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!

I used to take room temp bottles with water to bed and add the powder. No tummy bugs here!!!

We made up sterilised bottles with boiled water. In the night added the premeasured powder, good shake, serve

Wrong. The water needs to be 70C to kill any bacteria in the powder.

I meant getting upset when partner added tap water to boiling water and not chilled boiled water from fridge.

As I posted above the WHO advice says you can put it in the fridge.

You can't make with cooked boiled water as the issue is not the water it's that the milk powder is not sterile. The water needs to be above 70C to kill the bugs in the powder.

No tummy bugs here!!

Luck. Pure and simple. Not skill, or doing it 'right'

User982....read the WHO leaflet above, it states you can make them up in advance if prepared correctly!

its interesting how things change, i used boiled and cooled water back when my 2 were small (15&13 now)

11 years ago I used to make up six bottles with boiling water then leave them to cool on the side. When needed to use I simply put the powder into the cooled boiled water, gave it a shake and then used at room temperature (didn't heat up the bottle). The 6 bottles lasted 24 hours.

DS never had an upset stomach and it worked perfectly

What's changed??!

I only used bottled water or sometimes tap water but never boiled it, microwaved it for 30 sec and then add the powder. I live in another country though, might explain the different recommandations.

user892 - and it's just luck that most of us are reporting a lack of bugs

I disagree on the luck...it's absolutely "skill". It's the people who can't/won't do it correctly to guidelines whos babies are more likely to get ill.

If you are so worried about it why use ready made liquid formula for night time feeds?

Spacefrog the WHO and the NHS advice is conflicting. Midwives and HVs are trained to follow NHS advice which is to inform mothers that bacterial growth happens even in a fridge, albeit at a slower rate.

...that should say...why 'not' use....

The recommendations. Hanged after there were issues (I think in China) where it was identified the powder wasn't & couldn't be sterile. Several babies died so the WHO changed their advice to say the water should be hot.

We made up sterilised bottles with boiled water. In the night added the premeasured powder, good shake, serve.

I'm sure the water is supposed to be at least 70 degrees when making up a bottle to sterilise the formula? That's what I was told. But I use a perfect prep machine which many frown upon so maybe I shouldn't say anything

Ds is 4. I used to boil a kettle full of water & fill my 6 bottles for the whole 24 hours with boiling water. Then add powder from the tin or pre measured from the pot in the night & microwave to warm up.

Always absolutely fine.

This is what the nicu did where my friend's baby was at the time (bottles made up with cooled boiled water).

I agree that everything is aimed at the lowest common denominator.

Also when I went out I would take a hot bottle of water & put the milk powder in when ds was hungry. It would be warm enough to fit him.

I never left ds screaming for milk & I never used pre mixed until he went to nursery (their rules were odd & I had all on to get us dressed & out the door in a morning).

I wouldn't mix up milk in advance & I wouldn't leave made up milk out of the fridge unless I was feeding but that's just how I was shown by friends. 15 yrs ago when godson was tiny they made up 6 bottles once a day & put in back of fridge. He never had an issue either

I always added the milk to boiling water as soon as it was in the bottle, i thought the water had to be boiling hot to kill any bacteria in the milk.
THEN I cooled them quickly and stored in the fridge, reheating as required.

"To reduce the risk of infection, it's best to make up feeds one at a time, as your baby needs them.
Use freshly boiled drinking water from the tap to make up a feed. Don't use artificially softened water or water that has been boiled before.
Leave the water to cool in the kettle for no more than 30 minutes. Then it will stay at a temperature of at least 70C. Water at this temperature will kill any harmful bacteria.
Remember to let the feed cool before you give it to your baby. Or you can run the bottle (with the lid on) under a cold tap."

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

A few things people seem to be missing-

1. You can't just add powder to cooled boiled water as it needs to be over 70degrees to kill the bacteria in the powder. You don't boil the water to sterilise the water!
2. Boiling water shouldn't be added straight away as it will destroy the nutrients, hence why you need to let it cool for 20mins or so.
3. There's too many minerals in the bottom of a kettle to just boil a small amount of water, you need to use at least a litre even if you're only going to use a couple of ounces. Admittedly I use NannyCare goats formula but surely these instructions are on all tins of formula?

The who advice states that you can make them in advance and store them in the fridge which is exactly what I do. It also states that if you need to take them out you can use a cool bag to keep them cool until they are needed.
I don't see where the issue is with what I do going by the who guidelines?
I also use a cool bag when I go out pretty much every day as I can't take pre made formula.
I am not judging my friend I am just surprised that people would make it more stressful for themselves and their baby than it needs to be.

And from the same:

"Reducing the risk of infection

Even when tins and packets of powdered infant formula are sealed, they can sometimes contain bacteria.
Bacteria multiply very fast at room temperature. Even when a feed is kept in a fridge, bacteria can still survive and multiply, although more slowly."

It's her choice to follow the NHS advice, so I think you are bu to say it's 'madness'

DD had/has a particularly sensitive stomach so using bottles over 3 hours etc never agreed with her. HOWEVER, next time round I am so doing what PPs have said. I couldn't get my head round how people did it other than making it fresh, and then flash cooling. Perhaps baby brain took over 😂

At the end of the day, just do what you feel is right

If I had another child now I would continue to do the same method I did last time. Easiest and no waste.