Preparing bottles

[ECW82]

I'm new on here so hoping I do this right. Can anyone advise if there is any real harm in preparing the water for bottle feeds? With my first, I use to boil the water in the morning and pre fill about 6-8 bottles for the day and leave them to cool on the side. When I wanted a bottle, I would add the powder and feed at room temp. My son seemed fine with this but I've been actively advised not to do this due to bacteria but can it really be that bad? It doesn't seem feesable to try and guess 40 odd mins before they need a feed to prepare it, especially when out...

We got a Tommee Tippee perfect prep machine and it honestly is the best thing we bought. It means there’s no need to be faffing around boiling water!

If you use cold water you don't kill any bacteria that might be in the powder.

You could use part hot and part cold water to make up a feed quickly. So half the water is boiling hot, add that to the powder and mix well. Then add the remaining half of cold water. That's what the TT Perfect Prep machine does for you.

For out and about you could use the ready made formula cartons, although they're more expensive.

I add the formula at room temperature or tepid as using the boilt water on the formula seemed to give him a funny tummy.
I assume because it was killing off the added preabiotics

I did think about doing a little boiling water then pre cooled to top up after I saw the TT machine but wasn't sure if this was ok. I suppose if the remaining water creates the correct water powder ratio, it can't do any harm

I read somewhere that the water should be at 70degrees so it kills bacteria but doesn't affect other beneficial ingredients .
We boil the kettle, measure the amount we need and swirl it around in a cup to cool it down then back into the bottle. But that might make it too cold
And does anyone know why/if the kettle should only be boiled once? As in, if I make myself a cuppa (ha! Not with a baby to mind!!) and there's water left at the end I shouldn't heat it up later for a bottle. Or am I wrong and it's fine?

Either make up with water >70 degrees and cool under tap, make up as above and flash cool and store in back of fridge for up to 24 hours (warm when needed) or get a perfect prep machine (or simulate this method with a kettle and a bottle of cooled boiled water).

You need hot water on the powder at some point in the process to make it safe.

And you don’t have to wait for the water to cool, it’s only recommended that you do that to reduce the risk of scalds. The only part of formula that can be damaged by boiling water is vitamin c, and this is added in a high enough quantity to compensate for this.

If you can afford it use ready mixed formula. No stressing about measuring, boiling and mixing. I calculated it was about £10-£15 per week more expensive it used ready mixed vs powder. For me the cost is worth the convenience and not stressing about making feeds, or needing to buy tommee tippee which some people had concerns about (mould etc) plus didn't have the kitchen space!

Also you can bring clean bottles and single serve (200ml) bottles up to bed with you for night feeds so there's no staggering to the kitchen and mixing feeds at night. We feed at room temp.

If you are using powder and want to get water ready in advance then cool these in the fridge not on the side as then it's less likely that bacteria will develop. And then warm water in microwave to room temp (20-30sec) mix powder in then. The powder is sterile when purchased and if you practise good hygiene there shouldn't be bacteria in the powder.

The powder isnt sterile. Hot water sterlisies the powder. Preboiled water cold is as much use as filling from the tap.

Why not male up the six feeds hot, then rapidly cooling them. Put in the fridge and take one out at a time before a feed?

If you cannot make bottles up when needed (fair enough, I wouldn't remember either) then the next best practice is to make up bottles properly with hot water, cool under running water and then store in the back of the fridge for up to 24 hours.

Making up with hot water is more important than making them up fresh, basically, as long as they are stored correctly.

One idea I thought which might be useful would be to always make one immediately after you finish feeding a bottle. That way you've always got one available, so no scrabbling to make one at the last minute, but it's only ever a few hours old, thereby minimising time for any bacteria to grow.

Bluerose you shouldn't boil the water twice apparently because the more you boil water, the more concentrated the minerals in it get, which upsets the balance. Sodium is particularly an issue for infants to process. It's probably one of those that it doesn't matter if you occasionally forget you've made a cup of tea with that kettleful before, but if you're the kind of person who will boil the same kettle 5+ times because you're forgetful/don't like refilling it, and you're doing this every time, it's going to be more of a problem.

@Bluerose27 I think it's because of the concentrated mineral content from repeated boiling. More water evaps each time but the minerals get left behind, hence the fresh kettle every time.

@1stTimeRounder I dream of pre-made formula but Aptimal don't make it for the Pepti version

You have to use water at 70 degrees or above to kill off the bacteria in the formula as it's not sterile. I make up bottles as I need then through the day but at night I make three bottles up, flash cool them & store at the back of the fridge. When DD starts stirring I go down, boil the kettle, take the milk out & putting in hot water to warm. But the time I've changed her nappy it's warm enough for her to drink so doesn't take long to warm at all. We always have a couple of premade cartons in just in case she's absolutely ravenous.

Around 10 years ago, it used to be advised that making fresh was the very most important thing, which is why lots of people make up bottles with cooled boiled water, especially if they have had a baby while this was the overriding advice.

It's still and has always been true that making to order with hot water is best practice, but most people find this to be impractical.

with both ds1&2 i premade all bottles with boiling water, put in fridge at the back, fridge is super cold and then warmed them up when needed them.

If you read back of the pre made formula it says once open keep in fridge for up to 3 days! (aptmile massive 2 pint size bottle)

You have to boil the water to kill bacterial but once it's dead it's dead and just like storing milk in my eyes

Thanks Bertie and Lesser that makes sense about the minerals being left behind after each boiling