Making bottles question

[jojoisamum]

I know this is a difficult subject and responses can vary but should I:

Boil kettle, let cool, fill bottles and refrigerate - add formula when needed.

Or

Add formula to water then refridgerate?

It's a minefield out there!

Thank you.

[Becky77]

I think the current recommendation is boil kettle and make up formula before water has cooled for half and hour and the cool it down by running under cold water... This is supposed to be done before each feed. Personally I think it is completely impractical.

[ThatBigGermanPrison]

YOu are supposed to boil water freshly each time, leave to cool for 1/2 an hour, then add formula, then cool to appropriate temperature ... Yeah, try telling a week old baby that lunch will be served in 45 minutes!

I have seen advice here to keep a sterile jug of boiled water in the fridhe, then to make eg a 4 oz bottle, make it with 2 oz boiling water, 4 scoops of powder, shake it to mix it, then add the remaining 2 oz of water from the chilled wter in the fridge, which cuts the process to about 5 minutes.

[Kelix]

Officially your not suppost to refridgerate at all - but - I boil kettle, leave to cool a little then put in water and formula, shake, leave to cool and then refridgerate.

Never done DD any harm.

[MrsBadger]

hang on, I have the real DoH leaflet
[rummages]

here you go

general rule is the water must be hot when it hits the powder.

[hollyandnoah]

I boil the kettle, leave it to cool for half an hour or there about, add formula and leave at room temp. I do my whole days supply at once.
You are supposed to do one at a time before the feed, but if you ask me that is a pain in the bum! Leaves you rushing around while baby screams his head off in the background. My hv said to me not to make them all up at once, i asked her why there were 4 spaces in my steriliser if a bottle only stays sterile 2 hours and she couldnt answer me :|

[Becky77]

I make my bottles up in the morning with freshly boiled water cooled for half an hour then put them in the refigerator... Then heat them up just before feeding... It worked for our Mothers, why the mad, impractical panic now?

[lauraloola]

I make up 5 complete bottles at a time and heat them when I need them. I dont however keep them for longer then 24 hours. I leave them at room temperature aswell - 5 minutes quicker to heat then if in the fridge.

I agree with Becky - It has been done that way for years, why change it now? Dd is 12 weeks old now and perfectly healthy. Plus its so much easier to heat when you have a screaming baby!

[MrsBadger]

um, because we know more about the nasty bacteria formula powder can harbour than our mums did.

that's why

[Spoo]

I used to make up the bottles with cooled boiled water and leave at room temperature, then add the formula as and when I needed it and feed at room temperature. Probably woulld be arrested for being so irresponsible now.

[lulumama]

i woudl advise ready made formula for newborns due to unpredictability of feed times if you don;t want to follow new guidelines

[hollyandnoah]

yeh, cartons of formula can be really handy. My ds only has 3 a day now though but a few months ago the cartons were great!

[MatNanPlus]

I pour bottled water into clean lidded pan and boiled (am in Sicily, tap water unsafe and we have no kettle,) water left to cool, is then poured to correct level in freshly sterilised bottle, lid screwed on and put on the worktop out of any sunlight and powder is added at time of feed, bottles done every day like this. Have been done that way for 19yrs with no tummy upsets, if water not warm then bacteria can't grow and as bottle is made and used straight away no time either.

[nobodysfool]

MATNANPLUS- Thats how it did it with ds (now 3).
He always had room temp bottles.
It never did him any harm and he didn't have to wait long for his bottle.

[MatNanPlus]

Exactly NOBODYSFOOL so so easy when you are out and about.

[MatNanPlus]

I will give the parents i work with the DoH guidelines and then my guidelines and only 2 wanted to do the Doh way and after their 1st weekend alone they moved to my way.

[lulumama]

but the bacteria that needs killing by the hot water is in the formula powder itself.. so that is why the new method is recommended

[MatNanPlus]

but it needs warmth to multiply else it would make the powder off before the sell by date which is often 2yrs after manufacture.

[lulumama]

if the bacteria is already there is surely needs killing, rather than a chance to multiply

[spottedandstriped]

Can you get one of the litre pre-prepared formula packets and make bottles for the day and then take several out - or would they need to be kept in the fridge? Just thinking about my holiday.

[charchargabor]

This says that although formula is made from sterile liquid, bacteria can be introduced in the end stages of production, when it is freeze dried into a powder. Stored in an airtight container, the necessary conditions are not there for bacteria to multiply. But once reconstituted all the optimum conditions are there. Leave it on a counter for a few hours and the powder can multiply. Don't see why anyone would take the risk tbh.

[MatNanPlus]

prepared last for 24hrs in the fridge and just 1 hr outside.

This 'new' knowledge of bacteria has always been known just more public now as the real cause of alot of gastro isn't the way the formula is made it is because bottles/teats aren't cleaned properly, so using 70'C water does that job too.

As i said never in 19yrs has a baby in my care had a tummy bug, to my way of thinking if you aren;t providing the possible bacteria with what it needs - warmth,liquid then it is no a problem.

[charchargabor]

If the bacteria is already there then you don't need to provide it with what it needs, it's already there, which is why it needs killing.

[lulumama]

that may be the case for you , matnanplus, but if you are a health care professional or child care professional you should always, always, always without exception only offer what is best practice. then if the parents choose to do something a different way, there can be no comeback.

[Seona1973]

once the cartons of pre-made formula are opened then they need to be refridgerated so you couldnt take them out and about with you unless you kept them chilled in a cool bag.

I did the boiled water left at room temperature and added powder when required. There is a WHO leaflet (it is a pdf file) that says you can do this when there is no access to boiled water so I didnt see why I couldnt do it all the time:

What if I do not have access to boiling water?

The safest way to prepare a feed is using water that has been boiled and cooled to no less than 70ºC.

? If you do not have access to boiling water, you may wish to use sterile liquid infant formula.

? Alternatively, you can prepare feeds using fresh, safe water at room temperature and consume immediately.

? Feeds prepared with water cooler than 70ºC should not be stored for use later.

? Throw away any left-over feed after two hours.

[MuchLessTiredNow]

look at the tommee tippee bottles (closer to nature) and the poweder capsules which fit inside. I found these with dc3 - flipping wish they had been around earlier. put the sterilised water in the bottle, put the capsule with powder in the neck space and you can go all day with no worries at all.