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

The guidelines changed after babies died in the EU.

http://www.infactcanada.ca/howsafeareinfantformulas.htm

I make up baby feeds in a nursery and we boil the kettle, allow to cool for 30 mind and then add the powder
The milk is then cooled in cold water and served straight away
If it’s not used within 2 hours we bin it and start again
We don’t make up in advance and we don’t accept milk already made up as we don’t know how long it has been made up

@PenelopeFlintstone Here in Aus I've noticed the advice is actually the opposite. You are told that you must not use hot water to make up formula, lest you "kill the live cultures". Water must be under 40 degrees.

I prepared the formula with boiling water and then stored in fridge.

@PenelopeFlintstone

The difference is based in risk analysis. The Aus & NZ governments felt the risk of scalding was more significant than the bacterial risk in powdered formula.

For everyone relying on the perfect prep though, hasn't it been found that the hot shot doesn't make the powder hot enough (lack of volume). So everyone using the PP (which seems to be everyone) is effectively using cool water, and all those babies aren't getting sick.

Thursdaydreaming The perfect prep is fine to use after 6 months of age but if using before 6 months then you should add cooled pre boiled water to it. A hot shot of above 70 or above is sufficient to kill bacteria within the powder is so I’ve heard. The only problem I have heard is the fact it doesn’t pre boil the water.

I haven’t owned a perfect prep so no idea how large the shot of hot is though.

‘Here in Aus I've noticed the advice is actually the opposite. You are told that you must not use hot water to make up formula, lest you "kill the live cultures". Water must be under 40 degrees’

I’ve heard that over heating breast milk kills/affects nutrients but I never heard that in relation to formula.

When I was feeding, I used to make up the bottles in advance but would make up for a day at a time - 6 x bottles, formula added to boiling water, shaken, sealed and put in the coldest part of the fridge to cool.

If it hasn't been said a million times before (it has but there is a need for it to be written in giant letters on the box) the formula is what needs sterilisation, not the water.

Thursday - ff babies do get sick though at a higher rate than bf babies due to bacteria/poor preparation practices in formula milk.

Mindchilder, really? Says who?

I’ve heard that over heating breast milk kills/affects nutrients but I never heard that in relation to formula.

This applies to formula too. Which is why you aren't advised to use boiling water.

70 degrees is the magic number that's been landed on in the UK. Hot enough to kill bacteria, cool enough not to kill nutrients.

Whether it actually is optimal is hard to say.

I don't know, science?

The increased risk of d&v is pretty much the biggest difference between breast and formula feeding.

‘70 degrees is the magic number that's been landed on in the UK. Hot enough to kill bacteria, cool enough not to kill nutrients.’

Laurie I used to believe this also but here on MN afew people corrected me saying that infact nutrients weren’t killed. The 70 guideline was apparently there to avoid scalds and it’s quicker to cool and avoids bottle exploding if making up whole feeds than shook. It seems there’s a lot of contradicting advice out there and nobody really knows.

then*

Also Laurie if you note on it says make up with water that is at least 70 degrees not at 70.

note*

*Nhs guidelines: ‘Step 2: Boil the water. Then leave the water to cool for no more than 30 minutes, so that it remains at a temperature of at least 70C.’

When my dd switched to formula feeding we sometimes did as the OP suggested - boiled water and took that with us to mix with the formula when required.

I'd always assumed the boiling was a precaution for the water, not the formula, so I can see that we were lucky nothing went wrong. So glad her mother was able to breastfeed for the first several months.

‘I'd always assumed the boiling was a precaution for the water, not the formula’

Knittingdad it is.

For the actual formula powder 70c or above is fine as long as ‘at least 70c.’

The advice has changed since my ds was small (he's 15). I used to make up the bottles in advance and keep in the fridge, but I also used to take out a bottle of boiled water and take the powder with me.

I would have thought it was better than carrying a lukewarm bottle of milk around with you (or a bottle that is cold when you take it out but warms up while you are out and about). My son had bottles until he was 2 (which is also frowned upon) and only had a stomach upset once (and he was at nursery so could have easily picked it up there rather than from dodgy milk).

I was meticulous about sterilising and also had a separate kettle to boil the water for his bottles as I was told not to reboil the kettle - is that still advice?

Yes, boiling a fresh kettle of water every time is still the advice but the issues with tap water are pretty minimal compared to food poisoning from the milk powder.

To be fair formula tubs do carry clear warnings that making bottles incorrectly risks your baby getting sick due to the powder not being sterile.

You could also use a measuring jug, pour the required amount of boiling water in eg 30oz then add the 30 scoops of powder and stir, then pour into to the required amount into bottles.