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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

is this theory plausable when making up ds bottles?? advise please?

60 replies

mad4mybaby · 24/01/2009 07:45

when i make ds2 bottles i dont warm it up and never did with ds1 either, anyway this week he was in hospital and we werent allowed to makke up the bottles and i believe they made up them with boiling water then we put in a v v cold fridhe, anyway, we had to remove thw chill when we got them from the fridge but never gave it to him warm.

anyway he fed better in hosp and had alot less wind..soon as we are home and makimg up with cooled boiled water as before he is back to how he was and v windy. We cant decide if this is something to do with the way the milk was made up??

opinions anyone? (no opinions on not giving him warm milk though please )

OP posts:
BouncingTartan · 24/01/2009 17:35

Really? Twas never mentioned to me and I've never took them!

You can make sufficient Vit D by exposing your skin to 10mins of natural light 3-4 times a week.

littleboyblue · 24/01/2009 18:05

mad4mybaby When I've made up feed fresh (I normally went against current guidelines), to cool it quick enoufg for ds I'd just pop it in the freezer for a few minutes. Not ideal but I also had a baby with very bad reflux and like yours it made it worse the more wound up he got.

pooka · 24/01/2009 19:40

I think I knew about the vitamin d. Can't remember now.

So many guidelines, so many of which you only hear about after the fact!

fledtoscotland · 24/01/2009 21:29

mad4mybaby - the new guidelines are a pain but with DS1 we put 3ozs boiling (well cooled for 10mins) water into bottle, added 7 scoops of powder, then added further 4ozs cooled boiled water.

powder hits water more than 70degrees so bugs are killed. cooled boiled water loweres temp so you have "warm" milk ready to go in the time it takes to boil a kettle

fishiedewar · 24/01/2009 21:37

if you use less than the correct amount of water then the powder doesn't dissolve properly and therefore the bugs aren't destroyed by the hot water.

Ceebee74 · 24/01/2009 21:37

Mad4 my DS2 is ff (similar age to yours iirc) and I do as Littleboyblue and Fledtoscotland have said.

To make a 6oz bottle (which DS2 is currently on), I boil the kettle and pour 2oz into a sterile bottle, put 6 scoops of powder in and shake till it all dissolves. Every night I fill a sealed plastic jug with boiling water so it cools by the morning and use that to top the bottle up - I have a seperate 'measuring bottle' which I measure 4 oz of the cooled boiled water in and then pour this into the the bottle with the boiling water/powder. It makes the bottle the perfect temp, DS2 seems to be able to bring his wind up ok and it saves room in the fridge! Hope that makes sense!

Hope your DS2 is ok and it was nothing serious

LooseyC · 24/01/2009 21:48

I used to use boiling water as the guidelines suggested, but as others have said it was a pain to get it cooled while your baby cries!

I don't want to confuse matters here but when the BPA in bottles story got into the press they advised against putting boiling water directly into bottles, saying it should be cooled for 30 mins first.

So I contacted Aptamil (the formula I use) to ask what they advised. They told me that if I wanted to make up bottles in advance they recommended measuring water boiled then cooled for 30 mins into the bottles. This water could then be left on the side (not neccessarily in the fridge) until needed. The milk powder could then be added just before feeding. It is then being added to sterile water and bugs dont get a chance to multiply as they would in made-up formula - but obviously it is not what the DoH leaflets advise.

There seems to be mixed evidence on BPA and personally I haven't worried too much about it but I've found this quite a useful way of half making up a feed so it is at room temperature and saving time. My DC hasn't had any problems with tummy bugs etc., but I think everyone has to decide on their own way of doing things.

amazonianadventure · 24/01/2009 21:53

looseyC says --but I think everyone has to decide on their own way of doing things.

I totally disagree with this, The department of health does not issue guidelines cause they are bored.Bottle feeds need to be made up correctly or they can cause illness.

Its the same with steralisation, some people are quite lack on this until there babaies get thrush and so likes.

KingCanuteIAm · 24/01/2009 22:02

By golly, how things have changed in the 15 years since I last ff a baby!

I am now thinking I should research all of this ahead off dd having a baby or I will be one of those grandparents who have it all wrong and say things like "well it never hurt you" all that time

I would really love to echo the earlier question, where is the research that backs up the need for all this extra performance? I am really interested as I have never heard of a baby being harmed by properly (well, my understanding of properly) prepared milk.

