Sterilizing Bottles and feeding cold or warm?

bbsrs

Hi All ,

New baby due in 1 month and I'm a little confused by the sterilization frequency of bottles and whether or not its ok to pre make up feeds.

We've got the advent microwave sterilizer which takes six bottles. Do I have to sterilize the bottles before every feed or can I sterilize all six then just remove a bottle from the sterilizer when needed ?

or

could I make up six bottles at once and store in the fridge until needed but never storing them more than 24hrs?

Finding alot of conflicting views on the net and from experienced parents.

Cheers.

tribalwings

Well with bout our kids we sterilised all 6 bottles, filled them with the amount of cooled boiled water and left them ready for formula on the counter. Never done them any harm.
Then at feeding time, the first child had the bottles warmed in the microwave and the second had them at room temp.
Hope that helps you

pwurple

OP, you have it already sorted I think. You can do either of what you suggested.

Sterile bottles stay sterile until you, or anything else, touches them, as long as they are covered.

Read the side of the box of formula for instructions on making up feeds. This will always be the correct way, no matter what people tell you.

Option 1 is to make up the feeds as you need them with boiled water and cool under a tap. This is always the best way.

Option 2 is to make up the feeds in advance with formula and boiled water and keep them in the fridge until you need them. This sterilises the formula, as well as the water. This is second best way. I did this. The bottles can be out of the fridge for certain amount of time as well, for travelling anywhere. It says it on the box anyway.

It is not advised to put formula into cold water, as you are not sterilising the formula at all this way.... but that being said, the risk is extremely low. There have been incidents in other countries with babies getting sick from a bug in the formula, but not here in Ireland to date. It's easier to make them up in advance as well as being safer anyway.

Some babies are fussy about temperature. Mine took bottles warm, room temp, or from the fridge. Some only like it warm. Every baby is different.

Cienciano

I did (still do) the exact same as tribalwings. As soon as the steriliser is finished, make up all the bottles, water and all (no formula) and leave them on the kitchen counter.
Have a few of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-SCF135-06-Powder-Dispenser/dp/B000MMQO7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345328928&sr=8-1
Which you pre fill with whatever amount of formula you need, just makes the process easier, and handy when travelling.
I have enough bottles for just over 2 days so I don't have to do them every night and if there's an emergency there's always one there.
Good luck!

tribalwings

Cienciano wrote: »

I did (still do) the exact same as tribalwings. As soon as the steriliser is finished, make up all the bottles, water and all (no formula) and leave them on the kitchen counter.
Have a few of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-SCF135-06-Powder-Dispenser/dp/B000MMQO7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345328928&sr=8-1
Which you pre fill with whatever amount of formula you need, just makes the process easier, and handy when travelling.
I have enough bottles for just over 2 days so I don't have to do them every night and if there's an emergency there's always one there.
Good luck!

Yes we have those dispensers aswell, think we got them in Boots. Good find alright

pwurple

tribalwings wrote: »

Yes we have those dispensers aswell, think we got them in Boots. Good find alright

I'd be wary of doing it this way. The purpose of adding formula to hot water (70 deg C) is to kill the bacteria and other bugs that might be in the formula Boiling the water is NOT to make the water safe, it's to make the FORMULA safe.

Formula is not sterile,and it is not even required to be sterile. Adding powder to cool/cold water means that you are not sterilising the formula at all. Babies died in the US from bacteria found in their formula. You will find loads of kids who were just fine, but still... Don't risk it.

staticdoor71

tribalwings wrote: »

Well with bout our kids we sterilised all 6 bottles, filled them with the amount of cooled boiled water and left them ready for formula on the counter. Never done them any harm.
Then at feeding time, the first child had the bottles warmed in the microwave and the second had them at room temp.
Hope that helps you

this is what i do too.. so handy. baby is 18 weeks and no hassle

congrats

Ellsbells

It's not recommended that you use cooled (even if previously boiled) water to make bottles.

The water needs to be 70 degrees to kill any bacteria in the FORMULA. Read the cartons you are using and follow those instructions.

We always sterilised the bottles and immediately made 4/5 bottles from the hot water. They last up to 24 hours in a fridge.

