New to formula feeding.....time saving tips please!

[ladypop]

What top tips do you have for preparation of bottles/formula for the day ahead....and especially at night!? just want to know safe ways of taking as much legwork out of it as possible as only used to breast feeding our first child. Thanks. X

Well, as you know you should always make up the feed fresh!

Having said that, in reality, there are times when you need it in advance.

The main thing to remember is this - the reason you are adding powder to hot boiled water is to kill the germs in the powder.

You would be amazed how many people think you boil the water to kill the germs in the water!!

I always make up the morning feed the night before....

Boil the kettle...leave about 5 minutes (you can leave up to 30, but no more or else the water is too cold to kill the germs)

Poor water into bottle.

Add your scoops.

Shake or roll!

Dump the bottle into iced cold water to cool it down fast.

Once it has cooled, whack into the fridge.

In the morning, reheat.

I'm pretty certain someone will come along to tell me I'm doing something wrong but I did get this hint of mumsnet in the first place.

if you're still feeding in the night, make up a flask of hot water, this will save you waiting for the kettle to boil.

HTH

I bought ready made formula for the night time feeds and dd had it at room temp. You can get the ready sterilised individual bottles too - expensive but brilliant.

I think the advise has changed and you are fine to make bottles up before hand. (my boys is 18months and that was what I was told in hospital).
So make up all the bottles for a day.. we would put him to bed, sterlise everything and make them up. then leave them in the fridge until they were needed. We did buy a bottle warmer, not necessary but it just made it a bit quicker than boiling the kettle in the night.
My other top tip is when you are making the bottles the formula scoop can get claggy if you scoop the formula in over the boiling water.. so if you are making 5 bottles, put 5 scoops into 4 of the bottles. Then use the final (empty) bottle to measure the right amount of water into each of the 4 bottles with formula in. Finally make up the final bottle. This way you only get one bottle's worth of claggy scoop!

Ready made formula is all well and good for days out etc but it is about twice as expensive as the powder.

kx

Same as frissonpink here method-wise but we make up bottles for 11am, 3pm, 7pm at around 9am. About 8pm we make up the 11pm dream feed and the first morning bottle. I always have a couple of cartons handy for extrahungry days but even when going out I just bung a bottle in a cool bag with some camping ice blocks - stays even colder than in the fridge!

I did think it was to kill germs on in the water not the milk! Ok, glad I asked now!
Is it possible to make up the bottles as you described, but make it up slightly short on water and then add freshly boiled water when bottle is needed to make it up to the correct amount to warm it through?

Ps is it ok to take feed from fridge and keep it in your bag for a couple of hours till needed or should it be in a cool bag? Also, my last question about topping up with boiling water is more for nighttime purposes

No don't do that ladypop because the formula to water ratio won't be correct when its first mixed. Just bung in the microwave for a few seconds and stir very well to disperse hot spots, check temp before feeding. They say not to do this but so long as you don't overheat and you stir well I can't see a problem.

Advice has changed and it is OK to make feeds up in advance as long as they are cooled quickly (flash cool them in a bowl full of water) and put straight in the fridge.

I wouldn't bother topping up with fresh boiled water - just warm the bottle in a bowl of boiling water instead (or microwave)

I don't know what advice is on keeping bottles in a cool bag, but as long as it's well insulated, you have a cool pack in there and the temp doesn't get too high within the time you'll be out, it'll be fine. A couple of hours will be though.

Swirl the bottle after nuking in the microwave though (shaking will produce more bubbles, which will cause more trapped wind).

No, don't top up the water.

Either, have a cold feed ready in the fridge which you then warm by standing in hot water (get a tommy tippee flask thing)

OR

make up hot and stand in ice water to cool down.

It's fine to take the feed from the fridge and carry out with you as long as it gets given to the baby within 2 hours (sooner the better)

If you think it will be any longer, I would just take hot water out in a flask, make up half an hour before and allow to cool.

It does take planning unfortunately, but it doesn't last forever! DD is 7 months now and only has 3 milk feeds a day.

Thanks folks - so, essentially there is no way of avoiding going downstairs in the night to get bottles out of fridge? Really wanted to avoid leaving my bedroom! Yes, I am lazy ;)

There is - use the small ready made cartons for night feeds

Although, I am considering buying one of these to keep upstairs. It's 2 flights of stairs down to the kitchen

We used one of these last time, which did actually work quite well, but if I used this again I wouldn't put 2 bottles in it - just one and an extra couple of cool packs.

Have you seen the new tommee tippee perfect prep machine? It looks great, makes feeds fresh in 2 mins!

Take a flask of hot water, and a bottle of cold water. Measure the powder and put it in a quantity of empty dry bottles.

When the baby wants feeding, fill bottle with a 3rd of hot water to kill germs in powder. After a few minutes, when germs are killed, add 2 thirds of cold water, to get bottle to right temperature.

Baby has fresh feed and there has been no risk of the bacteria multiplying over time or when exposed to being reheated.

Or if at home, fill kettle and take it to the bedroom. If you take a small jug of milk and a teabag you can have a cuppa with the early morning feed

Rhubarb - Interesting... I hadn't come across that before.

Starlight You're supposed to add the powder to the water, not the other way round? (although I'm not 100% sure why if I'm honest!)

You're supposed to add the powder to the water to ensure that you have the right amount of water. If the powder is already in, then you risk not putting in enough water as your measuring implement will show a higher number (for the water) because of the powder meaning the ratio of water/powder isn't correct.

But you can figure it out (by making a bottle up first, adding the powder and seeing by how much in increases the volume to get the figure for the future), and once you have, you can do it the way I suggested.

Thanks again, v interesting ideas! Starlight, taking a flask of hot water to bed, do you find that it stays hot enough throughout the night to do the job of killing the bacteria? Also, the cold water that is being added needs to have boiled too right? Sorry if that is an obvious answer! X

Yes it stays hot enough. Take a thermometer the first night to see.

Advice is divided about whether to use boiled cold water and also whether to sterilise bottles. AFAIK there are no safety implications associated with doing neither. It's the powder that poses the biggest risk.

Thanks, what temp should it be?

I always made up my bottles in the morning. For example, if DD was having a 6oz bottle I would put 4oz of boiling water into all my bottles for the day, add in 6 scoops then put them into the fridge to cool down quickly. When I wanted a bottle all I had to do is wait for the kettle to pop and make it up to just over 6oz. Perfect temperature and when I was out and about all I needed was boiling water.

I might get eaten alive for saying this, but our NCT breastfeeding counsellor said there was no reason why milk had to be warmed through - it can be taken cold. My boy's had milk straight from the fridge without reheating and it didn't seem to do any damage...

It's really helped for those I want milk NOW moments...

Not a time saving tip but a tip nonetheless, yesterday I went to the beach with another family for the day, drove 45 mins and realised I had forgotten ds's milk. I had spare formula lunches in the car but no bottle. I found a co-op and for about 3.50 bought two ready made bottles of for unlearned two pre-sterilised teats, saved me a lot of stress.

I have now bout more to leave I the car just in case, lasts for well over a year - such a good idea.