How do you make up your bottles for baby???

[justbeingmummy]

Hi,
I know the 'correct' way is to make one as needed and boil the water, wait 30 mins add milk and cool for baby but how many of us actually do this?

With my DS 4 yrs ago I used to boil the water, fill about 4 bottles and leave them until needed and add the milk then. I know this is totally wrong and if I ask a midwife/health visitor they will stick to the guidelines so cant ask, but really cant imagine my DS being happy to scream for 30 mins while I make a fresh bottle from scratch??

Yes, but you still try to limit risks though - cooking chicken thoroughly, or not eating soft cheese in pregnancy. It's a bit different from the kind of bacteria they pick up from licking a toy at playgroup.

Elsie the problem is that an opened carton of formula, in a damp, warm environment is an ideal breeding medium for certain strains of Salmonella. This isn't just normal everyday environmental exposure, which of course is a good thing. Acute Salmonella Infection is extremely unpleasant and can be life threatening.

ElsieR I think your argument holds as soon as the infant is old enough to be crawling around and picking up godknowswhat and sucking it, by that time their natural immunity is much stronger. But a babe in arms? They are massively susceptible. Just look at the stats for hospitalisation for gastrointestinal infections in ff vs bf babies - I think it's about fourfold higher. There is a genuine risk, formula, like all dairy really is an ideal growing material for bugs, so it does have to be properly prepared.

I may be flamed here so but people have asked about the risk of not making up feeds correctly and have queried if it is just prem babies that need 70C made up formula.

This was a full term 12 day old baby fed incorrectly made up formula who contracted neonatal Enterobacter sakazakii meningitis. Her twin was not fed powdered formula as he had jaundice and had not been released from hospital.

In the spirit of full disclosure I fed DD1 formula made up with cooled boiled water in 2006 with MWs full and frank approval at the sight of 6 bottles of water with the powder pods in them sitting on the side of the bedside with 3 days old DD1 under the bilibed lights in a 35C room. So I'm not exactly one to talk but I'm glad DD1 was ok.

Yes Poppet, don't get me wrong I agree with you!

And with you too Rita!

Chippingin - Please dont worry I know you werent being glib, I do wish I could be different and I know how over the top I am being with everything but in a way thats worse. If I thought that what I was doing was 'normal' then maybe the ignorance is bliss rule would apply :)

Yes I was as bad with my first, according to my therapist that was my catalyst. I have always been a worrier, even as a child, but it was only when I had my children that it turned into a real problem and got slowly worse until life became a bit unbearable and I decided it was time to try and help fix it. I just struggle when I read things or see things because where most people think 'oh thats awful' or take an interest in something but put it to the back of their mind I just add it to my list of things to worry about, I cant watch the news anymore because if I see a story about a child being injured etc. I cant forget about it, its a nightmare! For example there was a story last year about a girl who got badly burnt from a fairylight on a xmas tree that exploded, I told DP that we were most certainly not having a xmas tree that year

Im getting more and more confused with all the conflicting information and opinions im reading, the fact is I know it is such a slim risk but I just cant help thinking I would never forgive myself if anything happened. Im not sure now if the making up and putting in the fridge or 70/30 method is the best compromise now and its hard to change routine when your used to doing something a certain way, im worried im going to do it wrong...

Can I also ask those of you who posted that you have always made up your bottles correctly, if you waited the half hour for the kettle to cool etc.. how did you manage with a screaming hungry baby? I know as they get older its easier to guess when they will need a bottle but my 3 week old sometimes goes a few hours and sometimes has the really close together.

I am very interested in hearing and tips or advice :)

JBM - I'm pleased you are seeing a therapist and aren't just quietly getting worse. It must be really awful to be so anxious/aware/OCD. I hope your sessions help you x I tend towards checking things a couple of times before I go out of the house (like the cooker is off for example) which got a lot worse when I went through a bereavement last year and did keep forgetting to turn things off etc, so I can't even just say 'of course you turned it off, no need to check' because a few times when I did check - I hadn't. I just hope in time it fades a bit... but it's nothing like the stress you are under.

Tell me how you are doing it now (the bottles).

Quiet frankly, anyone who says they have always made the bottles up exactly right is lying probably mis-remembering the odd time when it's been a bit hotter or a bit colder than 70 deg and I'll put money on no-one being able to say they used a thermometer 100% of the time.

