It’s all basically fine. That’s the first point—don’t stress. This stuff is regulated to high heaven. Thus the crazy shortages every once in a while.
Finding the right brand for your kid
If your kid doesn’t take the first kind you try, don’t stress. We had to try several brands with Cleo before she finally “liked” one. They’re all disgusting to us—your taste buds will not be the guide here. Theirs will.
With Cleo we wound up with Earth’s Best, the red one. Available at Target, Whole Foods, etc. We tried Enfamil and Similac and she just didn’t like them. They’re cheaper and easier to find, but that didn’t matter if she wouldn’t eat them.
Where to buy
Formula is one of the things I wouldn’t buy on Amazon unless it’s your only option. It expires and you too often get a canister that’s like a month away from expiration.
European formula is all the rage these days. When Cleo was a baby it was still not FDA approved so you had to buy internationally and ship. Since the shortage, some are available here because the FDA gave the okay. Worth looking into, but I have no experience to share. Do keep in mind their ratios are different than US formula often so you have to triple check the amount of water. Other folks (ahem, grandparents) might think this is not that important - it is. Babies aren't meant to have straight water yet - as a mixer it's fine. But too much water and too little formula means they're not getting the right mix of nutrition.
And remember: formula expires. Check your dates.
Preparation
I didn’t have just formula for either of my kids, but if we had gone that route I would 1000% have gotten the Baby Brezza.
What we did instead was use our instant-hot tap. We figured out the ratio of hot to cold to hit 95–98 degrees and just always made the bottle like that. For us it was 1:2. An instant-read cooking thermometer is super helpful here.
My kids are both temperature-sensitive with beverages. Probably because I coddled them. Apparently some kids will take formula or milk room temperature or cold. For the love of god, if you can make that happen for yourself, go for it—you’ll save yourself a lot of hassle.
For our full breastfeeding and pumping experience, see All Things Breastfeeding & Pumping.