Do you have to cool bottles after you make them up?

[tuggy]

I'm having an argument discussion with DH about bottles.

I maintain that you have to boil the kettle, make up the formula, cool quickly in the sink and then refrigerate.

DH says that (and I've not let him do this) you can boil the kettle and make the formula, and seeing as the bottle was sterile and then the powder was made with boiling water, you can leave the hot bottles of milk out for 2-3 hours before feeding it to baby and it will be OK for the baby to drink.

Can someone try and explain to him in simple terms why this isn't true as i've obviously failed and he said "ask mumsnet".

You're right :)

Leaving a bottle to cool for 2-3 hours (eek!) is unsafe - bugs multiply in the warm milk. This happens whether or not the bottle is sterile because the powder is not sterile.

If you are not going to use the milk straight away (the safest option, when it gets to a drinkable temp) then you need to stick it in the fridge.

www.mumsnet.com/babies/bottlefeeding is based on the current guidance.

1-nil to me :) thank you!

You're right. He's wrong!

NHS guidelines

You should make the formula up when the baby needs it, using water at a temp of at least 70 degrees. Then cool it immediately and feed your baby. Any that's left should be thrown away, not stored even in the fridge.

That is true nocake but a lot of people like myself make batches in advance, cool quickly and store in the fridge as making each one from new is virtually impossible to contend with when dealing with a hungry screaming baby! It's not ideal but a good compromise and one which the majority of those bottle feeding seem to do as judged by previous threads on here.

The most danger comes from not using boiling water to make the feed in the first place (lots of people seem to think it's ok to add to cold or Luke warm water when it's not) or not cooling enough before refrigerating(bottle should be cold before putting in the fridge)..

I have two children and my mum has fostered lots of babies and we have always done it this way for two decades and hv and midwives have always said this is a very good compromise.