how to prepare bottles of formula, advice please

[donotunderstand]

I am currently mixed feeding my dd2 who is 10 weeks old but am considering swapping to fully bottle feeding for several reasons. I have been reading up on how to prepare bottles and keep reading that the formula shold be mixed with water above 70 degrees as there is sometimes bacteria in the tins of formula.

My question is... how many people actually do this? All of my friends who have formula fed their babies have filled up enough bottles for the day with boiling water in the morning then used the bottles over the day adding the formula to the cooled water so never using water above 70 degrees to make up the feed.

I hope this post makes sense!

Thank you in advance for any advice :)

I do it! I keep freshly boiled in a thermos ready for the next feed so there's no waiting around. It's really not as much of a faff as people make out.

Freshly boiled water in a thermos!

Thanks bettyboo, how long does it stay hot for and how long does it take to cool the milk enough to give it?

It's honestly not that much of a faff.

You can either keep hot boiled water or cold boiled water. You can put some of the water at 70 deg in a bottle to mix the powder with (to kill the bacteria in the powder) then top it up with cold water to make it the right temperature for the baby to drink. All you need to do is measure the water you put in the bottle then however much you add to it, so that the water to powder ratio is right. After a while it becomes second nature and you don't have to faff with the measuring as you know where it comes to on the bottle when it's mixed up.

I do it because although the risk is minimal - the result of not doing it can be illness or sadly occasionally death - so I think it's more than worth it.

If you don't want to make it one bottle at a time (but to be honest it takes seconds so I don't see the problem myself) then mix the formula into water at 70 deg and cool rapidly - then warm it (if you want to) in a bowl of hot water or the microwave. The microwave is just fine - you just need to give it a really really good shake to make sure it doesn't have any hot spots and always test it before giving it to the baby.

It depends on how much water you put in the Thermos and how good the thermos is, you'd need to buy a food/water themometer and test it (only once, you'd know after that).

I used to make a batch with enough for all the days bottles (with boiling water) and then just keep it in the fridge in a glass jug once it had cooled down. I then just poured in bottles as needed and heated up in the microwave. Much easier. And both my children are alive to tell the tale :)

thanks chippingin, I really like the idea of adding a specific amount of 70 degree water then topping it up so the right temperature. Am not worried about making up individual feeds. I do use cooled boiled water now but had not realised there could be bacteria in the powder until I did some reading this evening.

Sorry to sound really dizzy here but can you add the powder to boiling water or would that scold the milk?

Thanks again :)

I use the thermos flask method and can measure and make a feed in less than 30secs, it really isn't a faff ut is 100% safer for baby.

You need a small thermos flask, a sealable container for cooled boiled water and a spare feeding bottle for measuring.

I have a £2.99 500ml thermos from Tesco and it is good for 8-12 hours, I then allow the water to cool and use in the cold water container.

MessNessPess, do you add the correct amount of hot water to the bottle, then the formula, then the cooled water?

Sorry to be sounding so slow to grasp this but if I do it I want to get it right :)

I found the easiest way is to make up the bottles for the day either last thing at night or first thing in the morning. Using boiled water that that been left to cool for about 10 minutes, add formula and shake, stand all the bottles in a sink of cold water to cool rapidly. Once cold, shove in the fridge and use when required.

For night feeds, bring a bottle to bed in a cool bag and have a flask of boiling water, you can then stand the bottle to warm in the boiling water and cuddle bubba until its warm enough to drink.

For a 7oz bottle I did 4oz hot water then powder then 3oz room temp.

The hot water kills the bacteria in the powder, the cooler one brings it down to drinking temp.

Sod all the bottle prep ANNIE - how long since we PM'd??? What's all this about a DS?????

It is better not to use water over 70 deg because it essentially kills off the vitamins in the milk, so it's not as good for the baby. If it's once in a while it's not a problem, but wouldn't be good all the time.

There are lots of ways for a bottle at night. Thermos & make them up fresh or a cool bag, keep it chilled and then heat it up, either in a pot (hot water out of the bathroom tap is fine, it's only on the outside of the bottle) or you can use a kettle, boil it when you go to bed then when you need it switch it on again and drop the bottle in.

The water needs to be at 70deg to kill the powder then you can add cold water to make it right for the baby.

Ask away :) It's not a faff once you get used to it and as I said, it's only a slight risk, it's just the consequences are huge :(

I have a small tommee tippee flask which keeps the water hot for about 6 hours but DS feeds 3 hourly during the day anyway. A 7oz bottle takes 5 mins standing in a tub of cold water to cool to drinking temp.

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now to make big decision....

Annie - I'm fine, but nowhere near as good as you!! It all sounds so absolutely brilliant I need a PM!! I need to know what you have called him, what DD thinks of him, how you have/haven't settled... you know, the proper goss I am made up for you though x

DoNotUnderstand - if you want to tell us more we might be able to help, if not, good luck making your decision :)

I make 5 bottles up before his last feed at night. Use one and then cool the rest rapidly in cold water in the sink. Put them in the fridge and then use them the next day. That's how I was fed so that's how I've been doing it. DS is fine

Probably best if i let you know what happened before dd2 was born as my decision making skills aren't what they should be right now! Sadly when i was 5 days over due my mum passed away, i then had complications following dd2's birth which resulted in me loosing a lot of blood and having the pleasure of a general anethetic. A week later i had my mums funeral then there was Christmas to cope with.

Dd2 when comfortable is a happy baby but we've had problems with reflux and colic so she's spent lots of time screaming and very little time sleeping. She has settled down a lot now but has started biting me and i'm getting very sore :( i know i can express etc but there is a big part of me that just isn't sure i'm wanting to feed her any more. I'm exhausted physicaly and emotionally and am wondering if it might be best for all concerned if i switch to bottles.

However... i don't want to have any regrets and did feed dd1 for a year. I'm so unsure about what to do and where i no longer have my mum feel i don't have anyone to help me make my decision. Dh is wonderful and says he will support me either way but i don't think men truly understand the emotional side of breast feeding.

Hope that all makes sense, sorry it's such a long one!

Just realised how selfish i sounded in that post! Am also worried the only feed dd2 ever seems satisfied by is her bottle feed and i am having to cut feeds short where she keeps biting me so not sure she's getting enough milk.

Just realised how selfish i sounded in that post! Am also worried the only feed dd2 ever seems satisfied by is her bottle feed and i am having to cut feeds short where she keeps biting me so not sure she's getting enough milk.

You poor thing, what an awful time you've had. The answer is you can feed your children in whichever way you like and you do not need to feel guilty about your decision. I EBF my DS and it was all going fine then when he got to 5 months he just started to refuse feeds for what seemed like no reason. I had the GP, HV, breast feeding counsellor and 'star buddies' involved and tried everything but sometimes he just wouldn't feed. He would get into such a state but when I caved he would down a bottle. I have read all the advice on the feeding threads and knew that more bottle = less breast milk but when your LO is screaming and you know they will settle with a bottle it is very difficult. I mixed fed him for about 3 weeks (bottles during the day/breast at night) then he got a cold and rejected me completely. I have cried so much over this and felt like a failure but do you know what, he is a happy, contented little baby and I am a happier, more contented mummy. You have done fantastically well to BF her this long and if you choose to use bottles from now on, everyone should respect and support your decision.

and

LiamsMummyJazz - your DS might is fine now, but that is so not the point. Some, not all, of the powder can have the Enterobacter sakazakii bacteria in it. If you do not mix this with water at 70deg (or higher, but higher is bad for other reasons) then you wont kill it off - this can cause numerous problems including, but not limited to, stomach upsets, meningitis & death.