AIBU about making up formula at night?

[Chocolateorangegoblin]

A friend of mine told me she boils the kettle, waits 30 minutes for it to cool etc before making a bottle all while her Dd is screaming to be fed during the night.
AIBU to think that's madness?! Surely most people don't do that?!
Obviously a lot of people have perfect prep machines now but that still involves getting out of bed etc.
I make up bottles in advance, cool them and keep them in the fridge and then at bedtime I take one to bed in a cool bag and DS drinks it whenever he wakes up. I am obviously a lazy sod but there's no way I would be standing about waiting for water to cool down at 2am!

Oh God the smug breast feeders have arrived

This is why I just couldn't be arsed with bottle feeding, don't have to worry about the temperature of your boobs, going downstairs to warm them up in the middle of the night, or whether the milk is sterile or not!!

And still they come

What is the point of commenting about breastfeeding on a thread about formula preparation methods? There can't be a parent in the UK that doesn't know that breastfeeding is the NHS recommended feeding method, so commenting about it is really just a way of having a dig at those that are formula feeding.

If I was using formula I'd use ready made overnight if I could afford to. If not, I'd make up bottles using the recommended hot water then quick cool method, and store in the fridge (or a decent cool box) for overnight feeds. I'd make up fresh where I could in the day.

I used two methods. With the first child I took one flask of boiling hot water and then another flask of cool boiled water. I would do a 40:60 and sterilise the milk by pouring in some hot water first then top it up with the cold water. It worked. With the second well along came the perfect prep!

Talk about over the top reply! Get a grip!
Look at countries who don't/can't sterilise!

I just added powder to 2oz of boiling water and then added 4oz of cooled water to get to the right temperature or used the ready cartons for emergency night feeds.

Standing waiting for a kettle to cool down at any time is madness, let alone 2am. I much prefer sleeping.

What you on about Clark?! I used the boiling water to sterilise the milk powder? What's wrong with that? The OP asked for methods I've given mine and also it strerilises the milk if there is anything in there that could make the baby poorly?!

I would take a tray (at the start with the first 6 bottles as baby was up so often as was special care and tiny) with the bottles milk and flask on and then carry it down in the morning to wash sterilise etc

When mine were small 8 yrs ago the advice was make each bottle as you need it, but the nurse in NICU told me that was to cover the formula makers backs and it was fine to do 24hrs worth at a time, and flash cool then use as required. I used to take the bottles to bed in a cool bag with a freezer thingy, then warm slightly in hot water in the basin just for a few mins, until room temp. (My DTs spent 3 weeks in NICU where they always had room temp milk even when they only weighed 3lbs each - MIL was horrified , but it made life sooo much easier!)

Making them up in advance is obviously fine the vast majority of time as that is what we used to do with very very few problems. I suppose it does depend on the age of the baby though. I would certainly be more careful with a newborn than with a baby of five months. I think that we just used a ready made carton if it was in the middle of the night as so much easier.

I used to take a flask upstairs and a jug of cold water to cool it. My daughter was on prescribed formula. So no ready made stuff. It worked for us.

My first was born in 95 and you made up six bottles then stored them in the fridge. No faffing around or making one bottle at a time.

Not everyone can breastfeed.

I am so glad I could boob feed, this seams like such a palaver

What the fuck has your tit got to do with the Op's question? No one asked about breast feeding did they? No they didn't.

This really isn't difficult or a "faff". One flask of boiling water, one flask of cooled boiled water. Very portable, very easy, very fast. I bet I could mix a bottle faster than I could unbutton a blouse. I can also put a perfect prep machine to shame with my fast pouring. Follows all sterilising powder rules!

I was actually always glad I couldn't breast feed! I pumped for the 3 weeks they were in NICU but never got more than a couple of ounces, and they wouldn't take it from me as bottles are much easier. So they had the colostrum, and I can say I did try (but maybe not very hard ) and we were all very happy to use formula. Yes there was half an hour each evening which was a faff, but I could feed two at once without needing to disturb DH at night, and I could prop their bottles up with blankets and read a book! And b/f hurt!! Hooray for bottles (risking huge backlash )!

I think the really important thing is to use boiling - NOT just boiled - water to make the bottles up in the first place, and then to keep at the back and bottom of the fridge no longer than 14 hours. Because the powder is not sterile, and needs hot water to kill bugs.

