Bottle warmers - which one?

[BPrincess]

Hi all

I'm formula feeding my 7week old and increasingly frustrated at night feeds, getting up, doing the whole kettle or fridge/microwave routine.

Would anyone recommend the bottle warmer route, and if so which make? I have both Avent and Mam bottles - the Mam ones are slightly wider so don't want to buy online without knowing they'll fit into the warmer...

Is it ok to take a couple of bottles of boiled water up to bed, with the correct doses of formula, make them up on the spot then warm in the warmer?

Thanks all

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MNHQ

Bprincess - Formula powder isn't sterile (it may have some germs in it particularly Enterobacter Sakazakii or salmonella) so needs to be made with 70C+ water (when the powder hits the water, the water needs to be 70C+).

Making up formula with cold water and then heating to body temp is a good way to grow bacteria so it really wouldn't be recommended to do that .

You could make up some bottles with 70C+ water, cool quickly and then fridge, and heat in a jug of hot water (perhaps keep a flask/jug on your bedside table so you can cuddle baby whilst milk heats) or you could use Ready to Feed cartons for night time?

Here is the UK guidelines on preparing formula if your HV hasn't given you a copy.

Hi BPrincess

As Truthsweet said, making up formula with cold water is not the way to go. Formula is not sterile, so bottles need to be made with hot water to kill any bacteria that may be in the powder.

Making up fresh is always safer, but you can also make up formula in advance provided you make it properly in the first instance. Boil a litre of fresh water in the kettle, then leave to cool for 20 mins and it will be around the right temperature - 70c) then add to the bottle and add the formula. Cool the bottle rapidly by putting in a bowl or pan of cold water for maybe 5 mins (you may need to keep replacing the water, or add ice) then when it is cool to touch, pop in the back of the fridge. Then when you need it, take it out and warm in a bowl of hot water or a bottle warmer for a few minutes. If you see page 13 of the Support for FF Thread there are clear guidelines from the Department of Health and WHO on how to safley make formula in advance if needed. The key thing is that it must be made with hot water. Bottles made in advance this way must be stored in the fridge until using and discarded after 24 hours. they should also be thrown away after 2 hours of being offered.

And to answer your original question, we use an avent bottle warmer - you can use it with or without the blue insert (depending on whether you have standard or wide necked bottles) and we've found that it takes about 1 min per ounce of milk. Remember that it doesn't switch off automatically though, you need to switch it off at the wall.

Hope that helps.