How long does baby formula keep for, should we start buying it now?
Proud Dad AKA Seth asked:
Should you stock up on baby formula before the birth or wait til after?
Should you stock up on baby formula before the birth or wait til after?
This is a serious question so breastfeeding nazi’s please refrain from lecturing, thankyou.
Hey Mrs Heather Schabby welcome back 
Hey twinsplus1YIAC thanks for your advice- but don’t pick fights with my contacts!
Related posts:
You should wait because you might have to go through a couple different ones before finding one that works for them. My oldest was just great on regular formula but my youngest needed soy.
Both my kids were formula fed – after 9 months of torture, I wasn’t ready for more…I wanted my body back. Both of my kids are smart and healthy as can be.
you can figure most name brand formulas are around 25.00 a can. with my son we went through about a can 1/2 a week. so what i would do is get a gift card to where ever you plan on buying your formula. just put the money onto the gift card. one you dont know what your baby will tolerate…sometime you have to try two or three formulas before you find the one that works best for your baby. and two you dont want to take the chance of it going bad i am not sure what the date range is but just think the baby will be on it for a year so no matter how much you put on the card it will get used.
we did the same thing for diapers…just a suggestion.
No, you shouldn’t. You don’t know what kind of formula your baby will be able to take without tummy pains/constipation, etc. You might get lucky your first pick……..BUT you might not, then you have 4-5 cans of formula you can’t use and can’t return. Pick up one can of store brand to use at first (yes, store, it’s exactly the same thing, same regulations and a lot cheaper), if it doesn’t work, switch one can at a time. Once you found your perfect formula, then stock up.
i wouldn’t recommend you to stock up on formula because you never know if your baby is gonna have tummy problems or witch formula is he gonna be best with …. on the other hand if you do make sure u save the receives cus its a pain in the butt to find somewhere where they will exchange it with a receive
I definitely suggest waiting. Many babies are sensitive to certain formulas. I breastfeed but I had to supplement for the first week because he lost way too much weight and the formula the hospital gave him made him sick so I had to go to a sensitive kind. Instead of stocking up I suggest putting away money for it instead or buying yourself a gift card if you’re afraid you might spend the money. Good luck!
i would only buy a can or two bc your baby may need to switch due to it settling on their tummy ok or not….we started out with enf lipil; she had horrible reflux so we had to switch to enf AR for a long time and then back to the lipil…
I hear you on the lecturing about bf that gets tired. Anyway I say wait until after. Usually the hospital tries a few formulas. You might end up buying something your baby cant or refuses to drink. I mean you can set aside money for formula though it is expensive.
I would save the money and buy it after. In my case I bought it after and slowly and it was the best thing because the iron based formula make him sick and had to change to lactose free. I would buy diapers, wipes, lotion, soap and other things that you will need now and the formula little buy little when your baby is born.
wait until after. you need yto make sure that what you buy agrees with your baby first, my daughter used SMA but SMA made my nephew violently sick he had to use Cow and Gate. All babies tuyms are different.
wait. for sure. at 2 weeks old my daughter got switched to a pharmaceutical grade formula.. everything we bought was an expensive waste.
there is an expiration on the bottom of the cans. I would by some but not an abundance. My son iscolicky, so he’s on nutramigen for 5 months (that’s when colic generally goes away by).then we can use regular good start.
Nah, I wouldn’t bother stocking up now because there is no point to it.
One thing you should do, though, is have your OB get a form from enfamil and have them ship you some free formula. I think I got 2 free cases because I had twins, but I can’t remember. It might have been 1 free case. Either way, free formula!
I didn’t get it until after they were born because I had planned on breastfeeding. Not sure if the babies actually HAVE to be born.
I wouldn’t buy it ahead of time, though. I’d want it to be as fresh as possible, ya know? Plus you don’t know. You might need to have a special allergenic formula, a reflux formula, a gentle formula, I hope not but you might need a special premie formula- I hope not, but in your case it is more of a possibility.
It would suck to go out and buy formula you can’t use.
I would wait until after they are born. Some children do not take well to certain formulas. It may be trial and error to find the one that the twins will take. It would be a pain in the butt to stock up on a certain formula and have to return it.
It’s powdered, artificial, food in a can. It keeps for a long time.
Of course there is an expiration date. It’s not real. It’s to make people throw away formula and have to BUY more! And when there’s people willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money to avoid putting a baby on their boob ……. sounds like a good marketing scheme to me!
Start buying it now…But keep the reciepts incase baby doesnt take to well to the formula, then you have to buy a different kind, I found the best and cheapest formula was Walmart brand…Its Parents Choice 13.00 in Canada….Before My son was on that he was on Good Start and that was 23 bucks.
Definitely wait. Some babies can only take certain types of formula. You’d hate to buy a ton of a certain brand to find your child is allergic. Open a new bank account and set aside whatever extra you can each week. It can be your “baby necessities” fund — diapers, formula, etc.
Good luck, and congratulations!
Formula does have an expiration date on it and your babies might like a certain kind of formula over another… or need a certain kind (high calorie, soy, etc) I went out and bought a ton of diapers before Lydia was born and it ended up those diapers made her bottom break out and I had to just give them away to friends…. If I were to go back and do it again I would just put away the money each week and then after they are born you can see what works best and still have the money saved away
You could start now, just make sure to look at the expiration dates on the cans/bottles. This should tell you how long they will last and when you should use them.
I’m going to breastfeed if I can, but I am so not here to lecture you!! It’s your choice, no baby has had dire consequences from being formula fed. All the best!!
You can start now, you are gonna need a ton. The only issue is that not all babies can use all kinds of formula. Instead of actually purchasing the formula, you should just put a little bit of money away each week for it and then buy it when you know what they will need. The hospital will give you tons also.
Buy diapers and wipes now, various sizes…
Oh and before I forget…. FORMULA FEEDING RULES!!!
Wait til after. You don’t want to buy a bunch of formula and then have your baby need soy or something that is lactose free, etc. What I would do would be perhaps to set formula money aside and then you can buy it as needed. Same with diapers (at least in my opinion). My son could only use a certain brand of diaper so I had to give several boxes away.