>Dear Friends:
>Our local nursing mothers counselor training course  asks the  trainee to
>calculate the cost of exclusive formula feeding for 6  months,  including
>bottles and associated equipment. The students this present   term came up
>with figures between $350 for 6 months (using the cheapest  powdered  generic
>brand) to nearly $1500 (using the most expensive  ready-to-feed newest
>brand).
>    warmly,
>Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE



This is my first post to Lactnet as I mainly read, learn, and plan to become
a lactation professional someday.  For now, I'm just trying to get my twins
to their first birthday!

I recently did some math on the same issue myself and came up with the
following numbers:

Granted, I'd be buying double the formula but...

We spent:
$150 to rent a hospital grade pump for 3 months
$100 to visit the LC three times
$35 for the SNS
$150 on supplemental formula that went in the SNS and bottles until I built
a full milk supply
$50 for the pumping kit (tubing, flanges, etc)
$40 for two expansion packs of bottles/nipples/nipple rings/nipple caps
$5 for a used boppy that was too small
$8 for a used Hugster pillow that was okay at first but became too small
$35 for a EZ Nurse Plus twin nursing pillow that was heavenly until recently
when we stopped nursing simultaneously
$12 for the Mothering Multiples book (worth every penny)
$150 or more on Motherhood nursing shirts of both long and short sleeved
varieties
$100 or more on nursing bras as I've gone through 4 or 5 sizes
$17 on freezer bags for EMM

and that's not counting what we got free or borrowed:
bottle warmer
PIS (would have been $250 new)
various other books like "The Womanly Art..."

So, that's close to $700 or more, plus the tear and sweat equity involved. A
quick look at drugstore.com tells me that a can of Enfamil Lipil that makes
188 ounces of formula costs $25. Assuming 60 ounces per day (for two babies
- I know that is high for the early days but formula doesn't save forever
and the leftovers get tossed a lot) for one year, that is 116 and 1/2 cans
for a grand total of $2912. I guess it was worth it after all.

Jennifer Upton RD, LD/N
Our nursing story - http://www.geocities.com/troll2_98/
hoping to become a LLLL and IBCLC someday

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