Enfamil or Similac

Enfamil is a milk based formula that some babies have trouble digesting, and they start spitting up and having stomach troubles. The similac is soy based and is easier digesting than milk based. There shouldn't be any problem with giving him the Prosobee formula. I know people who used Prosobee and their babies were just fine. Off brands are just as good as name brand when you do a comparison of them.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 11,8, and almost 5.

I was told by my doctor that Similac was far superior and that studies have shown that kids that had Similac had stronger bones. Also, you can't just go by the side of the can. Some types of nutrients in different formulations are more bioavailable than others. Meaning that some are absorbed by the body better than others. The dr said that the off brands often have less nutritious fillers than the name brand. Good luck!

Honestly, it's going to depend on what baby can tolerate. It's great to have plans, but once baby comes, more often than not, those plans go right out the window. Get a can of each and see how baby does.

It is sad that you have to tell why your are not breastfeedigng and still people comment. It is your business and it is ok not to.

Anyway off my high horse, we asked our pediatrician and she said that they are the same and she reccomended using whichever one the hospital gave us.

If you are interested in breastfeeding . . . go for it. Yes, your prior surgery MAY have affected your ability, but it may not have. I have two children and my nursing experience has been vastly different for each one. If you really want to give nursing another try, talk to a lactation consultant before you deliver to prepare yourself for all the options!

As far as formula goes . . . I supplemented with my kids and bounced around between all the brands with no noticable difference. Some babies respond better to one formula or the other, but my boys didn't have any issues with Similac, Enfamil, Nestle or Target brand!

Good luck!

I used both. I never had any real problems with either of them. They do have a different consistency though, and I'm not sure why! I would go to the store and look at the back of the cans. All the formulas list their ingredients and the vitamin content on the back. Store brand formulas are actually pretty much the same as the name brand. I started off using Enfamil, then switched to Similac (I think I was sent some sample cans in the mail), then switched to Target brand, then back to Enfamil (WIC provided) and I never really noticed a difference. When in doubt, ask your doctor :D

I have fed my child both formulas and breastmilk, so I can speak from actual experience. Our child had expressed breastmilk for 4 months, supplemented with one bottle formula daily until we switched over completely. We started with Similac because that's what we got from the hospital. I switched over to Enfamil because I got better coupons AND our first pediatrician recommended it (ironically, the second pediatrician recommended Similac). As someone who has fed her baby both formula and breastmilk, I can say that I don't feel guilty whatsoever for how I've chosen to feed my child (so neither should you!) - he's growing and developing normally. We've been with two pediatricians and one said Enfamil and the other said Similac.

After comparing the two, I liked Enfamil better because it mixed much more easily. However, if I had no other choice on earth than Similac then I would have fed my baby that and I am sure he would have been just fine :)

Hi T.,
With all three of our children (6,4 and 2 months) we have used Enfamil. We actually started all three of them out with Similac, but none of them took it very well (a lot of spit ups and upset tummies). It doesn't seem to mix as well as Enfamil either. I tried breastfeeding with all three, but I could not keep up with the feeding demand of the babies (we tend to have larger babies), so formula was a must! We have had great success with Enfamil and would recommend it to anyone!
Hope this helps!

Hi there,
If you are wanting to watch the cost of formula you can use Costco brand. It is the same as Similac. My sister who is a pediatrician recommended it to me. I know that I didnt answer your question but I have used them all. When you have a family member who can get you free formula you take it. I have used them all and they all came from pediatrician's offices. My kids had no problems on all the different formulas that we used. I went for what was the cheapest. Hope that helps you out a little.

I supplement (one bottle a day) with Similac Advance. I too am name brand partial to it. Plus I think Enfamil is slightly more expensive & it was effected by the melamine scare in other countries (Similac was not). I'm comfortable with Similac so I use it.

When my son was born 28OCT07 the hospital gave us Similac, about a couple weeks later we started using Similac Soy --- yuk, the gas it made him have, Oh my!!!! Soy only lasted about another 3 weeks or so.
My best friend suggested using Enfamil Gentle Ease as it worked better for her little one. So when my son was about 2 months old we switched him again to Enfamil Gentle Ease. Loved it! Another friend mentioned go to Sams, their Gentle Ease brand is the exact same but 1/2 price....which we did. My son never had any problems with any of switches.
I really do not believe you going to another brand will matter to your new little one.
I also could not breast feed -- he was 5 weeks early and my milk never really came in :(

Just wanted to say I'm sorry about the surgery affecting your milk supply. Try again because your body can change with each pregnancy and it might work out this time:) Also, go to www.LLLI.org and find your local La Leche League chapter, they might be able to help as well. Good Luck!

i was told by my child's doctor that they are the same just different names, they have the same quality's so i went with both and alternated with which one was on sale for my second child and he is great, with my daugther i used similac so i really did'nt see any difference but check with your doc and see what they say.. hope that helps
Heather mother of two from ohio

T.,

I used the generic brand at Wal-mart. I know many people would not do this, but my son had no problems with it, and has been extremely healthy. He is 2 now. I also have a friend who uses generic formula with no problems. I think we often get sucked into the "brand name" marketing because of our deep concern for our little ones, but if you were comfortable with this, it would save you a lot of money, and I truly think it is a safe, healthy, product for your baby.

