Generic Vs. Name Brand Formulas

G.,
We used the Parent's Choice brand from Wal-Mart. My daughter did better on the soy based one. We made too much money to get on WIC or anything like that. She had no problems and we even used the older infant formula for her until she was almost 2. Now she drinks mostly soy, or sometimes 2%. She did not have any problems at all and is happy and healthy!! HTH!

I switched my daughter from enfimil lipil to parents choice. (wal-mart) if you will compare the lables they are the exact same. For a big can of parents choice it was only $11.00. My daughter had no problems with the switch. Good luck!

I love Nestle Good Start Formula I know that the price is high for formula... but I believe that Nestle is one of the best formulas made. You can find the number for nestle on the can of formula call them and request coupons they will send them out to you with in 2 weeks.

G.,
I use Nestle GoodStart myself-with all three of my kids. I never used generic but I will say that I got a deal at Babies R' Us. I would buy it by the case-6 cans. It basically turned out to be the price that I would have paid for 5 cans at the grocery store. Buy 5 get one Free was the way that I looked at it each month. Just thought I would share in case you decide not to use generic.

A little about me:
Married to my best friend for 11 years. We are blessed with three kids-6,4,2. I am also used by God in the workplace each day as a teacher of young children.

I tried to switch my baby boy from Enfamils Gentlease to the Target generic brand that says it is comparable. He got very constipated and fussy. I stopped using it right away. I know that every baby is different so you might want to give it a try. I have friends that have babies that did just fine on them.

Hi. I just wanted to offer up what worked for us. I checked out several internet sites that compare the ingredients in both formulas and they are pretty much the same. We used Target brand and it was great! No problems but I had a very easy going kid. We had some wierd formula stuff going on and we eventually ended up on soy but it went well for us and our pediatrician was all for it. Hope this helps.

Heard a nutritionist on t v recently who was talking about allergies in nursing infants/ small children: his advise was for the Moms to give them goats milk. Apparently it is the closest thing to Mothers milk and will help in alleviating allergies or the onset of allergies - Look up Ted Broer: suppose to have a degree from a FL college/university.

Have your tired Parent's Choice?

hi, i went through the same thing. i decided to try to save some money and read the labels of the wal-mart and target brand formulas. they are just about identical. the difference is in how they are processed. they can be harder on her stomach to digest. what i ended up doing was buying both and i started mixing them. i started with i part generic, 3 parts nestle and then watched for a few days. when he didn't seem to get bound up i increased it ti 1 part generic to 2 parts nestle and we have stuck with that for about 4 months. his tummy is fine and my wallet is feeling better too. just watch for constipation or on the other side, diarrhea. good luck. -S.

Hey G.,You always want to check with your Peds Doctor first..but if you put those 2 cans side by side the ingredients will be identical in most cases, and as you said much much cheaper..Having run a crisis pregnancy center for many years, we used the generic brands to save money to buy more formula...Hope that helps..M. J

Just wondering if you have tried to get on the WIC program with the state. They will pay for all of your formula if you qualify. Go to: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/wichd/default.shtm

i used bright beginnings and bought it in bulk. I was very pleased with it. The price is excellent. www.brightbeginnings.com
As far as transitioning, i would do 3/4 old formula 1/4 new, then 1/2 and 1/2, then 3/4 new, 1/4 old; all over a couple of weeks. I hope this helps.

All formula is FDA regulated my doctor told me, so there is no reason to use the expensive stuff. My second son has been on the Walmart brand since he was 3 months(he is now 8 months) and he is a very healthy baby. It only costs $11, so you will save a ton. Also, no need to transition. Just start her on the new formula(same type though)when you finish your old can. She is so young that she probably won't even notice the difference. However , if she seems gassy, give her Mylicon or the generic form which I use and is much cheaper. You can put it in every bottle and it works!!

We used the large cans of Walmart brand Parent's Choice for my son with no problem. We started with enfamil and he switched with no problem. If you look at the labels the ingredients are almost identical to the name brand. If the ingredients are the same than I wouldn't expect that you would have any problem switching.

My husband and I used parents choice formula (our doctor recommended it to us) and we didnt seem to have a problem with it. Transitioning can be a little difficult. You might have a little constipation or just some hard stools but after about 2 or 3 days it should be fine. I would recommend you talk to your baby's doctor and ask what they suggest. There are suttle differences in certain formulas. We tried Similac and that just made my baby sick. Then we started using Enfamil and our doc said to try parents choice because it is basically the same formula for half the price. Good Luck!

I breast fed my 2 kiddos for 12 months and supplemented with the Kroger brand generic. It was fine and, like many other women have mentioned, actually recomended by our doctor. I wouldn't stress about the use of generic formula. It has the same ingrediants as the name brands.

Hi G.,

I will concur with the majority of moms that your daughter should do just fine on a "generic" formula. As one of the other mothers already said, formula is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and is required (regardless of the manufacturer) to contain certain levels of nutritional ingredients. By using a generic, you are not giving your baby subpar foods, you are giving her an equally nutritional food but not making the CEO of Similac and Enfamil a whole lot richer! LOL

Anyway, my twin boys' doctor was all for it, she encouraged us to save money by using this equally healthy alternative (I'm sure her Enfamil representative would have had a fit). We used the Parent's Choice because Walmart is much closer to us than Target plus it is about a dollar or so cheaper than the Target generic. Interestingly enough, I am 99.9% positive that the WM and Target brands are the same exact thing because if you look on the backs of the cans where they are manufactured, it is identical.

