- Make friends with moms who are breastfeeding. I know I'm not the only one who was eager to give those Enfamil and Similac samples away.
- Ask friends for coupons. Now that I know which of my friends uses which formula, I always give them the coupons that come in the mail. You can also swap coupons with friends who are feeding their babies a different brand of formula.
- Sign up with the formula manufacturers and they'll put you on their list for coupons. Click for Enfamil, Similac, and Nestle Carnation.
- Do the math. This technique actually works for any product and will itself be the subject of a future post, but here's the quick version: Take a small notebook to each store where you buy or might buy formula and write down the cost and number of ounces for each can. At home, sit down with a calculator and divide the cost by the number of ounces to get the cost per ounce. Keep this information handy and revisit it when there are sales or you have coupons. Your goal is to always pay the lowest cost per ounce possible, so you might very well find yourself going to different stores each week.
- I don't know much about this, but it was suggested when I mentioned that a friend's baby hates the taste of formula now that he eats so much "regular" food: When your baby is a little older, say around 9 months, and is eating several meals of solids a day, ask your pediatrician about switching from formula to fortified rice milk.
I hope these suggestions help those of you who are paying for formula!
2 comments:
If you're keeping formula for your earthquake kit, be sure to note the expiration dates somewhere on your calendar so that when it gets close to the expiration date you can swap it out. We had some powdered samples we got shortly after my son was born, and when we had to switch to formula when he was ten months old, we used the samples, only to find out that they had expired a couple of months prior and made him very sick to his stomach.
Thanks, Alice - that's excellent advice! And not that I would take chances with my baby, but it's good to know that you can't push it with those expiration dates.
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