Making up night feeds??

[BettyBoo246]

Hi all
I am looking for advice on how every other mum makes up their night feeds?? I'm being told so many different things its confusing :(
I am currently giving lo (2wks old) the ready made cartons but this is turning out to be very expensive as I only use half then have to throw the other half away after 2hrs.
How does everyone else make up their night feeds? Can I boil the water and pour into 4 bottles then just add formula wen he wakes (he does drink at room temp) or make then up completely and keep in fridge and then warm up when needed? Any advice will be helpful :)

Hence the question mark Starlight. Was just thinking that if you're storing them then its prob best to be as clean as possible, no?

If you're using straight away then its probably ok? I have no idea! Seems strange to be adding cold tap water to formula when there's no need though.

We use sterile bottles and fill with boiling water, seal and cool, put in thermos bags. Formula is put in pots, ready measured and added as needed. We use it there and then any left over is thrown out.

Yes the water is cold!

I've done this with both my children and they have been ok! Surely adding none sterile powder to warm water (ie half cold, half hot water) is the ideal breeding environment for bacteria.

your children may well have bern fine but some babies have been veru ill and some have died.

the new advice lessons the chance of a baby getting ill.

you dont add powder to lukewarm water you add it to hot 70 deg. the half hot half cold technique is adding all the powderto the hot water and then adding the rest if the pre measured cold water to cool the milk quickly. but the powder is mixex with the hot water first to kill bugs/bacteria in the powder.

The nhs advice on this is crystal clear - do not pre-prepare bottles as it increases the risk of d&v. Anything else increases the risk. The WHO guidelines are interesting but they are a second best to the nhs guideline and will increase the risk to your baby. Increasing risk does not mean that your baby WILL get sick so the anecdotes of 'my child was ok' are irrelevant. At the moment I can't accept the increased risk on behalf of my 3 week old as he has already had a spell in hospital due to feeding problems. When he gets older, I'm sure I will feel less risk averse.

You are right to be cautious lozsterits small babies or ones that have already been Ill that are more at risk.

Making up fresh is best, the making it in advance, flash cooling and in fridge is then your best option for if you can't make it fresh.

The 50/50 method where you mix the powder with hot water and then add the pre measured cooled water is a good way of making a feed quickly and still adhering to guidelines :)

Hope your little one is OK now xxx

m.toysrus.co.uk/Babies-R-Us/Feeding/Bottle-Feeding/Accessories/Tommee-Tippee-Closer-To-Nature-Perfect-Prep-Machine/0105442

Here's a link for the tommee tipee if anyone is interested. I may mail cow and gate to see if they think it matches nhs guidelines. It does seem to operate on the the hot plus cold method someone described above, albeit with filtered water. (Would I trust the filter??). May also mention it to the health visitor and see what she thinks re: meeting guidelines. Mind you, you can buy quite a lot of cartons with 80 quid.... So wonder if its worth it in terms of investment?

Sorry, cross posted there 5. The tommee tippee does seen to be an automated version of the 50:50 method you mention. So if it is ok, then so must the manual 50:50 method be ?

Yes the tommee tippe machine does it for you I think. Mixes the powder with a small amount of hot, 70deg water then tops it up to the right amount.

Not sure how it works but seems a clever ,machine bit expensive!

For the amount to time you are making overnight feeds etc not sure it would b worth it?

The 50/50 manual method is fine as long as you mix the powder with the hot water and shake well and then add the cool water that you have pre-measured. The pre measuring is important so you get the right ratio of water to formula :)

I think hcps son recommend the 50/50 technique as its more fiddly? And you have to be sure to measure out the water correctly etc? So more chance for error, but provided you are careful its fine :)

But if you're doing the 50:50 method do you have to use cooled boiled water, or would tap water actually be ok?

Was just about to ask the same robothamster! If doing the 50/50 with normal cold water from the tap it wouldn't be sterile anymore?
The tommee tippee pp says its cold water that is added is filtered, but I do feel like I'd b paying £80 for something that basically just gives you the right temp water :/

I'm really wary of microwaving because of hotspots but all friends av told me they do/did it for literally 10 seconds then just shake vigorously, just Not sure with lo only being 2wks old :(
Av you always done it this way starlightmckenzie?

Why would it have to be sterile?

If you were keeping the bottles in the fridge.

When I bottlefed I did the 50/50. I measured out the powder into separate containers ready for overnight/going out and then added the powder to a measured amount of very hot water (prefilled kettle upstairs or thermos flask out and about, - toping up with cold. I then discarded any leftover.

I used whatever water was going, though avoided mineral as much as possible (stagnant stored water or high mineral content being the things to worry about there).

So as long as the powder is mixed with hot boiled water it's ok to use normal cold water as any poss bacteria will have already been killed when using the hot water?

yes i think thats right op as in the uk water is ok. if you were in another country where you werent sure of water quality then you should boil the water.

Yes. You boil the water to make certain that it contains no harmful bacteria. But I was always certain that the water out of my tap didn't.

I think the bit about using cooled boiled water is a clever marketing trick to take the focus off the potential harm of the formula and encourage us to believe it is the water that is the worry.

Don't the health advisory boards in the different countries base their advice on WHO guidelines?

That said though lozster I can definitely understand where you're coming from. The absolute gold standard would definitely be to make as required. The 50/50 method seems to be a quicker variation on this. I agree that the 'mines been fine on this method' isn't scientific. For us, I'm happy that we're using the method that works for us. And think that its one way of making life a bit more manageable without harming our little one.

So there isn't bacteria in tap water then? Hmm not sure about adding tap water to feeds that I'd store. I'll just make them up with boiled water then flash cool.

Made up with boiling water as normal, stored in fridge and last person to bed brought up with it stored in bottle carrier. Heated up in bottle warmer at bedside in the night when needed.

There's bacteria in tap water.

It's just not potentially fatal to babies.

I have two dc and have always prepared small batches of bottles in advance using water that has just been boiled. I then put the bottles in a sink full of cold water until cold to touch and then stored them in the fridge.

When needed I would warm them in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds and swirled very very well (don't shake as this can cause air bubbles which can make colic and reflux worse).

I don't think there is any real risk with microwaving bottles as long as you only do it till they are Luke warm (ie not hot to touch) and swirl very, very well.

Why do you have to boil tap water for babies to drink? (i know they can have plain tap water from 6mo)

Not sure why I care :)