The good thing for us was that the PC brand caused one of my twins to spit up so much less than he did with Enfamil. We loved it, I highly recommend it.

We used the Enfamil, and when we tried the generic (Target brand and Wal Mart brand both), there was a texture difference. My son would not take either generic. Not sure about Nestle, but just thought I'd share our experience. It was worth a shot in case he didn't notice (big $$ difference), but he did, so oh well...

Good luck with your baby - maybe it will work for you!

Before switching, I compared the nutritional info of both the generic and Enfamil. They were almost identical so I was very reassured in switching!

As far as making the transition, I just mixed bottles about 1/2 and 1/2 for a few days and we didn't have any problems.

Good luck.

My son, like some others mentioned in previous posts, had constipation with the Target brand. I have heard good things about the Parent's Choice (Wal-Mart) brand. Good luck to you!

Hi Iam a mom of six kids so I know a little bit about formula. The Walmart brand is alittle cheaper and as just as good. I think its called parents choice or something like that . My youngest is three so it been awhile but he had colic so I know how high some of those formulas are. Did you know that the genric brands on alot of items are made by these big companies they just put a different label on them. Good luck M.

we too went from the enfamil to parents choice with no problems. i think by law they are all required to meet minimum requirements so they are all pretty much the same.

G.,
My son is on WIC and uses Similac Sensitive formula since he was six months old and is doing really well on it! I nursed him until he was six months and supplemented formula and he spit up constantly! I was using the generic wal mart brand but trying different kinds and it wasn't working. I ran out of formula the other day and had to buy a can of formula, well, I ended up buying a can of the wal mart brand of the gentle parent's choice and he is doing just fine on that!
Have you tried applying for WIC? they provide a good amount of cans of formula and juice and cereal for your baby! It has been the biggest blessing for us since formula is soo expensive!! I also don't really know much about how to transition them between formulas, but I did hear that the generic is just the same as the expensive formula as far as what they contain, and how good they are for the baby, the only thing that is different is the price. Well, I hope that helps!!

Not sure about how to specifically switch from formula to formula, my son went from enfamil to soy, than back to the regular milk based proteins without much trouble. He had very little upset with switching, so I tried the generic walmart brand because they offer an organic option, and he really liked it. I think it's called parents choice and it was $15 for the organic. I also know that Sam's club carries the much larger can (about 2 1/2 cans worth) for approx. $19. Anyway, we didn't have much problem with "switch-over's", but I know every baby is different. Good luck!!

Generic is the same as name brands says our dr. There are generics that mimic both similac and Infamil and they are often even made by the same people but with a different label (read the info closely and you will see they are distributed by the same co). That said, I have not been able to find a generic for Nestle's Good Start. Though it is possible that it is made, I haven't been able to find one! If you do, please inform me as this is what I truely believe with my research to be the best formula on the market and closest to my breast milk (I nursed) but can't afford the price so I use Parent's Choice generic for Similac!

Thanks!

I was using Similac - Sensitive and tried to use the Target brand. My daughter had crazy constipation and tons of "hurt" crying. It was awful...I switched back to my $27 a can Similac. My daughter is 7 weeks now and I might try to switch again when she gets older and her system becomes a little more mature. Again every baby is different, but I would never put my daughter through that again, at least not anytime soon. Good Luck!

My daughter is 2 1/2 months old. She is breast fed and I occasionally supplement formula too. In the hospital she was given Similac soy to avoid dehydration (due to jaundice) while she was under the uv lights. I have nothing against soy but the smell grossed me out. Soy made her smell. She is sensitive so I did some comparing. I switched her from Similac to Nestle's Good Start and she did great. However I began to compare ingredients with Wal-Mart brand Parents Choice Gentle Formula With Nestle and Enafamil and the ingredients we almost identical. I Tried them both and she transitioned great on both Nestle's Good Start and Parent's Choice Gentle. To make the transition go smooth I made a 4 oz. bottle with 1 scoop (I use the powder) of the current formula and 1 scoop of the new formula. At the next feeding, make a bottle with 4 oz. water and 1 scoop of the new formula. Then the next feeding make a bottle with 4 oz. and 2 scoops of the new formula. This will keep from shocking your baby's tummy from one to the other. Good luck and many blessings!

I started my daughter out on Enfamil because the dr. gave me samples. After buying a can or 2, I realized that the Members Mark formula at Sam's Club has all the same nutritional components. When we actually switched her over, we mixed the two types about 50/50, and then 75/25...we had no problems with her and she is growing like a weed. The only things that I have noticed with the generic formula is that it is more yellow and a different texture in the can, but it mixes well. If you don't have a sam's membership (or costco) it will probably be well worth it in the long run. The formula is about 45% the cost of Enfamil. Hope this helps!

We used generic brand (Parent's Choice I think) for our twins. They didn't have any issues with it!