Formula question

Mimikyu

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jackben

hi captain morgan,, i was the exact same when i came home with my new son 6 months ago,, but on my first week at home i asked my public health nurse and she said that its fine to make up bottles in advance and leave in fridge, i never left them for 24 hours though at the beginning maybe 12 hours for the first few months. i do agree its impossible to make bottles as you need them, its not possible, my little lad had no complaints of having the bottles sitting in fridge,
i used to boil kettle and pour into a jug and let cool for bout an hour or so and then made them up and straight into fridge, didnt need to cool under tap. hope this helps in some way.... enjoy your little bundle of joy:):)

Das Kitty

They only changed the recommendation in the past few years. Just make sure to throw out what you haven't used in 24 hours.

We went down the sterilised bottles filled with boiling water track when we were bottle feeding last year. We added the formula as needed then.

The idea is to prevent bacteria growth so clean hands and sterilised bottles and utensils are the order of the day. Also bacteria need food (sugars in formula) and warmth to grow, which is why it's important to cool it quick and keep in the fridge.

Moonbeam

We kept the bottles in the steriliser (48 hour steriliser) then made them as required.
Neither of mine had night feeds regularly after 6 weeks though.
If we were going out brought a carton of ready made formula.

wmpdd3

We always used the powder dispenser for night feeds, she had 3 per night until she was 3 months old. I'd make 9 x 3oz bottles of water, then just tip in the powder as i needed them. Perfect for heading out too.

Butterflylove

wmpdd3 wrote: »

We always used the powder dispenser for night feeds, she had 3 per night until she was 3 months old. I'd make 9 x 3oz bottles of water, then just tip in the powder as i needed them. Perfect for heading out too.

+1 same as myself prefect way to do it

with leaving them in the fridge bacteria can produce in the made up milk,

January

People have given good recommendations re the way to make up the bottles but you also asked about the amount... Give your baby as much as you think they'll drink... I used to make up bottles 1oz more than what they usually took and if they drank the whole bottle then would up it another ounce until they took that. So if baby is only drinking 1oz at the moment, I'd put 2oz's in and when they started to drink the 2oz's I'd up it to 3oz's in the bottle.

foxy06

I think its important to use very hot water to make the bottles though as this kills the bacteria? I have 4 kids and everytime I had one the rules changed!

Captain Morgan I make them exactly as you said in the op and have never had problems. As regards the amount I would see what baby takes and go from there and as another poster said make a little more than you expect them to take or you might have to heat another one just for them to take a dribble out of it then nod off!

Congrats by the way! Hope all goes well!

January

foxy06 wrote: »

I think its important to use very hot water to make the bottles though as this kills the bacteria? I have 4 kids and everytime I had one the rules changed!

Captain Morgan I make them exactly as you said in the op and have never had problems. As regards the amount I would see what baby takes and go from there and as another poster said make a little more than you expect them to take or you might have to heat another one just for them to take a dribble out of it then nod off!

Congrats by the way! Hope all goes well!

Very hot, but not boiling, because the boiling water kills any of the nutrients in the formula. So they say that 70 degrees celsius is the perfect temp.

Diddy Kong

We got the same recommendation from the hospital when we were bringing our little one home last November and to be honest, the fresh bottles are probably tastier but it was killing us in the middle of the night trying to get the balance....boil fresh water, wait 30 minutes...make bottle and then cool.

When the PHN met us for the first time she it was still fine to pre-make the bottles...if you actually check the WHO website, they say that the recommended method is to make as needed but they say that you can make in advance and leave in the fridge for 24 hours as long as the fridge is below a certain temp.

Ours in now 7.5 months and the majority of her bottles are made the night before.

foxy06

January wrote: »

Very hot, but not boiling, because the boiling water kills any of the nutrients in the formula. So they say that 70 degrees celsius is the perfect temp.

Yeah thats why it says on the box/tin to leave the water for 30 mins then make them but if the water is left in the bottle for few hours then the formula mixed in as other posters said they do (and I have done myself before) then this doesn't kill off the bacteria. In saying that though another poster has said leaving them in the fridge made up can cause bacteria to produce anyway. Can't win so.

harr

We just sterilise the bottles and then fill with boiled water and put in the fridge and make up the bottles as needed,some baby's like room temp bottles and others like them heated,our little lad does not mind which way so its handy when out and about.

Daisy M

Just to add if you are making up bottles for later use the water has to be completely cooled. It is not recommended to add formula to water that is warm/hot unless it is for immediate use.

foxy06

Why is that?

