Help me understand formula feeding

[DouglasFirs]

I've been breastfeeding my baby (now 6 months) and also giving those ready made bottles when it's more convenient.

I want to start using more formula but I'm confused about how to do it when out and about. So far, the ready made bottles have been fine but they are obviously more pricey than powder (especially now she'll polish off a whole one per feed!) How do you formula feed with the powder if you are out for a day and have no access to boiling water? Is it ok to make up bottles before you go and use them as and when you need? I can't see what the problem would be with this but the instructions say not to! How did people do it before ready made bottles were available?!

I know what you mean. Not sure I'll be much help. When I was out and about I used the ready made bottles, but only because I'm overly fussy. If we were at relatives or friends I'd make a bottle or stick one I made earlier in the fridge when we got there. Friends of mine carried a flask of hot water then added the measure of powder together with cooled boiled water or served it cold.

^All of the above

I used to make bottles with Evian but I deliberately avoided warm bottles for portability.

I just carried on with ready made. Expensive, yes, but worry free in terms of hygiene, etc.

It's been a while as my youngest is now nearly 8, but I used to have some little pots for the right amount of powder that fit inside a bottle of boiled and cooled water (I think they were made by Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature. I think you could heat up the water and then mix in the powder. I also use to make up all the bottles for the day the night before and keep in the fridge. I used to have an insulated bottle bag ( bit like cool bag for bottles) that would keep bottle cool for 3-4 hrs I think. Might be worth looking at JoJo Maman type brochure or asking in Mothercare. I used to sterilise the powder pots along with the bottles. My DDS were on formula from around 6 weeks as I had problems with bfeeding and we went out and about a fair bit so it can be done. Sorry if a bit vague but my brain has forgotten details. Hope I've been of some help.

Usually used cartons of ready made for out and about.
I used to make up enough bottles for the day and store them in the fridge so if I was popping to a friend's house or similar I'd take one with me and warm it up there when needed.

We used to make all bottles in advance and then just added the powder when required. Used to have the powder pots (sterilised before use) for when out and about so you had the right amount to pour in. Didn't realise you weren't meant too! Friends also did this with no issues.

The powder has to mix with hot water as it isn't sterile rather than the water not being.

I used to make mine up in fours (steriliser held four), put in the fridge and just chuck a couple in my bag when we went out. Fed at room temperature but made hot originally.

Not ideal; but bar spending double on pre-prepared ones or mixing unsterile powder with cold water I felt it the best of all evils.

Quite quickly if FF they only have 3-4 feeds/day so it is easy to plan.

That's true! By 6mo both of mine would have a morning bottle, a lunchtime one and a bedtime one. The fourth would fit in mid morning if they'd woke particularly early or mid afternoon if their middle nap was early.

I take a thermos and a bottle of cooled boiled water. I measure out my powder in to pots too.

The important thing is to scald the formula powder because it's not sterile.

If you get the Tommy tippee bottles (and possibly some other bottles for all I know) you can get some cunning cylinder inserts that hold a bottle's worth of powder. You can boil water and cool to fridge temperature exactly measured portions which are 2/3rds of the total required amount. Take these portions with you in an insulated bag with a cool block. At a café you obtain boiling water and put the powder into 1/3rd of the total required amount. Shake it all about then add the cooled boiled water and you have it at perfect drinking temperature.

That said, now your baby is 6 months you don't need to be quite as perfectionist about how formula is made and kept as is required when a baby is tiny. I had a friend who happily gave her baby formula made up with room temperature water and all was fine.

Have you got a tommee tippee prep machine? If not is recommended one... I have 2 small flasks I with boiling water straight from the kettle and the other fill it up with prep machine water (soon goes cold) or cooled boiled water. So easy! Xx

Sorry didn't fully explain so my ds has 6 oz so I put about 2oz of boiled to kill bacteria then cooled water X

I used to make my twins' up in advance and cool them in the fridge, then take them out with me packed with an ice pack to keep them cool. To warm them, I'd either use a flask of hot water, or ask the waiters at the cafe for some hot water in a big cup.

I sterile 6 bottles, add boiling water and add formula throughout the day as I need it.
For the powder I use a formula dispenser by TT and add to the cooled boiled water as needed.
All 3 of my children have been fed this way

I used to put the boiling water into the sterile bottle and seal shit. I put powder in those little pots. I just added powder right before I used it (water usually at room temp by then). My dd was on specialist milk with no ready made version and her dietitian said to do it this way. Never had any problems. Water sterile and powder not sat made up long enough for bugs to grow

Another one here who does it the 'wrong' way for my 7mo DS. I will caveat this by saying I would not do this with a younger baby; really little ones do need the powder to have been in boiling water to kill any nasties.

My method:

Sterilise bottles
Fill with 7oz freshly boiled water
Put bottles in changing bag
Put required scoops of formula into milk powder dispenser
Add powder to water in bottle to feed.

DS was BF for six months and will only take warm milk. I carry a tommee tippee flask with me to warm the bottles. Best invention ever for those of us who need to warm milk on the go.

How many feeds is she having?

I FF from birth and used ready made when out. Or if I knew they were due a feed within 2 hours made it up before leaving.

My 7mo has one bottle first thing, and one at night (so they're at home). One just before lunch (normally don't get v far before 10 due to toddler, so make that and take that one with me). One mid afternoon (ready made if we're out all day). So even if I'm out every day it's only 80p to feed him. Which I think is worth the lack of hassle.

(I also use ready made for night feeds )

Please please please never put powder into cooled water!!!
There seems to be this bizarre train of thought that the whole point of boiling water is to sterilise the water....no.
The reason the instructions tell you to use boiling water is because the powder is unsterile!
I feel so passionately about this purely because a friend of mine was making up her bottles by measuring boiling water into bottles, sealing them, then adding the powder to the cooled down water from a dispenser when she needed it. Her son ended up extremely poorly with gastroenteritis caused by e-Coli, which is sometimes present in formula powder. If she'd have used boiling water, it would have killed the e-Coli and her son would never have been ill.
I used to make up the bottles I would need with boiling water, flash cool them under a running cold tap and store them at the back of the fridge. When going out, I would take them from the fridge and put them in mini cool bags and then warm them up to the desired temperature.
Or (for example making up a 6oz feed) I would measure 4oz of boiling water into one bottle and leave it to cool. Then pour 2oz boiling water into anther bottle, add 6 scoops of formula and shake it up to kill any nasties. Then add the 4oz of cool water to the 2oz of hot formula mixture and shake it up again. 6oz bottle all ready to go at near perfect drinking temperature. I used 6oz as an example there, but would just adjust measurements to make bigger/smaller amounts

It's not the guidelines now but I always had 6 bottles made up in the fridge per day ( last job before bed) and when we went out I stuck one or 2 in a cool bag. When it was bottle time I got hold of some boiling water and popped one in it for a bit. Sometimes if I knew it was about an hour until bottle time I took one out of the cool bag and stuffed it in my bra to warm up to body temp.

Get a cool bag, pre make bottles, put in fridge. When going out they keep in the cool bag for four hours. That should be enough to do you until lunch.
Bottle should only be out the fridge for two hours out of a cool bag.
At a push I would use cooled boiled water and add powder but it is safer to use hot water to make the formula.
My boys are on special formula so no pre made stuff. You get used to it!

mybread - on every single tin of formula I've bought the instructions have been to add the powder to cooled boiled water. Never been a mention of using hot water to scald the formula.

Mybread - I'm really honestly sorry that happened to your friend, but please don't scare new mums with E-Coli; it's possible that they could have contracted this from different circumstances and it's hardly unlikely that the powder was the cause.

*highly