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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Making up formula - do you follow the rules??

213 replies

MumtoHarry · 06/03/2008 10:11

We have just moved Harry onto formula and I am worrying about how I should make it up ... does everyone follow the new guidelines about making it up with boiled water cooled for less than 30 mins, and then let that cool enough for the baby to drink it (which seems a real faff - and a bit impossible to get the timing right if you are letting the baby demand-feed)... or do people make up the bottles of cooled boiled water in advance (and make up the feed with water at room temp)... or do people make the feed up in advance and keep in in the fridge?? I am probably over-thinking this, but it all seems SO much hassle to do it properly and yet if baby was ill because I couldn't be arsed to get it right I'd feel awful ....

OP posts:
rachaelsara · 07/03/2008 22:47

13 years ago I used to store 4oz boiled water in the fridge, put 3oz boiling in, then the powder and it was spot on. DD1 had a fair few tummy bugs, but we did wean at 12 weeks then!

tori32 · 07/03/2008 22:48

VVV please get over it. I don't specialise in neuroticism. I understand the guidelines. I also understand the need for children to have some exposure to some bacteria so that they can develop some immunity from them.
Having a food handling/ hygiene cert is not the reason I don't follow the guidelines, merely that I do understand them.

FAQ · 07/03/2008 22:50

tori - lets not forget that the bacteria that can be found in FF is potentially very dangerous - not quite the same as letting your DC pick up a biscuit from the floor and eat it - or make a mud pie in the garden and try and consume that.......

Aitch · 07/03/2008 22:53

i think the risk of getting the bacteria in the unsterilised milk is very low, but the horrible thing is that the chances of the child dying if it gets it is 30-50%. that's too much for me to live with, when it's so easy to avoid.

some babies died in france and belgium, that's why the guidelines were changed. apols if this has already been covered.

rachaelsara · 07/03/2008 22:55

If I'd known this 13 years ago, I'd never have slept for worrying.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 07/03/2008 22:55

Good god where do you get your information from? Exposure to bacteria is a natural process. But formula is not a natural product.

I know someone who got their food handling and hygiene cert through working in a pub. I'm not sure that would qualify her to disregard advice on making up infant formula, because I'd imagine that she didnt serve many babies in her line of work.

Where did you get yours from? Assuming you have some form of qualification?

FAQ · 07/03/2008 22:57

I got mine from working in a care home for the elderly

VeniVidiVickiQV · 07/03/2008 22:57

is this covered in that "qualification"???

VeniVidiVickiQV · 07/03/2008 22:58

Ah, well then FAQ - you understand

Mind you, you'd probably have more experience through making up nutrition packs for patients.

tori32 · 07/03/2008 23:00

Supermarket because of working in the pre-packed frsh food, butchery and deli.

FAO getting exposed to mud pies could be much more lethal especially if a cat has pooed on the soil- toxoplasmosis is far worse than any bacteria potentially in ff.

tori32 · 07/03/2008 23:01

sorry that should read 'fresh food'

onepieceoflollipop · 07/03/2008 23:02

Before I go to bed (worrying) one quick question about cartons.

Obviously they are stored at room temperature. At the risk of sounding stupid, could I perhaps store a carton near the radiator (or similar warm place) and then if we chose to give a carton during the night it would be at an acceptable temp for dd2?
Sorry if this sounds dopey - it's just some of the other ways some of us have been preparing and serving formula seemed ok and "obvious" but from this thread it is clear that they are not!

Thank you.

Aitch · 07/03/2008 23:02

gosh, really? toxoplasmosis has a death rate of 30-50%? does it?

FAQ · 07/03/2008 23:03

ermm - sorry I'd be a LOT more concerned if my DC got E.Sakazakii Meningitis than if they got toxoplasmosis.......for a healthy (non-pregnant) - yes some of the complications that could arise from Toxo aren't very nice - but meningitis KILLS and anyone that gets it at the very least is going to be very ill.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 07/03/2008 23:07

Do premature babies really get exposed to mud pies???

Shocker!
Potentially? It's not just "potentially" in formula - it was in 14% of samples tested. It can be fatal.

So, in short, pregnant women are advised not to make mud pies (last reported case of toxoplasmosis was eons ago, but anyway), AND people are advised to make formula up using the current guidelines as already stated.

FAQ · 07/03/2008 23:10

huh - VVV toxoplasmosis is really common worldwide (about 1/2 million are thougt to catch it each year in the UK alone).....just that most people don't even have any symptoms

Aitch · 07/03/2008 23:10

i thought you were a nurse, tori, have i got that wrong? is it not possible that things have changed since you worked at the supermarket?
do you want me to substantiate the 30-50% figure, by the way? i can go looking for the doc if you like.

Aitch · 07/03/2008 23:12

not sure about the radiator thing, by the way, but it does sound gross. will the baby not drink room temp?

Aitch · 07/03/2008 23:12

not sure about the radiator thing, by the way, but it does sound gross. will the baby not drink room temp?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 07/03/2008 23:12

yes, you are right FAQ, I did of course mean 'fatal' case.

Think it was in Greece or something. Will double check

Aitch · 07/03/2008 23:18

god, does this mean it's in baby rice too?

how pleased am i that i never gave dd any?

Aitch · 07/03/2008 23:19

france

tori32 · 07/03/2008 23:20

Not necessary Aitch, I don't doubt your stats but what I would be interested in is the actual percentage who get stomach upsets, not just the ones for whom it was fatal. Yes, I am a nurse and no that doesn't mean I am an expert on making up formula. It makes me sceptical that complete sterility for infants and toddlers is a good thing for immunity though. The human race has done very nicely without complete sterility for thousands of years, if not then we would be extinct.

Aitch · 07/03/2008 23:22

this says as high as 50% but recently more like 20%, although neurological injury a side effect

rachaelsara · 07/03/2008 23:22

The carton probably suggests a range of temps, not by the radiator. Wouldn't it cook?

When I was bfing dd1 you could buy nipple sterilising spray, is it still out there?