Readymade formula instead of powdered

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I had a very long and difficult birth and am now in the process of slowly recovering. I wasn’t able to breastfeed sadly and have been feeding my baby with the ready-made bottles of Aptamil formula. I know it’s a more expensive option than the powder, but I’m so tired and can’t face faffing around preparing the powdered formula at the moment.

Is it ok to feed baby (who’s now six weeks old) on readymade formula only or is the powdered stuff better for them?

DD has been fine until now, but during the last few days she’s started screaming halfway through her feed and doing huge burps when winded. She was drinking loads of milk last week but is taking smaller quantities this week. Could that be down to the heat and/or a growth spurt?

Also, when do babies’ digestive systems mature a bit and start to handle milk better? I hate seeing DD in distress during her feed and then straining to pass wind and poo!

You don't have to heat it up if you are opening the ready made carton just before using it. It can be given at room temperature

I used ready made exclusively. Like you I had PND and just couldn’t handle the faff of using powder. The expense was worth the convenience.

Powder isn’t better. If anything, it’s worst because it isn’t sterile and you have to be so careful with preparing it. Ready made IS sterile so you don’t have to worry about that.

And if I went out for the day I would take an empty sterilised bottle and a carton of ready made formula. When a feed was needed I opened the carton and poured into the bottle and gave it at room temperature

@Letsallscreamatthesistene if you use it straight from the carton it does not need to be heated at all it can be served at room temperature.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene if you use it straight from the carton it does not need to be heated at all it can be served at room temperature.

I buy 1lt cartons of ready made formula. My baby doesnt drink 1lt of formula each feed. You decant what you need from the carton into the sterilised bottle and heat it up. The opened carton needs to be kept refridgerated and used within 24hrs. How did you do it if you're not keeping it in the fridge?

@Letsallscreamatthesistene I buy the little bottles. When he was young enough not to drink the whole bottle we learnt his routine as to when he would feed and either took it out 10 mins before and popped it in some hot water to bring it to room temp or just fed it cool if he wanted a feed before then. He's never had warm milk so doesn't like it

@Letsallscreamatthesistene I buy the little bottles. When he was young enough not to drink the whole bottle we learnt his routine as to when he would feed and either took it out 10 mins before and popped it in some hot water to bring it to room temp or just fed it cool if he wanted a feed before then. He's never had warm milk so doesn't like it

Clearly I meant from the carton before it was in the fridge but you can feed it cool.

I used the perfect prep machine too for my baby and would whole heartedly recommend it (one of the better baby buys!). My midwife advised to boil the water first and then put it in, as a first time mum I thought better safe than sorry. I fed my DD Aptimal Profutura which she took to brilliantly. I used the ready made stuff every now and again if we were out for a long day and needed more bottles, but she didn’t like it as much. I though it hurt her tummy too so ditched it. The colour was horrible, very off putting compares to powdered milk

If you popped it in some hot water you're heating it up 😂

It really makes no difference time wise. Infact it's quicker because you don't have to heat it up

I’m guessing OP is using the big bottles of formula, not the little ones that are good for on the go. You could feed the first drink you pour from room temperature but then once it’s opened the bottle needs to go in the fridge - then I would recommend warming it. I don’t think it would be great for baby to guzzle it down if it’s at fridge temperature.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene as I said clearly I was talking about the first feed from the bottle. OP has not made it clear what she meant hence the replies saying she can just pour and feed. You can also feed straight from the fridge

I sort of get what the OP is doing with the fridge. A newborn won’t be taking a full 8oz carton and to use what’s left for the next feed is does need to be kept cold. I used to open a carton, pour half into the bottle to feed immediately at room temp then put what was left in the fridge, pour that into a bottle at the next feed, then would have to warm it. Otherwise you end up with half the formula being wasted. Opening more than one carton at once and doing 24 hours worth does seem a bit unnecessary though. Switching to powder does make sense as baby starts drinking more milk as the ready made is much more expensive. I had a perfect prep and used that from about a month old and kept the ready made for when out of the house.

Opening more than one carton at once and doing 24 hours worth does seem a bit unnecessary though.

