Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Am I being unreasonable /silly for my idea of a nighttime formula-making method?

193 replies

Bubsworth · 13/09/2019 20:48

I guess AIBU (or possibly silly?) to consider this method to make formula tonight? The main thing I want to know is, is this method safe or would the water not be sterile anymore?

If I boiled the kettle in the evening and pour it into small sterilised containers and left to cool down before putting the lid on. Then put the formula powder into a bottle ready. Then took it to the bedroom. Would I be able to use that (room temperature, but sterile) water in the night/early hours to make a bottle up? Would it be safe to do so?

Backstory I fully intended to BF, baby born with condition that means I had to bottle feed but I was completely unprepared, never made a bottle in my life. After EPing for 3 months I switched to formula and from day one of formula have been using a Tommy Tippee bottle maker machine, so I have no knowledge of making formula the good 'old fashioned way'! I don't know the 'rules' for sterilising the water or how long it's sterile for, etc, etc.

Also moved house recently to a VERY old cottage... I would like to be able to NOT have to venture downstairs in the night alone!!!

OP posts:
Troels · 13/09/2019 22:08

I did warm formula when my Dd was tiny, then went to room temp as she got a bit bigger, 7 months or so. I used to make up a batch of bottles of formula with cooled boiled water and powder and stood them all in a row in the fridge. She liked them cold in the day and I would do a minute in the microwave and shake well at night. This was the recommendation of the paediatrician. She's strong as an ox with a stomach of steel and only didn't get sick till she started school.

imalrightjack · 13/09/2019 22:08

I made a bottle before going to bed, using the perfect prep, and took it upstairs to give when required. No issue with it at all.

NannyR · 13/09/2019 22:10

From what I've read, the recommendation to wait 30 minutes is to reduce the risk of people scalding themselves, I've always made up bottles with boiling water rather than waiting.

Mammylamb · 13/09/2019 22:14

@TabbyMumz. I always gave DS room temp milk as I don’t drive, so we were out and about all day and wasn’t always near bottle warming facilities. He slept like a baby. (All night at 7 weeks!)

checkeredredshorts · 13/09/2019 22:16

Either move the prep machine upstairs or have a flask of boiling water and a jug of cold water to replicate what the prep machine does.

The powder must be added to boiling water to ensure anything that may be lurking in there is killed off.

CalamityJune · 13/09/2019 22:17

We always took the perfect prep to bed.

tuberr0se · 13/09/2019 22:17

I used to use cartons for the night. I'd sleep with them in the bed with me ( :/) so they were at body temperature when given. No idea if this is a good or bad thing to do though. So actually, a fairly pointless post- sorry! Totally get the old cottage thing though. Creaks, chills and spiders!

Userzzzzz · 13/09/2019 22:18

I do think the NCT has something to answer to re it’s refusal to talk about bottle feeding in antenatal classes. So many people are clueless about safe preparation. For me, bottles were something of a distressed purchase and I was clueless. There is always lots of advice on this on mumsnet that goes against current guidance and that in itself is a risk.

fedup21 · 13/09/2019 22:23

(For my first, we made 24 hrs worth of complete bottles at once - boiling water and formula, cool and then stored in fridge.)

Me too!

smemorata · 13/09/2019 22:23

I won't tell you my method as I found out later it's not good practice (although we never had any problems) but I totally get not wanting to go downstairs. It was only when I started going into the kitchen in the middle of the night to make formula that I discovered we had a cockroach infestation. Bleurggh!

OhTheRoses · 13/09/2019 22:23

Christ the hospital classes were anti and refused ff advice in 1994. My delicious hv in 1995 told me that bf mothers put their babies first and ff mothers put themselves first. The Director of womens and children's services at St George's and the director of children at the community health trust which employed hvs told me their staff were not allowed to advose in relation to ff. Where were or are mothers supposed to find support. Oh ff pariahs presumably still don't deserve it.

Wynston · 13/09/2019 22:25

Thinking back to when i would count the scoops at 3am.....was that 3 or 4 scoops in the bottle!!

Fruitbatdancer · 13/09/2019 22:30

For nites I used the little pre mix bottles, in a sterilised bottle, at room temperature. It was Marvelous! He loved it, and although a little more expensive it was only night feeds and only for about 4 months.