It's also not recommended that you microwave the feed as it doesn't heat evenly in microwaves which also kill nutrients in food so ....

We used to heat the bottle in a saucepan of boiling water

KGLady

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Publications/services/Children/How_to_prepare_your_baby's_bottle_feed.pdf

You'll get a leaflet like this one above from the HSE baby nurse after you have the baby. That outlines the safest way for sterilisation and it points out the importance of following the guidelines on the brand of formula you use. The 70 degrees is always stressed for bacteria reasons.

Like some others in the thread, when we swapped to formula it was a once a day job of sterilising the bottles boiling the kettle to make enough for the next 24hrs. We used an Avent microwave steamer too and after I'd make them up I'd upend the lid and fill it with cold water, standing the bottles into it to cool them rapidly and then put them all into the fridge soon as they were down to room temp (not on the door in the main shelve area).

Check the instructions on the microwave steriliser it explains time frames etc (http://youtu.be/yuT02IrIG7w). If you leave the steriliser sealed what's in there stays sterile for 24hrs, also there are tongs that come with the avent one for handling the parts and if you take a bottle immediately from the steriliser and assemble it with the tongs and seal it up it'll stay sterile inside. I used to use the powder dispenser if I was visiting somewhere that I'd have a kettle to make a fresh feed up, but often it was handier to take an empty sterile bottle and a carton of premade formula too. They are about 75c for a single feed which isn't cheap but its handy if you are not certain about having a fridge or fresh boiled water for the day

staticdoor71

staticdoor71 wrote: »

tribalwings wrote: »

Well with bout our kids we sterilised all 6 bottles, filled them with the amount of cooled boiled water and left them ready for formula on the counter. Never done them any harm.
Then at feeding time, the first child had the bottles warmed in the microwave and the second had them at room temp.
Hope that helps you

this is what i do too.. so handy. baby is 18 weeks and no hassle

congrats

would like to add that i fill HALF my bottle with cooled boiled water ten for each feed add the rest in boiling thus taking up to the desired heat to kill bacteria.

Ellsbells

staticdoor71 wrote: »

would like to add that i fill HALF my bottle with cooled boiled water ten for each feed add the rest in boiling thus taking up to the desired heat to kill bacteria.

Its none of my business but how do you know it's over 70 degrees?

bbsrs

Thank You to everyone who replied its been very helpful.

I read the SMA tin instructions and it says dispose of any feed two hours after it was made and it doesn't say anything about 24hrs in the fridge .
Is the 24hrs in the fridge a general rule of thumb or do some brands of formula refer to it in their instructions?
I ask because it seems like the most sensible option to me.

Ellsbells

I would guess that's used feed e.g. A bottle that's been half consumed by the baby.

There is normally a helpline no on the box so maybe call them closer to the time for guidance

Hannibal Smith

staticdoor71 wrote: »

tribalwings wrote: »

Well with bout our kids we sterilised all 6 bottles, filled them with the amount of cooled boiled water and left them ready for formula on the counter. Never done them any harm.
Then at feeding time, the first child had the bottles warmed in the microwave and the second had them at room temp.
Hope that helps you

this is what i do too.. so handy. baby is 18 weeks and no hassle

congrats

I do it this way too

dublinlady

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

staticdoor71 wrote: »

tribalwings wrote: »

Well with bout our kids we sterilised all 6 bottles, filled them with the amount of cooled boiled water and left them ready for formula on the counter. Never done them any harm.
Then at feeding time, the first child had the bottles warmed in the microwave and the second had them at room temp.
Hope that helps you

this is what i do too.. so handy. baby is 18 weeks and no hassle

congrats

I do it this way too

Me too - I found making them up fully and putting in fridge no good if u want to go anywhere etc, handier to have water done and then add formula from premeasured containers like others.
My avent steriliser says tho that they are I my sterile for 6 hrs after being done without the lid being removed - so I sterilise them all at once and then either make then up as above or put the bottle back together empty and close it so it can stay clean and then fill it up whenever. I've been doin it this way since 15 weeks and no problems.
My little one has just recently started crying unless its warm... Grrrr!!! At 26 weeks I thought she had missed that trick!!!
I kind of respect her for her fussiness - shows her little personality...
A diva like her mum

Ellsbells

dublinlady wrote: »

I found making them up fully and putting in fridge no good if u want to go anywhere etc,

I dont really understand why? The formula is sterilised, bottles made and safe / usable for 24 hours. The can then be heated up in some warm water while out and about.

