Does anyone make formula with cooled boiled water?

[Shootingstar2289]

I am now bottle feeding my 8 week old. I have been making bottles in advance, cooling them and storing in fridge until needed and I warm up. I keep them for no longer than 24 hours.

However, I have a 4 year old who is a very light sleeper and sometimes wakes when I get up and go downstairs to warm a bottle... And he has just started school so cannot lose any sleep.

Trying to think of a way I can make bottles at night without going down stairs. She wakes for 1 feed around 4/5. Has anyone made formula with coiled boiled water. Was thinking of using the milk powder dispensers..

Any tips?

Reading this has made me shocked, I used to sterilise bottles put the hot water in, then wait until cool and add formula when needed - that's the advice I was given by Hv 3 years ago and my ds always had problems feeding, nappies etc! Now I know maybe why?!

Bullshit to say cooled boiled water is unsafe.

OP, at 8 weeks I would follow all the guidelines - it is really young.

that said .... there are bacteria in the formula powder that need to be zapped by boiling water??? seriously? What are the formula companies doing then? How do they get that past the FDA or equivalent?

When I was making formula years ago, the boiled water thing was about the water not the formula powder. So we boiled. Nothing to do with killing bacteria in the formula (that stuff was bloody expensive, I at least expected a decent quality control system).

Goodness. I have been worried about my daughter making up the bottles in really hot water. I was told (a great many years ago) that putting the milk powder into just boiled water killed nutrients in the milk powder. The water had to be be boiled because of the water not the milk, therefore leave it to cool before adding the milk powder. So it seems she is doing it right and I was doing it wrong. You live and learn.

Here in the US you make formula with tap water. Store in the fridge and warm in a water bath. If you use bottled water the paediatrician said best to use a fresh bottle of water, ideally purified water.

It's only in the UK that they assume 3rd world conditions.

fanof its not the water that's unsafe, its the powder. The cooled boiled water may be sterile but the powder isn't and therefore needs mixing with at least some boiling water to kill off any bacteria. Even if the powder started out sterile the tub is opened and closed so many times, the little spoon stored inside the tub etc... Not worth the risk with such a tiny baby.

Op could you not use readymade cartons in the night? I know they're pricey but one feed a day for the sake of waking up the elder child is worth the cost IMO. We use cartons while out to eliminate the hassle of making a bottle safely relying on cafes giving us hot water, waiting for it to cool etc.

Bullshit to say cooled boiled water is unsafe.

Nobody is saying that.

I am another one who has an 8 year old and 5 year old and always made their feeds up in sterilised bottles with cooled boiled water. I never even reheated the milk as they were both happy with it at room temperature. I now have a tiny 2 week old and was only told yesterday that the advice had now changed.

I feel reluctant to change s method that has successfully brought up two children and a third for a couple of weeks?? How can something go from completely right to completely wrong in just a few years? None of my children have ever had problems feeding or with tummy upsets. It's hard to believe I've just been lucky...

Yes you are saying that. You compared my assurance in my practice as being like a child in a car unprotected by a car seat. Absurd.

Bullshit to say cooled boiled water is unsafe.

Cooled boiled water is perfectly safe as a stand alone item. The issue is milk powder which as soon as you open the packet is no longer sterile. Hence the need to use hot water to resterilise the milk powder.

OMGBabyNo3, my eldest is 8 and the advice back then was definitely to make up formula with boiling water above 70 degrees in order to kill bacteria in the powder. I don't think the advice has changed as recently as you assume, just that as ever, people were given incorrect information.

FanOfSpam, you're confusing anecdote with data. The fact is that rarely, powdered formula contains extremely dangerous bacteria and therefore the advice is to sterilise it before use. You have made your own decision to do things differently. This doesn't change the facts. Of course the vast majority of formula doesn't contain this bacteria, just like the vast majority of cars won't crash. There are sensible precautions available. The choice of whether to follow them is yours.

Want2besuperman, it's also worth noting that the UK follows the World Health Organisation's guidelines. It's nothing to do with assuming third world conditions. It's evidence-based advice aimed at everybody.

Show - other European countries follow the same rules as the U.S.

Boiling water makes sense if you are not sure about the quality of the water. That shouldn't be the case in the UK.

I know other European countries do things differently. My point was that the UK hasn't made a decision based upon assumed 3rd world conditions, but based upon the recommendations made by the World Health Organisation with regards to best practice for every country.

