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.

Part boiled water, add powder then top up with cooled boiled water from the fridge.

When I had ds, 15 years ago-I made up 6 bottles with 8 scoops of formula into a bottle with freshly boiled kettles and when cooled-bunged them in the fridge. All kids healthy and fine. My nan used to make 2 days worth of bottles of formula up and then store them in the airing cupboard to keep them warm

Now, what is this machine you're all talking about! What does it actually do?

Cooled boiled water from the row of sterilised (and pre filled with boiled water) bottles on the kitchen worktop. Boil kettle and add freshly boiled water to required level so temp is right. Add correct number of scoops. Two kids. Zero issues. Anyone who cares to tell me how a myriad of guidelines say I'm an idiot can bite my butt.

"Zero issues."

If we did a thread about prone sleeping 99.9% of mothers who put their babies to sleep on their fronts would say 'I did this and my baby was fine."

Deaths from cronobacter are rare, but they happen, and are totally preventable.

Midwife wasn't happy as there have not been any studies done yet to prove that the machine is safe to use.

Well then she's a bloody moron!

1. The water that the formula is mixed with is over 70°C, thus meeting requirements.
2. The cooler water is added after the formula has been mixed with the 70°C water - so all germs are already killed when its added.
3. The water filtration system means that its not necessary for the cool water to have been previously boiled.
4. a big name like TT is not going to risk marketing it as a safe way to make a bottle fast, if its not actually safe. It would destroy their reputation and potentially lead to enormous compensation claims.

Also the midwife I had with DD, last year, thought it was a good idea that I'd bought a perfect prep in advance, despite planning to bf. She said it took out all the stress and was safe. So other MW like them.

perfect prep

Food Standards Agency:

‘The issues we have with it are, although it states it dispenses a ‘hot shot’ at 70C to kill bacteria that potentially could be in the powder, the reality (if you watch the TT advert) is that this amount of hot water used is very small, and once this is dispensed into a cold bottle/cold powder the heat will be quickly lost (more so than when preparing a full bottle with cooled, boiled water to >70C), so we would be interested to see whether TT have done any validation to see what temperatures the hot shot/powder combo actually reaches (and whether this is enough to destroy any bacteria).The other issue, is that the rest of the bottle is then topped up with cold water, which TT state is filtered to remove impurities. Again we would be interested to know whether it has been validated that the TT filter removes potential bacteria in the tap water (as this won’t previously have been boiled)."

Unfortunately DS is on special formula that has to be thrown away after 1 hour and doesn't come in premade packs.

Oh and I really sympathise with you on this. DD ended up needing a prescription formula like this. I think I'd have had a breakdown if I didn't have my perfect prep.

Blimey! From memory we made up a days worth in advance and put it in the fridge and then nuked it when we needed it.

That sounds mad!

"Abig name like TT is not going to risk marketing it as a safe way to make a bottle fast, if its not actually safe. It would destroy their reputation and potentially lead to enormous compensation claims. "

"Unpublished university based research which investigated the efficacy and temperature profile of the Tommee Tippee Perfect PrepTM Machine using PIF inoculated with known amounts of Cronobacter sakazakii has suggested that whilst the machine hot shot of water onto a small volume of powder was able to eradicate more than 95% of the bacteria, it failed to reduce their numbers to an undetectable level"

Really minifigerz. I highly doubt that 99.9% of newborns, if put on their fronts to sleep would be absolutely fine. Interesting that you are confident about that though. That's a different thread though clearly.

Wishing you all the best OP
I would actually advise against posting that you ff on here if you're feeling particularly vulnerable. There's one particular bf clown on here who will quote some ok statistics but then loses all credibility by quoting some hilarious unbacked up bollocks to make you bad . Please, please do what's best for you.

punkrocker you've hit the nail on the head. It's intensely irritating when people start quoting 'statistics' and figures as though they're gospel to try and make people feel bad. OP take all the precautions you feel you must. I always thought the 30 minutes of boiled water thing was that if the kettle had been boiled more than 30 mins before you should start again - not that you had to stand and wait for 30 mins after it had boiled. Maybe check that again.

I couldn't be bothered paying for the Perfect Prep. We sterilised enough bottles for the day at the start of the day and we'd do the whole boiling water thing. It was just a case of boiling the kettle whenever we were in the kitchen (we have a lounge-kitchen combo so it wasn't major effort). We had one of those travel formula pots so during the day we'd put three portions of however many scoops into the three compartments and then we could just tip it in, no counting out scoops at night.

The only real faff was going out and about but once she could come off the specialist milk and have normal stuff, we just took cartons everywhere. Nice and easy.

I did half and half cooled water and boiling water. Will do the same for this one too. Only took 2 minutes to make a bottle.

The quickest way to make a bottle:

Boil kettle and fill a bottle with half of the desired amount of water (so 3oz for a 6oz bottle)
Stick in fridge and leave to cool.
When you need to make a bottle, refil & boil kettle

In a fresh clean bottle, pour half of the desired amount of fresh boiling water (so 3oz for a 6oz bottle)
Add your formula and shake
Get the cold water from the fridge an add it to the just prepared bottle
Shake
Test
Feed baby

You dont need to leave the kettle to cool for 30mins, the guidelines say to not leave it for longer than 30mins because the water may not be hot enough to kill the bacteria

(Or buy a prep machine and fill your bottle full of the desired amount of powder before that initial hot shot of water.... ensures the wayer doesnt lose temp whilst your measuring out)

What does everyone do when out and about all day?
I use two flasks, one hot and one cold but I've never seen anyone else do the same.
One friend makes them up before going out.
Some use the cartoons and some just have one flask of boiling water and waits for the bottle to cool.

I took them out cold in a thermo bag with an ice pack then warmed it in a hot flask.

I used to use 2 flasks too Partially

Make up the bottles for the next day the night before, out I. The fridge and microwave! 2 dcs still alive and well following this method. Alot high PP wasn't around when they were babies

We used to make 24hrs worth and stuck it all in the fridge. DS drank it cold quite happily.

He's still alive :)

We used to make 24hrs worth and stuck it all in the fridge. DS drank it cold quite happily.

Made from boiled water and always in sterilised bottles.

He's still alive :)

I think another reason I went for the PP machine was we were unprepared for ff. I bf for a while but only 3 days in I was bleeding and flinching from bf because of latching issues and this was after getting advice and help. HV said I did the right thing and at least I gave it a go. We had to learn how to do it very quickly and all we had to go on was the advice. Then a friend said she had the machine and finally!

Out and about I've taken a hot flask and let it cool. Or nipped into a bathroom and ran it into a cold tap for a few mins if DS gets desperate. Hopefully he won't need the special feed for much longer then we can use cartons!

Persianlady, that article you linked to supports the practice of making up powdered formula with 70 degree water and using immediately, where possible. It suggests using cold water in an emergency
Sorry I did not explain myself properly.

What I was trying to illustrate is that although Americans say that they are not told to use boiled water for making up formula that is only in the event that they are going to use the milk immediately.

I was trying to dispel the myth that in the USA no-one uses boiled water to make up formula but I worded my post really badly and made my comment hard to understand.