Bottle Feeding General Advice Please

[Diane1]

Hi

I breastfed my baby for the first week but after she lost weight I am now bottle feeding. I would appreciate any advice on general organising of making feeds.

Can I use boiled water that has cooled to room temp to make up formula? The instructions say to use boiled water that has cooled for 30 mins then to cool before feeding but how can this be done with a crying hungry baby who cant wait that long?!

Also what do you do when you're out and about? I am currently using cartons but these are expensive.

Any advice much appreciated!

Diane, there is some good stuff on this on live threads at the moment - basically, no, you cannot use cooled water if you follow current guidance as the water must be no less than 70 deg C to deal with bacteria in the powder.

Check out this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/720340-Mixed-advice-about-breastfeeding-and-making-up -formula-from-midwives

If you want info about how to return to breastfeeding, just ask

here is the info on how to make up formula

yes the water needs to be hot when it meets the formula, or it won't sterlise the milk powder. you can run it under cold tap to cool a bit if you need.

You don't need to wait 30 minutes - pour the boiling water into the bottle, add the powder, put the teat and lid on, then cool the bottle under the cold tap.

This is the safest way of making up bottles, and the details are in the DoH leaflet which you can download from here