Can I prepare bottles of boiling water in advance for formula?

[Jojonewmaman]

I have just started mixed feeding, expressing some feeds and using formula. I know the advice is very much to prepare bottles as required however I have read that some parents have pre prepared bottles of boiling water, then quickly cooled and stored them in the fridge and added formula when required. Is this safe? And does the powder mix as well in cold water? TIA

@Isadora2007 that's because formula feeders are stupid and evil. If only the entire country could be forced to breast feed wouldn't it be a better place

The instructions are there for a reason.
Playing fast and loose and taking anecdotal advice rather than the advice which is provided by the manufacturer is dangerous to babies health. Think about it. They're not going to instruct you to do something hard for shits and giggles are they? They want you to buy their product so anything "difficult" is going to be essential, not just to inconvenience you.

If you can't make bottles correctly then buy ready made.
Using 100 degree water from a freshly boiled kettle kills or deactivates some of the nutrients and additives in artificial milk. That is why they instruct 70 degrees.
Too cool and it doesn't kill the bacteria in the powder which can make baby extremely unwell.

Or express and freeze it in 2 or 3oz bags. Take the bag out of the freezer and hold it under a warm running tap. It's ready to drink in a couple of minutes.

Important question: how old is the baby?
If newborn, then probably follow the rules to the letter. If 6 months, then do whatever is most convenient for you!

I have two nicu babies and they would never ever advise putting formula into cooled boiled water (except for those specialist formulas that are designed to be made up that way).

The NHS guidelines state that properly prepared formula (eg formula powder added to boiled water over 70 degrees) can be kept on the fridge for 24 hours. Since my boys went on to formula I’ve batch made bottles twice a day in this way.

SpaceDinosaur, if you're going to berate people for not knowing the difference between official advice and anecdote, I would implore you to look up the 100 degree thing... It doesn't appear on any official advice and seems to be based in guesswork. The official advice simply says to cool for no longer than 30 mins ie the water must be 70c or hotter. There is no upper limit. The main danger from using boiling water is scalds.

@Originalsaltedpeanuts

I'm astonished that these questions about formula feeding come up over and over again. Why aren't the manufacturers obliged by law to put unequivocal instructions on the packaging?

Do you think it really matters what the instructions say by law? I think the instructions are pretty clear actually. The problem is that people are choosing not to follow the instructions. How do you propose to enforce that?
When my dcs were small, it was advised that bottles could be made in advance, using water that had 'recently'boiled, cooled quickly and stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Once brought back to drinking temperature (in boiling water, never a microwave), they had to be used within an hour. Fast forward 25+ years and every feeding related item I've bought for my new dgc, is very clear that bottles should be prepared and uses one at a time.

OP, could you use ready made formula? As long as stored in the fridge, an opened bottle can be used for up to 48 hours after opening. The smaller bottles (7oz) are a bit pricier but would remove any concerns about the sterility and safety of the feed.

I'm in Australia and have never heard of it being essential to use boiling/hot water to make formula. All the websites here say to let the water cool to room temperature before using, including The Sydney Children's Hospital.
A question - have these guidelines been out long?
Another question - is UK formula made in the UK?
I wonder why it's different. Maybe we just haven't caught up yet. We do have a problem with Chinese people buying in bulk and sending to China leaving Australian families short, because they believe it's good quality and not contaminated.

The U.K. is v much in a minority with their advice here. When living in the states we noticed the advice was v v different, in fact lots just add formula to tap water there.

I have always made up bottles with cooked boiled water for my two dc. This was on the advice of my first midwife. Neither of my children have ever had any tummy issues. I am meticulous about sterilising though.

I know it's now what your advised to do but we used to make them up, let them cool then store them at the back of the fridge. When DS got older we used to fill the bottles with water then add powder as required from one of those dispensers. Never had a single issue .

I made mine with pre-prepared boiled water and didn't have any problems. I only bottle fed my son from being older though so maybe it's worse for younger babies. Never heard about formula being added to boiled water to kill bacteria though so that makes sense if that's what it's about.

It's not 'fast and loose', the risk is absolutely minuscule

Is everybody in France, Australia and the States playing 'fast and loose' then? That's literally MILLIONS of babies...

The instructions on box’s of formula say the bottle needs to be consumed within 2 hours so why is it ok to store them for 24 hours in the fridge and then bring them back up to drinking temperature? Rate of multiplication of bacteria depends on temperature. Many of the troublesome bacteria have their optimum rate of increase around 37deg, ie human blood temperature, the level of warmth of their preferred environment. Rate of breeding decreases hugely as the temperature is lowered, so they won't reach dangerous levels in a fridge as quickly as at room temperature.

Instructions on the box are thinking of you giving the baby a bottle, baby not wanting much, and you leave it on the table next to you in case baby wants a bit more.

I made up 3 or 4 bottles at a time with boiling water and flash cooled by sticking in cold water jug, then stored in fridge. The advice to make bottles as needed really didn't work for me, leaving a hungry baby to scream for 30 mins whilst his bottle cooled down did not appeal.
At the time (nearly 5 years ago) the advice said you should make up 1 bottle at a time but if you really really must make in advance always use method I have described which is why we went for it. No idea what the advice says now.....

Is everybody in France, Australia and the States playing 'fast and loose' then? That's literally MILLIONS of babies
True. I just went and checked on the French social security (healthcare) website. It says use cold water. It also says let the tap run for two minutes if you haven't turned it on for a while. Perhaps we just have better water supply here?
www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/themes/alimentation-0-3-ans/preparer-biberon

In the Netherlands it actually says on the packet to do it the way you have described. I was shocked as it was the same brand of powder I was using. I always made it the way the NHS recommended, but it showed me that a whole population thought I was doing it wrongly!

In terms of weighing up the risks, a friend of mine’s baby had a stomach bug (not from incorrectly prepared formula) and suffered the effects of it for months. Personally I decided it was worth the effort of prepping the bottles according to the guidelines or using the premixed stuff rather than risk it.

Our water supply is no better, as far as I'm aware.

I have a Perfect Prep at home, which I check and clean meticulously. I also wash bottles in v v hot soapy water, scrubbing teats well, and sterilise with Milton in a proper bucket with a lid. But if I'm out with DD I add pre measured powder from a pot to cooled boiled water. Because she's on special formula, so I can't use premade stuff.

You can't prove the bug was from incorrectly prepared formula. It could just as well be from incorrectly cleaned and sterilised bottles. And unless a sample was sent to a lab and checked, you can't rule out viral infections.

In terms of risk to baby here, it's not actually worse than people co-sleeping, which is also against NHS guidelines.

WHO recommend hot water is used. The UK is one of the only countries to include this in official guidance. But it's beat practice everywhere.

HTH
www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/infant-formula-questions/#what-if-i-need-to-transport-a-made-up-feed

Absolutely not. So dangerous. And those that say "my baby was fine" - just because your baby was fine doesn't mean another baby will be. The powder isn't sterile and could contain salmonella or campylobacter

If you are struggling, say overnight, the next safe thing is to make the bottles fresh, so with the 70 degree water. Then flash chill very quickly, basically in iced water, and then put in the back of the fridge and use as soon as possible.

Don't leave to cool down as the formula must then be used within 2 hrs as room temp has allowed bacteria to grow.

I don't understand why people shrug their shoulders and say "I'm not waiting for a kettle to boil, I used cooled boiled water and my baby was fine" - the instructions are there for a reason.

People will say if their baby was ill, you don't know it came from the formula and not using fresh water. But you don't know it didn't!!!!!