McZaki

Folks,

Can someone please tell me if Aptamil milk (baby formula – Infant milk No.1) is available anywhere in the San Francisco bay area? If not, what is the US alternative/popular brand?

I am thinking of buying six months worth of stock (around 25 boxes, 900g each) and bring it with us next week. Do you think I should declare this to the customs? It's for our newborn and we have previously experienced that changing the milk brand causes a lot of issues so I don’t want to take any risks in an unfamiliar territory.

Jerseygirl

Have you tried Googling to see if you can buy it on-line? Think Amazon.

Yes it should be declared at customs...you should also check on the government's website to see if you can bring it into the country.

Just taken a look and it seems a small quantity is allowed:

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...r-personal-use

slummymummy

Agree it would be a good idea to bring some supply if the baby is that little and you have had previous problems. We also used Aptamil in the UK! But if you want to try US formula there are a couple of good brands IMO. Just go and read the ingredients and you can see for yourself. Sorry I can't remember what brand(s) we used but I chose them after spending half an hour in the baby aisle reading ingredients! Might have been Enfamil and/or Similac.

I was breastfeeding though, we only used formula when the kids were 6 months +

Also, what about the water here? I have read that there is a lot more chlorine here than in the UK and other stuff too. We don't drink much tap water anymore. Mix the powder with filtered water or bottled? Just something to think about.

Jerseygirl

We never drink water straight from the tap...far too much chlorine in it for my liking. Filtered or bottled water is the way to go IMO.

sir_eccles

I see it on Amazon but also check out Diapers.com which I think it's an Amazon spin off and you usually get a good discount for your first order and there are often good discount codes available and free shipping.

Englishmum

Babies R Us sells the main popular brands in the US, you can buy them in their stores or by mail-order.

My friend preferred to use organic formula, so she used the 'Earth's Best' brand. However it is more expensive and often not sold in many supermarkets or pharmacies; however Babies R Us sells it and it is a bit cheaper on Amazon.com

http://www.toysrus.com/family/index....d=3137626&pg=1 (4 Pages!)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...st%2Caps%2C259

http://www.earthsbest.com/

Hope this helps

Weeze

We import our baby's milk from britstore.co.uk

By the time you pay for the formula and the postage (2 day delivery) it's about e same price or slightly cheaper than buying US formula.

Be wary of using regular bottled water for babies bottles. Most aren't recommended for babies. We use boiled regular water but there are plenty of baby waters around in the shops.

McZaki

Many thanks for the above, just checked on Amazon and aptamil is available but it's $37 a piece that's almost £25 , that is a rip off!! It’s £9.49 in Tesco and Asda. I didn’t declare anything at the Dubai Airport when we returned from Scotland after the birth in Feb – we brought 15 boxes with us but luckily every major supermarket in Dubai sells Aptamil and its £15 here.

Regarding the customs declaration, many thanks for the link –very useful, much appreciated. I will complete the appropriate forms on arrival. The description regarding the limitation is ambiguous so I’ll bring 8 to 10 boxes and see if they let us through –it’s a bloody pain in the arse to get through the airport protocol after almost 16hrs direct flight with 3 kids.

McZaki

I have a very considerate wife; she doesn’t want to share her prized asset with anyone else, not even with her own kids.

On a serious note, the supply was plentiful at the birth of our first child but then she lost interest and it just got dried up, i think!– bloody useless, eh! (I hope she is not reading this – I’m really looking forward to the shepherd’s pie for the tea tonight)

Many thanks for the heads-up and advice with regards to the water, this is brilliant information. We were under the impression that the tap water in California would be as good as Scotland and we can use the tap water and boil it to use for the formula milk. In Dubai, no one should drink tap water and it’s only used for washing etc – we also use boiled regular water so I guess this will continue in SF –and I thought I could finally afford to upsize the latte

McZaki

Very very helpful this, much appreciated.

slummymummy

Does boiling get rid of chlorine though? Filter seems good (too).

SultanOfSwing

Yes. The solubility of a gas decreases as temperature increases so the chlorine will simply boil away. It has a boiling point of -29F anyway so once it is no longer soluble, it's gone. Filters never hurt, of course.

For when we used formula (for reference, we used Enfamil, did the job for our needs), we just bought that nursery water which is essentially distilled water, for mixing.

McZaki

In Dubai we get a 4 gallon bottled water delivered every 2 days, it's one of the leading brands and it contains:
Sodium: 3.3 mg per litre
Chloride: 1 mg per litre

They sometime run out and we have to buy another brand that contains:
Sodium: 10 mg per litre
Chloride: 47 mg per litre
and some minerals

For the newborn, we boil the above bottled water.

Michael

I believe boiling water with Sodium and Chloride will just increased the percentage of each but if you are worried about bacteria, then boiling is good.

SultanOfSwing

Boiling can't actually increase the concentrations but it will not remove sodium, or sodium salts, or indeed any bonded chloride ions. You'd have to actually distill it for that, rather than just boiling it.

However, elemental chlorine will be removed by boiling, due to the effects on solubility as mentioned before.