Formula tubs - can I store in bottle instead?

[Cherry85]

Our midwife suggested storing the hot water in a thermos for night feeds and taking that to bed with bottles and formula.

I just wondered- if the bottle will not have water in it until actually used can injustice keep the formula inside the dry bottle or do I still need to keep it in the little formula pot?

You can keep it in the bottle, just make sure it's very dry or it'll go claggy. I find bottles are often a bit damp after sterilising.
Better still get yourself a perfect prec machine for your bedroom, it's a game changer.

We used to keep dry powder in little pots that fit inside the bottle - made it much easier to add to water quickly rather than having to measure it out.

I probably wouldn't put it in before the water though as it can skew the measurements, probably not that big an issue if you just add an extra 50mls of water to be safe I guess?

I wouldn’t put powder in the bottle first as I think it would be very hard to mix it properly. We used to use ready made just at night & powder in the day as it saved having to make it up & then cool it to the right temperature (we used different brands for powder & ready made & it was fine).

We use the little tubs out formula that fit in the bottle. When it's time to make a bottle:

Remove the little tub from the bottle.
Pour the right amount of water from they flask into the bottle.
Tip the formula in and shake.
Done!

Always make sure you measure the water out into the bottle first, then add the powder afterwards otherwise it'll skew the volume measurements.

No because you can’t accurately measure the hot shot. You will also need to measure the hot and cold water out separately to ensure you have enough water. A 6oz bottle when made up will alway measure as more then 6oz due to the volume of the powder. Tommy tippee does handy pots for formula.

Do you have milk powder formula dispensers?
They have compartments to hold a accurate measurement
Handy for out on the go as well as evenings.

We do the same as PP.
DD is a month old and I know that she will wake for two feeds during the night. So I take two sterile bottles to bed with a ready to use cow and gate bottle.

We use SMA powder during the day.

I scoop into the bottle for my last two feeds of the night /morning. As it's easier when holding LO. I do have a PP machine though so don't need to worry about measurements.

How about buying the ore measured scoop pots ? I have a mam one for our and about and it works great. Holds up to 3 different feeds.

I used to do this. I knew from my perfect prep machine where the hot shot needed to measure to and then the cool water. Powder always mixed fine just make sure you give it a good shake with the hot water

No I wouldn't if you dry out a sterilised bottle then it will no longer be sterile.
You can buy pots to put formula in ready measured out so you just add that to the bottle when your ready to do a feed.
Failing that if you prefer you can buy ready made formula it's a tad expensive but if baby is waking once or twice a night for feed it's easier you can give them at room temp.
I found that much easier with my two

@YicketyYackMamasBack

Oh thats interesting we have those bottles too but i didnt think they could be open for more than an hour without being in the fridge once seal is broken? Baby feeding every three hours so would that not be too long?x

@Rio5555 @Snowflake9 @Woeisme99 Im a bit sceptical of the Perfect Prep machine as our midwives and NCT folk told us they can't recommend them because you can never adequately clean the tubes inside, so all sterilising is pretty much moot... do you find it OK?

Find it fine, I clean it thoroughly and baby has been fine.

It gets cleaned more than my kettle does....

There has also been speculation about the perfect preps hot shot and whether it heats enough every time to sterilise the formula powder.

With that said millions of people seem to use them without issue but personally I just think it's another gimmick that could go wrong.

I always kept the powder in the bottles and we had a perfect prep in the bedroom.

Like PP it gets cleaned more than my kettle. Water is filtered and gets a clean cycle ran through it regularly. The hot shot is hot enough so long as the powder is in first and you put the lid on and shake straight away. I tested it with my meat thermometer when DC was tiny and I was in PFB mode. They have always been fine, zero tummy upsets.

I think it’s one of these things that you have to read up on and consider the risk v. Probability. I’ve never known anyone to get sick from using one. And I personally think it’s safer than making bottles up in advance, cooling and reheating which was common practice once.

I’m always very stringent on using milk straight away and throwing waste. My none PP using friend thinks preps aren’t great yet will make a bottle up at home, leave it to cool for an hour or two, give baby then keep trying for an hour or more. Each up their own

Perfect prep

If you do not feel ott about keeping the bottle sterile, and the bottle is completely dry then it is fine. Make sure you take an extra bottle up to measure out the water. For a 6oz bottle I used to do 2oz boiling water and 4oz cooled boiled water. Water won't stay boiling in a flash all night so I had a kettle in the room to refill the flask halfway through the night. Of course could have got a perfect prep and saved this hassle!

P.s. I preferred to keep formula pre measured in little formula tubs as I found these dried better than bottles.

@Cherry85
I used to keep some of the single serving ready made bottles upstairs & take a sterile bottle up at night. When baby woke I’d open the ready made pour & feed then discard any leftovers. By using single serving size we didn’t have to worry about keeping it in the fridge/ it being open for 24 hours. It was also room temp & mine ate it at room temp which was handy

Staying away from home tonight. I boiled the kettle before bed and filled a flask, I poured 5/7oz into the bottle to cool . When baby woke 6hours later I topped up the final 2oz from the flask and added powder from premeasured pot.

@Snowflake9 the way I’ve always understood it is the hot shot is needed to kill the bacteria in the powder (rather than just get the bottle up to drinking temp).

I do similar to you when out and about except I add the hot 2oz first shake in the powder then top up with 5oz premeasured cooled boiled water.

I have friends that do it your way however and their babies haven’t been ill. I’d just rather be safe

I try not to get to hung up on it all, i am the kind of mum that if my son's dummy falls on the floor I don't panic and reach for the Milton wipes, I put it in my mouth and then his. (Within reason of course)

I think professionals and food companies just need to cover their backs more so that's why all the advice is there. My DS is fine and has only been constipated or tummy upset when I was on antibiotics and he was BF.