How do I make up a formula feed properly?? Can't find clear instructions anywhere

[euromum]

I know it should be with hot boiled water, into a sterilised bottle. So far so good, this is what I have been doing 15-20 mins before a feed and letting it cool down.

If we are going out for the day, can't I just make a few bottles up that way, cool them and take them all (in an insulated bag + ice pack), and then warm one up when needed? As far as I can see, all the advice says don't make them up in advance as formula isn't sterile - but if you make it with boiling water, in a sterilised bottle, where's the risk?

Thank you ladies !

DoH guidance is pretty clear.

The trouble is that you don't kill all the bacteria in the milk powder when you add boiling water to it, so when the milk is made up it has a nice chance to reproduce. But it does cut down the number of bacteria present

Thank you CMOT, that is very clear! I am in Belgium and didn't think to look at the DOH site. But that is a pain in the backside for days out. What is one supposed to do?? Bf is so much easier, I only have to wean the bairn as I'm going back to work next week . Would rather stay at home and feed him from boobs all day long, although he's 6 months and I would only be giving him human food faffing around with purees anyway.

You can get already made up formula in little cartons that are handy for days out.

Have you thought about expressing instead? Then you could BF when you get back from work.

You could take hot water in a thermos to make the bottles up with, unless you are likely to be going somewhere with access to a kettle/stove.

In the old, old days (ie two and a bit years ago) we were advised not to use boiling water but to boil it and let it cool a bit then mix the formula. We were also advised that the milk could be kept unrefrigerated for four hours (!). Also, I used to make up four bottles at a time and keep them in the fridge - gasp! This was with SMA Gold.

Now, I'm not saying that this is the right thing to do and, of course, the advice to parents has since been updated...

Think, maybe, it depends how old your little one is and how long you've been feeding etc. I really would recommend the ready made cartons though.

The advice to parents was changed, not to make life more complicated for them, but because babies had died from infections directly linked to formula milk powder. This risk is of course, highest in newborns and prem babies, but is still there.

And this advice has been in place since 2007, so is not that new either.

Unless you really want to wean, I'd still bf myself. I worked and bf, and it was a lovely way to reconnect at the end of the day, plus expressing breaks gave me a chance to rest a little

Useful stuff, thank you again! The ready made cartons don't seem to be so available here as in the UK so I hadn't thought of that, but if I can track some down that sounds like the best plan. Thank you reminding me of them!

TheCrackFox yes I am going to be expressing one bottle a day, and bf morning and evening as well, but to be honest I find it tiring enough to express one feed, I just can't face the idea of trying to express enough for a whole day. Ds is my 2nd dc and I got really stressed about this last time round and drove myself mad trying to pump all that milk - being a bit more chilled out now, and with less time on my hands, my conclusion is that having been ebf for 6 months, a few bottles of formula during the day until he's 1 won't hurt. Just trying to get my head round the logistics!

Btw CMOT I am impressed with your expressing at work! I find the prospect of working again overwhelming enough without trying to the fit that in too. Sadly I wouldn't get formal expressing breaks either. For the first week or so I'll no doubt be pumping at lunchtime anyway to relieve the boobs (and I'll keep that milk to take to nursery the next day), but I'll have to lock myself in the loos to do it as I don't have my own office, so all in all it's a pretty unenjoyable prospect.

On the other hand, an entire child-free day with a lunch break all to myself sounds rather fab. An upside that hadn't occurred to me before 6 months at home with a very persistent toddler .

I didn't get formal breaks - I just took myself off to the first aid room for 15 minutes a couple of times a day to pump and drink my coffee while I did it (double electric pump), and it just gave me a bit of a break as DS was 4.5 months when I went back to work in a hectic role with no chance of actual breaks unless you hid

Advice changed in 2005 - so even longer ago