follow on milk

[trixie123]

am weaning my 7 month old and have up to now been using ready made up formula. Thought we'd move onto to the follow on milk which only comes in powder or small cartons. The instructions on the tin are clear enough but I know that many people make up all the day's feeds in the morning and store them in the fridge. If you do this, do you do it with boiling water, slightly cooled boiled water or what? Also, what are people's experiences of using this follow on milk generally and should we start giving it in a cup rather than a bottle? Sorry, lots of different questions.

Both ds and dd have been bottle fed, but I never used follow on milk - just first milk til 12 months and then whole cows milk. My health vistor said there was no real need to do follow ons if you are weaning.
In terms of making up bottles, I sterilise the bottles every evening and then put the right amount of once-boiled water into each bottle. That means both bottles and water are sterile and can be kept at any temperature. I've also got one of the little pots with the divides in so I can measure out the right number of scoops for a feed, so when it's milk o'clock can just grab a bottle of water, pour in the right amount of powder, give it a shake and it's ready (gladly dd is happy to drink milk at room temp so no need for warming etc).

You obviously can do what Seaside suggests, but bear in mind that the reason for the advice on making up feeds fresh each time is because the powder is not sterile (if you think about it, it couldn't be. Even if it started out sterile, it wouldn't be after the first time you opened the tub). This carries with it a risk of causing illness.

A compromise is to make up bottles of 50% of the necessary cooled boiled water and store them in the fridge, then add the powder to 50% just boiled water, which means that the powder goes into hot water but the formula should be cool enough to drink (do check though!).

It is up to you in terms of risk. Many people will tell you that they made up a day's feeds with no problems, but studies do show that there can sometimes be issues. If you do choose to store and not add the powder to boiled water, be aware of balancing the risks and, as Seaside says, store water and then add powder at the last minute. Bacteria multiply far more easily in formula than in separate water and powder.