To think the recommended forumla prep is impractical?!

[sleepwhatsleep]

So it's 3am and DS who is newborn starts to stir, waking me up. I go downstairs and pick up the leaflet on bottle feeding so follow the instructions of the current recommended advice which say a bottle should only be made up when the baby asks for it. So, no second guessing. Wait until you see the signs. So.

First I have to pray to all that is holy that DS is only at the early stiring stage so that I have enough time to make this bottle.

Because it takes more than 45 minutes to prepare a bottle following the guidelines.

First you boil the kettle and then leave it for 30 minutes. In the meantime patiently explain to the baby that there isn't any evidence behind using the perfect prep machine and premaking bottles in the fridge is also only if "absolutely necessary".

Then make up the feed in the sterile bottle.

Obviously it is too hot still. So you have to hold the still pretty hot bottle under a cold water tap. That's what the leaflet says. My top record for cooling it down this way is 15 minutes, minor burns and 37 swear words on how long this is taking while DS becomes impatient.

Then feed the baby.

We did this for 24 hours. At the end of the night I had spent £70 for a tommee tippee perfect prep machine and I cackled with hysterical glee and tears of joy as the delivery man handed it to me.

I get that it's based on evidence but AIBU for not blaming myself and others for buying the perfect prep machine? Midwife was not impressed.

[Nousernameforme]

Is it because formula nowadays is not as safe as it once was?
Or is it because they like to make bottle feeding as faffy as possible in order to encourage breastfeeding as an easier alternative?
My elder DD and DS were both bottle fed and it was the old make up bottles night before quick cool them whack em in the fridge when needed warm them up.

Just checked the guidelines and it doesn't say you can't just that it's best to make them up one at a time.

[Babyamazon]

You're more likely to burn you baby trying to cool down a boiling bottle at 3am then by microwaving it.

Perfect prep are expensive and possibly unsafe.

The NHS and the WHO still give guidelines for making up and storing bottles, they just say the safest way is to make them fresh.

I've managed not to poison my dc.

[FATEdestiny]

When DS (16yo) and DD (14yo) were babies the standard was to make 24 hours worth in one go. The rules changed by the time I had DS (5yo)

It's been within NHS advise to make up 24h worth of bottles and store in the fridge for over a decade.

This aspect of NHS advise has not changed.

[Babyamazon]

I strongly suspect the babies made ill was because of a dodgy fridge or bottles kept for too long etc

[SirKillalot]

I used to make up bottles in advance and keep them in the back of the fridge. This was all in the last four years with both DC.

[Summerholsdoingmyheadin]

It was the powder amazon I'll see if I can find any news articles on it.

[AndNowItsSeven]

WHO guidelines say bottles can stay in the fridge for 24 hours. The sterilising the powder is hysterical. Yes it's not sterile , it really does not need to be.
Babies were not getting sick before the guidelines were changed, we do have more of a culture of compensation claims now.

[CalmerLlama]

You can recreate the Perfect Prep cheaply and safely with no worries about messing up water amounts by just keeping a couple of baby bottles full of cooled boiled water in the fridge and using the measurements on them to top up the bottles. Eg, if you do an 8oz bottle carefully measure 4oz boiling water into the bottle, add the required powder for 8oz, shake well then add 4oz of the cold boiled water (measuring from the bottle from the fridge, not measuring from the level of the made-up bottle, ie if the bottle of cooled water used to have 10oz in it should now have 6oz in, and the made up bottle will read over 8oz because of the powder in it). Long winded explanation but used to be able to do a bottle in 5 mins from getting out of bed that way.

[WankingMonkey]

Erm, I seem to have been given false advice. Health visitor told me to boil kettle and measure out water into bottles, then just add powder to each bottle as it needed used. Warm up IF baby likes it warm but thats it.

So effectively, just make it with cold water.

I have done this for 2 years and he still likes a bottle at bedtime now which I have (until now) prepared the same wayN never had any stomach issues or anything. Infact has only been sick once past baby posetting stage and that was due to a bug.

