lulumama
with respect, the guidelines regarding making each feed up fresh each time are there to protect us but the old guidelines stated that it was perfectly acceptable to make up 24 hours worth of bottle feeds in one batch as along as they were stored in the main body of a fridge and any unused ones thrown away after 24 hours. I have not yet met a ff mum who makes up each bottle fresh each time. They'll no doubt pop up posting like mad once they read this though.
I asked midwives and health visitors and even the formula company via their advice line but no-one could explain why the guidelines had changed except to say that as people are more and more likely to sue for "bad advice" (don't you just love the "blame culture" taking over) so they had revised their guidleines in case people were tempted to use that last bottle which had been made up over 24 hours ago.
I always made up bottles once a day with my first baby (following the guidelines in place at that time) and decided to continue to do so with baby no 2. So far we have not experienced any problems and the staff at the nursery I use have not queried that I provide them with a days worth of made up feeds to put in their fridge and use throughout the day that baby 2 is at nursery.
Guidelines also say that you shouldn't heat feeds up in a microwave, citing the possibility of hotspots as the reason for this advice. After a couple of sleep deprived near misses with baby 1 and boiling water in a jug I decided to use a microwave and shake the bottles really well after heating. Again the guidleines are there because not every one is careful and the relevent authorities need to minimise the risk that babies might get scalded.
I was also aware that a feed had to be thrown away one hour after being warmed up and I figure that as saliva from the baby's mouth have presumably transferred to the milk in the bottle once you start feeding I can see the logic behind this advice. As for removing a chilled bottle from the fridge and leaving it for up to 4 hours before giving it, my risk threshold probably wouldn't let me do this but I'd certainly be comfortable leaving it in a cool room for a couple of hours and indeed have done without any adverse effects.
Guidelines are there for good reason (there some people who need to be protected from themselves and following guidlelines to the letter is ideal for them) but parenting experience is also great for learning about shortcuts.