I personally OP would not take the risk of the formula not being sterilised properly.

dublinlady

Ellsbells wrote: »

dublinlady wrote: »

I found making them up fully and putting in fridge no good if u want to go anywhere etc,

I dont really understand why? The formula is sterilised, bottles made and safe / usable for 24 hours. The can then be heated up in some warm water while out and about.

I personally OP would not take the risk of the formula not being sterilised properly.

Ok... It's actually more dangerous tho if not kept in the fridge - I.e the bacteria has time to grow - intact it thrives at a room temp environment. If you haven't added the formula tho it's just sterile water and bacteria are unable to live in it. If I am away from the house it tends to be for 3-4 hours or longer if travelling and so leaving them made up out of the fridge would be just not be ok.
There is the opinion that the formula needs to be sterilised but my g.p and local health nurse said that in reality the risk of this is extremely negligible - the risk of bacteria growing in warm wet formula is likely. I made my decision based on the risks and what will work practically. It's impossible for me to make up each bottle freshly with water which has been boiled and cooled for 30mins for me as I am not always bear a kettle. I make them up once a day.
This method is the safest most low risk option for me. Obviously making the up freshly each time would be preferable, just doesn't work for me!

Ellsbells

But the bacteria is killed when 70 degree water is added to it in the first place

Each to their own...

galah

just throwing my awkward 2 cents in here...

if you sterilise the bottle, boil the water, then make up the formula with the hot just boiled water, and then cool the bottle and put it in the fridge, every part is 'sterile' (as best as can be), so technically nothing can grow, cause there is nothing to grow...

initially, we made up each bottle fresh, but that only worked when babba took only one bottle at night in addition to breastfeeding - there was no way I would be able to make fresh bottles now, waiting half an hour for water to cool down etc with a screaming hungry baby. So now, I make the day's supply up in advance (method described above), store in fridge, take out when needed. If we go out, I use a thermos bottle cooler, pop the bottle from the frigde in there, and then heat when needed.

what I find more questionable is that they dont tell you HOW MUCH water you should put in the kettle - cause obviously 100 ml cool down much quicker than 2 liters of water. It just says on the pack 'boil kettle', if I recall correctly. SO really you can;t tell when 70 degrees have been reached (after 30 mins) since it does depend on the amount of water in it...

dublinlady

Ellsbells wrote: »

But the bacteria is killed when 70 degree water is added to it in the first place

Each to their own...

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/formula/milkoutoffridgeexpert/

Ms2011

galah wrote: »

what I find more questionable is that they dont tell you HOW MUCH water you should put in the kettle - cause obviously 100 ml cool down much quicker than 2 liters of water. It just says on the pack 'boil kettle', if I recall correctly. SO really you can;t tell when 70 degrees have been reached (after 30 mins) since it does depend on the amount of water in it...

Fron what I remembet it's 30 mins per litre of water

Ginny

I went by the guidelines given to me by the post natal nurse, we were given a book by the HSE covering 0-6 months for your baby, it covered a whole range of things.
formula wise it gave the spiel of 1 made up at a time, but then said it possible to sterlise the bottles, boil the kettle, add the hot water to the bottles after 30 mins, add the formula, cool the bottles quickly in some cold water then place them in the fridge. Bottles are allowed 24 hrs in fridge, 2 hours out of fridge at room temp, so if I have to go out I pop a bottle straight from the fridge into my thermal bag to keep it chilled. I was told if the baby preferred it I could warm up the bottle from the fridge in a bowl of warm water.

Ellsbells

Exactly Ginny...

ceadaoin.

