AIBU to not follow new guidelines?

[LittleSugaPlum]

Im pregnant with first baby and im almost 33 weeks.
I plan to bottle feed and have brought all the equipment already.

When i was a nursery nurse, around 5 years ago, it was common to "bulk make bottles" and store them in the fridge for upto 24hours.

When i mentioned to my midwife that i was bottlefeeding, she mentioned that the new guidelines were to make up a feed when needed and its not recommended to "bulk make feeds"

Have people honestly stopped doing this? Do people actually only make one feed at a time?

Im seriously considering bulk making, if it was fine for years, whats the difference now?

AIBU to not follow the new guidelines?

Ooh, you are about to enter lion's den...

We prepared water in bulk, then made up individual bottles when needed. Most people I know do this. But this is not guidelines and apparently as powder is not sterile I am crazy. But I do t understand how putting powder in 70 degree water sterilises it....!

I thought actually, that bulk prep is considered best still.

Your baby, your choice.

YANBU.

I made my dc bottles up once a day all six at the same time and keep them in the back of the fridge, my kids never once got ill from doing it that way, and I would do exactly the same again if I had anymore!

The powder isn't sterile and the water needs to be a certain temperature to kill all the bacteria.

Sterilising equipment is a personal choice, I think, but the powder can harbour a rare but particularly nasty type of bacteria which can be fatal to young babies.

Very unlikely to happen, but still a (tiny) risk.

Sorry, that was in answer to the question: "if it was fine for years, whats the difference now?"

To expand, I guess from a health and safety point of view the manufacturers are now aware of this issue and forced to issue guidance on it.

IIRC, the most important thing is that the bottles are made with water at at least 70 degrees. It's safest to make the bottle fresh with water at 70degrees, cool immediately and feed. The next safest option is to make several bottles with water at 70degrees, cool immediately (by placing in a bowl of very cold water) and the refrigerate at the back of the fridge and use within about 12 hours.

YABU for using "brought", when I assume you "bought" them. Sorry pet hate.

all mine had bulk bottles made up,esp with the twins none of them got ill from it.

To be honest, in those first few weeks, I would use the ready made stuff in the cartons. Saves all the faff. I lost count of the number of bottle I threw away because I was so tired I couldn't count the number of scoops properly.

As long as they are made up properly (with the 70C water), I was told it was OK to fast cool them and keep them in the fridge for 24 hours. In general I only make up one or two in advance. I'm not entirely sure it's any quicker to heat up a cold one in boiling water, than make up a hot one from scratch and cool it down. Probably easier to do with a screaming baby in your ams though.

I have made my bottles up in 3-4 batches. I make them as per the guidelines, flash cool them, then store them at the back of the fridge for about 12 hours at the most. There is an NHS leaflet re bottle preparation which you can download. My midwife gave it to me although I have realised that not all do. There is a section on making up several bottles at a time.

You are better to make up the bottles as prep guidelines then safely store them as opposed to feck about with hot and cold water etc.

i will get flamed for this but...dont listen to anti bottle propaganda,as long as the water is freshly boiled(the sodium content increases the longer it sits)
use sterile bottles/teats and store them at back of fridge for no longer than 24 hours it will be fine.

No one died here or got the shits with 8 bottles in the fridge

No - one died or got burned with them being microwaved either

What about giving breast feeding a go? It is completely sterile, totally portable and requires no equipment or refrigeration (not to mention the health benefits for mother and baby).

Ahh i knew everyone wouldnt be messing around with bottles one at a time!

When the midwife/Health Visitor comes round, will they be checking how i make bottles etc?

Knowing my luck, i ll get a patronising one, who ll look in my fridge and see my prepared bottles all lined up!

But Rose then you need to sterilise your breasts and that hurts!

I'm sure the OP is an adult capable of making her own decision on how to feed her baby.

The guidelines change because continually ongoing research discovers new things and so the information dished out to parents is updated accordingly.

Making up a bottle with water

My kids are 10, 9 and 5. The guidelines changed with each of them- from when to wean to how to prepare bottles etc etc. I did what I was used to after the first, which was to get DH to sterilise and make up all bottles in the morning and store in fridge. Each was microwaved and shaken prior to feeding. I also stopped sterilising at 6 months for the last baby, once I realised that being in a hot-wash dishwasher was doing the same thing.

My DSs are all v healthy, still alive and never had tummy problems.

Do what's easiest for you, within your own "I'm comfortable with this" boundaries.

Bulk making bottles and storing at the back of the fridge is the next best thing to making up fresh each time. There was NO WAY I was going to make them up one at a time in the middle of the night. YADNBU

A little bit of evidence based research, if you wanted to read something explaining the reasoning behind the new guidelines:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16881878

cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/7/996.full

www.medicalonlinemedia.com/2011/03/dangers-of-enterobacter-sakazakii-in-powdered-milk-formula/

Rose I wont entertain breast feeding, and i know that sounds very selfish, but i read on here alot how attached the babies come to the breast, feeding for hours on end, sore nipples etc.

Plus im abit body concious and theres no way i could breast feed in public, or infront of anyone even if i was more or less covered. Theres no way i would feel comfortable with that.

And i dont want my daughter to see me as the "milk supply" whenever she sees me, which is something i ve read alot on, on here.

Yes babies do get attached to their mothers breast, because that is what they are supposed to do! It's only natural after all

What i mean is, they wont stop breast feeding, its hard to get them to wean off it etc.

Its just not for me im afraid

Maybe not, but you won't know for definite until you give it a try