Nursery have asked me to make bottles up in advance?

[ExsqueezeMe]

They've asked me to take in formula ready made in bottles every morning and they'll keep it in the fridge.

I'm a bit clueless when it comes to formula, but I thought you weren't supposed to do this?

I did this with both my babies.

Make up formula with 70 degree water as usual. Stand in cold water and cool as quick as possible then store in back of fridge.

Or you could sterilise the bottles and use ready made formula in cartons if you are not comfortable doing that.

I did it for all 5 of my ff dc. They were all fine.

It's not the right way to do it and they shouldn't be asking you to

It's not following current guidelines

I'd send them a copy of the current guidelines on this. Can see how it is easier for them, but they really shouldn't be doing this.

Could you just send him with the ready made in cartons?

They may be talking about the little pots you get where you fill them with the appropriate amount of formula and pop them inside a bottle filled with the appropriate amount of water rather than mixed already.

Either way, it's still against guidelines isn't it?

I would send ready made cartons, but they really should be capable of making up formula themselves. They should certainly be aware of guidelines on safe formula use.

It's really important the formula powder is added to hot water then cooled. It's not a sterile product, the heat is to kill any bugs in the powder.

It would be much better to do that at home and send in the bottles cooled down, than send in cold water and powder then let them heat it up. Ideally though they should be made up as and when needed, using hot water, and then cooled.

Best is for them to make the bottles up with 70 degree water as needed.

However, you making them up with 70 degree water in advance, cooling them and them storing them in the fridge is an acceptable compromise.

The guidelines are that all bottles are made and cooled down as and when needed NOT in advance. It's all to do with food safety. The nursery should not be asking you to do this as you could be putting your babies health at risk. As a nursery they should know this.
"Bacteria can multiply very fast at room temperature. Even when the feed is kept in the fridge,bacteria can survive and multiply.
To reduce the risk of infection,it's best to make feeds up one at a time,as baby needs them". Reference NHS choices Making up a formula 02.10.12
So no, as you say they shouldn't be asking you to do this.

How on earth did us older mothers ever manage to safely formula feed our babies eh.

They are guidelines. They will probably change again some time in the future.

Knee - surely it's just a question of guidelines changing as understanding and safety improves? Babies died, guidelines changed. You could equally say "how did older mothers safely drive their babies around without car seats".

I agree with Hollie. As long as formula has been properly made with boiling water and then cooled quickly and kept refrigerated it is fine to make up enough to last a day at nursery. Make sure you use an insulated container with ice packs to transport the formula.

Though British advice is completely at odds with American Similac site advice when it comes to using boiling water.

Mathanxiety, that's how I used to do it with room tempish previously boiled water. To avoid clumping.

Erm, I thought it was perfectly fine to make up as per instructions, flash cool and store in the back of the fridge for a few hours? I last FF two years ago, but wasn't aware of any changes since. Making up fresh is ideal, but if not I thought this method was perfectly acceptable as long as any unused bottles were thrown out of not used that day. What you shouldn't do is use water at less than 70 degrees to make up the bottles or it won't kill the bugs in the formula.

You'll only need a couple for nursery anyway, and I think i would rather prep them myself to make sure it was done properly tbh.

from nhs website:

What if I need to transport a made-up feed?

If it isn't possible to follow the advice above or if you need to transport a feed (for example, to a nursery), prepare the feed at home and cool it for at least one hour in the back of the fridge.

Take it out of the fridge just before you leave and carry it in a cool bag with an ice pack, and use it within four hours. If you do not have an ice pack, or access to a fridge, the made-up infant formula must be used within two hours.

• If made-up formula is stored in a fridge, use within 24 hours.
• If made-up formula is stored in a cool bag with an ice pack, use within four hours.
• If made-up formula is stored at room temperature, use within two hours.

The WHO guidelines say that it's best to make up every feed fresh but also it's acceptable to make it with 70 degree water then cool and store in the fridge for 24 hours.

You might be interested in a tiny fridge for your car if you have a long trip to the nursery. If you plugged it in at home overnight and quickly removed it to your car and used the adapter, you might be able to keep it pretty cold for bottle storage. I know someone who undertook a long journey by car and needed to refrigerate medicine - she loved her mini fridge.

WHO guidelines say it's fine to make up and store in the fridge, as long as you use it within 24 hours. The key is making it up properly in the first place and then flash-cooling.

Or, you could just send in the bottles you can buy of pre-made formula.

Pre made formula is sterile. If I were you, I'd send that in.

A think a car fridge is going a bit far in the circumstances!

I doubt DS will actually drink much milk when he's there anyway so I don't know why I'm worrying! I'll get bottles of ready made stuff to send in.

Will only be for a couple of months and then he can have regular cows milk.

I'm a cm and the last baby I looked after sent pre measured formula powder and a flask of boiling water. So all I had to do is pour the right amount of water into the bottle and shake in the powder. Shake it about a bit and wait for it to cool to the right temperature. It worked really well. Not that much extra work for them to do this surely?