Formula in advance

[E899]

I have been breastfeeding for 6 months but I’ve been looking to do combined feeding for a while. My little one is now eventually taking a bottle but is there a way of making formula in advance?

We currently boil in kettle but takes ages to cool. I don’t really want to buy a prep machine as we will only be using it for morning and evening bottle so don’t to spend money if there’s an easy way of making it in advance?

Thanks!

You could copy the prep method by using a measured amount of boiled water to kill bacteria in the powder and then add a measured amount of cool boiled water to cool it to drinking temperature

Buy a prep machine from facebay! Will save you a lot of money. I got mine off facebay for £10, checked it's all clean and took off the back with screws and the pipes are clear, no mold. All I had to buy new for it is the filters which last 3 months! I'm only using mine to top up baby with formula before bed as I'll be feeding baby expressed milk during the day

I found buying the pre-made bottles great for when I was combi feeding.

I've always premade my bottles in the morning then stored them in the fridge (no more than 12 hours). 3 babies, never had a problem doing it this way.

We do similar to what @dementedpixie suggested. 2 flasks, 1 with boiling water to kill bacteria then 1 with filtered cool water to bring to right temperature. We have a filter jug in the fridge which is always good to go. If you get a proper thermos flask the water stays hot for 12+ hours.

@THNG5 if you pre-made them and stored them in the fridge, could you warm the bottle through again? My baby likes his milk warm.

Unfortunately can’t buy made up bottles as he has cmpa so it’s prescribed formula.

Yes, boil kettle and let cool, make the bottles up, warm up again when ready to feed.

You can pre make bottles, cool them quickly under the tap and then store in the fridge. Should be ok for 24hrs.

@E899 yes you can. I warm them in the microwave. People will you not to but as long as you shake/swirl them well to make sure there are no hot spots, it's fine.

Yes, you can warm the bottle through. I've copied this from the WHO website

It is safest to prepare a fresh feed each time one is needed, and to consume
immediately. This is because prepared feeds provide ideal conditions for
bacteria to grow - especially when kept at room temperature. If you need to
prepare feeds in advance for use later, they should be prepared in individual
bottles, cooled quickly and placed in the refrigerator (no higher than 5ºC).
Throw away any refrigerated feed that has not been used within 24 hours.

• Remove a bottle of feed from the refrigerator just before it is needed.
• Re-warm for no more than 15 minutes. Feeds can be re-warmed by
placing in a container of warm water, making sure the level of the water
is below the top of the cup. Occasionally shake or swirl the bottle to
make sure that it heats evenly.
• Check the temperature of the feed by dripping a little onto the inside
of your wrist. It should feel lukewarm, not hot.
• Throw away any re-warmed feed that has not been consumed within
two hours.

I used to sterilise bottles and fill with boiling water, close and put in fridge to cool. Then have pre-measured formula ready. When I wanted a bottle, I'd add the formula and warm in the microwave for a minute, then shake really well. My two DCs (primary age) were always fine but I don't think that it's advised to do it like this now.

You can make them in advance and flash cool.

Though for a 6m + baby, as they'd be having tap water as a drink anyway I'd half fill (or whatever ratio works for you) it up with but boiling water and then top it up with tap water rather than cooled boiled water.