Mumsnet please can you update your bottlefeeding info section?

Tee I read somewhere that although it may be unlikely that your baby will become ill as a result of 'bad' formula, but if they do, there is a 20% mortallity rate.
The main risk groups I believe are prem babies and those under 6 weeks.
Obviously the guidlines are there for a reason and it is up to each of us to decide if we are happy to risk whatever negative outcome we may experience.

Wouldn't the campaign be better if it required manufacturers to make the formula sterile rather than having to follow ridiculously impractical guidelines?

Honestly, when my son is hungry, I am not going to boil a new kettle, wait 30 minutes, mix up the formula and then cool it down. He'd be shouting the house down by then. He's 10 months old and I have never made him a bottle that way and he's never been ill because of it.

I mean, really, if there was un-sterile food for a grown up on the grocery shelves that might make a person ill, people would be livid!

In the US they some how make it sterile as the guidelines say to only use boiling water if your GP says you have to, i.e. your baby is poorly.

Of course in the US it says the same thing about sterilizing bottles.

Definitely a good idea.

When I started f'feeding dd1 I was told by a variety of HVs to

a) make it up in advance and put it in the fridge

b) leave cooled boiled water on the side and add formula for each feed

Of all the mums I know who have f'fed I think I am the only one who makes it up with >70 degree water (either with the half and half method, microwaving cooled boiled water up to 70 degrees and adding formula), and think I am being a bit mad doing it the way I do it.

It would also seem that the one way that a lot of people find a little unworkable is the method they put on the tin.

Good idea to make things clearer. People get very defensive about this for some reason - not liking to think they are doing/did it 'wrong' - but the guidelines are clear, there are perfectly manageable work-rounds for when guidance can't be followed easily, but many parents (and midwives, and HVs) simply don't know about it all.

absolutely worth campaigning about

what i do find shocking is how long it takes information to filter through and become the norm.

DD is almost 5, and I remember the HV telling me about teh making each bottle up fresh etc etc 3.5 years ago..

and yet, it is like this is surprising new information that can be ignored as it was done differently

having said that, if people want to make an informed decision to do things differently to teh guidelines, taht is there choice, but there needs to be easy clear accesss to to the correct guidelines

links to teh DoH leaflet would be good

Just adding my support, there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding floating around.

Adding my support.

Its every week we get a new thread "how do I make up formula" with the world and his wife telling the OP how their granny/uncle/dog made formula, usually followed by "and it never did us any harm".

There doesnt seem to be a industry standard, with even HCP's advising incorrectly.

Its a serious health risk for babies.