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

So let me get this straight, boil kettle, add to sterile bottles within 30 mins, add formula, flash cool by immersing in cold water, then store in fridge..? Or make them up as you go along which only super nanny would have the time to do...!

Yes - you don't even need to flash cool them - straight into the fridge, at the back not in the door

So how many bottles can you make up and put in the fridge? And how long can they be left in the fridge? I.e. can I make up 6 in the morning to last the day? And if I go out do what I am doing anyway and take powder in predate tub and add to cooled down water as and when she needs to feed?

I was told you are not supposed to put bottles in fridge anymore
So many different things you can't do anymore!

For me what needs clarifying is why you need to kill the bacteria.

Is it because there could be small numbers of bacteria in the dry powder which you need to kill because once they are in the milk they will start to multiply, therefore milk which will be stored should be made with water over 70 degrees?

Or is it because the bacteria could have been growing in the dry milk and make it dangerous even if the bottle is fed to the baby immediately, before anything has a chance to grow?

I make up 3 bottles at a time. I boil the water, leave to cool for 25 mins then add the water to the bottles, add the powder and then I put them in cold water to cool. I then store them in the fridge.

The nursery however said that they want me to send the bottles in just with the water and they will add the powder when needed. I just sent them in cartons as I thought this was the 'wrong' way to make the feeds.

I would use cooled boiled water in several bottles each morning and add the powder when needed from the tommee tipped powder dispensers that fit inside the bottles. Always at room temp for ease when out.

www.tommeetippee.co.uk/product/milk-powder-dispensers/

Yes, it's that the powder contains bacteria once opened ( and a formula tin in fairly large), so over several days even more bacteria can form

So a bottle just made and immediately drunk will still contain the bacteria.

www.cdc.gov/features/cronobacter/

So ... Cleoismycat, do you re-heat the water before adding the powder or do just put the powder in and feed straight away without re-heating at all? This is how I do it too and is the only way my lo seems to drink her milk otherwise she doesn't drink it then gets hungry quicker!
Thanks

Room temp, if you do not want to wait for the milk to get cool, set aside a jug of boiled water to cool (enough for the day), then mix the formula with small amount of hot water and fill up the bottle with cool water.

Babysophierose, do you need to keep a lid on the jug? So I could boil kettle and mix 6 scoops of powder with say 2z of boiling eater then top up with water from jug? Does the jug need to be sterilised in the microwave or just washed up and dried properly?
Thanks x

OK I get that there is bacteria in the milk once it is opened but the milk is dry. I would therefore imagine that the bacteria are going to struggle to reproduce in it until it is added to water.

Can I assume that the milk is safe when made with cool water if it is fed to the baby immediately but, if it is going to be stored, it should be made with hot water to prevent bacteria from multiplying in the milk during that time, thereby making it unsafe?

Nothing used to make formula is it truly sterile so even a sterilised teat has bacteria on it. I think this is about the numbers of bacteria, rather than their existence.

Maybe this is a question for the manufacturers.

My dd wouldn't have room temp but my niece would all the time , so it's different for each baby ! :)

I see what you are saying goldmandra bacteria needs a warm damp environment to breed. So if powder added to room temp water and fed straight away should be fine but to add the powder to room temp water then leave on the side all day will prob cause issues and bacteria to breed ... So difficult to do what's best and also what makes life easy for mums or dads, I don't want to spend most of the day making otters I have a little girl who is already growing up too fast that I want to spend every second with
X

That is what I am wondering OP.

Can the bacteria reproduce to harmful levels in the dry milk, in which case every bottle should be made with water hot enough to kill them, or is that only going to start when the water is added?

Unfortunately you never know what bacteria are in your formula or what levels. I'm naturally cautious when it comes to the health of my DC.

The bacteria forms especially well in the powder. It is the type that will grow dry powders like in milk powders, dry teas, starches etc. all te things that get added to hot water before use to kill anything lurking

Thank you forevergreek.

You sound like you know your stuff.

Hot water only in formula for childminded children in my care from now on then

You could keep cool boiled water in bottles with lids on, ready measured. Bottles a sterilized already. Then use another bottle to mesure hot water from the kettle, add a little cool water to make 70 C, mix well and add the rest of the cooled water, shake well.

Just make a fresh bottle each time, it doesn't take long at all to cool the mixed formula in a jug of iced water. Once you start noticing hunger signs then you rarely get to the screaming hungry phase, but I always have a few cartons of ready made for emergencies.

Okay here's what I do..

Sterilised bottle 3oz of cool boiled water in it. When I need a feed I top up with fresh (if I'm at home) or from flask to the correct amount. Add formula and shake.

I checked the temperature on this and when the fresh boiled water goes in it goes higher than 70c.

If its still to hot I cool under cold tap or in a glass.

Also my ds goes from fine to screaming hungry. There's never any other signs. I downloaded an app so I could start getting bottles ready around the 4 hour mark.

I never reheated. Just put powder in, shook and fed! Made life much easier when out and about. Dd never has any issues with feeding this way.

I never reheated. Just put powder in, shook and fed! Made life much easier when out and about. Dd never has any issues with feeding this way.

I guess like any food hygiene precautions the majority of the time babies will be fine with formula made at room temp. It's only if the powder has become contaminated with a nasty bug which has reproduced successfully in it that there is a problem. It's just that that problem could be devastating for a baby.