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

Thanks Greaterthan. That seems pretty definitive. I was beginning to doubt myself and my trusty thermos of slightly cooled boiled water.

Formula companies have also started adding probiotics to some powders. They then have to be made up with cool water for the probiotic to retain its properties. There’s no evidence of any benefit to adding them however and it’s against the advice of the European food standards agency. I don’t really understand why or how any company can get away with advising to make up a product for infants that’s the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, where some batches recently have been contaminated from the factory, with water that’s not hot enough to kill the bacteria. It’s totally scandalous.

Orla you want to follow the guidelines of a country that has babies getting salmonella from formula

The guidelines posted are Swiss. It's France that's had all the problems.

Why would you listen to a swiss formula bottle and not the World Health Organisation?
Which one is more likely to know what they are talking about when it comes to health?

People who prepare their baby's milk with cool boiled water are essentially gambling each time they make a bottle up.

Exactly. And people don’t give a shit beacause the end consumer has no voice. As an adult you would routinely undercook your chicken from the shelf in Lidl. The chance of getting ill from it each time is probably small but you still wouldn’t take it because there’s just no need.

The guidelines posted are Swiss. It's France that's had all the problems.

The product that had the issue was produced in France but made its way to Switzerland, among other countries:
www.who.int/csr/don/22-december-2017-salmonella-agona-infections-france/en/

As of 15 December 2017, the recalled infant formula products have been exported to the following 48 countries (including France) and territories: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Congo, Cyprus, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Guinea, Haiti, Hong Kong SAR (China), Iraq, Kosovo1, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The products have also been distributed in the French overseas territories and departments.

Also the lactalis scandal in France seems to have been about specific hygiene issues in factories rather anything to do with how bottles are made up.

It's interesting that the guidelines are so different across western countries. Does nothing to alleviate the general confusion.

Also the lactalis scandal in France seems to have been about specific hygiene issues in factories rather anything to do with how bottles are made up.

Actually, the linked article does state that " In case substitution of some of the affected formula is not available, the French authorities have recommended to heat the prepared formula for two minutes at 70°C and let it cool down to 37°C before serving it to infants. This would also inactivate Salmonella bacteria. This could be used as an interim practical solution until an appropriate replacement has been identified. "

It goes without saying that, ideally, you don't want to be giving infants formula contaminated with Salmonella or any pathogen but the heating does add an additional safety net. Think of it like Double Dutch contraception.

As aptamil isn't manufactured by lactalis I can't see the issue.... it's like saying there is a problem with Aldi chicken so don't eat chicken from Sainsbury.

Thank goodness the guidelines are changing now and bottle feeding mums will be given advice on how to formula feed. I think a number of posters on this thread have been a bit mean and ott with some of the snippy comments. You wouldn't dream of being so heavy handed with a breast feeding mum that had been given conflicting advice on how feed baby. (I formula fed mine and you wouldn't believe the conflicting advice I got from hcp)

As aptamil isn't manufactured by lactalis I can't see the issue.... it's like saying there is a problem with Aldi chicken so don't eat chicken from Sainsbury.

I would say it's more like saying that there was a problem with Aldi chicken but, since there have been no reports of gross Salmonella contamination in Sainsbury's chicken it's safe to undercook it. Ultimately, formula is an excellent growth medium for pathogenic bacteria and, other than some moderate inconvenience, there's little downside to taking steps to minimise the risk to individuals who are both unable to make medical decisions for themselves and who have comparatively weak immune systems.

But that's just my opinion

You wouldn't dream of being so heavy handed with a breast feeding mum that had been given conflicting advice on how feed baby

I would if they were ignoring all of the advice from every expert source in favour of the back of a packet in French and a "I did it 20 years ago this way and it was fine". Especially if the latter was unsafe advice. Wouldn't you?

"There's a problem with Aldi chicken so maybe cook all chicken through".

AnEPleaseBob, not to mention that breast milk has the benefit of being both immunologically protected during production and providing the infant with an immunological boost (this isn't a criticism of those who choose to use formula, I recognise that there's a myriad of legitimate reasons why people make that choice). If a mother were breastfeeding while taking a medication that causes the production of incontrovertibly harmful milk (e.g. high dose retinoids), I would probably be phoning the police.

