making up formula - why am I getting in such a mess?

[JuliaGulia]

Hi,

We've just started to give our 4 month old b/g twins formula and i seem to be having no end of trouble preparing the feeds without getting into a right pickle.

I've read on the food standards agency to boil the water and let it cool for no longer than 30 minutes. This is so that it kills any bacteria in the powder formula. It can then go in the fridge for up to 24hrs and be heated on demand.

But when I pour the water into the bottle and try to add the spoons of formula the heat from the water condensates the spoon the half the powder doesn't come out and it sticks to the outside of the spoon too.

I've resorted to having a spare bottle to pour the exact amount of water on to the powder already in the bottle.

What's more we're using Dr Browns bottles and you can't shake them to mix the formula because it pours out the sides. So I'm vigarously swirling it around in the bottle hoping it mixes sufficiently but I'm worried about lumps remaining.

To make things harder - our son has to have gaviscon in his feed so I have to mix that into the water first and then pour over then powder - it takes ages!

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong - the spoon is always gunked up where the heat sticks the powder to it and I'm often burning my hands swirling the water around so much.

Please can anyone tell me how they make up their feeds without all this drama. We have to prepare a couple of feeds in advance but it just takes so long and creates so much mess!

Help!

JuliaGulia

Make the amount of formula you need in a jug, or lidded container, then you can shake it up to mix it before pouring it into the bottles.

JuliaGulia it is so brilliant to see someone who has read the guidelines and understands that the water has to be hot to kill any bacteria in the powder!

How long are you leaving the water before you add the formula.

1 litre of water boiled should take 30 mins before it cools down to 70 degrees - this is why the guidelines say cool for no longer than 30 mins.

I think that we used to wait about 15 mins and after this time there shouldn't be so much steam/heat that the formula sticks to the spoon.

Another alternative is to steralise a little plastic cup (or you can get formula pots like these) add the x spoons and then tip this into the hot water.

We also had to use gaviscon and I think if you add the gaviscon first and then you need to "swirl" the bottle to get it to dissolve - keep swirling and it will dissolve - then add the formula.