"Which brand of formula should I use?"

Lets imagine you're in a situation where you need, or want, to give your baby some formula.

You stand in the supermarket and are met with a sea of options. Red or blue? comfort? Soy? Organic?

And the prices! Do they reflect the quality of the milk?

Maybe you remember that the red brand sent you a soft toy in the post, so that memory sways you towards them just because they're the most familiar option in your exhausted and overwhelmed state.

Maybe someone told you the blue one is closest to breastmilk - and it's more expensive, so perhaps that's the best option to grab?

Stop. Breathe. lets run through some quick facts to help you.

In the UK, if an ingredient has been proven to be beneficial for babies, it MUST be in all standard formulas.

All of the other stuff that is unique to different brands is NOT proven to be necessary or especially beneficial in general.

So we can immediately dismiss the brand that's telling you they have a different type of omega whatever in it. Because if that was genuinely important, they'd all have it in.

Comfort milks don't do a whole lot either. Most issues we see with wriggly, grunty babies is either normal "WTF is this digestive system thing?" behaviour, or it might be due to overfeeding, a touch of reflux or any other list of common baby things that don't need you to spend extra money on milk to solve.

Soy milk is not recommended - and it isn't vegan. It will have fish oils in it. If your baby seems to have a dairy allergy, they may well have a soy allergy too. Your best bet here is to get a prescription milk from your GP.

Stage two milk is just clever marketing, because they are not allowed to advertise milk aimed at babies younger than 6 months. So they make and sell stage 2 which is slightly higher in some nutritional elements... things that babies will be eating in their solid food at 6 months anyway.

So, that leaves you with a slightly smaller sea of stage one milks...

My general recommendation?

Choose the cheapest one that you will be able to get your hands on at your nearest shop in an emergency.

Because when we strip away the marketing - we are left with cost and availability.

First Steps Nutrition Trust is a great resource for all things baby milk. I really recommend checking them out.