Preparing bottles, esp overnight

[glitternanny]

So current guidelines are to make up formula as you need it rather than old school of making up batches in the morning for example.

I can't imagine lo waiting 30minutes plus the bottle to cool properly before feeding when he's starving!!

What do you do?

I boil the kettle fill the bottles with water and add the formula just before a feed and rewarm in microwave prob will get slaughtered for that but oh well it works for me xx

No, this is a risk to your baby's health, mememummy, and potentially a very serious one. Formula powder can carry some really nasty (very rarely, but sometimes, fatal) and frequently moderate gastro bugs which need to be killed at 70 degrees.

glitter Assuming that nighttime breastfeeding isn't an option - obviously the easiest if it is - then it's ok to make the bottles up in the evening, cool them quickly (eg iced water in a bowl) then pop them in the fridge to be re-heated when required overnight. The key is to kill any bugs on the powder at the point of making up the feed. If quickly chilled and stored chilled then any contamination in the milk (which will come from the air and is unavoidable) will grow slowly enough to make storing them for overnight safe enough.

if you can't wait, then use a carton

however, making it up in advance with very hot water, then cooling and refrigerating and warming before use is better than adding powder to cool water

Yes of course, sorry, I should have mentioned cartons as an option. Expensive, but worth keeping in as emergencies. Some people always use them overnight. One advantage is that they can be kept at room temperature, and many babies are happy with room temp over chilled, so there's less time needed to warm the feed.

I saw someone suggesting this. Its a bit faffy but won't take as long as waiting:

Boil kettle and put freshly boiled water into flask. Fill sterile bottle with boiled water and allow to cool.
When needed put 1/2 required amount into bottle. Add no of scoops. This will sterilise powder (as long as flask is still v hot).
Measure into sterile container other 1/2 of water from cooled water. Add to bottle.

It is v faffy but cheaper than cartons if that's an issue and safer than adding powder to room temp water. And no night-time trip to microwave either.

I make them exactly as organiccarrotcake said. I have formula fed 3 dds and as far as I am aware this is the method that is mentioned on the having to make up premade up bottles on the guidance leaflet.

i used to take up a flask of boiling water and two bottles, one empty and one with a measured amount of cooled boiled water, so if was making a 6oz feed i would put 3oz of boiling water in the EMPTY bottle and add all 6 scoops of powder so that should kill the bugs and then i would have had 3oz of cooled water in the other bottle and then added that into the bottle with the hot water and powder thus cooling it quickly, you need to experiment a bit with what quantity of hot/cold water but if you alway add the powder to eht HOT water and then add the cold to top it up to the right amount that should be fine, or just use a carton.

or you can have it ready made up in the fridge and then just warm it up, but that requires going downstairs etc, total pita.

Thanks for your replies

So I think I'll try making it with hot water and cooling quickly to put them in the fridge.

i prepare bottles in advance for day - with just boiled water and put straight into fridge. for night we keep cooled boiled water in a tank, add to bottle then the formula. controversial to some but the risk is minuscule and i will take it.

The risk of very serious/fatal illness is very, very, very small. The risk of what one might term minor gastroenteritis (eg sickness/diarrhea which includes that serious enough for hospital treatment) is absolutely not miniscule and in fact is quite common in FF babies. Definately not one to be thought of lightly or considered to be a small risk.