Creche want pre-made bottles. Safest way?

[vvviola]

(Although this may be totally moot as DD is still refusing anything other than being breastfed)

DD's creche ask for bottles to be pre-made and kept in fridge until needed & then reheated. What is the best/safest way to do this?

I was thinking - make with v hot water just before we leave the house, will go into fridge maybe 30 mins later. (Soy) formula container says make with cooled water, but I thought that wasn't safest.

Suggestions?

Will also be sending bottle of expressed milk, but I think that is easier - into fridge night before & then transfer to fridge in creche.

To be safe I would send in a carton of premade milk.

That's not possible unfortunately. As far as I can find out you can't get soy formula in cartons here (NZ). We had cartons of regular formula bought for exactly that purpose & then discovered DD's dairy allergy!

Would they take measured water in tge bottle and measured powder? That's how I've persuaded mine to do it.

Ok, feeds have to be made up with water that is at least 70 degrees to kill any lurgies in the powder, so making up with cool boiled water is not safe.
Safest thing to do is boil kettle, let it cool for around half an hour, make up feeds. Run bottles under cold tap/stand in sink with cold water and ice to cool rapido. Then put in fridge. Transport to nursery in cool pack/eskie.

NICU made up our feeds in 24 hour batches so I have always done it this way - keep everything RIGOROUSLY clean and it should be fine.

OhNo no, that's not an option unfortunately. It's what I was hoping/expecting but apparently pre-made is the only option.

Thanks TwelveLegged, that seems like a good approach.

Like I said, it may be totally moot & she may just hold out til I come to get her (10 months old, so eating plenty & can survive fairly well).

Thanks again everyone

Guidance here states that where it is not possible to make up fresh bottles, they should be pre-made using water at 70 degrees and cooled rapidly, then stored in the fridge for no longer than 24 hours.

I would pre-make with hot water (leave kettle to cool for half an hour), cool rapidly in iced water and refrigerate, then take them to creche in a coolbag and transfer them to creche fridge.

I thought OP said her soy formula needed to be made with cold water?

I would make with cold water as per the instructions on the tin and put them in a cool bag with some ice packs.

I also have a lactose-intolerant baby and use prescription formula; it says to make it with water at 70 degrees.

I think guidelines are different in different countries- in France I think people use bottled water, for example- but soy formula is no more sterile than any other, so I would make it with 70 degree water to be on the safe side.

Hmm, I read that as 'cooled past boiling' not 'cool'. Maybe worth checking with the manufacturer how you're supposed to make it anyway, regardless of whether you're using it immediately or keeping it?

So, local advice seems to be to make up with cold boiled water for all formulas - but only until baby is 3 months, after which you can use tap water. And only sterilise until 3 months.

So now I'm more confused. The soy formula also says cold water - but I'm guessing that's because of local guidelines rather than any specific thing for soy formula.

I might be spending more time with the breast pump than I had planned. At least I know how to make that ...!!

Weird isn't it?

I wonder what the illness rates are in different countries with different guidelines? Are there any studies?

That link I posted is from the Infant Nutrition Council for Australia and NZ- they seem to be very much affiliated with formula manufacturers, yet they advise lukewarm water as opposed to cold...

To comply with these NZ guidelines, I would take in bottles with measured cooled water in and pre-measured formula powder in one of those dispensers.

It's very weird. I'm getting all sorts of advice that's totally against what I would expect. Some of it seems quite 'old fashioned' too.

I may of course be totally stressing about how to make up the bottles as a way of deflecting my stressing that she won't actually take a bottle, or nap without a breastfeed & my university course starts on Tuesday & I have to leave her for 3.5 hours at crèche tomorrow. At least there is some sort of relatively easy answer somewhere to 'how to make up bottles'

VVV, it will be fine, it will be fine, it will be fine.

Is there a reason you're using soy formula? I thought it wasn't recommended unless there was no other option.

How old is she? It might be that she's fine without any kind of milk, especially if she's only there for 3.5 hours. I wouldn't worry about napping, either - babies have this really annoying habit of magically sleeping when in a childcare situation, even if nothing short of knocking them out works at home

BertieBotts - she has an allergy to dairy, si soy formula or breastmilk are the only options at the moment.

She's 10 months, so yes can probably survive tomorrow without a feed, but from next week it will be 5 or 6 hours. She may well manage, but I need to have something if she doesn't.

Oh, forgot to say... yes about the sleeping! Her sister was a nightmare to get to sleep (rocking, car drives, buggy) except for when she was a childminder/creche when she would just go into cot and go to sleep I'm sure that once she gets settled, this one will be equally cooperative

I think your DD will be fine without milk for the duration she is there. My DD started nursery at 12 months and never had a bottle, and her eating was very poor, so 95% breastfed, and she was fine (she upped her food intake massively to compensate) for 8 hours without milk.
Alternatively, giving expressed milk is probably the next easiest option when it comes to storage issues. Expressed BM last for ages at room temperature.

As expected it was indeed all totally moot as she refused any combination of breastmilk/formula bottle/cup. And did rather a lot of crying

Only upside is that I came in to find her fast asleep in the manager's arms who was very lovely and assured me we'd sort it all out. Eventually,

Formula was, incidentally, made with slightly cooled boiled water and cooled rapidly & brought to crèche in cool bag. Seemed like most sensible plan