CONFUSED! what's the best way to make up formula feeds?

[dinkyboysmum]

i'm a little confused about the best way to make up formaula feeds!

i'd like to make up 7 feeds in one go, in preparation for the whole day, but i'm unsure as to how to do it!

should i add formula to boiled water whilst still hot? then put all the feeds in the fridge & re-heat when needed?

Or should i put cooled boiled water in the fridge on its own, then reheat and add formula as needed?

How does everyone else do it?
ALso, how do you do it at night? how long can water, or formula, be kept at room temperature before being used?

thanks


ps i'm using cow and gate 'comfort' formula

[shinysink]

Hi,

The advice regarding this has recently changed. The lastest advice can be found here

[lulumama]

formula should be used within an hour of being warmed or taken out of the fridge

at night, it might be useful to use cartons or to pre boil water, measure and pour into the sterilised bottles, and use a powder dsipenser to add the formula to teh water, the feed is then room temp, and no warming required, and again, should be used within the hour

not what the guidelines advise, but i did this for both of my DCS

[dinkyboysmum]

thanks for that link....but how does it work in practise?

in theory i should boil water and make up each feed as soon as it is needed...so i can't make up 7 in advance?

at night, for example, i dont think my crying ds will wait whilst i faff around running boiling water under a tap till it cools!

what does everone else do?

[dinkyboysmum]

i dont think cow and gate comfort comes in a pre-made carton?

[lulumama]

ok....in that case you could try getting a powder dispenser

[WanderingTrelawney]

I've always done the same as lulumama - left the water to cool to room temperature, then add powder.

Interesting to see the guidelines have changed. Creates a huge faff in the night though - do you go boil the kettle, fill a bottle, plunge the boiling bottle into the freezer till it cools, all with a howling baby balanced on your shoulder?!

I worked for a French family - they used Evian to make up formula. Useful if you're out and about and can't time water cooling. Do NOT use other bottled or mineral water to make up bottles, I was told Evian is the only safe one to use - others have too many minerals or some'at.

[ComeOVeneer]

HAve to say I filled the bottles with water and added the powder when needed, but ds was only on 4 bottles a day when I swapped from bding, it also helped that he had it at room temp so when out and about we din't need to find ways to heat the bottle

[mamimwnci]

I make up the night feeds (and day) with any temperature water that been boiled at some point, add the formula and put in the fridge.

When I need them I microwave the bottle (obv with the top part off it) and shake it really really well. If you don't want to microwave sit the bottle in boiling water to heat up, doesn't take too long.

[dinkyboysmum]

so you don't ever reheat the cooled boiled water? just keep it at room temp?

[dinkyboysmum]

mamimwnci - thats what i was doing...but apparently its all changed now!

[mamimwnci]

you can reheat the cooled boiled water, it just needs to be used within around an hour after it's been heated.

[WanderingTrelawney]

I don't reheat room temp bottles, no.

[shinysink]

It's just a pain in the bum isn't it?

I used to prepare formula in advance but the advice was different then. This new advice is from the past 18 months. For a while it was deemed okay to let the water cool in the sterile bottles and then make up the feed in them when you needed but apparently even that is no longer advisable!

I have to say that as a HV this new advice is what I have to give new parents BUT I can tell you very honestly that if I had another baby I'd probably do what I did before. That's probably very wrong of me but honestly - I have a life and other things to do. I cannot think how the Mums with several children manage. I suspect they listen to my updated advice, say "Thanks for that" and then very sensibly go on with what they've always done.

[mamimwnci]

I do think that some of the new ways new mums are being told to things e.g ff is going a bit silly!!?

People are scared to use thir own common sense with some things.

I've done it the same with all my 4 and never had any problems
.

[almost30]

We were given no advice on this when we switched to bottles as hv though ff evil.

