Totally confused about sterilising bottles - HELP!

[havingastress]

Ok - so I have checked through back threads, and tbh, that's just confused me further!

Baby is 3 weeks old. Have just stopped bf'ing (upsetting, but just couldn't continue, health issues) so am onto bottles sadly.

We have a tommy tippee steriliser. It says once you open the steriliser the bottles are no longer sterile! Sooo....what are you supposed to do?

This whole boiling the kettle half an hour before the feed is not conduicive to feeding a hungry tiny 3 week old baby.

Can I take ALL of the bottles out of the steriliser, make the bottles up, fill up with cooled boiled water, leave on the side and simply ADD the powder as and when we need them?

OR do we make up all the bottles into milk, leave to cool and then store the bottles in the fridge?

OR do I simply sterilise a bottle at a time and make up just for that feed?

BF'ing was definitely less confusing!!!

HELP PLEASE KNOWLEDGEABLE MUMSNETTERS!!!

[raininginbaltimore]

You stil can't predict the night feeds though, unless you set your alarm for an hour before you think they might wake. I make my day feeds as needed, but night one have to be made in advance.

[RightUpMyRue]

You're very welcome havingastress.

Hopefully your baby will fall into a feeding pattern pretty quickly so you'll get to know when a fresh feed is likely to be needed so you can get it ready before any major crying has to happen.

[havingastress]

rightupmyrue thank you so much for the links. Very clear. Oh I do wish money was no object and I could just buy the ready made stuff!!! Why is it so goddamn expensive?!

However, will be taking ready made out with me with a sterilised bottle for sure! :) Thank you wise mumsnetters!

[VisualiseAHorse]

I couldn't afford to use cartons all the time - especially now baby is pretty much completely on formula. He has the equivalent of 4 cartons a day. At about 70p a carton, that's £3.80 a day!! Whereas one tub of powder is £8.00 ish, and would last all week.

[Emmie412]

I struggled with the same but ended up using cartons rather than powder all the way. The cartons are sterile to start with so no need to faff so much. More expensive for sure but at the end of the day I wanted it to be as safe and easy as possible.

[JackThePumpkinKing]

Yes Right. I know!

[raininginbaltimore]

My daughter is on neocate, so there are no ready made cartons.

[RightUpMyRue]

The guidance is clear enough to not have to listen to any anecdotal advice that is always bandied about on all and any thread about infant nutrition:

"I did X,Y and Z with my kids and they're fine" for example.

Much better for the OP and anyone else reading subsequently to have the evidence based research and guidance given by the DOH.

[JackThePumpkinKing]

But that's what people are saying

[RightUpMyRue]

Have you read the Start for Life leaflet? It says it's permissible to store made up bottles for up to 24 hours in the back of the fridge, if you must, but it's preferable to make them up as needed.



"A feed should be freshly made up when it is needed to reduce the risk of infection that can make your baby ill. If you have no choice and need to store a feed, it should always be stored at the back of the fridge and for no longer than 24 hours.
Any infant formula left in the bottle after a feed should be thrown away. Infant formula that has not been used and has been kept at room temperature must be thrown away within two hours. Bacteria multiply very fast at room temperature. Even if a feed is kept in a fridge, bacteria can still survive and multiply, although they do this more slowly. The risk of infection increases over time so that is why it is important to make up the feed each time your baby needs it.

KEY FACT
? If made-up formula is stored in a fridge: use within 24 hours
? If made-up formula is stored in a cool bag with an ice pack:use within 4 hours
? If made-up formula is stored at room temperature: use within 2 hours"



This is a relatively new leaflet though. Hopefully it's clear enough and full of enough information to make it easier for parents (and professionals!) to understand and follow.

[JackThePumpkinKing]

Yes, I know that. I'm just saying that if you ARE going to use an alternative method, then the more you know about risks etc the better :)

If people are going to make up bottles in advance, as they may well decide to do, then there are ways to make it safer. Obviously the ideal is that they make up on demand, or they use cartons. Clearly not everybody is going to follow that advice to the letter or there wouldn't be so many threads about it.

[RightUpMyRue]

JackThePumpkinKing - The answer to that is to use ready mixed cartons at 3am when hungry child demands.

[Fairylea]

I do the same as visualise. Have done with my two dc.

[VisualiseAHorse]

Also, rinse bottles with cold tap water as soon as they've finished!

[JackThePumpkinKing]

RightUpMyRue - the trouble is that people just don't follow that advice. It's impossible to follow when you have a screaming child demanding feeds at 3am. It's about finding the safest alternative if you don't think you can follow those guidelines.

[JackThePumpkinKing]

If you keep bottles in the fridge you need to sterilise.

If you're making them up fresh each time then there really is no need to bother. Dishwasher is great, good wash in hot soapy water and air dried also fine.


But if you're keeping bottles in thd fridge, please do sterilise (yes, I said it twice)

[MadhouseMama]

I used to keep a jug of pre boiled water in the fridge and then when I needed to make a feed boil the kettle, use a small amount of the hot water to sterilise and dissolve the formula and then top up with the cooled water to give a perfect temp bottle for screaming baby who isn't interested in waiting for bottle to cool down!

Always keep some ready made cartons around the house and one in nappy bag.

Poor DS2 hardly had anything sterilised, all went in dishwasher and that seemed to do the job just fine.
Like above, as long as you use hot water on the powder to sterilise I think everything else will be just fine

[RightUpMyRue]

Super simple guide to making up a formula feed

Start for Life guide to bottle feeding

Anyone who says anything different to these guidlines is wrong, don't listen to them.

HTH

[JackThePumpkinKing]

Much better to cool them first. It minimises the amount of time they spend at the temp that bacteria can multiply. It really is better to get them down to less than 5C asap.

[loveisagirlnameddaisy]

FWIW, I put the made up bottles straight into the fridge. Haven't had any problems doing this with my now 4 month old.

[JackThePumpkinKing]

FirstTime :)

It's terrifying how so many health professionals don't have a clue about this sort if thing. My HV woukdnt give me any advice because she wasn't allowed to, so I asked on here.

[VisualiseAHorse]

I know, I was never even ASKED if I knew how to make a bottle up, luckily I learnt through my mum.

Oh, forgot to add - don't keep a feed for any longer than 24 hours - I actually prefer to use them within 12 hours. So if I was bottle feeding at night as well as the day, I would get up in the morning, make 4 bottles for the day, then before bed make another 2 or 3 smaller ones for over night.

If baby feeds from a bottle, but takes only half or so, you must throw the feed away within 2 hours.

[VisualiseAHorse]

Just make sure they're not warm at all when they go into the fridge, this will help breed bacteria.

I do think it's a good idea to make sure your baby can take milk at room temp since it's not always easy to make it warm (especially if you're out etc).

Just make sure you always have icecubes! So as soon as you've taken them out of the cold water, add more ice cubes to the freezer.

[havingastress]

thank you visualise...your routine makes sense! I can do that!!!