I would say it's more like saying that there was a problem with Aldi chicken but, since there have been no reports of gross Salmonella contamination in Sainsbury's chicken it's safe to undercook it.

I'm not suggesting you should 'undercook' formula, rather that formula that has not been found to be unsafe should be considered safe to be prepared per the manufacturers instuctions.

There is no reason to consider that formula manufactured by anyone other than lactalis has any issues with salmonella whatsoever.

I'm not suggesting you should 'undercook' formula, rather that formula that has not been found to be unsafe should be considered safe to be prepared per the manufacturers instuctions

But was know that any formula can be unsafe, and many different brands have had the same issues. Would you really say well my particular formula in my country has never been blamed for a salmonella outbreak, so I'm going to assume it never will and ignore the WHO on how to prepare it? Bit of a gamble!

It's not just Salmonella that's the risk, there are other pathogens out there. The third link I posted earlier was regrettably incorrect. Please see this article for a description of the very real risks associated with formula that isn't sufficiently (70C) heated:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4761158/

The second link showed that there was a nice margin of error (80C) before any serious degradation of the nutritional content of formula took place.

I'm citing these articles because they either contain the associated research or cite it themselves. Both the NHS and WHO also give the same advice.

What harm do you see in following healthcare provider guidelines over the manufacturers?

For gods sake just follow the instructions and add the formula to boiled water?!

That’s the safe way to do it.
That’s what the tin tells you to do.
If you want your baby healthy.. do it right.

I'm not suggesting you should 'undercook' formula, rather that formula that has not been found to be unsafe should be considered safe to be prepared per the manufacturers instuctions

Oh. My. God. For the zillionth time, once opened even a tin of uncontaminated formula (which luckily most are) is the PERFECT breeding ground for bacteria. It’s not safe to follow manufacturers instructions because !newsflash! formula companies don’t give a shit about the health of infants and will instruct on what they can get away with in each country. That’s why WHO and NHS try to counteract the purely dangerous advice they give out. All nhs HCps should be giving out routine advice but sadly they are often targeted by formula co’s who give out ‘information’ ‘training days’ and other such bullshit so even they become confused mouthpieces for big business.

Though if you live in the UK the manufacturer's instructions do very clearly say you need to make formula with 70+ degree water or your baby could get sick.

Not sure that "standards are lower in other countries" (that have had repeated baby milk scandals) is a good argument for doing the minimum when it comes to feeding your baby.

FGS. To all the “I didn’t boil the water and my baby is fine...” posters: on two occasions in my life that I know of I’ve eaten undercooked chicken. Didn’t notice until I was half way through it. Both times I didn’t get food poisoning. Does that mean eating raw chicken is safe? Exactly.

Formula is dangerous when unsterilised because it can contain salmonella, campylobacter and other pathogens. These live in food and not generally in your home (which is why it’s ok for your baby to put its dummy in its mouth from your carpet). If you use cold water, you won’t kill these bacteria. It might be fine, because that particular batch might not be contaminated. But it might not. Hence the reason gastroenteritis is more common in ff babies than bf babies - which is not an attack on ff mums, as this is preventable with proper preparation.

I would if they were ignoring all of the advice from every expert source in favour of the back of a packet in French and a "I did it 20 years ago this way and it was fine". Especially if the latter was unsafe advice. Wouldn't you

The point is advice changes all the time. Years ago you were advised to go to work on an egg. Then they became the devil's spawn and gave everyone high cholesterol. Now they are "safe" again.

15 years ago (probably even more recent) it was fine to take boiled water out with you and add powder - you could even buy the little plastic boxes with three compartments so you could add the powder portions to it. I even sterilised the box, for what's worth (probably not much!)

No doubt the advice will change again sometime.

All of you flash cooling then putting in back of fridge, then warming up when needed - how are you warming them up? Running under hot water tap, sticking in a bowl of hot water from kettle, actual bottle warmer, microwave...? (Genuine question, I haven't got a baby and am wondering what's normal)

I gave mine to my son cold, because he would go crazy whenever he saw the bottle and would scream while I was hearing it up. (He’s autistic but we didn’t know when he was a baby obviously)

He LOVES them cold. Drank them better than when I heated them.

When I did hear them I put them in a jug of hot water.