23
8/25/08 at 4:50pm
Wow, those are really low rates of BF. That is lower than here in Canada.
post #13 of 23
8/25/08 at 8:45pm
From my experience with friends in the UK they just don't have the info or support. Their BF rates are dismally low and the medical professionals are not only unhelpful and uneducated in the area but seem to encourage FF.

A friend of mine told me the following at her 6 month check up with her GP:

Quote:
Saw my Dr the other day and she was like "get that baby weaned asap" I didn't like that idea but I'm concerned DD isn't getting enough milk.
How sad is all that? She actually did wean a couple of months later. I think she made it to 8 months. I did all I could to encourage her to keep going (since it was going so very well and there was no reason to wean). In the end, social pressures made her uncomfortable knowing how few mamas nurse that long.

I RARELY saw anyone NIP even when it was just a wee newborn

LP
post #14 of 23
8/25/08 at 10:18pm
Yep, cheaper than the states. A can of name brand is typically in the 14 ounce range (small can) and is 11-12ish $.
post #15 of 23
8/26/08 at 8:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Claire and Boys View Post
OK, I went on Tesco.com and checked all the prices

SMA Progress (follow on milk) 900g (30oz) is £7.21 - that's $13.4
Cow & Gate infant formula 900g (30oz) £6.98 - that's $12.97
SMA Gold (infant formula) 450g (15oz) - £4.15 - that's $7.71
Soy - SMA Wysoy Soy Protein Baby Formula 860g (29oz) ££8.95 - that's $16.64

Ready to feed - SMA Gold 4x500ml £3.75 - that's $6.97

Could not find organic formula, or generic anywhere. I guess it's not sold here.

As for breastfeeding rates - they're not good. According to UNICEF, 35% were breastfed at one week, 21% at six weeks, 7% at four months and 3% at six months.
IMO it's all about the support. The Government is supposedly about increasing breastfeeding rates, and some of their initiatives are good, but the actual support once you get home is lacking, while we get 9 months paid leave now there is no requirements for employers to provide pumping breaks or rooms to pump. There's a long, long way to go.
Wow, those rates are really low! I wonder what it is, that we are doing differently here in Denmark. The initiation rate is 98%. The exclusive bf rate at 4 months is 59%. We have the same WHO code standard as you do (i.e. no advertising), we have one year paid leave, but it can be split between the mother and the father, so usually the father takes a month or two at the end of the year. We do have great follow up homecare pp. and the healthcare people (midwives, homecare nurses and family doctors) are all very supportive of breastfeeding, to the point where some people are accusing them of bashing formulafeeding mothers.
post #16 of 23
8/26/08 at 9:47am
there is organic formula




Hipp Organic First Infant Milk

£7.49 for 900g
post #17 of 23
8/26/08 at 10:02am
American over in the UK here and Yeah as Claire said the rates are abysmal. I go weekly to a breastfeeding support group and for the past 5 weeks it has been myself and one other mother, usually a different one each time, and once it was just myself! Granted it is the summer school break here and groups tend to break up during the 6 week time span and then reconvene in Sept, but our group is advertised as always going held on Wednesdays.

Last week I got grilled by the Health Visitor about why my 7 1/2 month old isn't eating solids "because at 6 month they can have 'real' food". She couldn't wrap her mind around why we'd want to wait until he could feed himself hsi own food. I think that with the onslaught of advertisements of the 6 month follow-on formulas, people tend to think that 6 months is a magical number that solids *must* begin and 3 squares with snacks start right away. No gradual transitioning.

Also, it looks like comparing cans of formula and weights that formula is cheaper here, but actually it isn't as (what I can rememeber years ago) in the States, powdered formula is mixed with a ratio of 1 level scoop to 2 US fluid oz. Here it is 1 level scoop (which looks to be about the same as what US scoops are) to 1 UK fluid oz. So basically here it is 2x of what it is in the US. Not that it makes it any better--blech. Formula companies are rolling in the dough from the sales, plus there is a big baby boom right now, so the adverts are coming fast and furious right now.

Oh, I so want to rant about formula companies right now, but that isn't what this thread is about. Basically formula here is twice what is in the US for ounces made.
post #18 of 23
8/26/08 at 11:15am
Okay, I checked drugstore.com

S imi lac (spaced for the googlebot) Advance- 26.99 for 25.7oz yields approx 189oz of formula

Nutramigen- $27.99 for 16oz yields 113 fl oz

Nestle 25.7oz $27.49 yields 186 fl oz
post #19 of 23
8/26/08 at 11:30am
I know that breastfeeding rates here are pretty bad but it's actually fairly good where I live. I suppose that's true of most big cities though -- pockets of the 'nicer' areas of a city are going to have higher breastfeeding rates because of the higher education rates and socioeconomic status of the mothers.

When I started going to a baby group when DD was 3 months, 80-90% of the mothers attending breastfed. That dropped to about 30% once the babies turned 6 months and continued to decline until I was one of only two women still nursing at the child's first birthday. The other woman weaned soon after that.
post #20 of 23
8/26/08 at 1:56pm
I worked with some community MW's in Edinburgh in 1999 (while in nursing school). At that time, the US had better BF'ing rates than the UK. I think i remember the BF'ing info packet saying it was optimal to BF exclusively for the first 3 months.

It seems like the rates would be better since the MW's did follow up visits after birth.

Maybe it's better now?
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Mothering › Forums › Breastfeeding › Lactivism › Something I wondered about - re cost of formula.