Formula Feeding - How do you do the night feed?

[jumpyjan]

Wonder if anyone can help. I am stopping breast feeding and switching to a bottle at the moment. DS has not had a bottle before and was not too happy to start with but managed to take a couple of oz's earlier - so fingers crossed.

Anyway, I am struggling to understand how you are supposed to prepare a bottle in the middle of the night. DS normally wakes around 3am for a feed. On the box it says to boil the kettle and leave for 30 mins but obviously DS will have screamed the house down by that point! How are you supposed to do it?

[glasgowlass]

I used to buy the ready made cartons for the night feeds.

[FiveGoMadonTheDanceFloor]

I have one ready made in the fridge and warm it up, or use a carton.

[jumpyjan]

Thanks Glasgowlass - so with the ready made cartons do you just give to baby as they are at room temperature?

Fivegomad - how do you warm the bottle up? I have not got a bottle warmer - can you just stand it in boiling water for a bit?

[FiveGoMadonTheDanceFloor]

That works well.

[alexw]

or microwave but make sure you giver it a good shake.

[elliepac]

I would second/third etc. making one up before you go to bed. In fact i would always have a couple in there for emergencies etc. Used to warm up with a kettle and a pan of boiling water. I bought a bottle warmer for DC2 but never used they are far more complicated than they look (ie take more time than a pan of boiling water) so you are not missing anything there. I also admit the older the baby got the less time i took to allow the milk to warm up so baby got used to lukewarm milk...much quicker when you're standing there in the middle of a january night

[MarkStretch]

Keep cooled boiled water in the fridge.

Boil kettle.

Pour boling water onto formula to fill half the bottle, then top up with cooled boiled water and it should be drinking temp.

[mrsjuan]

Just a suggestion -I don't know your circumstances but could you not continue breastfeeding at night even if just for a while? It would be easier & your supply would soon adapt.

[ExplodingBananas]

I have a carton, clean bottle, scissors, bowl and a flask of hot water all ready on bedside table.

Can make up a bottle in dead of night before baby has woken up properly!

[RachieW]

You could try offering room temperature bottles rather than warm ones. My ds will only drink cooled bottles now. That way you can do what we do, fill the bottle with the boiled water before you go to bed, measure the correct amount of formula into one of these and then mix them together when your dc wakes. As long as your bottles are sterile and the water has been boiled it will be fine. I'm paranoid about making a bottle up completely and then leaving it for a few hours but this way the milk hasn't been mixed until you actually need it.

[tootsweets]

Hi,

I have bottle fed 4dcs and have used the Lindam night and day system. Costs about £30 and is a cool box with ice pack that holds two bottles (can be any make not just Lindam). It has a nightlight and a heating chamber that you fill with a measured amount of water from a measure which is also included. So that is 2 nightfeeds where you don't have to get out of bed! Bought mine in mothercare or boots. Hope this helps.

[MarquesDeLeon]

Long time ago but used to have sterilised bottles with boiled water in them ready to go (not refrigerated, so room temperature), microwaved them briefly so warm and then added formula powder and shook vigorously. Doesn't adding boiling water to formula kill off the vitamins? Like boiling vegetables?

[lechatnoir]

I'm seriously grateful to the HV who told me to start offering bottles at room temp - you never have to worry about bottle warming or keeping milk refridgerated so lovely & quick at night and very convenient on the move.

Before bed each night I wash & sterilise all my bottles then add the correct amount of boiled water. Lids on and left on the side (ie not the fridge) to cool until I'm ready to use during the course of the next 24 hours when I just add the correct amount of formula using one of the tubs RachieW posted.

I've done this with both my boys and never had any problems & always amazed how many people bother with bottle heating etc.
LCN

[jumpyjan]

Thanks for all the replies and lots of suggestions of how to deal with the nightfeeds.

MrsJuan - I may continue to breastfeed at night. I am not really sure what I am doing at the moment - I just know that I want to stop breastfeeding/get some sleep but am not really sure how to go about it. So far we have replaced the bedtime feed (6/7pm ish) and the breakfast feed (8am ish). I think I better leave it at that for a couple of days otherwise I am going to get very uncomfortable. I guess I am really hoping that switching to formula will mean DS (5 months) will sleep through and will therefore not need a night feed.

I am just a bit frustrated at the lack of information I can find on stopping breastfeeding or general questions on formual feeding.

[glasgowlass]

Jumpy

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you! My DS takes the cartons at room temp so I used to leave one out in the kitchen and have a timer on steraliser to come on around and hour before he used to waken for a night feed, so it was only a matter of assembling bottle/pouring in carton. Took all of 2 mins and he was being fed!

Hope you can reach some sort of resolution to your problem soon.

[BertieBotts]

Marques no, adding boiling water to formula powder will not "kill off" the vitamins - it does however kill off any bacteria lurking in the powder which is why it is recommended to make feeds up with near-boiling water.

HTH