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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

How to prepare powdered formula ?

34 replies

mabel12345 · 08/09/2021 12:48

I am just curious whether there easier ways to prepare formula than the one instructed on the box. Surely when baby is hungry you don’t have half an hour to boil the kettle and wait ?
I am new to (powdered) formula feeding so any tips welcomed ! Thank u x

OP posts:
mynameiscalypso · 08/09/2021 12:50

Buy a Perfect Prep machine.

Flumo · 08/09/2021 13:05

Perfect prep are definitely worth the money, it broke when my son was about 5 months old still feeding at night had to wait 5 days for it to be delivered and it was the worth 5 days of my life 😅

Flickeringgreenlight · 08/09/2021 13:07

Perfect Prep machine. Best £80 I've ever spent! Do get the "quiet" one though as the ready beep is unjustifiably loud, especially in the middle of the night 😅

LakeShoreD · 08/09/2021 13:08

Another vote for a Perfect Prep machine! Then get the little ready made bottles for when you go out.

thesockfairydidit · 08/09/2021 13:08

The hot water is to kill the bugs in the milk. Perfect prep machines are found to not deliver an amount enough to cover all the powder for the required time your best bet it 2 flasks one with hot and one with cold. Most made with the hot and then topped up with cooled. Shake and ready sooner :)

girlmom21 · 08/09/2021 13:12

We love our perfect prep machine!

But, if you want to make bottles fresh you can prepare the bottle with boiled water then submerge it in cold water to cool it down more quickly.

Lockdownmummy · 08/09/2021 13:13

uneeqbaby.com/collections/multi-functional-formula-kettle/products/uneeqbaby-baby-formula-kettle-with-built-in-thermostat

Then stand for a couple of minutes in cold water to cook.

LakeShoreD · 08/09/2021 13:17

Do get the "quiet" one though as the ready beep is unjustifiably loud, especially in the middle of the night
Just my opinion but I really disagree and think the new one is an absolute con. If you can find the older model it can be up to £50 cheaper and I don’t get why silencing a beep is a thing because it’s hardly like your baby that’s woken for a night feed is silent.

Still, so much love for the Perfect Prep! If you buy either model you won’t regret it.

NannyR · 08/09/2021 13:18

I replicate what the perfect prep does. Measure 2oz of freshly boiled water, add the powder and shake well, then measure out 4oz of cooled boiled water (you can keep this in a jug or bottle in the fridge) and add to the bottle to cool it down.
It's also OK to make up a couple of bottles in advance as long as they are made with 70°+ water, cooled down rapidly (in iced or running water) and stored in the coldest part of the fridge.

KihoBebiluPute · 08/09/2021 13:21

You don't need a perfect prep machine but you do need to do a little experimentation to get the volumes of boiling and cold water right for the below method. I am suggesting "a quarter" and "three quarters" in the below as a starting point but you can vary this so long as the right amount is being used in total.

You do need an accurate way to measure water - 1ml water weighs 1g, 1 litre of water weighs 1kg, so if you have digital weighing scales in your kitchen you are fine.

Once you have established the right volumes you can boil and chill accurately measured volumes of water and keep them in the fridge - if you have sterile bottles, fill them with the right amount of freshly boiled water and put on the lids, they will stay sterile.

The milk powder is not sterile and does need to be mixed with boiling water but you don't need to use the full amount as boiled. So, measure out the correct amount of powder and then add a quarter of the required water as boiling water fresh from the kettle. Put on a lid and give it a good shake to disolve the powder - it needs more shaking because there is less water in there.

When it is fully mixed you can hold the lidded bottle under the cold water tap for a bit to help cool it down. Then add the remaining 3 quarters of water from the reserves of fridge-cold sterile water.

This isn't failsafe, the best way to be 100% sure is to follow the instructions on the packet perfectly - but as you say you can't always do that. However, the older your baby is, the less dangerous it is to cut corners. A tiny newborn can get extremely poorly very quickly from being given milk that has been prepared in a way that isn't very careful about sterility. Once they are 6 months old and have started chewing bits of carpet/the cat/whatever then it makes less of a difference.

THNG5 · 08/09/2021 13:27

Make them up in advance following the instructions on the box and store in the fridge. Just don't keep them more than 24 hours.
I've done this with 4 babies, absolutely no problem.

