Boiling EBM?

[TriciaMcM]

On advice from a paediatrician, we've to add formula powder to EBM for one feed a day (this is instead of a high calorie formula). I forgot to ask paed if you can boil EBM (to sterilise powder as per instructions). Anyone know?

We were also advised to do this. I asked the dietician about the need for hot water, and she said it wasn't necessary, that breast milk could be used directly.

I tried to do a bit of research, as this seemed odd to me, and every reference I could find online to this method of fortifying breast milk didn't mention heating it. I also found references to the antibacterial properties of breast milk, so maybe this is why it's OK not to use hot liquid? I decided to follow the dietician's instructions and just add to expressed milk.

If you do ask your paediatrician, I'd be interested to know what they say.

I suspect it's more to do with the change in guidelines for formula to be honest, & dietician/Dr not realising. Pretty uneasy about it, though I'm sure logically that risk is tiny. Hate the thought of DS being unwell due to bacteria in powder when whole point is to fatten him up!! Will ask at appt, these questions always come up on a Fri evening when you have no one to ask until Monday.

Thanks for reply, for the weekend I'm considering using tiny bit of boiling water in powder & mixing with EBM after. Hope it worked for your DC?

Would it be preferable to make the formula as directed (with 70 degree - not boiling - water) and then mix it with BM?

Tricia, I did consider doing it with a tiny bit of water too - don't see why it wouldn't work fine. We're not actually doing this any more though - moved on to high calorie formula top ups a few days ago as DS still wasn't gaining.

Sorry seaoflove, haven't had formula here since DC1 & haven't got it again yet so forgot the temp. Yes, of course it should be 70 deg not boiling & same for EBM. Thanks for reminder though.

Cobo, we were doing high cal formula top ups for last 10 days, had some gain thankfully but DS didn't like the formula & would only take one top up per day. Paed thought this worth trying instead

Yes, DS not that keen on the high cal formula either, and I don't blame him, it smells awful! But he does take it with some coaxing. Hope the top ups work for you.

Is it a special type of forumla you are using? If not, I know it's expensive, but you could use the ready made stuff. We give one feed a day which is a mix of expressed and formula and use the 200ml bottles. We tend to go through 2 every 3 days (they keep for 24 hrs in fridge once opened) so costs about 50p a day. Worth it for convenience we think

I would think the idea of this is to add extra milk powder without adding too much extra volume?
So, could you heat a small amount of BM, mix the powder in above 70C, and then add the rest of the BM to cool it down, without heating all the BM?

People cook with BM, so I'm sure its fine heated, but it may not be quite the same - cooked milk tastes different to me, even tho it is normally pasteurised (ie heat treated) before I buy it in the shop anyway.

The whole bacteria in formula and getting sick is paranoia anyway. The guidelines were changed very recently before that babies were not getting sick in their thousands.

Babies may not have been getting sick in their thousands, but formula powder isn't sterile and the risk is there. I guess it's a judgement call whether you'd want to take that risk with your baby, but I personally never would.

Yes, the idea is to keep the same volume while increasing the calories, so ready made formula wouldn't work. It's effectively a recipe for creating high calorie breast milk.