New to formula feeding and overwhelmed! Need your tips and tricks to make life easier!

[Lucinda15]

I breastfed my DS but haven't been able to do so with DD (4 weeks). We switched to formula a week ago and I am totally overwhelmed! I've never done it before but have read all the leaflets, been online etc etc. I'm still feeling like a fish out of water and it all feels so complicated. I'd love some tips and tricks to help me get my head round it all and make the way I do things a little easier.

At home:
Basically, so far I have set up a little routine for at home. I have a tommee tippee flask, which I fill with hot water. Then I have a bottle of cooled boiled water in the fridge. I prepare these fresh in the morning and evening and use as and when I need to make a feed throughout the day/night. I am making 5oz each feed, and make with 2oz hot water, add the powder then top up with 3oz of cooled boiled water.

This seems to be working well so far. But I know some people make up bottles in advance? I'm a bit scared to do this as guidelines say try to make feeds as u need them. But it wld be handy to do!

If I make up in advance, can I put them in the fridge when warm to cool down? Or do I need to leave on the side to cool before going in fridge? I've heard people talk about 'quick cooling' bottles, how do I do this? And why? Lol? And also, how long are prepared bottles good to use once in the fridge?

Cooled boiled water:
How long does this last in the fridge?
If I take it out, how long is it good for? At room temp? Or in bag 'on-the-go'? Does it need to be kept at room temp or chilled?

At night:
I would like to take the flask, bottle of cooled boiled water and a powder dispenser up to bed at night with a sealed sterile bottle to make the feed without having to go downstairs. Is this ok?

Out and about:
DD is a ganet and feeding every 2-3 hrs at the mo. I am currently making a fresh bottle when I leave the house as I expect she will need it within the 2 hours it's good for.

But for longer trips I am taking the flask, bottle of sterile water and powder dispenser to make up feeds as and when. But then ofcourse I need to take 2-3 sterile bottles. And all this just seems like MASSES of stuff to take and I feel like I'm going for a two week holiday in Majorca even if I'm just popping out for lunch.

If I prepare in advance and take from the fridge to go or with, how to I store them while I travel? Do I need to put them in a cool bag with freezer block? How long are they good to use?

Is there something I'm doing wrong? Something I'm missing? Or making much more complicated? Unfortunately I can't use the ready made cartons as DD is on comfort milk which dsnt come in the ready made cartons.

People tell me bottle feeding is a sinch but so far I'm feeling very overwhelmed and feel I'm in a whirl of washing, sterilising, prepping and feeding and leaving the house feels like a challenge!

Any tips advice greatly appreciated! X

Quick cooling means using cold water to cool the bottles down. So sitting them in a bowl full of cold water, or running under a cold tap. The reason for cooling quickly is to reduce the amount of time the formula spends at the right temperature to breed lots of bacteria. The "danger zone" for bacteria is between 60 degrees and 4 degrees, so you want to rapidly cool the formula and then get it in the back of the fridge so that it can get to 70 degrees for the time that you'll need it.

Out and about:
DD is a ganet and feeding every 2-3 hrs at the mo. I am currently making a fresh bottle when I leave the house as I expect she will need it within the 2 hours it's good for.

Feeding every 2-3 hours is really normal for a 4 week old, so don't worry about that at all!

If I prepare in advance and take from the fridge to go or with, how to I store them while I travel? Do I need to put them in a cool bag with freezer block? How long are they good to use?

You would need to keep them cool, under 4 degrees, so yes a cool bag with a freezer block. Make sure the made-up formula has been in the fridge for at least an hour so it's properly cold before it goes in the cool bag. Then it should last for up to four hours in the cool bag.

You're making it so complicated when it's simple enough.
If you're struggling that much buy a tommy tippe machine.

I formula feed my DS (tried fb but he wasn't having any of it!) have done from the beginning. He is similar to your little one always wanting feeding but would never wait for milk to come!!! I make up 5-6 bottles in advance, quick cool them (in cold water) and keep in fridge for up to 24 hours. I also have a thermo bag I use to keep them cold/hot if we're going out and this has suited him perfectly for the last 6 months!!!

I have had trouble getting him to drink water (especially recently with the heat) so I bought the baby spring flavoured water and top it up with cool boiled water. I keep this in the fridge (when he's not drinking it) for up to a day/day and a half depending on when I made it!!! Hope this helps good luck xx

Thanks assassinated for answering my questions! That's really helped.

thefuture... how am I making this complicated? I'd really like to know where/why I am doing that cos I'm really trying to work out a simple way of doing this! Perfect prep is something we've looked at but have been out off by the watchdog report about bacteria and other reports of mould in the machine. And it also dsnt answer my questions about taking formula out and about. But thanks for the tip.

I highly recommend a tommee tippee perfect prep machine. Approx £100 new and you soon get your money's worth I'm my opinion but they are often available on Facebook selling sites if you want to watch the maternity pay pennies

I make some of the next day's bottles up in advance the night before at around 11pm and some during DC's afternoon nap.

I follow the correct routine listed on the packet (boil water and let it cool for no longer than 30 minutes) but make 3 or 4 bottles at a time instead of one.

I then rapidly cool them under running cold water in a big jug and place them at the back of the fridge where it is coldest.