^ this is what I meant @Letsallscreamatthesistene

Depends doesnt it? Depends if you want to reach into the fridge take a bottle out and heat it up, or if you want to pour some formula into a bottle and heat it up. The difference is negligable and its personal preference.

@bohemia85 do you have any sources to say soy didn't good for Male babies under the age of one due to oestrogen??

As far as I know it's not advised under the age of 6 months unless advised by gp/hv.

NHS advice:

Soyaformula

Suitable from 6 months(but only under medical supervision).

Soya formula is made from soya beans, not cows' milk.It's occasionally used as an alternative to cows' milk formulafor babies who have cows' milk allergy.

There are some concerns about the fact that soya contains phytoestrogens. These are found naturally in some plants.

The chemical structure of phytoestrogens is similar to the female hormone oestrogen. Because of this, there are concerns that they could affect a baby's reproductive development, especially in babies who drink only soya-based infant formula.

Babies' low body weight means they take in much higher amounts of phytoestrogens than older children or adults who eat soya products as part of a varied and balanced diet.

Also, because soya formula contains glucose, so it is more likely to harm a baby's teeth.

Onlyuse soya formula if it has been recommended or prescribedby a health visitor or GP.

Thanks dementedpixie. Lots of evidence out there if you have a Google but the recommendation from the NHS sums it up well. If a baby has CMPA, soy is not a suitable alternative and the baby should normally be prescribed hydrolysed formula (e.g. Aptamil Pepti / Nutramigen)

I’m guessing OP is using the big bottles of formula, not the little ones that are good for on the go. You could feed the first drink you pour from room temperature but then once it’s opened the bottle needs to go in the fridge - then I would recommend warming it.

Exactly! Sorry if my first post wasn’t clear

I used ready made because I was paranoid about giving DS gastro-enteritis, and to follow the guidelines for powder you need to be fucking psychic (it has to be made with 70 degree water, and the instructions said "boil a litre in the kettle then cool for 30 minutes to get to the right temperature, then make up bottle, then cool", oh, AND, "feed on demand").

Of the two "shortcuts" which people commonly use, I would say making bottles in advance with 70 degree water then flash cooling in cold water before storing in the fridge poses less risk (not no risk, but less) than the other shortcut people often resort to which is using cold boiled water to make a feed - the milk powder itself is not sterile. In fact, unboiled tap water poses much less of a risk than the milk powder itself. That's why you have to use 70 degree water if you're making milk up with powder.

Of the two "shortcuts" which people commonly use, I would say making bottles in advance with 70 degree water then flash cooling in cold water before storing in the fridge poses less risk (not no risk, but less) than the other shortcut people often resort to which is using cold boiled water to make a feed - the milk powder itself is not sterile.

I agree, I saw a lot of people do this too when like you say making it with boiling water and then storing would probably be safer. A shortcut I used when DS was older, 6 months +, was to boil water and pour enough to cover and sterilise the powder and shake, then top with cold boiled water to make it the right temperature - essentially what a prep machine does.
The instructions on the box are a bit silly imo - the 70 degrees thing is just for health and safety from what I’m aware. If you shake it without the lid it will spit out the top or if the top isn’t on properly you will get it everywhere and scold yourself. You can use water just boiled - just be sensible with it. It also says to cool by holding the bottle under a running tap (I just popped it in a bowl of ice water) - a massively irresponsible waste of water imo, imagine people actually did that for every bottle

The 70 degrees does actually have a reason - if you use water that's too hot you denature the proteins in the milk and change its nutritional content. 70 degrees is a compromise - ideally you want the water as hot as possible to kill the bugs, but you don't want to mess up the nutritional properties of the milk by doing so.

One suggestion I've heard is for e.g. a 50ml feed, keep 15ml of cold boiled water in a sterilised bottle in the fridge, then top up to the 50ml mark with boiling water = instant 70 degree water. (I only got told this tip after DS was onto cow's milk!) Obviously you still have to run it under the tap to cool it to drinkable temperature.

It's fine but my dd wouldn't take powdered once she'd had pre made. It's a lot sweeter and tastes completely different. The premade is very expensive if you have to continue with it.

We used premade aptamil four two. We found it easy and convenient. As far as warming goes we used to warm in the microwave - being careful of temperature!

We even shipped a month's supply to Germany as the 1L bottles were not available!