Making up bottles after 6 months

[Udderly]

I've been mix feeding for the past month using the pre-made cartons of formula but now I want to use the powder. How does that work? Do I still have to boil water and all that faff?

[Seona1973]

yes you are supposed to use boiled water as the powder is not sterile and the hot water is needed to kill the bacteria in it.

[RitaMorgan]

Yes, boil the water and add it to the powder within 30 minutes so it is mixed at 70 degrees or above, then cool to drinking temperature (under a tap or in a bowl of cold water). If you want to make in advance, make it up hot then cool as quickly as possible and put in the back of the fridge - has to be used within 24 hours but ideally as soon as possible.

[mousesma]

You do still have to use water above 70C but it doesn't have to be a faff. If you boil the kettle then add to boiling water to the powder straight away then cool the bottle in a bowl of cold water with an icepack then I find you can make a bottle from fresh in just over 10 mins.

[Udderly]

Can you just add the boiling water straight from the kettle and not let it stand for 30 mins? I was wondering was there a reason why I shouldn't but the bug killing seems to be all about the formula, not the water so I can't see why not?

[mejon]

I don't wait for the kettle to cool 30 minutes Udderly. I use half just boiled water to disolve the powder then afterwards add the other half of previously boiled and cooled water using a clean bottle to get the correct measurements right. This makes the bottle just right for DD to drink straight away.

[Udderly]

I would never think of that!!! Brilliant! Thanks everyone for all your help!!

[RitaMorgan]

There's been some discussion about whether using boiling water can damage some of the vitamins in the formula, but I suspect the 30 minutes thing is more so you don't scald yourself/your baby and sue the manufacturers.

[cobweb1979]

Its a stupid bit of guidance as it depends on your kettle and how much water you've boiled as to what temp it will be after 30 mins!

[mousesma]

Boiling water can damage some of the vitamin C but studies have only shown this to be a problem for young preterm babies. I agree with RitaMorgan that the advice to cool for 30 mins is more about the scalding risk.

My kettle actually takes about 10 mins to cool a litre of water to just above 70C after 30 mins its more like 40C. I think the British guidance should be like the Irish Guidance and advise the use of a thermometer to test how fast your kettle cools the water.

[TheSkiingGardener]

We boil the kettle in the morning, let it cool a bit and then put it in a flask. Then we use that and a flask of cooled boiled water from the fridge to get it to drinking temperature. If you make one bottle up properly you can note what the finished volume is.

[cobweb1979]

I keep a bowl of water in the fridge to sit the bottle in to cool it faster than it would with cold water from the tap.