practical advice on making up formula feeds

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

I'm starting to give DS a couple of bottles a day now, and making up bottles is quite new to me, I'm just not timing it right, I've got a hysterical baby with a scalding hot bottle. It all seems like a huge faff (I've always bf before and one of the things that put me off ff is the faff).

I started by putting boiling water in a flask, so I could make up the bottle with hot water, but it doesn't stay hot!! I measured the temperature after a few hours and it was no where near 70degreesC

Then I poured 5 floz of just boiled water into the bottle, added 7 scoops and shook the bottle. Then I tried to add 2 fl oz of cooled boiled water, but there were so many bubbles, I couldn't see where the line of milk was so I couldn't tell if I was adding enough or too much.

The packet tells you NOT to make them up in advance or with water under 70 degrees C. Yesterday I just made the bottle up with fairly hot (but not hot enough) water and he had diarrhea in the night. Possibly a coincidence?

How do you make bottles up with minimal faff without compromising on safety?

measure the water first in a separate bottle.

so, do your 5oz freshly boiled, 7 scoops, shake well. then add another 2 of cold from another bottle

Boil water, pour 7oz into bottle, add 7 scoops, shake to mix, hold under cold running water or sit in bowl with ice til drinking temp.

The bottles keep for 2 hours so if your lo is taking 7 oz they'll go for 3-4 hours between bottles? Make up your bottle about 2.5 hours after the last feed began.

I made in advance and stored in the fridge 3 at a time

Coincidence I reckon, I used to have cooled boiled water in bottle and top up with boiling then add powder. Depending on the amount you need u will need to have a practice to get the amounts of each right. I eventually had to 'ignore' the whole 70c thing as screaming baby and scalding milk don't mix

He's fed on demand, and still mostly bf, so he just has a couple of bottles. So it's difficult to predict exactly when he'll need one.

The bowl of ice could work but once he's seen the bottle he starts shrieking, he's just entered a phase of discovering shrieking, it's like living with a small pterodactyl.

I think having a bottle of cooled boiled water separate could also be a plan. But making them up in advance and keeping them in the fridge is very appealing!

I had to do top up feeds with DD, and tbh, I used to make up a few bottles in one go, cool them in a bowl of water and keep them in the coldest part of the fridge until I needed them, when I heated them in the microwave until they were warm enough and shook them really really really well. She seems to have survived! She would have 3/4 bottles during the day in addition to bf on demand, and always a bottle before bed time. I think everyone has their own way of doing it, so it's more about finding a way that suits you and keeps your little one safe!

The current guidelines are here.