Husband making formal without levelling off scoop

[zeddybrek]

Hi All

I have gone totally mental at DH. Our PFB is now exclusively formal fed and I saw my husband make up his feed for the first time by chance. He didn't level off each scoop and instead roughly guessed it.

When I saw this I went completely mad and told him off and he thinks I am being precious.

Can you lovely ladies please tell me if measuring out the exact formula is really that important or am I being pedantic for wanting to follow instructions on how to make up a feed properly.

I'm so angry at him just for his laziness.

TIA

Yes, he should do it properly. But if you are so cross you can't look at him over this, the next few months are going to be very, very tough. Try and cut each other some slack.

I imagine these only a certain amount that will dissolve. If he was putting way too much in all that would happen is that you'd have some powder in the bottom of the bottle.

Too little May be a bit of an issue though

Sounds like you're using Hipp. The first time we got it, DH didn't realise what the bit if cardboard was for, and when he did, found it really, really hard to level off and get the excess into the bag. So did I! Their boxes are dreadful, and are the main reason we don't use that brand.

If you have a friend using another brand (Aptamil or C&G fine, never seen SMA), ask them if you can have an old box, wash it out a bit and stick your formula in it. They have an easier to use leveller and no stupid bags. Minimal effort for a lazy DH!!

Caveat - I don't know if this satisfies health guidelines, but formula's not sterile anyway, so I thought it would be OK. DC is fine and we've done it a couple of times.

Counting and levelling all the scoops did my head in, until I bought this www.clevamama.com/index.php/products/feeding/clevascoop

Best. Thing. Ever!!

these are excellent too OP.

Get some and pre fill them. they save SO much time and anger when you want to make a bottle fast. You can pre fill them, leave them out and DH or you can just tip the right amount in....knowing it's correct.

I would have been very cross and the "my child survived" argument isn't relevant.

Too much formula means too much 'solid' and not enough liquid therefore a painfully constipated baby.

Choosing to cause this rather than just level the fucking scoop is pathetic.

Its all well and good saying "the odd heaped scoop" wont hurt but a baby may well have six feeds a day, four scoops in each. Thats 24 scoops all of which could be too full of powder.

He sounds obstinate rather than lazy if he knows how to do it and refuses. That would have made me angry too. As many PP have pointed out the powder/water ratio is important.

Thanks again everyone.

I am back at home now and DH has apologised and admitted he should have been making up the feeds correctly.

I am still upset at him as he knows he was taking a shortcut when he shouldn't have been. I imagine he's probably sorry he got caught.

I also shouldn't have reacted the way I did but like most new mums I am exhausted. Luckily we don't argue like this very often so it's not like we fight over lots of things. I don't think either of us has the energy to!

Thank you to everyone who replied and for the tips such as buying a powder container. I have ordered a couple off Amazon so hopefully that will help.

"There must be some tolerance built into the measure because damn it babies of the same age come in different sizes!..."

Andrewofgg - the scoop size doesn't have anything to do with the size of the baby - it is the right size to produce the correct strength of formula when mixed with 1fl oz of water - a bigger/hungrier baby might need a larger feed, but it should still be the same concentration. Bigger babies don't need a higher concentration of formula powder in the feed.

Yabu.

No need to go "mental" at him. Just explain it to him.

Op you are overreacting, and being quite mean tbh to your other half, it's not like he gave your baby a bottle of gin! He forgot or did not level off the scoop, just remind him nicely next time. You are probably tired and hormonal, hence the overreaction, but give your partner a break!

Measuring formula into a bottle is not an exact science. Some people may choose to pat the spoon a little make it level, others my choose to scrape off the top to make it level.

The manufacturers will know that people follow different habits, and so will allow for that.

Unless he is doubling or halving the recommended amount, I wouldn't worry.

SDTG Understood but babies don't have identical digestive systems either!

The point is that it would not hurt OP's DH to do it her way.

I think 'he obviously didn't realise' is quite a strange response. It is written right there on the side of the carton. It's true that no one is born knowing how to correctly make up a bottle of formula, but if you've read the instructions to see how many scoops to put in in the first place, you will also have read the bit where it says that it is important to level the scoops. Since it is no more effort to scrape the scoop across the corner of the box than not to, I don't understand why anyone wouldn't.

Having said that, I expect that the odd oversized scoop here and there isn't going to do any damage. Half a dozen oversized scoops a few times a day might though.

I'm possibly being thick here, but when I make up formula there is often a little bit of powder stuck to the bottom of the scoop when you tip the powder into the bottle. So it can't be completely dimensionally critical. Or I'm just doing it all wrong

I think 'he obviously didn't realise' is quite a strange response. It is written right there on the side of the carton

Sure, but I reckon the vast majority of people don't actually make up formula exactly as they're supposed to and most probably "don't realise" that they are cutting corners. Most people I've seen doing it have no idea that the powder is opposed to go into hot water to sterilise it. Lots of them seem to thing it's to sterilise the water. Just because the information is readily available doesn't mean everyone is very clear about it.

I used to take a wierd pleasure from levelling off the scoop.

Andrewofgg - it could harm a baby, if formula was consistently made up incorrectly. If it is too dilute, the baby won't get enough nutrition, and if it is too concentrated, it could put extra stress on the kidneys and liver, and could cause dehydration and constipation.

my fil fed ds too much powder as a new born. he couldn't poop and was coughing up solid chunks of powder. not nice