A few questions about making up formula with the double shot method

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We normally use our Perfect Prep machine but will be travelling and plan to use the hot and cold water method but there’s a few things I’m not sure about.

Is it OK to use cold tap water for the cold shot without boiling or filtering? Baby is 7 months so assume this is fine as she is meant to be having tap water with meals. Tap water is safe in the country we are going to (New Zealand).

Can you use hot boiled water immediately or does it have to cool a bit first? How long does it stay hot enough in a standard thermos flask eg if boiled before bed will it be hot enough all night if baby wants a bottle? I expect her feeding times to all over the place due to jet leg.

Do you measure the water carefully or just use the marks on the side of the bottle?

Honestly don't know the answers to this but hopefully someone will be along soon.

Buy two flasks, have one with cooled boiled water and the other with hot boiled water. Add the hot shot (whatever your prep machine puts in) add the formula and shake then top up with the cool water. As far as I know you need to still boil the cool water.

I used cooled boiled water for DD when she was a baby. I can't remember now though if it was the official advice or just being extra careful now though.
With regards to measuring, I used the marks on the side of the bottle when adding water.

I would do this as well.

Tap water is safe to drink, there are a lot of regulations and checks and there would be he'll to pay for the water company if they provided contaminated water. The idea of giving babies cool build water is about 2 generations out of date, from when drinking water was a lot less regulated, and might have come untreated from a well.

There is more chance of the boild water getting contaminated while sitting around cooling and waiting to be used, then it coming out of the tap with harmful bacteria in it.

Like above, I used 2 flasks so still used boiled cooked water. But it probably wasn’t necessary.

re measuring, I used a spare empty bottle to measure. So put powder in Bottle 1, use Bottle 2 to measure hot shot, then pour it from
Bottle 2 to Bottle 1. Same with cool. That way the right ml of water is used.

Our flask stayed hot enough for about 5-6 hours I felt. At the end of that time frame tho, I adjusted my ratio of hot to cold in order to achieve the right drinking temp, as after 6 hours while I felt it was hot enough it was cooler than if used immediately.

this method worked well on the plane too (we also
went to NZ). At each stopover I approached a cafe and asked them to fill my flask of hot, so that I didn’t need to use plane water. During the plane journey I used bottled cold water (looked for lowest sodium content) as this was most practical for travel. Don’t quote me on this but I think it was Evian that was lowest salt and easily available in our stop over airports. I wouldnt use bottled water for an extended periods, this was just while in transit

Also on the plane I lined the Bottle 1 with a sandwich bag (tie handle type). That way no need to
wash bottle in airplane bathroom, just bin bag.

I obv had to still wash the teat but that is easier. Since I was washing in a plane toilet I then sterilised it in a sippy cup of cold water with Milton tablets (2 x the mini tabs meant for dummy sterilisers). This meant I only needed 1 bottle top / teat on plane.

I did also take travel caps for our bottles so I could seal up Bottle 1 and Bottle 2 while not in use

On and a mini pump bottle from boots (the kind of empty bottle they sell for decanting your own toiletries into) filled with fairy liquid is ideal for plane washing up.

Use tap water! Presumably if the baby is just thirsty they have tap water so it'll be fine.

Thanks all for the advice and great tips for travelling by plane!

I'd just buy the ready mixed formula far less hassle it's all done for you

as previous poster has mentioned it’s really important you pre measure the water out before adding any powder as this can displace the water and make it look more than it is leading to wrong proportions

Thanks again all for the advice! I plan to use readymade for the plane trip for convenience but will try out using sandwich bags a a bottle liner to reduce the number of bottles we need to carry. We are going for 3 weeks and you can’t buy readymade formula in New Zealand so we will have to use the two shot method while out there both at ‘home’ (my parents house) and while out and about visiting other family. Sometimes we could be out for longer than 6 hours but I guess we will need to find a source (cafe?) of boiling water if we are.

It should be easy enough to get boiling water, I can’t imagine any cafe or restaurant would say no if you ask for boiling water for making up your baby’s bottle. If they seemed reluctant I’d be happy to offer to pay for it of course, but never experienced that, especially if buying a cuppa for myself at the same
time as asking.

if you have a really good thermos flask you might find it keeps for longer than 6 hours.

enjoy your trip, I’m sure you’ll have a fab time!