Formula prep with a kettle?

[hulligwen]

So have been advised to use flasks when prepping bottle for leaving the house.

Can anyone advise a way to prep at home without waiting half hour for boiled water to cool?
Would boiling a kettle, formula in, then topping up with boiled cold water from a premade sterile flask of previously boiled water to cool it down for serving be a safe method? Trying to avoid the whole waiting half an hour for boiled water to cool down thing!

Just buy the little bottles of ready made. So much easier

@UpdateQueen

Just buy the little bottles of ready made. So much easier

They are, but very costly for all day use!

I boiled water then added formula and took with me. By the time I was ready for it, it had cooled enough for baby to drink. I used bottle warmer for longer periods and put in cup of cold water to cool down. Worked well with both mine 🙂

Your approach is fine. Keep prevailed water in the fridge in a sealed bottle & top up boiling water + formula. Just make sure it's all dissolved well and you are using the right amount of water + formula.

preboiled

Most people I know who FF either do this or make all the bottles with boiling water and refrigerate.

You don’t need to sterilise the water, it’s the powder that needs to come into contact with boiling water.

So tipping powder into freshly boiled water, shaking to dissolve, then topping up to desired level with water from the tap is fine to do. You can refrigerate the water if you like so when the cool water hits the boiled water/formula mixture you end up with it at a nice temperature straight away.

Have you looked into a perfect prep machine?

Oh I see it's for when you are heading out, ignore me!

When I was out and about I used pre made bottles. But i guess because of Covid, wasn't out that much so wasn't too expensive.

Sorry, to clarify. I mean to ask how best to prepare it at home, for use at home.
Can I just boil the kettle, mix that with the formula, then top up with cold to make it servable temperature?
Does the cold water need to be preboiled too or is tap water okay?

I have a perfect prep machine, but I've been told they're not advised by the NHS as the hot water is only 70 degrees, not hot enough to kill enough bacteria.

That sounds fine.

I’ve seen a kettle with adjustable temperature settings, so you just switch it to 70 for formula and 100 if you’re making tea. No idea what make or where it was from I’m afraid, but looked like the easiest option for getting water at the right temp to mix formula.

I believe you have to use water from the kettle within 30 minutes - you don't have to wait 30 minutes.

I boil the kettle (with fresh water), put it in the sterilised bottle and add formula straight away, then shake, and stand the bottle in a jug of cold water - it takes about 10-12 mins to be cool enough. My little one is old enough to be very predictable in when milk will be needed though, so I can make it so that it's cooled down ready for when it's needed.

Boil water
Pour it into the bottle to about third/ half what you need
Add the correct amount of formula for the final volume of water
Lid and shake
Add the remaining volume of cold water to bring to a bit above the desired volume line (to take into account the volume of both water and powder)
Shake again
Test
Feed

It’s pretty much the same as making an instant coffee only putting the water in first. Hot water, powder, milk, for coffee. Hot water, powder, cold water, for formula.

I made them fresh, and then put the hot bottle into a bowl of cold water to cool it down more quickly

Virtually everyone I see in Germany/Austria simply make formula using hot but not boiling water from a thermos and carry pre-portioned boxes of formula around. The idea that formula needs to be sterilised using boiling water is not widely known at all.

For trips under 3 hours, I admit I used to make a normal bottle at home using boiling water from the kettle and then placed the finished formula into an insulated bag. This cooled down to a drinkable temp within 1-2 hours which is usually when DD might need it.

I figured that chances were infinitesimal that formula made with boiling water would grow bacteria within hours. Though I only did this after 7 months when DD was more robust and was sticking everything into her mouth anyway.

Agree with PP - you don’t have to wait 30 minutes, you just have to use it within 30 minutes.

You can do it the ‘perfect prep’ way, using say 2oz boiling water to mix with the power then topping with cold, I know lots of people who do this. I premade my DD’s bottles, store in the fridge and use within 24 hours - use a bottle warmer to warm to requires temp.