I'm confused about sterlising and preparing feeds, please help!

[AllieBongo]

I've bought an electric steam steriliser today, it says that the contents stay sterile for 6 hours if the lid is kept on. If i assemble the bottles but leave them empty, how long do they stay sterile for? Also since i had dd 3 yrs ago things have changed and now it says not to pre-prepare feeds. I really don't know what to do now, this is my 3rd baby and it changes every blinking time!

once you take them out of the steriliser they won't be sterile. in fact, once you open the lid they aren't sterile.

however, bearing in mind many, many people (me among them) feel that sterilisation is unnecessary I am sure they'll be fine for the day.

formula should be prepared with recently boiled water, to kill any bacteria in it.
so, you should boil a kettle fresh for each feed, mix with formula and then allow to cool.

I believe some people do half boiling water, add the formula (to kill the bacteria) and then top up with cold boiled water so that it is cooler quicker. I can't see anything wrong with this method persoanlly but can't vouch that it's "ok" iyswim?

oh that's good. I just didn't want to have to sterilise 1 bottle at a time. Do they need to be refrigerated?

i would just keep them in the steriliser and use them from there

I had an electric steriliser and it only took a few mins to sterilise so wasn't waiting for long, how long does yours take? Agree with TIY, use recently boiled water and leave to cool.