It is quite unnerving that doing this may have caused him actual harm when I was acting on the advice of a 'medical professional'. Whether or not harm HAS came to him is irrelevant if it really can be very dangerous to make it this way...

[Summerholsdoingmyheadin]

This article explains it well:
www.cdc.gov/features/cronobacter/

By sterilising the powder with boiling water and feeding baby the bottle within a short time frame the risks of bacteria is decreased. Storing the bottle and reheating allows any bacteria which survived the boiling sterilisation process to mutiply.
Ready made cartons are safe and convenient for night feeds or those who don't like the faff of making bottles.

[FATEdestiny]

Absolutely

It comes down to

• compensation culture
• blame culture
• Breastapo conspiracy that "ff is a faff"

Formula feeding is really simple. It us neither a faff, not difficult, not impractical

Bottle feeding is super easy

[DownWithThisSortaThing]

I made them all fresh.
You don't need to wait 30 minutes after the kettles boiled, you need to use the boiled water from the kettle within 30 minutes after boiling it.

So:

• boil the kettle
  
• pour the water
  
• add the formula and shake
  
• sit the bottle in cold water in the sink and shake occasionally til it's cool enough.
  

It's a 10 minute job
Though if I was feeling lazy I would use a ready made carton during the night!

[FATEdestiny]

(My post was in relation to nowitsseven

[liz70]

I bottle fed three DDs (now 17, 16 and 7). I sterilised the bottles, filled them with boiled water and left them on the worktop. I measured out the formula into dispensers. When, I warmed the bottle of water for a couple of minutes by standing it in a bowl of freshly boiled water, then tipped the powder in from dispenser, shook, and fed. Worked fine for all three DDs.

I do wonder if all the faff detailed in this thread is really necessary for non prem, non immunocompromised babies.

[Ninasimoneinthemorning]

When I had dd1 (21) years ago we made all the bottles up in the morning and warned them when needed. She is fine.

I'll be buying a prep machine when this one evacuates.

[SpunBodgeSquarepants]

My DS just had bottles at room temperature from cooled boiled water. He's still alive and is 2.5

[LouBlue1507]

I love love looooove my perfect prep machine.. Makes a fresh bottle in less than 2 mins! I even take it with me when visiting family etc, it's no hassle!

[CaveMum]

I don't think it's necessarily down to a blame/compensation culture but perhaps we better understand the risks of bacteria being in the powder and how dangerous they can be for a tiny newborn?

Updates in advice aren't a criticism of how things were done 20 years ago, just that our understanding has moved on.

[liz70]

I meant, "when needed, I warmed...".

[DownWithThisSortaThing]

It's not NHS advice to make up bottles in advance even for a day.
They advise that it's best to make them as you go

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/making-up-infant-formula.aspx

[JonahAndTheSale]

Is there actual evidence that the perfect prep machine is unsafe?

I found it a godsend with dd!

Can someone link please?

[Cheby]

It's really not hard to make up safe bottles instantly.

Either boil kettle, measure 1/2 required hot water into bottle, add formula, shake really well. Then add in pre-measured cooked boiled water to make the correct amount.

Or make up bottle with 100% hot water, flash cool in a bowl with cold water and ice.

5 mins max, either method.

The advice about leaving it to cool for 30 minutes is to do with minimising burns from boiling water, it's got nothing to do with the formula prep itself.

[Cheby]

*cooled

[SomedayBaby]

I have always read (and been told by MW's etc) that the most important thing is to mix the powder with near boiling water, to ensure any bacteria in the dry powder is killed. I used to make 6 bottles at a time with boiling water, cool in cold water and then store in the fridge.

A couple of mw's told me that that was 'safer' than using boiled but room temperature water to actually make the bottles as you're not killing any bacteria in the powder that way.

[PotatoBread]

Jonah I haven't seen any evidence that it's unsafe as the first spurt of water that comes out is 70 degrees. My HV doesn't endorse/promote use of it as there is no evidence to prove that it is safe iykwim (that's what she told me anyway).

Haven't come across anything to prove to me that it harms babies so I'll continue to use it.