Formula with a flask?

[AlwaysInLaLaLand]

I am going to be formula feeding from birth (Please - no one try to tell me how good breastfeeding is .. I know already)

Anyway - How would it work with making feeds at night?
We live in a 3 storey house - our bedroom on the top floor, kitchen on bottom floor..
I feel like it would be too much to carry baby downstairs to make each bottle fresh or to leave her crying upstairs while I make a bottle and everybody tries to sleep (my parents will be in room next to ours)

Can I use a flask and keep everything needed upstairs? How would that work?

Thanks in advance!

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

You need to make formula using boiling water as it kills off the bacteria inside the powder. I don't think it would be safe to leave the formula in the flask as it's supposed to be thrown after an hour if un-used. Could you get a kettle and put that in your room, filling it before you go to bed??

[ilovepowerhoop]

could you use cartons for night feeds?

[AlwaysInLaLaLand]

Oh sorry I didn't mean make the formula in a flask .. I meant put boiling water into a flask & powder separate? Then make it all in the bedroom when needed? Maybe cooling it down in bathroom sink?
Although not sure if water would stay hot enough to kill the bacteria..

[cupcake78]

Mix the feeds using very hot water from flask, powder then shake and add some cold.

[jammiedonut]

Cooled boiled water in the bottle. Flask full of hot water. When you need to add formula powder to cooled water and submerge in flask.
This isn't the ideal way of doing it, but is one of the methods described on the formula site (hipp) when I first started formula feeding. If you can, buy a travel kettle and put in your room, make up the feed as usual and cool the outside of the bottle under a running tap. Hopefully your bathroom is closer than your kitchen!!

[Nightfall1983]

Get a good flask - the Thermos brand is great and it will work well. Our flask will keep water above 70 degrees (as needed) for over 12 hrs (I checked with a thermometer).

To make the bottle cool down quicker you can use half hot water (mix all the powder with the hot water so that any bugs are killed) and then cool down by adding half cool water (premeasured from another bottle).

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

Na, the water needs to be boiling to kill off any bugs that are in the formula. It's never a good idea to use hot water as it may not be hot enough. You shouldn't add cold water to the formula/boiling water mix either unless it's already been boiled.

[AlwaysInLaLaLand]

So if I got a flask of boiling water (that should stay hot enough to kill bacteria) and a flask of pre-boiled cold water and the powder measured out separately ..
I could add half hot water, add powder, mix, top up with cold water..
Does that sound safe? I feel really stupid for asking but at 38 weeks I'm just starting to panic about the small things!

[canyou]

I used a quick boil kettle in the bed room it boils 1 cup only so water was boiled and in bottle whilst I opened the formula tin.I think it boils in under a minute.I also had cartons for night feeds.

[AlwaysInLaLaLand]

NightFall Do you need to sterilise the flasks then too or just wash them as normal each time?
Arghh this feels like it should all be so simple but it's not to me :/

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

Just get a travel kettle. Stick some fresh water in it before you go to bed and some cooled boiled water in a sterile bottle. Boil the kettle, stick the powder in the feeding bottle (you need a knife to level it, don't cram the formula in), add some boiling water and shake. Top it up with the cooled boiled water. You could use premade cartons but they get expensive.

[AlwaysInLaLaLand]

Thanks LadyMary that sounds pretty simple actually!

[LadyMaryQuiteContrary]

Actually the gov now say to stick the boiling water into the bottle before the formula , Sorry. It's easy, I'd use a travel kettle though.

[BikeRunSki]

Make up feeds before bed and take them upstairs in a Fridge to Go and warm up under the bathroom hot tap as needed.

[ThedementedPenguin]

Always people always make this so complicated.

However, I used the flask, put in half amount, add all formula, mix then add pre measured cooled boiled water to get the right temp.

You honestly don't need to buy ready made. It's so easy and takes very little time.

My ds actually refused to drink the ready made formula.

From about 5-6 months I made up bottles, cooled them down then pop into the fridge at the back and just microwave.

Honestly, try not to stress you will find your own way of doing it.

[ThedementedPenguin]

Yes always put water in bottle first.

[Nightfall1983]

Erm sorry I missed your question yesterday but: NHS and WHO guidelines state that you don't need to sterilise the flask first, just wash it out. Whoever it was that commented about the water being boiling isn't quite right either - the water should be 70 degrees. I strongly recommend buying a (very cheap) thermometer (mine was £5 from amazon) so that you know what temperature the water is.

Here is the full method for making up bottles 100% safely, quickly and following ALL the guidelines (NHS, WHO, formula manufacturers etc).

In advance:
Measure out the appropriate number of scoops of powder into a clean pot.
Measure out 2/3 of the required boiled water into a sterile container - bottle or similar. So for 6 scoops this would be 120ml.
Fill a (good) Thermos with (boiled) water at around 80 degrees. Either use a thermometer or boil a litre of water in a kettle and wait 20mins.

When needed:
Put 1/3 of water at 80 degrees into a bottle (for 6 scoops this would be 60ml). Add the formula, replace the lid and shake for 10 secs.
Now add the 120ml (or whatever it is) of cool water into the hot formula, shake briefly and it's ready.
TaDa.

My flask is a Thermos branded one that keeps water hot for at least 12 hrs, I've checked with a thermometer and I now boil the kettle and refresh it twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening and it's always ok. Before I got this flask I had a tommee Tippee branded one that only kept the water hot (enough) for a few hrs and had to be boiled 4 or 5 times a day...

Sorry this is really long but since we're talking about it you should know that you must always boil a litre of water for the babies bottle and mustn't boil more than once/boil fresh each time. This is because when you boil water some evaporates and the remaining water has a higher concentration of salts and minerals - boil more than once or boil less than a litre and this concentration becomes too high to be good for baby.

HTH

[Spindelina]

I would suggest that you get a few cartons, too. It's perfectly possible to make up feeds with hot water, as everyone has said. But (as you may have heard) you are likely to be quite sleep deprived and may decide that you aren't capable of pouring a glass of water, let alone making up a feed or that might just have been me

[Bumblebee78]

Why not get a bottle warmer. Sometimes i used to have thecooled boiled water in the bottle, put it in the plug in bottle warmer. When baby woke up in the night, i'd turn it on, by the time i'd changed his nappy and got sorted the bottle was ready. They dont have much at first so it doesn't take long.

Might not be the 'proper' way to do it, but it was ok.

Also, one other tip for night feeds. If you are feeding them out of bed, say in their own room, invest in a onsie wih feet in. I used to take ages to get back to sleep after feeds cos of cold feet! When you get up to baby, get on he onesie and keep toastie!

Good luck!

[midori1999]

I think tommy tippee do a gadget that makes up a bottle of formula using hot enough water to kill bacteria and then has it at ready to drink temperature in 2 minutes. If I was going to FF I think that would be my preferred option for making feeds.

[Phineyj]

We used SMA readymade bottles - just open and pour into a bottle or add a teat (Sainsbury's sell 'disposable' teats that fit into them and can be resterilised). They don't need refrigerating. We did warm them to begin with but stopped bothering as DD did not care about temperature. I found using flasks and kettles at night created a risk of spilling water/burning yourself when sleep deprived.

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

I used a flask then ran it under the cold tap to cool it, lots of people seem to add cooled boiled water though to cool

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

I heard that Midori, think its quite expensive but its probably worth the money

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

Its called tommee tippee prep machine and is £100

[mamij]

No. Don't use boiling water - about 70 degrees celsius should be enough. I think I read somewhere boiling water will kill off the nutrients and vitamins?? So water in a flask, and cooled down should be enough.