AnnoyedByAlfieBear · 08/09/2021 13:29

Mix the powder with half of the amount of boiling water you need. Then top up with cooled boiled water kept in a flask.

grey12 · 08/09/2021 13:43

Machine if you can afford it

DD1 was bottle fed for the first couple of months and it was sad to hear her crying waiting for the bottle Sad

Flickeringgreenlight · 08/09/2021 14:20

@LakeShoreD

Do get the "quiet" one though as the ready beep is unjustifiably loud, especially in the middle of the night Just my opinion but I really disagree and think the new one is an absolute con. If you can find the older model it can be up to £50 cheaper and I don’t get why silencing a beep is a thing because it’s hardly like your baby that’s woken for a night feed is silent. Still, so much love for the Perfect Prep! If you buy either model you won’t regret it.

It's just what DH and I always joke about. Like they made the machine so incredibly annoyingly loud that you wish you bought the silent one! And no, DS wasn't normally screaming for food at night so I personally could have done without the obnoxious BEEEEEEEP 🤣 Liek you don't know the bloody thing is ready LOL. But quite rightly, that alone doesn't justify the price tag! It does the job perfectly.

ladygindiva · 08/09/2021 14:31

@mynameiscalypso

Buy a Perfect Prep machine.
Yes. Best purchase ever.
srh96 · 09/09/2021 22:48

@AnnoyedByAlfieBear

Mix the powder with half of the amount of boiling water you need. Then top up with cooled boiled water kept in a flask.
Just be careful doing this as adding the powder before all of the water can mean you're not adding enough water.

Say you're making a 7oz bottle: 3oz boiling water, then 7 scoops powder, then shake, then adding cool boiled water up to the 7oz mark on the bottle wouldn't be enough water because the formula powder has added volume.

You'd have to pre measure the separate liquids to ensure each amounts definitely add up to 7oz first. Or weigh the bottle as pp said but that sounds like a massive ball ache.

If you have a newborn I honestly wouldn't mess about. Look of for the feeding cues and prepare the bottle just before you think they're going to want it. It's not worth the risk with tiny babes.

Pickle2021 · 10/09/2021 09:16

When lo was young we used to make 4/5 bottles up cool rapidly and pop in fridge then heat as needed.

Now and I know against guidance. (We had severe feeding issues and this is the only way she will take it)
We prep 4/5 bottles by boiling kettle wait 20/30 mins, pour required amount of water in each bottle. Pop lid on and leave on the side. Then when she wants a bottle put required amount of formula in bottle - at room temp.

this is against guidance too add.

Hindsight I would like to give the prep machine a go if I ever have another one. The hassal of making bottles bores me to tears 😂

Jade2270 · 13/09/2021 00:06

THNG5
I pre made bottles for my eldest but the midwifes have told me when I give birth to my second two weeks ago that no feed should be left more thAn one hour

How do you heat them up if they have been in the fridge

NannyR · 13/09/2021 08:33

Jade2270 the nhs advice is that formula that has been made up correctly with hot water and cooled down quickly can be stored for 24 hours in a fridge, up to 4 hours in a cool bag with ice packs and up to 2 hours at room temperature.

Tlollj · 13/09/2021 08:40

Bearing in mind mine are all grown up. We used to make them all at once, put them in the fridge, then, wait for it , heat them up in the microwave. 😳
I thought the perfect prep wasn’t a good idea any more?

Danikm151 · 13/09/2021 08:44

I used to premake and put in the fridge then heat up in a bottle warmer, later on i’d make a thermos of boiling water and it would be the right temp- just cool down under the tap

LaMadrilena · 13/09/2021 08:51

We're using bottled water (low mineralisation, specifically says ok for babies). Is that not ok? Seems to be how it's done here in Spain (I mention it because I've not seen NHS guidance). Then we heat the bottle in bain marie or in a bottle warmer, although it's been so hot here that we haven't even been doing that, just using bottled water at room temp.

We've only been using bottles to supplement BF if that's relevant.

srh96 · 14/09/2021 09:09

@LaMadrilena well no it's not ok unless you're boiling the bottled water and mixing the formula powder with the boiling hot water to sterilise the powder.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 14/09/2021 09:11

I used to boil water, then use the hot water to prep 4x bottles. Chill them when made and store in the fridge.

To use I would either grab one an hour or so before they were expected to feed and leave it on the side to get to room temp, or just dunk it in a pot of hot water to take the chill off.