caps for bottles

[mogwai]

Am 38 weeks pregnant so today I opened up the steriliser and took out my feeding bottles to work out what goes where. I have bought the Avent system.

I also looked at my formula to work out how to make it up. It seems I have to make the formula and shake it up with the cap on the bottle.

None of my bottles came with caps. They literally consist of bottle, screw-ring and teat. Do I have to buy these separately? I can't see how I can make up the bottle of formula without the cap.

[mogwai]

what? nobody knows?

[compo]

my sister had this problem too. She enede up buying some more bottles as without caps it's not much good when you want to go out. However if it's just to store in the fridge you can just stir the formula with a sterlised plastic spoon and leave in the fridge uncapped.

[hayleylou]

Maybe me but do you mean the lid for the bottle??

[hayleylou]

Or did you mean the disks that go in the bottle?

[mogwai]

I think I mean both! At least, in the avent system leaflet, there is a picture of some little discs that seem to slot into the lid.

I basically need whatever it takes to be able to shake the bottle and to take it with me if I go out.

Glad you responded - thought I was being ignored because I'm not breastfeeding

[bundle]

you can buy the caps separately, they certainly have them in john lewis and also from the avent website. avent sent me some spare parts for breast pump (had a stress fracture due to over use!) and they were v helpful.

[mogwai]

thanks bundle - I'll see if Mothercare have them today and if not I'll try John Lewis

[mogwai]

by the way, all this sterilising seems quite a faff! I have bought some dummies just in case and have sterilised them to try out the new steamer. I'm now paranoid about touching anything that might go near baby's mouth!

When does sterilising stop? I presume when they can get other things into their mouths!. And I've also wondered how come you don't have to sterilise your nipples if breastfeeding.

You can tell I'm on maternity leave........

[Seona1973]

you dont need to use caps at all. Just make up the bottles by adding powder to the water and assemble the bottle with the teat, ring and lid in place. You can then shake to mix. The hole in the teat sits against the lid and this prevents milk escaping when you shake it. Very few bottles now have caps as they all have teats that fit snuggly into the lid of the bottle. The caps that come for avent bottles are to make the smaller bottles into little food jars for carrying solids.

[chipmonkey]

Mogwai, sterislising is recommended for 1 year for milk and for 6 months for dummies etc. You don't have to sterilise your breasts because the milk is freshly made and doesn't have time to form colonies of bacteria. Bacteria thrive in milk which is why you have to be careful with formula.

[chicagomum]

as seona1973 said you can just make up the bottles and shake them without any leakage as the teat hole touches the inside of the lid, another avent product which is useful if you are bottle feeding is the formula containers, these have 3 compartments that you measure out the formula for 3 feeds and replace the rotating lid. then when you need to make up a feed you just open to cap pour out the measure of powder into the bottle of water shake and go (means you don't need to worry about keeping bottles cool whilst out and using them in a set period of time, and its cheaper than buying cartons or pre measured packets. (one other tip if you start giving the baby feeds at room temp then you won't ever be caught short when out having to find some way of heating a bottle - also with the avent containers you can set up all your bottles for 24hrs with water on the side in the kitchen and the formula measured out and then they don't need to be stored in the fridge - oh and one final thing - always make sure when you go to bed that you have at least one extra bottle ready (than you think you will need during the night) just incase they don't have a proper feed from one (as you have to throw it after 1 hour) and then wake up hungry later as there is nothing worse than sterilizing boiling/colling water etc at 3am with a screaming baby!!! Good luck and enjoy your new one when he/she arrives (ps the advent containers are avaliable in Boots for about £4.99)

[chicagomum]

just seen your other thread and realised i've just pretty much repeated what everyone else said!!! ooops

[Twiglett]

mogwai best advice I would give would be to

wash and sterilise all bottles you need for a day and a night and fill with required amoutn of freshly boiled water

then just put on the teat and cap and leave them on the side till you need them (do not refridgerate)

buy a couple of travel formula containers from Mothercare .. they are small and round and divided into 3 sections and measure out your formula again first thing in morning / last thing at night

then when baby needs feeding .. grab a bottle, tip up one section of powder .. put on teat and cap and shake vigorously .. no need for warming because its room temp already so easy

[Twiglett]

oh if you use dishwasher to wash out bottles and teats you don't technically need to steam sterilise at all

[Twiglett]

arse .. just realised have repeated others .. ignore me

[chicagomum]

twiglett- do you find that washing in the dishwasher gets them clean enough i find if i do that the teats still feel sort of greasy and i end up washing them again by hand, over here they recommend only sterilising anything until 4 months then just washing and they don't use boiled water for making up formulam(ds is nearly 6 months and i still sterilise and boil i think the extra hassle is worth it compared to dealing with food posioning)

[mogwai]

thanks for all your tips ladies, very useful advice about the storage thing for the powder.

Since I last posted I've been to mothercare who didn't stock the caps but told me that asda and boots did (and even how much they are). However, neither asda or boots had them so I ended up buying storage jars that came with extra caps!

And all along I could have just made it up with the teat and shook it... I just thought the power would get clogged in the teat. Doh!

[chicagomum]

sometimes the powder does clog the teat abit but with extra shaking it usually clears if not you can either rinse it out with boiling water or put on a clean teat from another bottle but as long as the water isn't freezing it usually dissolves quite easily