JBM - I have/had PND-OCD like you and it does suck badly. I did have OCD before DD1 was born but didn't realise - I just thought I had 'quirks' not OCD traits/behaviours. If you want to PM for some support feel free. CBT is great though I had it whilst pg with DD3 and I had the least amount of PND-OCD with her than with DD1 & DD2. Even nearly 2 years later I haven't back slid on the behaviours we tackled in the group

Chippingin - I know exactly what you mean, I dont have the cleanliness OCD but do have the checking things a little bit but mine mainly focuses on my DS's and most of my 'rituals' and OCD behaviour is to do with them, but its just that little niggling doubt in the back of your mind all the time that you cant seem to squash. At the moment I am steralising 3/4 bottles and boling water, leaving the water to just before 30 mins and filling all the bottles, then adding the formula when baby needs it and he is happy to drink it room temp so I dont warm it at all. When out I just take the bottles of water and a milk dispenser and do the same as at home. I now realise through reading things that this is the worst way of doing it so am keen to change and do it a different way to be safer, but having done it that way for the whole time with DS1 and carrying it on my my DS2 its become second nature like you say so need to get my head in gear to staart a new method - can you tell im not good with change either :)

Truthsweet - I was exactly the same, thought I had little 'quirks' and it wasnt until I mentioned to other people the things I did that I realised not everyone does these things, at which point I seeked help. I was having CBT whilst pregnant and need to start again now im getting out and about and it was starting to help with certain things regarding DS1 but now I feel im starting from scratch with DS2.

Monkeyjamtart - I totally agree with you that you should do what is best for you and you DC and as everyone thinks differently it is sensible advice and im hoping that by finding a comfortable compromise with ff i will be doing this.

Honestly: the babies I've FFed haven't been mine so professionally I've always erred on the side of caution and if anything the water's been too hot when the powder hits. The consequences of a few nutrients being denatured are less serious than the consequences of potential infection.

When (if I can't express enough to maintain EBF/EBM when I go back to work) DS is on formula I'll use the same method.

Justbeingmummy, I used a thermos flask to store the water once it had cooled in the kettle. After a while it's not quite hot enough but I thought it was the best option for us. Like you, we did not think we could realistically follow the instructions from the box to the letter.

But you don't need to leave the kettle to cool for 30 minutes. The guidelines are for no longer than 30 minutes - which to me means anytime up to 30 minutes is fine and the temperature needs to be above 70 degrees not exactly 70. I certainly don't fill the kettle for one bottle so the tiny amount I usually boil would cool down far quicker. For me the 50/50 (or 70/30) means DD can have a bottle in 5 minutes or less.

Once it's made a bottle lasts out of the fridge for 2 hours, so you have quite a big window for an unpredictable baby.

So do more people agree with making up feeds and refridgerating them, or doing the 70/30 method is the best compromise?

I starting reading my book the hv gave me today and on one page it goes on and on about not making feeds in advance they must be fresh etc... and then the next page says if your going to nursery or something you can make the bottle and put in the fridge for later...talk about contradiction!!!

Those of you who do the 70/30 method, do you put the boiling part in the bottle straight after boiling the kettle and if you do leave it, how long for?

Another Q..... Those of you who make up feeds and refridgerate, do you leave them for a certain amount of time in the fridge before using them or not? Its says in the book the hv gave me to leave for an hour before but it was for when your going out???

I do 50/50 rather than 70/30 and put the just boiled water into the bottle straight away (or within a minute or two). By adding the same amount of cooled water, the milk is immediately at DD's preferred drinking temperature without having to cool it down any more (I keep the cooled water in the fridge so that it is as cold as possible).

Hi Just :) People do it all kinds of ways! I know you are looking for the 'only best' way of doing it, but you will just keep getting the same answers again and again with slight variations - you wont get a consensus of opinion.

In reality most people end up doing both the 70/30 and making them and refrigerating them.

As for putting the water in the bottle, it just depends what I'm doing, just whatever is convenient at the time... I don't hang around waiting for it to boil, but if I'm there when it does I would put it pretty much straight into the bottles... it doesn't matter either way.

If you are putting them in the fridge you can use them anytime (but I would use them within 24 hours) they don't have to be in there an hour before you use them - but it would take about an hour to get them cold so they would stay cold for a while when you are out... does that make sense?

thats all great thanks, have decided to go for the fridge method as I think this is easier for us and therefore more convienient, and after reading the food standards guide and it says you can do this for when out and about I feel it cant be that dangerous but I understand its not the 'best' practice so this feels like the best compromise for me.

Just one last question (I promise) if making them up for the fridge how long do you flash cool them in a pan of cold water for before transfering to the fridge?

Thanks x x

Until they go down to about room temp, which is to preserve your fridge's temperature. Depending on how often you change the pan of water/how cold it is/whether you help them rapid cool with flexible reusable ice packs anything up to 30mis. But it depends on the temperature of the room as well and how cold the tap water is. As a guide when you pick up the bottle it shouldn't feel warm any more.

There is a Support for FF thread on this talkboard, and on page 13 there are lots of helpful links on how to prepare bottles safely in advance if needed. THis info comes from the Department of Health and WHO, so you can trust that it's sound advice. It is, of course, preferable to make them as you need them and discard within 2 hours, but otherwise their suggested method is make them properly (with hot water) then cool rapidly and store in the fridge for no more than 24 hours, discarding a feed 2 hours after it has been taken out and reheated. Honestly, this is so much easier than mixing hot and cold water which is not recommended.

Think of it as food preparation hygiene.