Formula warm or room temp?

[babygirlisla]

Hi there
My little girl is now just over 9 weeks and from day one I have been making bottles up in the morning adding the boiling water to correct oz and then leaving bottles on the side until she is hungry and just adding the formula and feeding straight away .... So she is having her milk at room temp.
As its been cold past couple of days I have been warming bottle up for feed and she has not really been having much of her bottle and being quite fussy/uncomfortable all day.
I tried her back on room temp for last feed and she drank the whole lot and then fell asleep.
Does anyone else always use room temp bottle and does baby get on better this way?
She must prefer it like this as this is what she is used to I guess .... Thought she might like it warmer on these cold days ... Obviously not!

Thanks x

Both of mine prefered room temp milk, even if we were out and about on cold days.

the water you make bottles up with MUST be more than 70 degrees. this is to kill any germs that might be in the milk powder. Which is why it shield then be drunk as soon as possible to prevent bacteria from growing in the prepared formula.

The guidelines say that the formula should be made up with water at 70. I think many people don't realise that its the formula that needs the bugs killing by the high temperatures, not the water. The formula isn't sterile and there can be some pretty nasty bacteria in there.

X posted with secret

This surely mean the only way to do it is make up feeds as needed which is not at all practical or realistic?

I make up 6 bottles every morning, sterile bottles & 30 mins cooled boiled water & add formula as feeds are needed, either give at room temp or warm slightly. HV happy with this only thing specifically told never to do is add formula in advance & store, this has to be done at feed time, presumably because it breeds bacteria?

In a perfect world we'd all be able to make up feeds 100% fresh as per manufacturer guidelines however as busy Mum's it is impossible to do. Everyone I know make up their feeds this way & never had an issue.

P.s to answer question, has to be a good thing surely? You don't have to take flask of hot water everywhere with you & less chance of tummy ache with cold milk

I think the warm milk was giving her tummy ache, your right its much easier. I have never added the powder to water over 70 degrees just added the powder to the room temp water and fed straight away. I don't make up the formula in the morn just the water in 6 bottles.
I didn't realise u ad to add the powder to the 70degree water ?
Confused now ...... ?!?!

I thought you could make up the feed- boiled water and formula and then store in the fridge until needed then just warm through in a jug of hot water? Is this not correct?

becks yes, it is fine to make up a batch of bottles with 70c water and store them if you put them into the fridge immediately as this slows bacteria growth, and then reheat when needed.

This advice is given on the WHO site as an alternative to making up fresh every time.

The issue is people using cooled water (less than 70c) or leaving made up bottles on the side, allowing bacteria to breed.

70c is reached after leaving boiling water to cool for about 30 minutes with a full kettle, or 3 minutes if you pour freshly boiled water into a clean bottle.

Any longer than this, you may as well not bother boiling the kettle as you won't hear the formula enough to kill any bacteria.

It explains on the side of the formula how to make it. Def above 70degrees. So yes each one should be made up as needed and from freshly boiled water. The alternative is the individual cartons when out if the above isn't convinent

There are some specialist formulas that don't need boiling water, but these would be used under medical advice anyway.

I thought the point in boiling the water was to get rid f any germs and bacteria that could be in the water.

Surely the formula is made in a very sterile environment .... ?

In reality who has the time to boil the kettle put in the formula and then cool the bottle down .... Meanwhile baby is screaming in hunger getting in a right state. Where baby could have the bottle in seconds when all u got to do is add the powder to the ready and waiting sterile water and sterile bottle? Especially when baby (like mine) doesn't like warm milk you gotta wait even longer to cool bottle right down ... !

Nope. Formula isn't sterile. Even if it was packaged in a sterile environment, that sterility is broken as soon as you open the box.

I made mine like Flisspaps, made 3-4 at a time, flash cooled then stored at back of fridge. The water is boiled and bottles made up within a certain time to get rid of any bacteria in the formula not the water.

preggershock your HV is wrong and tbh I'd be double checking with her.

To answer your question OP my DD1 prefers her milk at room temperature or straight out of the fridge. Has done since she was born. DD2 OTOH needs it heated up at, after much trial and error, 4 seconds microwave per ounce.

I'll let you all get back to debating the correct way to make up formula again but will just remind you that elsewhere in Europe guidelines are to add powder to water, shake and heat to desired temperature is necessary.

no, the bacteria is in the powder, not the water - Cronobacter (formerly called Enterobacter sakazakii) and Salmonella have both been found in formula powder.

I made mine up the same as you tbh as the feeds were prepared and used straight away and not stored for future use.

From a WHO leaflet:

The safest way to prepare a feed is using water that has been boiled
and cooled to no less than 70ºC.
? If you do not have access to boiling water, you may wish to use sterile
liquid infant formula.
? Alternatively, you can prepare feeds using fresh, safe water at room
temperature and consume immediately.
? Feeds prepared with water cooler than 70ºC should not be stored
for use later.
? Throw away any left-over feed after two hours

www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/micro/PIF_Bottle_en.pdf

So the WHO leaflet seems to say that it is OK to feed formula which is not made with hot water immediately but not to store it. This would mean that the OP's method is safe then. Yes?

Back to your actual question, mine had their bottles cold or slightly heated in the microwave. I think PetiteRaleuse calculations would have probably worked out at the same as mine - about 30 secs for 8oz.

That's what I thought goldmandra bottles are used immediately and never used after 2 hours of adding powder to water.

Does nobody else feed their baby the same way I do ... ?????

I am feeling bad now!

it's the way I did it for my ds - made things easier especially during the night.

ilovepowerhoop I've had a look at the leaflet, that is for making up bottles if you have no access to boiling water in the first place. Thats why its a WHO leaflet, not the NHS guide to Bottle Making leaflet.

Department of Health leaflets are here

Formula power is not sterile and must go into water over 70 degrees (1 litre of water boiled and cooled for no more than 30 minutes) in order to kill the bacteria primarily cronobacter and salmonella.

Safest way would be to make up each bottle individually but probably not realistic for most people so alternative is to make up bottles in the safe way, rapidly cool and put in the fridge.

Room temp formula is fine, I think all babies have their own preferences. I have met some who like it ice cold from the fridge.

Yes, but if it's ok in that instance then why not in general?

Because its a best case scenario to be used when making up formula somewhere that has no access to clean water/constant electricity - kettles, fridges.

Sort of like carseats - if there is no suitable carseat then in cases of emergency you can strap your infant in using a normal seatbelt (this is just an example). Now you wouldn't choose to do this, but if there was no alternative apart from having the baby lolling about on the back seat then its the best case scenario. I realise thats a shite example but I can't think of a better one.