Making up formula - do you follow the rules??

[MumtoHarry]

We have just moved Harry onto formula and I am worrying about how I should make it up ... does everyone follow the new guidelines about making it up with boiled water cooled for less than 30 mins, and then let that cool enough for the baby to drink it (which seems a real faff - and a bit impossible to get the timing right if you are letting the baby demand-feed)... or do people make up the bottles of cooled boiled water in advance (and make up the feed with water at room temp)... or do people make the feed up in advance and keep in in the fridge?? I am probably over-thinking this, but it all seems SO much hassle to do it properly and yet if baby was ill because I couldn't be arsed to get it right I'd feel awful ....

[tori32]

With dd1 I made up enough bottles for 24hrs. I let them cool to room temp and put them in the fridge. This was from 6wks and saved me listening to her screaming when the bottle was made but too hot. She has been perfectly healthy and is 2.1y now.
This time (baby due in 2 weeks!) I will probably do it using the boiled water put in bottles and refrigerated and add powder as I need it if bf doesn't work out again.

[lizziemun]

I sterlise and fill 3 bottles in the morning and 3 in the evening and rotate.

I keep filled bottles in the fridge and heat in the microwave then add milk powder. I find the powder mixs better with warm water.

[jellies]

I do the sterilised bottles of water cooled in the fridge warm it in the micro and add the powder when warm.

[mishymoo]

I used to keep enough bottles sterilised in the fridge for 24 hours filled with cooled boiled water, adding formula and heating up as needed.

[SKYTVADDICT]

C has 4 bottles a day now he is 10 months and since he went onto bottles at 8 months I have made them up 24 hours in advance as I used to for my DDS 7 and 11 years ago respectively

[mcfee]

I did exactly the same as Tori32 and would do again next time.

[SKYTVADDICT]

But if I am going out for the whole day I take boiled water and add powder as needed

[coastalmum]

I have bottles of water on the work top (a days worth), which i add milk to when needed and microwave.

[tellnoone]

I heard it was because formula is a non-sterile product and so the water used to make it up should be at least 70 degrees to kill any bacteria in the powder. I must add that I'm no expert and maybe you could look at the food standards agency website for details or a department of health website.

[crackpotdog]

we use freshly boiled water to make up then stand in cold water to cool. it isn't half as much bother as every1 seems to think it is. its all done to kill any bacteria in formula powder, and mixing with cool/refridgerated water doean't do this.
at night or when out we take a flask of boiled water and ask for cold water to cool instead of hot water to warm. its easy!!

[FAQ]

I boil the kettle and leave it for about an hour then make up 24hrs worth (well it's supposed to be 24hrs worth but often works out at less), then I put the bottles into a bowl of cold water to cool quickly and stick in the fridge.........I then heat them up in the microwave - have no idea how to use a bottle warmer - as demonstrated yesterday when I went to Morrison for a coffee with a friend and had a ready made up bottle in my bag........I managed to practically boil the milk and had to ask for a jug of cold water to cool it down

[Sanwi]

i make up 4 bottles at a time following the rules (ie water cooled for 30 mins) then let them cool to room temp and put them in then fridge, like tori32, then heat up using our fab 3 second water boiler gadget from tefal (kettle boiling in the night never agreed with me!)

took a while to settle on this method - we tried making each feed up individually but it's hardly practical when the baby is screaming. maybe you need to anticipate the next feed in advance to do this successfully?

also, i've found using very hot water for feeds makes them almost explosive when you shake them to mix - i was liable to do this when in a hurry

never had any problems using the current method - even take made up feeds out with a cool pack and a flask with boiled water to heat them up

[MumtoHarry]

crackpot - doesn't it take AGES to cool from boiling?? And if you cool it too much do you just offer it at room temp or is it ok to heat it up a bit again??

[PuppyMonkey]

Run it under a cold tap for a bit to cool it more quickly or stand it in a bowl of cold water...

And as for following the new rules, by the time I found about them I'd already been doing it the old way (boil water, cool them put in fridge and make up with formula when you need it) for months and months... did it the new way for a few weeks but dd2 has now gone onto cow's milk. Yippeee...

[MrsMar]

I'm only doing the odd bottle at the moment, but I've been boiling the water and cooling it down, storing in the fridge until needed a few hours later, then warming it in the microwave until it's bubbling and then adding powder and standing it in a pan of cool water. It only takes about ten minutes to come back down to the right temp, so I'll try and anticipate ds and get it so it's ready by the time he is. Only thing about heating water in the microwave, make sure you shake the bottle before adding the powder as if you don't and there are cool spots, when you add the room temp powder to the water it becomes a formula fountain, and fizzes up and spills everywhere! I did this once and then remembered seeing it on some tv programme about people who'd burned themselves making hot choc using the microwave and adding cold powder to hot milk.

[verylittlecarrot]

I don't ff but have always wondered...

I understand why you are supposed to add hot water to the powder rather than cooled boiled water (to scald the non-sterile powder and kill bacteria in it, right?)

But why are you supposed to boil and wait 30 minutes before making it up? Whay not make up with freshly boiled water at 100 degrees? What's the 30 minute cooling down period for?

Anyone?

[kiskideesameanoldmother]

if you boil a full kettle of water, waiting 30 mins will allow it to cool to 70 degs which is the recommended temp to add the formula. So it is a guideline to use without using a thermometer, i suppose.

[FAQ]

there's no WAY that the water in our kettle cools down to 70 in just 30 minutes! Takes much longer than that!

[kiskideesameanoldmother]

70 degrees celsius from 100 degrees celsius

[verylittlecarrot]

But WHY is 70 degrees the recommended temp? I mean, what is special about 70 degrees? Surely, the hotter the water, the more likely the bacteria is to be destroyed?

I hate instructions that don't explain themselves.

[kiskideesameanoldmother]

because any bacteria or viruses present in the formula powder are killed in 4 secs at that temp.

[verylittlecarrot]

It just seems like it would be a further complication then; boil water, sit and wait for 30 minutes before making up... with no benefit to the wait at all. I must be missing something...

[kiskideesameanoldmother]

read all about it at the link near the bottom of the pdf doc.

[Daisymoo]

You don't have to wait for 30 minutes, you can do it straight away, the point is that after that time the water will no longer be hot enough to kill the bugs.

[verylittlecarrot]

Thanks for the link, kiskidee. I've read the documents, and I still don't have the answer. The instructions are clear, but the rationale is absent. I promise I'm not being awkward, but I think adults should be treated as adults and explanations given properly alongside instructions, or else people draw their own conclusions, which are sometimes wrong.

For instance, it seems apparent that some people believe that water must be boiled and cooled, (ie "I must treat the water") but that the cooled, refigerated water can be then used to mix with the powder (so, missing the point about the powder needing HOT water to be added to it to kill the bacteria in the powder)

My question remains - why is 70 degrees supposed to be better than 100 degrees? In all other examples that I can think of, 100 degrees would be more effective (and far less faff too)