Bottle feeding

[Twinkle19]

Hello
After some advice. I know I’m gonna sound stupid now but I formula feed my 4 week old. We have a prep machine so really easy to make a bottle however what do I do when I take him out for the day? Just take a flask out and make the formula up with water from that? Only taken him out after a feed up to now so not had to think about it yet.

Yeah just take a hot water flask and his formula thats what I do when I go out x

Yep, I take a tommee tippee bottle filled up to the right oz level with boiled kettle water then when I'm ready add the formula!

If you're out all day you can take a flask of hot and a container of cooled boiled water. But if you're just out for a few hours you can make up the bottle just before you go out or take a ready mixed carton.

@mummatol the powder needs to mix into boiling water doesnt it? So you do need a flask if you dont have the kettle handy. Just mix the powder with a couple of ounces of boiling water, then top up with cooled boiled water to make it drinkable. But really, cartons are easier.

You've got various options depending on how long you are out for;

• You can take a sterilized bottle and a carton of ready made formula (easiest, but expensive)
• If you know he will need a bottle in the next two hours, you can make it up with freshly boiled water and feed it when it's cooled to the right temp.
• You can make up a couple of bottles with the perfect prep and chill them quickly (in very cold water) then store them in an insulated bag with an ice pack, they will be ok for a few hours as long as they are fridge cold.
• You can take a flask of freshly boiled water with you and a bottle of cooled, boiled water, your formula powder premeasured in one of the little containers and sterilized bottles and make up your feeds as and when you need them, the same way that the perfect prep does. Measure out 1oz of boiling water, add your 4oz of powder and shake well, then add 3oz of cold water.

Id honestly just get a carton of ready made formula

I make mine up in advance and the changing bag I have, has pouches that keep the formula warm (ish), so I just pop my bottle in there.
Room temperature milk is perfectly acceptable for baby, just not cold

Do you make a bottle then just warm in when your ready?

Yeh we have one of those in the changing bag to. That would be easier wouldn’t be sure about taking hot water and cool water and mixing it.

[quote Jamhandprints]@mummatol the powder needs to mix into boiling water doesnt it? So you do need a flask if you dont have the kettle handy. Just mix the powder with a couple of ounces of boiling water, then top up with cooled boiled water to make it drinkable. But really, cartons are easier.[/quote]
There a lot of things your advised to do. I've done it for 9 months and I know other mums that do the same and not had a single problem. Some companies advise using the bottles within an hour once they've been made up, some are 2 hours, I have a mum friend who's 10 month old will drink the remainder of a bottle 4 hours later 🤷🏻‍♀️ it's like a use by date...some people listen some don't 😂

Thanks for this info was getting confused when I googled it lol.

@Twinkle19 I don't warm them up. DS has them at room temperature, but they are still a little warm anyway because of the ouches we keep them in x

I have Tommee Tippee bottles and formula pots to put the powder in. We add boiled water to the bottles before leaving and just mix when we need it. We have a couple of bottles of ready made formula in case we need more.

DD2 is happy to have her milk at whatever temperature it comes though. It’s usually room temperature.

Make it when you’re out. One flask with hot water, another bottle with boiled water - let it cool (or will likely be cool enough by the time you need to feed baby out)

Then just replicate the perfect prep. Hot shot of the flask boiled water then the rest with the cooled down water.

Either take hot water and make with hot water when out,

Or bring ready made,

Or make up, chill and bring out with a cool pack.

Those are the three options with acceptable risk. Anything else presents an increased risk, which while it doesn't mean anything bad will definitely happen, does present an increased chance.

Even making at home to take out presents a risk depending on the formula.

Hipp Organic specifically states it cannot he pre-made and kept for later, it must he consumed fresh

Right, but this is WHO advice for any brand - it's just about minimising the chance bacteria have to grow.

Making fresh (with hot water) is best, but if this is not practical then making with hot water, cooling, keeping cool and heating is less risky than making fresh with cold water. Which is also not that risky, if the milk is to be consumed immediately - but rarely, there have been contamination of batches of formula powder with some quite nasty bugs, in places like France, where you'd expect there to be some decent quality control in place.

We used Hipp Organic in Germany and they suggest making up with 30-40 degree water so I am always a bit sceptical of the packet instructions (it's exactly the same formula they sell in the UK!)

www.hipp.co.uk/formula-milks/formula-milk-feeding-advice/bottle-feeding/advanced-preparation/

Definitely just buy a carton of ready made!!

Again I’d definitely recommend getting some small ready made formula. I get cow and gate and it’s 75p a bottle. I just take a sterilised bottle and pour it in when needed.

I made up allbottles night before and cooled in fridge. Take the one i needed and kept in the cool bzg thing in changing bag to keep cold till DD needed it.

Its the powder that may not be sterile, so that needs to hit boiling water.

Is that safe to do then just make one up put it in the fridge till I go out then warm the bottle up in water before giving it to him?

We can’t get ready made because the formula we use don’t sell them and been told not to mix brands. Wish I’d of known we would of put him on cow and gate from the start to save this hassle.

It's fine to do that, the NHS guidelines say you should use it within four hours if it's kept in an insulated bag with an ice pack.
I don't know if he's on a particular brand for a health reason, but if you want to swap him to a different brand it shouldn't cause any problems - changing between several different brands in a short space of time probably isn't a great idea, but swapping one brand for another is ok.