Food For Thought

Well, Rhonda has stopped breastfeeding. After she went back to work with only having 3 weeks off, it just seemed to get harder and harder to keep up with both breastfeeding and pumping. We talked about the pros and cons and ultimately, I left the final decision up to her. She loved the experience and kept up with it for well over a month but in the end, she decided to slowly wean both herself and Brielle off of it. Yes, she could have continued to pump, but she decided she didn't want that to be her life and would rather enjoy the precious time she has with Brielle, since she rarely has it due to working all day. I don't blame her one bit. They're only little for a while and clearly Brielle is not lacking with being on a formula diet. This morning she weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 3 oz!!!! Something is going right for her!! Haha

From the start, Brielle was being supplemented while in the hospital and they use pre-made Similac. We continued with the supplementation when needed at home and switched her to the pre-made Nestle Good Start. Once Rhonda began weaning her from breast feeding, we then switched to the powder Nestle Good Start and have been with it since. We like it, Brielle likes it, it settles well in her little tummy but as she gets bigger and is eating healthier portions, we've decided to check out the cost comparison to other brands. And after a visit to Costco, we've become very excited about their Kirkland brand of formula. Thus, the research has been happening. We've read some pretty great reviews with the only real complaint (if that's what you call it) being that it can be a bit frothier than others when mixing.

After some further research today, Rhonda came across a blog that had a pretty great little comparison chart between 4 popular brands; one being the Kirkland brand that Costco sells. Her research thrills me and thus I'd like to share with everyone, what Canadian Coupon Momma has to say. (<-----click the blog name to visit her page)

*All prices used in this Blog come from the Walmart.ca website with the exception of the Kirkland brand which comes from Costco current as of today, at my local store*

Let me start of by saying that all formulas in Canada and the States have to meet minimum guidelines for nutrition and content. Canada has one of the highest standards and quality control on formula in the world. If you can buy it at a store, there is no reason why you should not feel safe feeding it to your child. Assuming you're not having to feed specialty blends like Soy or a Sensitive mix, all formulas are more or less the same.

There are three big names in infant formula. Enfamil, Similac and Nestle Good Start. All are costly, all have many different variations - but for this blog, I'm going to compare like ones to each other.

Enfamil A+Enfamil recently changed their packaging, and consumer dollar wise, to the worse. They offer a tub that you initially buy and then buy refill bags for these tubs (a 2 pk). They state it is better for the environment (less waste - and probably cheaper for them as well) but it leaves the consumer paying a lot because a lot seems to be offered... The initial cost of a tub is $24.93. You get 663g of formula for that price. The refill packs are sold in a box of 2 and are 496g each (992g total) for the price of $39.97.

The break down goes as follows:
Initial purchase $24.93 / 663g = $0.03876 / g
Refills $39.97 / 992g = $0.04029 / g

Similac Advanced Omega 3 & 6Similac offers the above in 728g cans for the price of $24.96 each.

The break down goes as follows:
1 can @ $24.96 / 728g = $0.03428 /g

Nestle Good StartNestle offers cans that are 640 g for the price of $28.97 each.

The break down goes as follows:
1 can @ $28.97 / 640g = $0.04526

Kirkland OmegaThis formula is sold in huge 1.46kg (1460 g) cans that sell for $21.99 regular price. Every few months they go on sale for $18.99 a can. Compositionally, Kirkland Omega is identical to Similac Advance. There is no difference.

Here is the breakdown:
1 1460 g can @ $21.99 = 0.01506 /g
1 1460 g can @ $18.99 = 0.01300 /g

My son, who will be 6 months old in less than a week, goes through 4.5 cans a month.

1460 x 4.5 = 6570 grams

Here is a price comparison of all the brands and what it'd cost me.

Enfamil (single tub - the cheaper option) - 6570 x $0.03876 = $254.65
Similac - 6570 x $0.03428 = $225.22
Nestle Good Start - 6570 x $0.04526 = $297.36
Kirkland Omega, regular price - 6570 x $0.01506 = $98.94

This was the last website/blog/resource that we read before finally deciding to take the plunge and give the Kirkland brand a try. We are using Nestle Good Start right now, so just compare that price to the Kirkland just below it. Wow!! If Brielle is not good with it, we will most definitely, 100%, do the right thing and switch her back. But, it's worth a try, in our opinion.

If anyone has any input and has tried the Kirkland brand, I'd love to hear some feedback so please leave a comment. Thanks! And be sure to visit the Canadian Coupon Momma link to read her full article.