And as has been repeatedly stated on this thread, boiling the water is a measure designed to destroy bacteria in the formula powder and not to sterilise the water.

"Users of PIF are made aware that powdered infant formula is not a sterile product and may be contaminated
with pathogens that can cause serious illness. Correct preparation and handling of PIF reduces the risk of illness."

Full information about the guidelines and the reasons for them are available here.

You compared my assurance in my practice as being like a child in a car unprotected by a car seat.

I compared you choosing not to follow advice to kill the potential food poisoning bacteria in the powder by using hot water with choosing not to follow advice to use a car seat. A perfectly appropriate analogy.

Most journeys don't involve RTAs just like most formula powder doesn't contain food poisoning bacteria. It still makes sense to minimise risks by using car seats in vehicles and hot water to make up formula.

I compromised at night by using hot water from a thermos (and mixed that with the powder) and the remaining volume of water came from cooled boiled water so baby could drink it. I'd keep some extra empty bottles to help me measure the water.

I always made my bottles up four at a time with hot water. Cooled and refridgerated.

At night id take one out of the fridge and take it to the bedroom with me. When the baby woke od serve it at room temp.

Same as when out, take a fridged bottle and chuck it in the change bag and serve at room temp when needed.

My 14 moDD only ever had formula from birth made with cooled boiled water. I used to boil the kettle, pour water into bottles and store in a cool part of the kitchen (larder). The powder I scooped into pots and added when needed.

I know its not the government approved method but its the way formula was mixed when my much much younger brother was born so I just did it the same.

Mind you DD was a summer baby so I didnt feel the need to heat up bottles.

Incidentally the perfect prep machine is also not approved by health visitors.

Not following the advice of car seat manufacturers is risking the death of your baby. Not quite the same as not pouring boiling water over your formula and instead letting it cool. No one is risking death in this country by practising the same.

When my LO was tiny, and I was struggling with the stairs, we bought a cheap Tesco value kettle to keep in our room. I made a bottle as I needed it and flash cooled it under the cold tap in the bathroom. It's recommended that you make up formulas with water that's at least 70 degrees because of the powder not being sterile - I think I read somewhere that salmonella bacteria can live in the powder - as LO got a bit older, we invested in a tommee tippee perfect prep machine which lives on the landing

FanOfSpam, are you actually reading this thread or just being goady. I'll copy and paste the relevant information for you, although it has been repeated several times already.

"Powdered infant formula (PIF) has been associated with serious illness and death in infants due to infections
with
Enterobacter sakazakii
. During production, PIF can become contaminated with harmful bacteria, such as
Enterobacter sakazakii
and
Salmonella enterica
. This is because, using current manufacturing technology, it is
not feasible to produce sterile PIF. During the preparation of PIF, inappropriate handling practices can exacerbate
the problem"

Sadly FanofSpam babies have and will continue to die as a result of using cool rather than hot water to make up formula milk. www.researchgate.net/publication/20378315_Three_cases_of_neonatal_meningitis_caused_by_E._sakazakii_in_powdered_milk

There are many more examples one of which was in France relatively recently. It's a very similar risk to not strapping your child in the recommended car seat really.

I was told to prepare mix the milk powder with boiling water to kill bacteria in the formula when DD was a baby 9 years ago so it really has been around for a while...

Supermum - it is nothing to do with the water being sterile or not, it is that when you have a tub of milk powder, there can be contaminants in it from the packing process; you can touch power with your hands or unsterilised equipment and contaminate it. Mixing the formula powder with boiling water significantly reduces the already low risk of those contaminants affecting the baby.

Its certainly similar in my view to deciding to use a thirty year old car seat because it was fine for you when you were a baby.

Well I guess FDA testing of formula is different. I audited a small pharmaceutical company a few years back and they made a couple of drugs for low immunity patients. Every batch had to be tested for containments. I wouldn't be surprised if they follow the same rules for formula.

Also it's a big no no to use temporary storage containers for formula here. You are supposed to keep it in the container you purchased it in and only use on a clean surface with hands washed with warm water and soap. You are not meant to refill or reuse the scoop after finishing the container. You level the scoop with a cleaned knife.

Also there are limits on the size of container. It isn't possible to buy a container of formula that will last for more than a week with brands such as similac making a special container for Costco that lasts into the 5th day. It says clearly on the back that once opened it should be used within 7 days.