Notgoodatchoosingnames · 13/09/2019 22:34

I used the ready prepared formula at night for ease x

BunnyTeapot · 13/09/2019 22:35

The water needs to be hot to kill the bacteria in the formula. However what we did was make the days bottles up with boiling water and formula then allow to cool and pop in fridge. When needed pop in bottle warmer or a jug of hot water to get to required temperature.

We wasnt sure what was allowed but had an off the record chat with a midwife and this is what she said she did 😊

Anotherdayanotherdollar · 13/09/2019 22:38

tabbymumz apparently 1litre of water loses heat at a rate of 1° per min (haven't measured it myself!) so by leaving the water 30 mins the risk of scalding is reduced and the water is still hot enough to prepare safe formula.

DungeonDweller · 13/09/2019 22:41

It's scary how many people are posting with no Idea about safe prep or the potential risks of poorly managed formula (babies dying, Google what happened in France in 2004. Very ill and dead babies, totally preventable!)

Thank fuck there's already a lot of other posters correcting the shit "well I did this and it was fine" dangerous advice. The formula needs HOT water (70 deg or hotter) added, and in the UK at least, it's cooled boiled water if you do it "perfect prep" style.. not mineral water unless you know the sodium levels in the brand are ok, not tap water...

As I always say on these threads.... Read the fucking tin, it's very clear albeit doesn't highlight the risk of what happens when it's done poorly.

donquixotedelamancha · 13/09/2019 22:43

FWIW the guidance to make formula with water that is at least 70C isn’t just UK/NHS guidance, but WHO guidance too.

This. I found it really irritating how many new parents I met when we had ours who didn't understand how to make up a bottle properly- it's not hard.

On PP's comments:

Yes the chance of harmful bacteria in the milk is low, but why take it? The reason for the guidelines is that babies have died in this way- baby milk is a superb growth medium for bacteria. I concur that advising this online is irresponsible.

It's not unreasonable to make up bottles in properly sterilised bottles and keep them in the fridge for a few hours (not 24). That's much safer than not using boiling water. Still not something I was willing to do until a few months old.

Please don't leave milk at room temp all night, as one poster suggests. I think that might be the worst advice yet.

donquixotedelamancha · 13/09/2019 22:45

My delicious hv in 1995...

I really want to ask about the cannibalism but do not wish to derail the thread.

vanillaicedtea · 13/09/2019 22:46

I agree with some PP. Either take the PP upstairs (maybe put it in the landing/spare room so the beeping doesn't disrupt baby?), or buy some pre made cartons and use those.

If you didn't want to lug a PP up and down the stairs every day, they sell pretty cheap on pages like FB Marketplace or Gumtree. You could buy one second hand if that's too much hassle. You might be lucky enough to find the Perfect Prep Day and Night one for sale, and as far as I'm aware, it doesn't beep.

vanillaicedtea · 13/09/2019 22:48

Oh, another thing. My HV said that room temperature bottles would only be safe to use for around 2 hours after being made up. She did say, obviously, if you were out and couldn't make up another and it had been 2 and a half hours, it was probably alright to use. But my rule is absolutely no longer than 3 hours. I'd rigidly stick to 2h for a young baby, though. Definitely wouldn't recommend using a bottle that was made up hours and hours ago and has been sitting out all night.

westcountrychicken · 13/09/2019 22:49

First child I fucked around with cooked boiled water and boiling water in a flask.

Second child I bought a Perfect Prep machine from Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime is the best thing ever, as is the PP!

TriciaH87 · 13/09/2019 22:49

I always made up bottles in the afternoon stored in fridge then at night had a bottle warmer at the side of the bed so I kept it in that and when baby woke up was ready to go.

notso · 13/09/2019 22:51

I thought perfect prep machines weren't recommended either.
Ready made formula and a bottle warmer.

EvilEdna1 · 13/09/2019 22:51

To address the NCT critique...lots of NCT practitioners will email out/give out instructions for making up bottles to everyone or if requested but it is not recommend that making up bottles is demonstrated in group settings by any organisation. Even the NHS.