4 month old PFB just diagnosed with milk allergy - HELP!

[Chottie]

4 month old PFB has just been diagnosed with milk allergy - help and advice for mixing feeds please.

Before the allergy was diagnosed he was having pre mixed formula, now he has powdered Aptamil only available on prescription. How does everyone manage with mixing feeds using boiled water and then cooling them down and having to use the milk within one hour? Any advice or tips please?

Err am speaking as mother of bottle fed 3 month old...

I boil water and place into sterilised bottle. I keep warm as just water (AGA warming plate) and add milk powder as needed. Our aptamil says use within 2 hours?

Not as they advise on the carton... Though as this is DC5 I have seen huge changes in advise given and apply common sense to what I do. Hope this helps

My DS was put on Nutramigen at 8 weeks. Now 13.

I do not take notice of what any of the HVs say with regard to making each bottle up as and when needed! Mainly because they advise boiling the kettle and letting it cool for 20-30mins before mixing with formula. Yeah, sure! I'll just sit here with my screaming hungry 3 month old for 30mins at 5am.

I sterilise the bottles (6 at a time), add cooled (20-30mins) boiled water and store them in the fridge. Take one out when needed, mix in formula and heat in microwave for 20 seconds.

Nutramigen tub says we can store mixed formula in the fridge for up to 24 hours, I just prefer to add the powder as and when.

All babies I know have been fed like this and NONE have had any probs. Use your common sense and all will be fine.

Similar to Happy - the water in our kettle takes an hour to cool to the right temp so after the first morning of hysterics I ignored the tin!

I sterilise 3 bottles (that's all my steriliser can take), add in cooled boiled water, put in the fridge, then when I need to make up a feed I put the bottle of water into a jug of boiling water, then once the bottle water is warm I make up the feed and give straight away.

We are on Neocate and it doesn't seem to dissolve as well in cold water so that's why I warm the water a bit first.

There are safe(ish) work-rounds for the 'rule' about making each feed up individually at the time it's needed, but powder needs to be mixed with water no cooler than 70 deg C. This is because the powder may have harmful bacteria in it.

It's a bit pointless sterilising bottles and teats and then adding the powder to cool water. The bugs are not in the bottles and teats (assuming they are properly cleaned) but the powder.

Make up feeds with hot water, flash cool in cold water and stick in the fridge. Warm up when needed. You can keep a feed in the fridge for 12 hours, as long as its cooled quickly and refrigerated straight away.

tiktok I've heard this before, but when I asked the GP and Paed they said I should go by the instructions on the Neocate which says the water has to cool for at least 30 minutes until it's just warm to the wrist.

Not really sure if I should be doing it the way I am, but whenever I question it I get the same answer, from people who I'm supposed to rely on as the experts, so bit confused really.

Neocate has a different formulation from other formula - it may be that using water that's too hot damages some of the ingredients, and it's considered that the risk of bacteria in the powder is not as great as the risk of damaging the product.

Same as Gretagrape! With special hydrolised formula if you mix with really hot water then I think it damages the milk.

You'll find your own way of doing things and then you have to smile and nod politely when people tell you you're doing it wrong.

Ok- that makes sense - I hoped that might be the case because of it being amino-acid based.
Thanks (and sorry for hijacking post).
x

tiktok - that is exactly what we've been told, hence the boiling water and waiting until it has cooled for 30 mins. The manufacturers suggested boiling a kettle letting it cool for 30 mins and then filling a vacuum flask so you always have the water ready and PFB doesn't have to wait for the feed.