I've always made 4 bottles of formula at a time with the hot water then stored them in the fridge until needed

I checked the WHO guidelines and they state that this is OK as long as they are cooled quickly and not stored for more than 24 hrs.

dublinlady wrote: »

Ok... It's actually more dangerous tho if not kept in the fridge - I.e the bacteria has time to grow - intact it thrives at a room temp environment. If you haven't added the formula tho it's just sterile water and bacteria are unable to live in it. If I am away from the house it tends to be for 3-4 hours or longer if travelling and so leaving them made up out of the fridge would be just not be ok.

I got some insulated bottle bags so that when I go out I can take a bottle from the fridge and it is kept cold for a few hours.

Kash

I had the same experience as the OP - loads of conflicting advice. And after trying to prepare a bottle by following the instructipns on the box, (and having little one scream the house down for the 45 minutes it took to boil and cool everything) i did some research on why the guidelines wrre changed as the advice from my PHN was far more practical - add boiled water to sterile bottles en masse and add formula when needed, as quite a few posters are doing.

I found that even though powdered formula is not sterile, the risk of using it with cold water is extremely low - the guidelines up until last year were different to what they are now.

If you do research on the formula related deaths, you'll find that the formula was the suspected cause, not the definitive one, and that the bacteria is also present in soil and a number of other common places, so it is very difficult to be sure.

What is sure is whatever way the bacteria is introduced, the bacteria (cronobacter) poses a higher risk to newborns and preemie/low birthweight babies - and even then, cases are incredibly rare.

Obviously, we all want our babies to be as safe as possible, but the risk seems so low that I find it negligible. Especially now that she's 5 weeks old and 10 lbs. Im more neevous about bringing her swimming - and we hope to do that next week!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronobacter#Clinical_significance

pwurple

You're right of course. The risk is negligible, and the deaths were not even in Ireland. We have excellent standards of formula manufacture here.

I would have done it the cold water way if I found it easier I think... But after experimenting with thrmometers etc, my bottle making routine took about 15 minutes for the whole day.

I would turn on steriliser and then kettle. Both done in 6 mins. I would be putting about 4cm of cold water into the sink while they boiled. Hot water into bottles, bottles into sink to cool. 4 mins later with a few shakes they were 70 degrees. Forumla in, lids on and into the fridge... Coolone under the running tap for the morning feed.

Then pop the bottles in the cooler bag later when we were going out.

I tried it with the cold water premade in bottles as well, and i found the mixture didn't dissolve properly at all... Loads of shaking and therre were big lumps in it.

Kash

Seems like you have it down to a fine (and very efficient) art!

My little madam likes her bottles at room temperature. If it's any way warm, she'll vomit after an ounce or two. She's an odd little so and so already I felt really guilty about going against the current guidelines at first, worried that i was jeopardising her health needlessly. But the choice we made suits us and our routine... and she is thriving. I think that's the main thing!

ETA: luckily we've never had any issues with the formula not dissolving - I think if we ever do, I would have to do something else. Yuck.

Xdancer

Kash wrote: »

ETA: luckily we've never had any issues with the formula not dissolving - I think if we ever do, I would have to do something else. Yuck.

Some formulas dissolve in cool water better than others.

I have always prepared bottles, by sterilizing them, fill them with cooled boiled water and add the formula when necessary. I usually heat the water first for 20-30 seconds as my little one prefers it a little warm.

When going out I bring a bottle with maybe 3oz cooled water, a theromos with boiled water and top it up before adding the formula. Worked for us. A is 8 months and we never had a problem.

pwurple

Xdancer wrote: »

Some formulas dissolve in cool water better than others.

Yes,when I stopped bfeeding first, we used aptimel. Then we switched to SMA as it seemed to suit her better. The SMA just would not dissolve in anything except the hot water.

Xdancer

pwurple wrote: »

Yes,when I stopped bfeeding first, we used aptimel. Then we switched to SMA as it seemed to suit her better. The SMA just would not dissolve in anything except the hot water.

I use Nestle Nidina (not available in Ireland as far as I know) and it dissolved perfectly. If it hadn't I don't know what I would have done. I hate the thought of preparing the bottles and leaving them in the fridge...also we are out and about so much and live in a hot country, so it would never have been doable

bbsrs

Big thank you for all the replies , 6 bottles made up in the morning and then into the fridge after cooling under a cold tap sounds like the best option for us.