We ended up making the bottles once a day to cover the next 24 hour period and then refrigerated until they were needed. Only when we went on holiday after 6 months and had no access to a fridge that we tried just adding the powder to the already cooled boiled water and that seemed so much easier.

Not sure which is least bad (as obviously would be best to make each feed up fresh, but that's just not realistic imho).

PS We also used Cow and Gate. Can't remember which one - green box. Did come in cartons, which were v. useful for trips out, but would have been expensive more often.

[sheepgomeep]

Sorry but I'm doing what I have always done. I'm making up several feeds all at once and storing them in the fridge.

This is my 3rd baby and my eldest is nearly 8.

I always use all the feeds in less than 24 hours and chuck away if it goes over plus make sure that I use each feed within the hour.

I usually use cartons when I go out too.

I'm very careful about sterilizing too.

Surely its common sense??

Yes cow and gate does come in cartons dinkyboysmum. DD2 is on cow and gate

[mears]

dinkyboysmum - what you have to remember is that formula milk is not sterile. Once bottles are made up they grow bacyeria. The guidance was changed in response to babies deveoping life threatening diseases - meningitis being one of them.

You couls make all your feeds up at once and keep you fingers crossed that your baby will be OK.

Another way to do it is keep the water hot (in a flask) and add the milk when you need it. A lot of bottles are made this was with containers for the powder. The milk can be cooled under a cold running tap.

Or you can buy cartons of ready made milk.

[dinkyboysmum]

thanks for responses...

does anyone know where to get cow&gate comfort formula in ready-made cartons? i cant find them anywhere!

[slinkyjo]

boots should do them

[dinkyboysmum]

no...they do all other cow&gate types, but not comfort???????????

[trace2]

i do same as lulumama

[fannyannie]

of course you then have to hope that your DC will drink room temp milk.....neither DS2 or DS3 would/will despite our best efforts.....warmed slightly and they down it.

FWIW I make mine up inadvance (with powder) and put in the fridge....then reheat (in the microwave) as needed. I know guidelines have changed but I'm just going to take that risk.....

One thing I don't get though is if you add the water to the bottles and leave them - surely they're no longer sterile then anyhow??? Or are you supposed to sterilised the bottles one at a time as you need them??

[Bubbaloo]

Apparently if you steralise the bottles,put the cooled water in and do them up they remain sterile for 24 hours and don't need to be put in the fridge-they can be left on the side.I was told this when I rang the Aptimal helpline number recently.This is what I now do,then add the powder as needed and heat for a couple of seconds in the microwave and shake well.
With Ds1 I was very lazy and only bought the pre made cartons,so made 6 bottles at a time and left them all in the fridge.

[mrsdelboy]

For my ds I did the same as bubaloo, but once I added the cooled water into the bottles, I put them in the fridge. I then added the formula when needed and heated in microwave. He has always ben fine.

With my dd who is now 4, I made all the feeds for the next 24hours and just kept them in the fridge and she was also fine!

[fedupwasherwoman]

I'm aware of the "new" guidelines but felt that I was very thorough in my sterlization and cleanliness when keeping bottles of formula milk chilled so I carried on doing what I'd done first time around.
(dh left the fridge doo ajar once and as I had no idea how long it had been I chucked the lot away, made a fresh batch and went and bought a fridge thermometer.

I did discuss it with my HV and she said that there are plenty of parents who, for whatever reason, are not so thorough and its all about minimising the risk for the population as a whole. She also knew of no reasons not to use a m/wave for re-heating other than the uneven heating and risks if the bottle was not sufficiently shaken but from experience first time round you get the same effect from warming a bottle in a jug of hot water plus there's a safety issue of having very hot water aound the home if you have other small children.

She did say that one good effect of the advice to make each feed up from scratch is that it makes it makes breast feeding look like an easier option to prospective first time mums as breastmilk is always at the right temperature and it was hoped that it would increase the breastfeeding rates amongst first time mums who did not know about the old way of making up a batch of bottles all at the same time.