Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ...
Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it.
Member since:01.06.2005
Reviews:75
Members who trust:165
In case you wondered where I got that title from, I suggest you watch Little Britain but not when children are around! Now onto the important task at hand, baby milk.
What is SMA? Well it's not for us wrinklies to have in our morning cuppa. It's a milk formula for babies, comes in three varieties and costs around £6.59 for a large tin. You get SMA Gold for newborns up to aged 6 months then its SMA Follow On for up to 2 years old and then the SMA White for hungrier babies. All my three children have had this formula and I thought it deserved a review.
There are various other formulas on the market, for example Cow and Gate and even Soya based powders. I just found Sma to be the most suited for all of my children.
Breast or Powder? In my opinion and probably most of the nation, breast is better
of course. That's what they are there for, not for men to play with. Breast milk gives all the vitamins your baby needs and I fed all mine until the first tooth. After that I bought follow on milk. Heh I know I could have gone on longer but that tooth looked sharp and I was not going to risk it.
So how do you mix it? Once you peel the tin lip away from the tin itself, its quite easy, one level scoop of milk powder for each fluid ounce of boiled water. So 6 scoops equal 6 fluid ounces. Give the bottle a shake and your little one's milk is ready. A few seconds in the microwave to heat it up or a few mins in a jug of warm water makes it more enjoyable and less risk of your baby getting an upset tummy.
So why recommend it? My little girl is now 3 years old and has the appetite of a worm. Since she was taken off follow on milk , her weight has dropped slightly and she's had a few more colds than previously, when she was still on SMA.
I never had a feeding problem with my boys as babies. My oldest will eat anything and everything but my 5 year old started getting fussy at three. By that time he was well out of bottles and his weight dropped slightly.
However, skinny tin ribs my daughter was not and she didn't look at all deprived from lack of eating whilst adding SMA to her diet. I breast fed my girl until she was 8 months so I know she was raised on the best milk Mother Nature provides.
I simply refused to give her cows milk until she was 2. I feel confident in knowing SMA gave her a good start with everything she needs. Cows milk does not give babies Vitamins C and D and there is not enough iron in it either. With SMA you are getting vitamins A, C and D plus zinc, calcium and iron. To be on the safe side I also gave her 0.5 ml of Abidec children's vitamins as just a bonus top up really. SMA follow on is for 6-month-old babies onwards, you can carry on giving it them right up to 2 years old.
It comes in two tin sizes, the smaller one costs £4 on average. This is ideal if you are going away for the day and want to make up some milk. I always bought the larger 900 g for £6.65 which would last me nearly two weeks. It also comes in ready-made cartons at £1 for one small carton (enough for a bottle). I give her three bottles a day, morning, lunch and bedtime from the larger tin.
The tins are sterilised and come with a seal on top. You have to release the finger seal and then peel back the lid. Once opened you use the red scoop provided to make up a bottle. Then simply re-seal with the flexible lid again for the next bottle.
You can also buy ready made cartons for just over £1, prices differ. This is only enough for one bottle feed but handy for days out and picnic. It's a different taste to the powder so your toddler might not appreciate it as you do the hassle free cartons.
You cannot miss the bright red colours in the tin of Follow On milk, unlike SMA Gold which is white and yellow and is for newborns. There are two happy little toddlers sitting on a red train, similar to the one in Lego Land. They look full of life so that must be down to the milk or good P.R.
As I said before the rule of thumb is one scoop per ounce of milk. The preparation is so easy too. Just place one scoop per ounce in the clean bottle, add boiled cooled water and shake like a mad woman till all the lumps have dispersed.
The powder is very soft and silk like to the touch. The taste resembles that of evaporated milk and you wont get me drinking a glass of this. You can serve it warm or if your child is like mine, they will drink it as it comes. You can also add it to the food, i.e. over a weetabix in the morning.
SMA has been established for years and though there are many variations of baby milk and different brands, this one has served me well through many years of child bearing. Just 550 ml is all your little one needs to provide all the nutrients required for a growing toddler.
This milk is available just about anywhere; I even bought a tin in Cyprus. When at home you will find it in all supermarkets, most chemists and even in Mr Patel's corner shop (but prices will differ here big time)!
SMA have a good care line if you want any advice on weaning your baby on to this. Your health visitor or child clinic should also be able to help you.
Useful Information
www.smanutrition.co.uk
tel: 0845 776 2900 - beware national rate number again!
Ireland tel: 1 800 4094446
SMA Nutrition Huntercoombe lane south Taplow Maidenhead Berks SL6 0PH
The ingredients are: Skimmed Milk Lactose Zinc Sulphate - needed for growth Vitamin E Folic Acid Vitamin K Vitamin C Vitamin D Vegetable Oils
If you do try this and are not happy with the product for some reason, you can return it to SMA for investigation and refund.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope its been of some use.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
very helpful review indeed. hopefully I'll be able to breastfeed but this is always there as a back up. Sounds like it's very good by everyone's experiences. al x
snowbunni 17.01.2006 20:29
Very comprehensive review! I was astonished to read that you could even get this in Cyprus!x
Lynso1977 16.01.2006 17:12
Great review, always agree that breast is best, sadley l could only manage 4mnths, topped up with SMA to start with and then switched over completely after 5mnths. Definately the best on the market and had no problems with my little one. Great review. Lynso1977xx
Advantages: Convenience initially for parents Disadvantages: Not sterile, can cause gastroentiritis, ear infections, respiratory problems, obesity, lower IQ, no immunity to other diseases, lack of hormones and growth factors. Time off work with sick baby.
juliepulie 07.03.2007 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of SMA Milk
Nov 14th, 2005
(Jan 12th, 2006)
very helpful by (100%):
