Can someone help me with a Formula question pls

[MrsOCD]

Have just started to supplement my dd's night feed with formula. All other feeds breast. Not being familiar with formula I am doing exactly what the instructions say - making bottles up fresh and using. However, I'm sure other mums make up some bottles in advance and keep in teh fridge. I wouldn't do this for a whole day but maybe make bottle up at teatime and keep till tennish. Is this okay to do?

each feed should be made as you need it with water freshly boiled and left to cool for not more than 30 minutes according to the guidelines.. you are not obliged to follow them, but that is the recommendation as formula is not sterile and the hot water kills of any bugs that might be in there.

if it is just one or two feeds a day, you could consider using cartons of ready made

I did that when my ds1 was about 8 or 9 months but don't think I would have done it much younger - not sure why and I have no idea if I was right to or not. For DS2 I make up bottles with water to use during the day and just add the formula and warm up when I need to feed.

You'll find mums whose kids were tiny years ago made bottles up in advance, but nowadays that is considered totally unacceptable. So you will have to make it up fresh.

Apparently there was a sharp increase in the number of children being admitted to hospital with gastroenteritis because the old way meant that the water wasn't hot enough to kill the bacteria in the formula powder.

I don't know. Equally millions of Mums probably did it the old way with no ill effects whatsoever.

I guess you choose what level of risk is acceptable. I don't mean that in a judgey way, just a matter of fact way.

FWIW I followed the new guidelines almost all the time, though occasionally left the water for a bit longer than half an hour (maybe up to an hour). Prob only did that only 3 or less occasions though. But equally several of my friends always do it the old way still and I don't think they've had problems. Soooooooooo.... yeah. Take your pick!

I do it the old way, have with both my ds's and not had any problems. I'm not telling you to do it the old way, guidelines are written for a reason, but like previously said, you have to weigh up risks and do what your happy with. The way I understood it is that the major dangers are in babies under 6 weeks of age and babies that were born before term.

I bottle fed my baby from day 1 and we always made up all her bottles for the day in one go, refigerated them and heated them up as they were needed. We never had a single problem.

Surely it is safer to make the bottles up hot (as per the new guidelines) and then cool them in the fridge for the whole day, than to make each one up fresh with cold water?

At least this way any bacteria in the powder is killed off.

I make all bottles up freshly because I don't like the thought of reheating feeds from the fridge.

However, I don't follow the guidelines to the letter - I make up using double concentrate of freshly boiled water, then dilute with cooled boiled water from the fridge. This results in a bottle not far off the temperature that is needed.

In fact, the guidelines are you should use water to make up feeds that is already cooled. I think that my way is both safer and more convenient. Safer because use of freshly boiled water is more likely to kill bacteria and no waiting around for feeds to cool.

you can buy powder dispensers which keep 3 lots of measured powder ready to pour into measured bottles so if you use 8oz bottles you can prepare 3 bottles of 8oz's of water and 3 sections of 8 scoops of powder then pour powder
into bottles as you need them also means powder
does not curdle as it would if left out of fridge etc in your nappy bag

brettgirl2 - I often think that your way is the best way but have never got anyone to agree with me.

If you sterilise the bottle you keep the cool boiled water in, which you then use to top up to the correct amount a sterilised bottle with freshly boiled water plus the feed, then what's the problem? Like you say the feed should be even safer because it's using freshly boiled water.

Cant see why this isn't advice for mixing a feed freshly, although there's more risk of scalding plus people have to not get confused about amounts of cooled & freshly boiled water they have used.

Surely it's more safe though than people feeling stuck between always timing a fresh feed correctly; and making feeds up in advance because they know they won't be able to time it right (for example returning to the house just before feed time).

Cartons are fine but expensive and it's easy to run out of them so they're not always a great alternative for those reasons.

OP FWIW I make up a bottle at a time around 1-2 hours in advance. I cool it right down to room temperature before I put it in the fridge to keep though.

Lesbianmummy - you would need to have a flask of boiled water to hand not cooled boiled water with your method though?

The bacteria is not (only) in the water, it's in the actual powder. Powder is not sterile hence the hot water kills any bacteria.

If you use cooled boiled water to mix a feed the bacteria in the powder has not been killed off.