Question about making up bottles from powder - scared emoticon!

[titferbrains]

I've bought some powder, I didn't use it for ages as I'd heard that 20% of powdered milk is contaminated with salmonella - SORRY if this is incorrect - but just wondering what stage of latest instructions make the milk safe. Using hot water? Does this mean it's pretty much impossible to make a bottle up at short notice ie in the middle of the night? What is the best thing to do when you're in a hurry and haven't got 30 min to wait for kettle to cool, then to cool bottle? DD is very random with feeds at the mo and we're throwing a lot of formula away, thought I'd go for cheaper option with powder but am scared to use it.

thanks starlight.

sorry for being thick but how long is cooled boiled water "fresh" for? I have a dreadful memory so need to organise water at the beginning of the day.

I make up feeds in advance and store them in the fridge. I sterlise the bottles and boil the kettle, let it cool for about 20 mins and then make them up and put them straight in the fridge. You heat them up in a jug of boiling water when you need them. I freaked out about this too at first, I still do it this way and DS (9 months) hasn't been sick from a bottle yet.

I think the current advice is don't let the water cool for any longer than 30 mins, I think it's so that it is still hot enough to kill any nasties but not so hot that it squirts out of the teat and scalds you when you are mixing it IYSWIM.

Actually MarlaSinger the way Wigglesworth does it is still ok, the article listing the new advice mearly says that its "not ideal" to keep the feeds for 24 hours it does not say you shouldnt do it. =

How old is your DD?

why not use cartons when in a hurry!

Someone with a new baby told me the other day that the current advice is to make up bottles using boiling water - I never did that I used to fill a few bottles at the beginning of the day with boiling water, let it cool down and then add the formula later when a feed was needed - the DCs are now 5 and 7 and were never ill when they were babies, so I guess it didn't do them any harm.

starlight i don't think that is right because unless the right amount of water is added the powder doesn't dissolve properly, so it doesn't all get to the required 70deg.

I asked the question on another thread and another poster gave this link here which addresses the issue.

A Flask is a really useful thing to have for night time feeds (a good Thermos one guarantees hotness for 8 hours).

I fill a bottle with cooled boiled water.
I also have an empty bottle which I fill with 3oz or so from the flask. Add the powder (I use one of those dispensers for extra quickness), then add your 4oz or whatever of cooled boiled water.

It doesn't take too much extra effort.

Also, the formula once made up, lasts for two hours, so if you know roughly what time the next feed is you can have it made up half an hour or so in advance.

Best tip ever for cooling bottles in a hurry:

Put the bottle of formula in a jug of water in the freezer. It's a life saver!

ChocFridge thanks for link, good to have an understanding of best practice. DD is 7mo so not so tiny anymore and thankfully a pretty robust baby. Will try to get self organised today with bottles.