Making up bottles

[strawberrycrumble]

Please could somebody tell me how I should be making up bottles for the day expecially when we are out for the day. This is what i currently do and the midwife said this is ok but now Im not so sure.
I put the water in the bottles and keep the powder seperate in one of those 3 compartment thingies. I then just add the formula to the water at whatever temp it is when she is due and give it to her at that temp.
Is this acceptable??

THis is fine, probably the best way to do it, rather than making the bottles up before you go out..

Strictly speaking, the current guidelines are that the bottles must be made up with water hotter than 70F in order for the bacteria to be killed (as formula is not sterile) but not boiling water as the nutrients would be destroyed. This is because there were several deaths in Europe due to formula being made up with cold water, and the babies getting the bacteria

In practice, my friend makes up her bottles when she is out with first half hot boiled water from a flask to make sure the bacteria are killed, then half cold boiled water to get the right temperature.

NHS advice here

That said, loads of people just make them up with cold water even now.

HTH

I make them up with hot water from kettle that has been boiled & left for 30 mins. I add the milk then stand in sink of water to cool quickly before putting in the fridge. I use them within about 8-12hrs though I think they would be ok for 24hrs

i do the same as ohnelly. When i am going out though i tend to take a sterilized empty bottle and use of of those premixed forumla cartons. I just find it easier that way (one too many spills in the nappy bag).

Sorry if I'm hijacking this thread but I've related questions to ask

Ds is currently EBF, and currently express a bottle for him if were going out or if leaving him with family. However, now hes nearly 6 months, I'm tempted to start using a bit of formula for these bottle feeds, just because I'm starting to find expressing annoying at times (hope that doesn't sound selfish)
So...
From 6 months do you still need to boil the water?
I prefer ohnellys method as it sounds less of a faff. If I did this, would bottle be ok in insulation bag thingy for a short time (so while we travel to family house apx 30 mins), then put in fridge?

Hi humous yes I would still boil the water until 12 months - not sure if others do the same? And I do sometimes take a bottle in one of those cool bags - mine says its ok for up to 4hrs so im sure your half hour journey will be fine! Make sure you keep it upright with lid screwed tight tho as mine leaked & went all over the bag once but luckily DS stayed asleep until got home so didnt need it anyway! Also If doing this I like it to have been in fridge for a bit first so it is already cold (not room temp if just made fresh & put in bag) so its kept cold by the bag

As far as I know you're supposed to boil the water for as long as you use powdered milk - its not to do with the baby's age at all, rather killing the bugs in the milk. Official advice is not to store feeds at all but make them one at a time as you need them. The problem is that the milk, once made needs to be cooled very quickly as bacteria multiples quickly in warm milk. However, in reality as long as you make up with water 70+, cool as quickly as possible then put straight in the fridge it'll probably be OK. And like Ohnelly said if transporting feeds in a cool bag make sure they'll really cold first as this will minimise bacterial growth. I use cartons when out of the house to avoid all this but they are expensive

Sorry to butt in on this, but does anyone have any tips for making up feeds at night?

I just used pre-made cartons for all the feeds. Liberation for a few quid a day.

You can keep a 500ml carton in the fridge for 24 hours.