I then warm them as needed throughout the day. If any haven't been used for any reason then they get tipped down the sink after 24 hours, but that rarely happens as I've got all day to use the ones I made the night before and until the next afternoon to use the ones I make at nap time.

disclaimer this works for me and I have so far not had any problems but I recognise that it isn't standard advice to make up feeds in advance.

Thanks thiswillhavetodo

I have thought of another question! So if I need to keep the formula cool to avoid bacteria growth, is it not a good idea to take warm bottles out in a thermos? I have done this a couple of times, having made the bottles up just before I've left the house. They've been warm (at a drinkable temp) and I've just stuck them in the thermos to keep at that temp to give within the next 2 hrs. Or just stuck them in the bag to cool to room temp. Is this ok? X

Oh and if I'm leaving the house I don't bother with mixing formula. I buy the small bottles of ready made formula. Life is too short to be juggling flasks and powder when out and about!

Thanks scrowy yes I've heard lots of people say they do this, is really like to tonne honest but am a bit nervous as I'm so new to this and I guess trying to do things 'by the book'. DD has also had some blood in nappy over last few days, we suspect possible intolerance/allergy but the docs took a stool sample to rule out infection first. And so I'm freaking out a bit thinking I've messed up a bottle somewhere along the way and made her ill!! So I'm really cautious now. But I wld like to make things easier!!

scrowy Yeah unfortunately we can't really use the ready mades as we are on comfort formula and they don't do them in that type! So annoying as would save so much hassle!

Hello OP

Don't know if this info will be helpful or not, but I found that using the pre made formula bottles when out and about a lifesaver. If I knew I was going to be on a fairly long day out, e.g. A long walk in the park followed by lunch, it meant I wasn't fretting about having to take flasks/cooled water etc, and could just tip one into a sterile bottle when DS was hungry. Obviously when I was at home I made the fresh bottles with formula and water.

My mum also used these overnight when DS stayed at hers, as it was so much quicker and easier than having to make a bottle with boiling water in the middle of the night!

It is a slightly more expensive way of doing things, however I think you can get a pack of 4 for around £2.80 (based on Cow and Gate, which is what we used). Bearing in mind each bottle holds about 7oz of formula, DS would have about half a bottle at a time, so one bottle would last two feeds.

Luckily he was fairly happy to drink them room temperature and didn't need them warming up. Hopefully your LO is the same. Definitely worked well for us

If they're definitely going to be used within 2 hours then it would just be like them sitting out at home for the same amount of time, so ok I think. The 2 hr limit is so that any bacteria that does grow isn't so much as to be a problem. It's probably better to take a chilled one out and then warm it up when you need it.

So sorry I've just seen your post above about being on the comfort milk!

If ever you do switch to standard formula, I definitely recommend

I also did exactly the same as Scowy did for both my dc who are now 5 and 2. We had no issues at all doing it this way.

I also couldn't use ready made cartons so I feel your pain with that one! When I went out I just used a cool bag and an ice block

Can you afford the pre made stuff?

I have twins - so a lot of bottles. At the 7 am feed I made enough for 24 hours with boiled water, cooled down in an ice water sink and stored them in the fridge at the back and reheated.

The perfect prep machines are worth it now imo.

Sorry just seen about the comfort milk! Not sure that you can make that in advance either. Perfect prep might be the way to go.

Sorry @Lucinda15 should've specified!!! I heat bottles to adequate temp then only take out in thermos if I'm going to feed him as soon as I get somewhere- e.g. End of a car journey - otherwise keep them cold. Whatever's best for you and your LO I just find if I'm going somewhere it's hard to have them cold and ask for hot water as I found a lot of places won't give it to you (?!) and he won't drink it cold or even room temp!!! Xx

Hi OP! DS is on comfort milk too. He's 9mo now.

We used a perfect prep machine. BUT - next time I'm buying a variable temperature kettle. They're expensive but I think I'd prefer it. That way you could hear the water to about 80degrees and then add formula before topping up with sterilized water from the fridge. The flask method is fine too of course.

The best method that I've found for storing sterile water BY FAR is this: buy an old fashioned metal whistling kettle from Ikea. Boil water in it on the hob (this stops you accidentally reboiling water that's already in an electric kettle, means that you know as soon as it's boiling even if you're in the next room, and you can also leave it to boil for about a minute as the guidelines say you should). Then move the entire kettle to the fridge - it'll fit inside.

In my experience comfort milk kind of separates and looks gross quite quickly so I wouldn't make it in advance. You can, I suppose, but I've always done it the way you do with flask, dispenser etc.

My tip for trips out is to take two sterile bottles: keep one empty, and in the other put your sterile water for the first bottle. The second bottle tends to be a backup so I'd just make it up hot then cool it with ice in a coffee shop or something, but if I knew I'd need two bottles I'd take three and fill two with sterile water.

I make my bottles up on a night. I wash them, sterilise then, boil the kettle, let the water cook abit, put 7oz of water in the bottle and fill with 7 scoops of powder. I then leave them to cool down in cold water before putting them in the fridge for over night and next day feeds. They say to only have them made up for 24 hours and only use within 2 hours of being warmed up or out the fridge. This has always worked for me I'm on baby no 2 now :) hope this helps x

I also warm them up in the mircowave too for 30 secs, give them a good shake before and after so no hot spots :) x