LooseyC · 24/01/2009 22:02

Just passing on what I heard from direct from the manufacturers of Aptamil, feel free to read or ignore.

KingCanuteIAm · 24/01/2009 22:04

amazonian, in many countries (eg USA) it is normal not to ever steralise a bottle - in fact they usually think we are all quite mad to be so cuaght up in it. I have not yet heard of an epademic of thrush in America.

Fawnie · 24/01/2009 22:06

Hi

I'm new to Mumsnet and couldn't find anywhere to introduce myself so I thought I'd just jump right in.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the right / best way to make up formula feeds, me included, as we have struggled to establish breastfeeding and so the stress levels are already high.

The current DH guidelines seem incredibly cautious to me and while I agree that there is no sense in taking unnecessary risks, it seems odd to me that the advice in other countries varies so widely. A friend in Canada was advised that as long as bottles were washed in hot soapy water, sterilisation isn't necessary.

I'd be interested to read the original research that informed some of these guidelines.

fishiedewar · 24/01/2009 22:13

hello fawnie.

there is plenty on sterilising if you search on this topic.

as i understand it, the only thing which is really a problem is the milk powder. not the water, bottles, teats etc. i am really shocked by looseyc's advice from formula company. was that recent?

KingCanuteIAm · 24/01/2009 22:14

I agree Fawnie, most of the Americans I have met/spoken to have said that they just put everything through the dishwasher. Stralising is what they do in hospitals for pre-term babies!

Anyway, Hi, welcome to Mumsnet! Hope you find your way round!

fledtoscotland · 24/01/2009 22:16

fawnie - if you put E. Sakazakii into google it will tell you all about the bugs that can kill babies

MKG · 24/01/2009 22:26

I'm in the US and I don't sterilize bottles. The dishwasher gets them good and clean.

I also have never boiled water for a bottle. I simply use water from the tap.

littleducks · 25/01/2009 08:14

mkg- do you then warm the water or do you give cold milk?

jenwa · 25/01/2009 09:10

I heard my cousins wife in america just using tap water but warm so not needing to warm it up.

when dd1 was a baby we used to make up feeds and store in fridge and then re heat as this is what other people did, this time we make up water first then add powder when dd needs bottle and heat up. Never knew it was a problem with the powder itself.

SO many people do things different and also sterilise differntly too. Some people just wash bottles, some put in dishwasher and some in steriliser. I sterilise in microwave as my bottles got all stained from dishwasher last time!

littleducks · 25/01/2009 09:14

warm tap water? now that doesnt sound nice, is it different in the us, the water out the hot tap isnt drinking water here

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 25/01/2009 09:19

wow, didnt think the thread was going to go this way when i started! Ok so humour me ladies ( v bad night!) ds2 isnt on any set routine yet as was waiting for him to get out of hosp and get his meds but he does generally feed around every 3 hours taking a 4oz bottle. so.... if im to make up a 4oz bottle and not give him bugs from the milk, could i put say 1oz of boiling water in bottle add th 4 scoops milk then put 3oz of cooled boiled water in to cool it? Or what about putting boiling water in a thermos flask and then use that for each feed?

OP posts:
littleboyblue · 25/01/2009 09:23

mad4mybaby The only thing I would think with adding powder to small amount of boiling water and then adding cool is the possibility that powder may not disolve properly?
If I was to prepare feeds as I needed them, I would probably use a thermos flask for hot water.
I have a 'mannual' the mw gave me for children b irth-5yrs and under the preparing bottles section it says to use a flask if going out to keep water hot enough

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 25/01/2009 09:25

its jus s hard as there is no way that i can boil a kettle 30 mins in advance and know that he'll def feed within that time....

OP posts:
littleboyblue · 25/01/2009 09:29

I know. I had quite a strict routine with ds from the beginning, so could have done it that way but once you find something that works, you have to go through growth spurts, they gt a cold, etc etc. If you are following guidelines I'd def use a flask, seems to be the easiest way of ensuring safety but still not making it overly complicated.

littleboyblue · 25/01/2009 09:30

I'd be careful about how long you leave water in a flask for though. As I said yesterday, I used water from a thermos to warm milk when we were out and found that limescale built up very quickly.

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 25/01/2009 09:32

would flask be ok to use for the day and wash at night when i wash/sterilise bottles and then re-fill up with boiling water?

OP posts: