We recently changed Olivia's formula from SMA Gold to Hipp First Infant Milk.
When I was pregnant I wanted a few small ready mixed cartons in case I needed them in a hurry. In a push to support breastfeeding (and the cynic in me says there might just be an element of cost cutting) our local hospital equires you to bring your own milk if you want to bottle feed and I wanted to be prepapred in case I had to transfer in a hurry and the breastfeeding didn't work out. These came in very handy when we were told by our midwives that we needed to supplement Olivia with formula. Once they were used up F_ went off to the shops as I wasn't back on my feet and asked the ladies in the chemist what formula was best only to be told something along the lines of 'oh they are all the same so just use whatever'.
Now on closer inspection they are NOT all the same. Once I sat down and read the ingredients on a tin of baby formula my jaw dropped at the zillion ingredients. Although lots of these were vitamins etc. I was left wondering what the hell the rest were! In the early days post delivery we used Waitrose Deliver a few times to stock up on nappies and food.
Without digressing too far onto a topic which could keep me busy for hours lets just say that I strongly believe in the ethos of Waitrose, their environmental stance, support for local products, fair attitude towards producers etc. and would not give my money to certain other major supermarkets. If you want to know more then click here and also check out the excellent 'Sold Out: the True Cost of Supermarket Shopping' by William Young. Without showing myself to be the Guardian reading, polenta eating, tree hugger that I secretly am we believe in recycling, biodegradable (and if her belly button ever heals up washable) nappies etc., farmers markets, supporting local producers and independent shops etc. We also get organic milk and eggs delivered by our milkman and seasonal organic vegetables delivered by Abel and Cole. Ok so I lied, I did digress...
Anyway, whiling away time on the Waitrose website I discovered the Hipp organic baby food range. Never having spent much time in the baby aisle in supermarkets I hadn't really thought about organic baby food at this stage. I knew we wanted to ween Olivia onto home made organic baby food but for some reason it had never occurred to me that there was such a thing as organic formula. So now she has that in addition to breast milk.
Now maybe I am naive in my recent state of motherhood, and will be eating my words in a few months time, but I always find it really annoying when people say things like 'oh, little Johhny will only eat oven chips'. WHY will little Johnny only eat oven chips - surely the adult, the one in charge, and sets the agenda for is eaten by...um...buying it. Unless little Johhny is off down Iceland (a frozen food emporium for our US readers) when Mummy's back is turned buying McCain's finest then where do said oven chips come from???? I know it isn't that easy because my firned never let her baby have sweets, preferring to give her dried fruit as her sweet treats, which all worked well until she went to nursery and saw the contents of everyone else's lunch box! Having said that, thanks to recent government initiatives (nothing to do with jumping on the Jamie Oliver bandwagon - much, honestly) many school no longer allow the packet of Monster Much and Wagon Wheel, which along with Nutella sandwiches of cheapest white bread were the staple foods in my day. So maybe, especially where we will, Olivia will grow up coveting her neighbours roasted vegetable and houmous salad???
So, after another little rant there, the upshot is that Olivia now eats organic food like her Mummy and Daddy. Meanwhile Mummy and Daddy live in fear of the day when little Olivia is invited to her first childrens party at McDonalds...
When I was pregnant I wanted a few small ready mixed cartons in case I needed them in a hurry. In a push to support breastfeeding (and the cynic in me says there might just be an element of cost cutting) our local hospital equires you to bring your own milk if you want to bottle feed and I wanted to be prepapred in case I had to transfer in a hurry and the breastfeeding didn't work out. These came in very handy when we were told by our midwives that we needed to supplement Olivia with formula. Once they were used up F_ went off to the shops as I wasn't back on my feet and asked the ladies in the chemist what formula was best only to be told something along the lines of 'oh they are all the same so just use whatever'.
Now on closer inspection they are NOT all the same. Once I sat down and read the ingredients on a tin of baby formula my jaw dropped at the zillion ingredients. Although lots of these were vitamins etc. I was left wondering what the hell the rest were! In the early days post delivery we used Waitrose Deliver a few times to stock up on nappies and food.
Without digressing too far onto a topic which could keep me busy for hours lets just say that I strongly believe in the ethos of Waitrose, their environmental stance, support for local products, fair attitude towards producers etc. and would not give my money to certain other major supermarkets. If you want to know more then click here and also check out the excellent 'Sold Out: the True Cost of Supermarket Shopping' by William Young. Without showing myself to be the Guardian reading, polenta eating, tree hugger that I secretly am we believe in recycling, biodegradable (and if her belly button ever heals up washable) nappies etc., farmers markets, supporting local producers and independent shops etc. We also get organic milk and eggs delivered by our milkman and seasonal organic vegetables delivered by Abel and Cole. Ok so I lied, I did digress...
Anyway, whiling away time on the Waitrose website I discovered the Hipp organic baby food range. Never having spent much time in the baby aisle in supermarkets I hadn't really thought about organic baby food at this stage. I knew we wanted to ween Olivia onto home made organic baby food but for some reason it had never occurred to me that there was such a thing as organic formula. So now she has that in addition to breast milk.
Now maybe I am naive in my recent state of motherhood, and will be eating my words in a few months time, but I always find it really annoying when people say things like 'oh, little Johhny will only eat oven chips'. WHY will little Johnny only eat oven chips - surely the adult, the one in charge, and sets the agenda for is eaten by...um...buying it. Unless little Johhny is off down Iceland (a frozen food emporium for our US readers) when Mummy's back is turned buying McCain's finest then where do said oven chips come from???? I know it isn't that easy because my firned never let her baby have sweets, preferring to give her dried fruit as her sweet treats, which all worked well until she went to nursery and saw the contents of everyone else's lunch box! Having said that, thanks to recent government initiatives (nothing to do with jumping on the Jamie Oliver bandwagon - much, honestly) many school no longer allow the packet of Monster Much and Wagon Wheel, which along with Nutella sandwiches of cheapest white bread were the staple foods in my day. So maybe, especially where we will, Olivia will grow up coveting her neighbours roasted vegetable and houmous salad???
So, after another little rant there, the upshot is that Olivia now eats organic food like her Mummy and Daddy. Meanwhile Mummy and Daddy live in fear of the day when little Olivia is invited to her first childrens party at McDonalds...
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