Enjoy that baby boy!!!

M.

Now this was about 20 years ago. My friend and I both used the different formula's. When we asked the Dr. about it, they both gave the same nutrients that your baby needs. We found that Enfamil had a sweeter taste than the Similac. Otherwise they both had the exact same ingredients.

I used Enfamil (though, not Prosobee) with my 1st. I thought it was pretty good. Mixed well. With my 2nd, we supplemented with both. Enfamil did mix better, I thought. But, other than that, I didn't really get much difference. I did also use Meijer brand. Found it to be comparable, only cheaper.

Have you checked with a lactation consultant or La Leche League to see if there's anything else you can do to breastfeed? Miami Valley hospital has good lactaction consultants, so you might want to give them a call. Good luck!

I have a daughter that just had a baby and we have been checking into all the formulas. With the scare of of the melamine in all the formulas we have switched to all natural formula.

There are several natural brands out there to choose from. We went to a local health food store. Hope this helps.

Well, I never recommend formula as breastmilk is the very best for a baby. But, if you need to go with formula for some reason, I would suggest checking out Carnation Good Start. It mixes more smoothly and has more of the consistency of breastmilk. A friend of mine who had to supplement told me this. I have attempted to supplement a bottle a grand total of three times with both of my children using Enfimil (simply because that is what the doctor's office gave us, formula is way too expensive). It smelled awful and did not mix well. It was all clumpy and difficult to get completely mixed. I know nothing about Similac, so I can't really give you advice there. But, the Carnation I have heard is pretty good. I don't know about the differences in nutrients since I don't use formula, but there is my 2 cents worth, lol. Hope it helped. :)

I used the generic kinds from Target or Kroger. If you read the back it has the same vitamins & minerals as the Prosoybee from Enfamil. My son didn't have any problems with this, but did have problems with the regular formula with iron, so it had to be Soy. I breast fed for most of his first 9 months and we also had a little help with WIC and this year they used only the similac, and he had no problem from using both. The generic brand of this formula is less than 50% less per can. Check out the labels, they compare to Isomil & Prosoybee.

Good luck!!

I have only ever used Enfamil Lipil and that was 5 years ago now. I have noticed though, that babies who use Similac seem to have a stronger "formula smell" to them. You know, your own general body smell, not like B/O or anything, just natural scent. Anyway, I notice it more with babies who use Similac than those on Enfamil. Also, I do know the spit up smells a lot worse and stains more with Enfamil. As for the nutritional aspect of it, I'm cluesless there, I've been lucky enough to be able to nurse all of my kids, only needing to supplement one.

I also used Nestle Good Start with my daughter who is 2 and I plan on using it when my new little guy gets here in May. My daughter never spit up or had any tummy problems. I have also heard good things about the off brands from Walmart/Target/Sams. I completly understand about the breast feeding thing, with my daughter it didn't work very well for us either.

I too have had great success with Good Start when both Similac and Enfamil made my little guy's belly upset. My oldest was sensitive to milk-based formula, so we used Good Start Soy - transitioned to this just fine when he weaned himself from Breast milk at 7 months.

My youngest is currently breastfed/supplemented with formula- again Good Start (milk based) has been the best one for him too. He tends to get really gassy with Enfamil.

A bonus - Good Start gives great coupons for a few months ($11 off) - sign up online.

Highly recommend Enfamil!! It is the best.

Hi T., my advice is, if you are worried about changing, maybe you should ask your pediatrition. I myself am a worry wort. I know that's what I would do, is just ask the doctor.

Hi T.
Congratulations! Maybe things will be different the second time around and you'll be able to breastfeed which would be great. Another thought is your son may not need to use the soy formula.
After I stopped breastfeeding my son, we used Similac exclusively (the thought just never occurred to me to try anything different).
I stopped breastfeeding my daughter about 2.5 mos ago and we started the same way. We had some free cans of Enfamil and with formula being so expensive we thought we'd try and use them. So, following advice from other Mamasourcers, we used a 2 to 1 ratio to mix the two and gradually increased until it was completely Enfamil. We decided to try the Walmart brand and did it the same way.
I found the Walmart brand to be more like Enfamil and Target brand to be more like Similac. We usually get the Walmart brand. For me, the Enfamil/Walmart brand seems to mix a little easier - it appears to be a finer powder.
Hope this info helps.
Good Luck =)