The biggest problem is apparently people who don't realise that milk powder isn't sterile - at all - and in tests has been shown to be full of bugs. You need to kill the bugs in the powder with the boiling water, whereas many people think you need to boil the water so it has no bugs in, and then it's safe to use at room temp with the powder. I've sat in cafes with friends making bottles up that way; scarily intelligent women who didn't know the risk. (I feel shit because I didn't say anything, but as they were friends who were sad enough about not being able to breastfeed, and with my second I could, I wasn't about to be the arse who rubbed their nose in it.)

The best advice is to make every bottle up freshly, but I think that's because a lot of sleep deprived mothers use bottles over a day old. If you're disciplined enough to bin any left in the fridge at set times a day, and you are scrupulous about sterilising everything prior to making a bottle up, then it's not likely to cause any harm.

Personally I found the sleep dep so awful I couldn't even remember how many scoops, so with my first, when finally (thank God) moving to formula from expressed milk, I used premade. It cost a fortune but I had severe PND after a horrific experience trying to breastfeed a baby with undiagnosed tongue-tie, so the peace of mind was worth it.

And as someone who fed my first exclusively expressed milk for his first few months (and should not have done, for his sake and for my own), and who exclusively breastfed my second and only stopped on her second birthday, breast is NOT ALWAYS BEST. The mother matters as well. PND affects babies too. Breast is definitely the right feeding choice most of the time, but it can be a bloody awful one some of the time. Telling women who have chosen to feed formula, for whatever reason, that they are missing a trick with breastmilk is very likely to be rubbing their noses in something that hurts.

My friends used to do that screaming baby with the water cooling thing - mental!

I used to boil the kettle, and half fill the bottle then put the rest in a flask. I would then take that to bed with the formula in one of those little tubs, then when DD woke up I would top up the bottle from the flask then add the powder - perfect .

I did that with all of mine through the night and they never got sick, I also used to make up bottles and keep them in the fridge as that was the advice. People did that for years with no problems so even if I had another baby today I would still be doing exactly the same!

Wondering star's reply is great! Breastfeeding misses the whole point of this thread. I would have loved to have been able to have breastfed my daughter, but she was 11 weeks early, so my body wasn't ready! I tried for 7 fucking weeks to express milk, even having a course of something or other can't remember the name but it began with d. With formula you know exactly how much your baby's getting. This thread has nothing to do with breastfeeding!

You know what's even less faff in the middle of the night - rolling over and going back to sleep getting DH to deal with the bottle as it's his turn!

And I'm speaking as someone who bf at night for almost the whole time my DS had night feeds. Result - I did every single night feed and I found bf awful. The majority of women start bf then if it's not working for them move to formula for whatever reasons. Many feel guilty (I did, although I realize now that I had no reason to and it was the best decision for my family). Bleating on about "artificial feeding" when people have genuine questions about formula and probably can't go back to bf now is just unkind

I made the formula up with boiling water- don't leave the water to cool for a while first- it has to be just off the boil in order to sterilise the powder! This is a must! Then after I made it I just left it to cool down naturally or in a cold water jug. Baby would have it whenever he was ready. That might be 5 mins later or 5 hours later. I'd always make ahead so baby was never hungry and didnt need to wait for it to cool down. none of this perfect prep stuff. Makes them fussy! 😄He never had any stomach problems at any point and so to be honest, yes- be sensible but don't stress and get worked up over it :)

There are probably expectant mums reading this thread worried about the best way to feed their baby. To tell someone who points out how much simpler it is to breastfeed to "fuck off" is extremely poor manners (directed at strokethefurrywall)

Personally it makes me feel like an utterly shit failure of a mother because breastfeeding didn't work out.

So to all expectant mums-

if you want to breastfeed and it works out- Well done, you're doing a great job.

If you want to breastfeed and it doesn't work out and you formula feed- Well done, you're doing a great job.

If you don't want to breastfeed and formula feed- Well done, you're doing a great job.

That's called supporting a mum and letting her know she's doing a great job NO MATTER WHAT SHE CHOOSES. Being sanctimonious and unsupportive is a dick move.

Now, let's get this back on track to the dark art of bottle making.

The biggest problem is apparently people who don't realise that milk powder isn't sterile - at all - and in tests has been shown to be full of bugs.

And yet in other countries, such as Germany where I live, the official guidance as printed on the back of the boxes says nothing about the temperature of the water used to prepare the bottle.
Christ, I'm getting the damndest sense of deja vu right now...

Sorry sleeponeday I just read the last bit of your post re. PND, shouldn't have been such a sarky cow . They really don't recommend boiling water here though! And the babies survive, somehow...