What to do with baby while making bottle

[CheryB7]

My first ungoogleable question!

All the videos show how to make up a baby bottle but none of them feature an actual baby. All the articles talk about positioning baby for the actual feed but there is nothing about where to put baby while making the bottle; the mechanics are all well and good but what about the practicalities of involving an actual baby….

During the night when the baby cries for food you get up together, you then need both hands to make the bottle (even using a perfect prep machine), you don’t want to leave baby unsettled while you make the bottle but other than holding baby while making bottle which seems impractical, or leaving baby crying in a Moses basket nearby which seems heartless, where are you meant to place baby while you prepare their feed?!

Just looking for a safe practical answer about what to do physically with crying baby while simultaneously making their bottle please.

@chineybumps I agree with you. I was chatting to a lovely woman in my gps surgery one morning when my eldest was a newborn and she was saying she had her first baby really young then two more children in her twenties and she was after having a baby in her late thirties and every time she was given different advice about things. She was saying she was going with what works for her and we were actually discussing making up feeds funnily enough.

I take a thermos bag for bottles up to bed at night and make a bottle with the kettle for DD night feed by the time she wakes up it's a good temperature means she can have it straight away

I used to measure out the scoops of milk in advance and put them in one of those little multi section storage pots. Then could do the rest using the perfect prep one handed. Found counting out the scoops of milk hard when really sleep deprived and often had to start a fresh bottle because I didn’t know if I’d counted correctly!

I made up all the bottles for the day and put in fridge, then at night just got one out and straight to feeding. Never warmed them up. Or i'd use the ready made stuff and just pour into bottle. Leave baby in cribb while i sort everything

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

I always prepared a batch of bottles at a time, chilled them then put in the fridge

At night I used to just take a bottle out of the fridge and keep it on the bedside table so it was room temp for feeding.

I did exactly this, I know rules constantly change but I did this for all 4 of my children and didn't hurt them 🤷‍♀️

I prepared bottles and left them in the fridge, warmed up when needed. Obviously that still takes time but I had the bottle warmer in the bedroom so could calm baby while it was warming.

My DD gave hunger cues before full blown crying, I’d hear her rooting (I’m a very light sleeper!) or stirring so could usually get the bottle ready before she started crying!

Thanks to everyone for their insight and helpful suggestions, this conundrum had me up at 5am being completely neurotic but I think that’s just a third trimester side-effect! (Hopefully haha).

My solution was to buy ANOTHER product 🙈 but it gives me comfort visualising this wonderful contraption (containing baby) in the middle of the kitchen while I sort the bottles!

www.oliversbabycare.co.uk/product/chicco-polly-magic-relax-highchair-graphite/

Mine was in the cot next to the bed so when they started to wake I would just leave them in the cot and go make the bottle, but you can make a bottle with one hand. I do it all the time.

I could give you a pink flowery one of them. Hardly used 🤣. If your interested feel free to pm me to see if you're close enough.

[quote CheryB7]Thanks to everyone for their insight and helpful suggestions, this conundrum had me up at 5am being completely neurotic but I think that’s just a third trimester side-effect! (Hopefully haha).

My solution was to buy ANOTHER product 🙈 but it gives me comfort visualising this wonderful contraption (containing baby) in the middle of the kitchen while I sort the bottles!

www.oliversbabycare.co.uk/product/chicco-polly-magic-relax-highchair-graphite/[/quote]
Op you can't put a baby in a highchair until they are around 6 months.

We used to make up bottles in advance the night before. 30 seconds in microwave, ping, shake, baby has bottle. Leave baby in cot whilst you do it.

Highchair will be no use until 6 months.

Crying is a late stage hunger cue. You need to be preparing milk before a baby gets to that stage really, as soon as they start showing early hunger cues is when they should be fed, or else they'll get worked up, more awake, and prolong the whole thing as well as getting more upset.

I make half a day's worth of bottles at a time and keep them in the fridge. My baby takes them cold. Overnight, I just leave her in the cot while I grab a bottle. In the day, I either leave her where she is or I'm holding her and grab the bottle one handed.

That’s what I said when my partner asked about a high chair…but if you look at the pictures and read the description, It’s actually especially designed to use from new born - it reclines back like the chicco bouncer 👌

You can put a newborn in a high chair. We used the Tripp Trapp newborn attachment, it’s a bit like a flat car seat. We used it loads, it was very useful.

I had his prom in the house - that way I could just wheel him about with me from room to room and didn't have to worry about bending too much post c section.

Pram, not pram!

Ahh the typos!

Lots of highchairs have the reclined newborn attachment.

However, I think you're overthinking this :) there will be two of you and you're unlikely to both be sleeping through the night feeds at first. Most people also use pre made formula to start with especially at night.

While it's advised to make bottles up fresh the NHS and who also say that the next best thing when this is not practical is to make up with hot water and store at the back of the fridge for no longer than 24h. I'd do that for night feeds and continue to make the day feeds on demand.

Many people also just get a perfect prep machine when bottle feeding full time.

Yes! Pram is also a fab idea, I never even thought of that, common sense prevails! It was someone who suggested trip trapp that put me on the right track and as this has wheels too hopefully it will be a helpful gadget after the section but I accept I am totally overthinking everything at this stage 🤯

And I love everyone’s faith in my OH, while god love him, he might surprise me (he could sleep through anything and for 20hours at a time👀)…for now I’m preparing to be able to manage a lot solo if I have to, Csection-recovery-willing anyway!🙈 #girlpower

I think all formula fed babies have to cry for a couple of minutes. I had similar questions when I was last pregnant. Everyone just said they will cry and its only 2 mins. In the daytime you can read their cues and make bottle before crying but in the night there seems to be not much other option except making formula against guidelines or using expensive ready made and giving it to baby cold.

Isn’t making them up in batches a thing anymore smh

Give the bottle before needed so the baby has a dream feed, then does not wake up hungry. So you just cuddle it change it's nappy.

Baby will be fine if he cries for five minutes.

If you have another dc there will be tines they have to wait while you doing something else.

It will not harm baby if he cries in moses or chair while you make bottle and talk to him soothingly for five minutes

Do not plan on doing it solo!! He’s the father, he needs to step up, if he’s not doing so already. We need to raise our children to think both parents doing equal parenting is the norm, otherwise this vicious circle of women doing everything will continue.