colief against formula advice

[claremumsymidwife]

Hi everyone,
I am a midwife and have been for 6 years, I'm really struggling with what I know is evidence based advice and the instructions for Colief.

Our baby is a week old today and very colicky. We used Infacol to minimal effect so switched to Colief. The only problem is that they recommend that you leave the bottle for 30 minutes after preparation. I always advise my mums to never leave a feed for more than 60 minutes then discard unused formula. But it takes at least 60 minutes to feed baba which means its 90 minutes old.

Another thing I'm struggling with is the fact that you shouldn't pre-prepare feeds and refrigerate. That is a massive thing in midwifery. But overnight you can't keep a baby waiting 30 minutes for a feed! So I've had to pre-prepare my whole nights worth and reheat as required.

How did you all get on with Colief and formula feeding? Did any of your babies get sick from going against what the NHS recommends for safe formula feeding?

Sorry for the long post. It's one thing being a professional and another being a mum!

Clare x

[CultureSucksDownWords]

I thought that refrigerating bottles was acceptable if you really can't make up from fresh? If they're flash cooled and stored immediately in the back of the fridge then the risk is minimal. Some people rave about the perfect prep machine for nighttime formula feeds. Or you could do what the perfect prep does manually by using half hot and half cold water (mix the powder with the hot and then add the cold to get the required amount at a drinkable temp).

Or, you could use ready made formula for night feeds. The cartons can be kept sealed at room temp and if you're lucky your baby will drink them at that temp too.

I also wouldn't worry about the feed being in use for 90 mins. I thought it was a 2 hour limit not 1?

[dementedpixie]

It's 2 hours that you can keep freshly made formula for

[dementedpixie]

plus it is in the guidelines that you can make up milk with hot water, cool it and put it in the fridge for up to 24 hours

[dementedpixie]

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/infant-formula-questions.aspx - scroll down for guidance on the time formula can be kept for once prepared

[Eternalsunshines]

I made bottles up when using colief. It used to be the norm, as long as you are sensible and chuck any left longer then so many hours it will be fine. I.e make a bottle for the night, keep in the fridge but if it's not used in the night don't use it in the morning. If you make the last bottle at say 12am baby will probably wake before 6am so it won't have been there that long anyway?

[TheVeryHungryPreggo]

Welcome to parenting Clare, where your principles and your practices often conflict. It's a shock to the system. (Just wait until you get to the bribery stage!)

I make up bottles and store them in the fridge, less than a day's worth at a time. The NHS best advice is lovely in theory but isn't always workable in practice, especially at 4am when your baby is screaming its head off with hunger and waking the whole household as you are standing there running the scalding bottle under the cold tap for 20 minutes and every minute takes an eternity... Sometimes you just have to do what works best for your family.

I use a clean work surface, sterilised bottles, wash my hands thoroughly and my children have never been sick - not that I can attribute to the formula bottles anyway. When they get to the point of crawling and putting everything they find on the floor straight into their mouths it's anyone's guess!

[tiktok]

Yes, it's two hours during which time formula is considered safe to use...an hour is totally unnecessary :)

Colief has a very weak evidence base, though.

[mrswishywashy]

I've found colief quite faffy to work with but had good results from aptimal easy digest, although I expect all brands have similar ones.

Also as above its ok to make bottles prior to feeds correctly, cool quickly and store in fridge and warm when needed.

You can also do the flask method. So full a clean, sterilised bottle with boiled water and allow to cool. Full a flask with freshly boiled water, water usually lasts above 70 for six hours. When making 4oz formula - pour 2oz of flask water into bottle and mix in powder, then pour 2oz of the already cooled water in. Should be at a good drinking temperature.

[AmandaTanen]

Colief is a faff to use, if it is helping though it maybe worth switching to a comfort milk, I know aptimil and cow and gate do them. The lactose is already broken down so need to for colief and you can make up the bottles following the guidelines that you are comfortable with.

[CanIGoToBedNow]

Your baby is only a week so is still getting used to drinking milk - you'll work out what's best. Maybe try feeding in a different position. Or winding in a specific way.... DS liked over thr shoulder, DD likes across the body, rocking and firm bum pats!

Have not used colief but Infacol in my opinion was only a good indicator of getting all the wind out once you could smell the orangey burps!

First off - use premade milk for the evenings/night times until you are a bit more used to each other.

For both my DCs I've made up 4 bottles at a time - I've fed on demand so it's much easier to have some bottles ready to go in the fridge when you spot the hungry signs.

Have you considered trying different bottles? My DD 8wks really struggled with the tommee tippee No 1 teats. I made the holes a little bigger and that seemed to help. It's all about reducing the air intake.

We moved up to No 2 teats at 4 weeks as she was sucking them inside out!

You'll get there - it's bloody grad at the beginning, but once you get to know each other it will sort it's self out.

Good luck