I was always told if you must make up the bottles for later use boil the water let it cool for 30 mins then make them up and cool in cold water before putting in the fridge. Reason being 30 mins so water is not boiling hot to kill the nutrients and not to cool or won't kill the bacteria.

How Strange

I don't formula feed but I'd guess it's because lukewarm water is at the optimal temperature for bacteria

foxy06

For bacteria to breed?

-Corkie-

Is it OK to boil the water and leave it stand for 30 mins and then put into the sterilised bottles???

Mimikyu

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Mimikyu

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Das Kitty

I just put the boiling hot water in and seal the bottle and leave it. I don't refrigerate as there is no formula in them.

Mimikyu

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-Corkie-

How long can you leave the cooled boiled water before adding formula??

Lola92

-Corkie- wrote: »

How long can you leave the cooled boiled water before adding formula??

24 hours is max time recommended. After that length of time you should re-steralise and add freshly boiled water

LegacyUser

I think some of you are missing the point - the hot water (70 deg C) is needed to kill the bacteria IN THE FORMULA. Formula is NOT sterile and needs to be made sterile before feeding it to your children, hence the need to make it up with hot water. Boiling the water is not simply about making the water safe to drink.

If you're adding powder to cool/cold/room temp water, you're not doing anything to prevent the bacteria in the formula from being ingested by your child.

Making the bottle correctly and leaving it in the fridge is not really such a brilliant idea either, as bacteria starts to breed as soon as the bottle is made.

Sure most babies are not going to be seriously affected, but honestly, who wants to take that chance with their infant?

It may seem a big effort to make bottles as needed, but that's pretty much what parenting is all about! I can't believe that some of you SEEM to be suggesting that it is too hard or inconvenient to make a bottle according to the manufacturer's instructions.

-Corkie-

The formula is sterile once you have your hands clean while preping it.

Lola92

The poster above is actually correct in saying that once a box of formula us opened, it is no longer sterile.

Of course in an ideal world we would all like to be able to make up our babies bottles on the spot when it is needed. But generally speaking it is just not practical to wait for a fresh kettle of water to boil and then cool for 30 mins. Add on to that time to add powder and for the bottle to cool in cold water to drinking temp.

It is said by the WHO & HSE in bottle feeding guidelines that to make up bottles as needed is preferential. Failing that, batch making, cooling rapidly and then refridgerating is next best, followed by adding formula power to boiled cooled water in sterile bottles.

I have used all 3 methods. Mostly just adding formula to the bottles of cooled water. My daughter has never once become ill or had any vomiting/diarrhoea at all, much less because of the way her feeds are made up.

If a method for making bottles up was unsafe it would not be suggested by any Heath organisation, much less the WHO.

LegacyUser

The way we make it is boiling the water and filling 6 sterilised bottles and making up as needed i have done it this way on all 3 of our kids and not once has any of them been ill.
There is no way with a baby crying for a feed you could wait for a kettle to boil and then wait another 30 mins for it to cool,our little lad is a hungry little monster and could decide at any stage of the day he wants a bottle,most people i know use the above method with no problems.

Moonbeam

One advantage of having a child allergic to milk is I make all the bottles together,leave them in the fridge and use them as needed;)

I made all my 1st daughters bottles on demand or gave it to her from cartons!

wolfpawnat

I used to boil water, leave it for 20-30 min, then bottle it and leave it in the fridge.

When baby was hungry, get up, boil kettle, 1oz boiling, rest refrigerated, perfect temp in 2 min

Not sure of the Dept. of Healths attitude on that would be though!

Hannibal Smith

This is the one thing that stumps most folk. When my boy was born the public health nurse told us that the World Health Organisation changes the way to prepare formula bottles almost every year, in accordance with up to date research etc. So even though my guy is only 2, I expect it's changed a million times in those 2 years.

We were told to prepare each bottle as you go, which means boiling the water, waiting 30 mins putting in the powder and then bringing down the temperature under cold water each and everytime. But this was waaaaaay to hard, particularly at 3am.

They say the reason the powder shouldn't be put in the water before it's ready to use is to stop the unsterile formula contaminating the sterile water. But apparently now they say to put the formula in as soon as you can to sterlise the unsterile formula...confused? So were we

So what we did was prepare 6 bottles of water at the one time, leave them to cool and then put them in the fridge. Then when we needed one, we heated up the water in the bottle and then put the formula in (just because the water was quicker to heat by itself).