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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

Formula warm or room temp?

81 replies

babygirlisla · 17/01/2013 14:18

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

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Flisspaps · 19/01/2013 14:41

The problem is that there is no way of knowing if that powder does contain the bacteria, which, as Goldmandra says, can have potentially devastating (lethal in some very rare cases) effects.

NannyR · 19/01/2013 14:51

I fill a clean plastic jug with a lid (not sterilised, just been through the dishwasher) with boiled water every morning. When making up a feed, 8 oz for example, I put 2oz of freshly boiled water into a clean bottle, add 8 scoops of formula, shake well, then top up with 6oz (measured in another bottle) of cooled, boiled water from the jug.
The milk is the perfect temp to drink straight away, so making up a feed from scratch takes about three minutes (about the same time it would take to heat up a pre-prepared one from the fridge.
Now the baby is over six months, we use 6oz of cold tap water instead of cooled boiled water and we use cartons whilst out of the house.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 14:55

Just make up a few bottles at a time,according to instructions (water must be above 70°C), cool quickly in a bowl of cold water, then keep them in the back of the fridge.

If you're not going to make them up properly, with hot enough water each time, this is the next safest way to do it.

Goldmandra · 19/01/2013 14:55

NannyR, have you ever checked the temp of the two ounces once the milk powder is mixed into it? Is it still over 70 degrees at that point?

If so it sounds like the perfect method.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 14:59

Its not the perfect method because you might not be able to get the correct ratio of formula to water.

breatheslowly · 19/01/2013 15:00

People think that if they just mix up their powder and water and feed immediately then the bacteria don't have time to multiply. However this non-sterile formula is then going to sit in a nice, warm baby for a few hours being digested. The inside of a baby is an ideal place for the bacteria to multiply and cause sickness.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:01

And formula must not be made up with tap water... 6 months + or not.

breatheslowly · 19/01/2013 15:03

OwlCatMouse - if you measure the other 6oz in another bottle then you will get the right ratio - it isn't like topping the bottle up to 8oz which would give the wrong ratio.

NannyR · 19/01/2013 15:04

No I've never checked the temp, but the formula is being mixed with water at 100 degrees, so that should kill off any bugs in the powder.
I've been told that the advice to leave the kettle to cool for 30 minutes or to 70 degrees is to avoid scalding accidents, it's fine to use freshly boiled as long as you are careful.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:05

Ok fair enough on the ratio

Does 8 scoops of formula totally dissolve in 2oz of water though? Do you not have clumps of powder in it?

Please don't use tap water though. Just continue with the cooled boiled water

NannyR · 19/01/2013 15:07

Owlcatmouse - why is using 6oz of cold tap water in a feed different/less safe than giving him the same water in a beaker to drink?

tabulahrasa · 19/01/2013 15:09

Putting bottles of milk straight into the fridge doesn't cool then down quickly enough by the way, it's nearly as bad as just leaving them out to cool.

Fridges are great at keeping cold things cold, they're not good at cooling down hot things. They need cooling down fast and then put into a fridge.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:09

Because you're mixing it with formula.

Sorry, I'm coming across as a bit rude - I don't mean to be

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:10

Tabula - agreed. We used to stand them in the sink in ice cold water for 15 mins (on a timer so we didn't forget about them).

Flisspaps · 19/01/2013 15:11

Why on earth can you not use tap water in the method below (which personally, I'd not use) - tap water is perfectly safe for babies, and is the ideal drink from 6m+

You shouldn't make an entire bottle up from the tap - but that's simply because the water isn't 70c when the powder is added...although I suppose a Quooker tap which dispenses boiling water may be the exception!

Flisspaps · 19/01/2013 15:13

Owl - but in that method, the poster was adding the formula to freshly boiled water (so 70c +) which would kill/slow the growth of bacteria and THEN adding the cold tap water.

NannyR · 19/01/2013 15:13

But I'm mixing it with formula that has been as good as sterilised by adding it to boiling water.
The babies parents are both doctors and are happy for me to prepare it this way.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:14

I suppose because tap water isn't bacteria free and introducing it to warm milk might encourage bacterial growth?

I'll admit to not knowing though! :)

I guess its one of those things where its easy to keep a jug of cooled boiled water in the fridge, so easily avoided.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:16

Lol at the doctor comment :)

A medic I know made up bottles with water from the hot tap (normal hot water, not one of those boiling water taps)

Flisspaps · 19/01/2013 15:16

But the issue isn't bacteria in the water.

The problem is bacteria in the milk. The water has to be hot to kill off bugs in the milk, not bugs in the water.

I still use the make fresh/batch make and straight in the fridge method, but I don't see how cooled, boiled water is safer after 6m when they can have water straight from the tap then anyway.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:17

Does all the powder dissolve in just 2oz nanny?

Hmm.. if the extra water is measured out, and it does all dissolve then its a pretty good method

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:18

Yes, I know that flisspaps. I was wondering that if there is bacteria in water, adding it to warm milk wouldn't be good?

NannyR · 19/01/2013 15:23

Yes, it does dissolve if you shake it well, and I always use a spare bottle to measure the cold water.

OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 15:26

Hmm that sounds pretty good then

Ok, I accept I'm probably wrong about the tap water thing. Ijust didn't think it was clean enough to add to formula

Flisspaps · 19/01/2013 15:30

Owl but then surely there would be concerns about adding the (bacteria in the) tap water to anything warm (to cool down some porridge, for example) - or even if it was drunk unboiled as body temperature is often the ideal temperature for bugs to thrive in?

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