How do I make a bottle of formula when out and about?

[merrynelly]

Due to lockdown I’ve never had to make a feed when out of the house, and when making them at home I’ve always used a perfect prep machine. We can’t use the ready made bottles sold in supermarkets as it is not available in the anti reflux formula we use. Apologies for a very silly question, but I don’t know how we’d make the feed when out and ensure that it is the right temperature?

I'm gonna keep an eye on this thread cause I'm in the exact position! I have read on NHS site that a bottle can be kept in a bag with an ice pack for up to 4 hours but it's no good if baby likes warm milk?

Other people on this post can correct me but can you boil a kettle and leave it for 30 mins then put it in a hot flask so it keeps the temperature? Then when making the bottle, pour up to the ounce the baby is on and then add powder and shake. Then leave until it's cooled?

This lockdown doesn't help because we haven't practised this yet so I don't want to say it's that incase I'm completely wrong so hopefully others with experience will comment OP 💐

Make it before you leave the house and just give it at room temperature when you need to. It will be totally fine for a few hours.

Or if you prefer, you could take out powder in an empty bottle, a thermos of boiled water to splash I and a bottle of cold water to top up with.

Buy the ready made stuff!

I would have a thermos flask of boiling water, and a sterilised bottle of boiled and then cooled water (using the lid they come with rather than a teat).

Time for bottle making: take your sterilised empty bottle. from the thermos add one part boiling water. Add formula. Shake. Then add 3 parts cooled water using the measurements on the cooled water bottle so you know how many ounces are going in. Shake.

I found 1/4 boiling and 3/4 cold made a nice temperature.

No need for the thermos if you're somewhere you are confident you can get boiling water.

I’d second going out with the ready made stuff in cartons and sterilised bottles.

This is what I did - I also used a perfect prep.

Next time you use the perfect prep look at how much hot it dispenses (without the powder in the bottle) then work out how much is cold to make up the right amount of liquid.

So a 4oz bottle is for example 1oz hot and 3oz cold, for the sake of this explanation.

When you go out. Boil a kettle, fill a flask with boiling water. Also fill small bottles (I used the ones I got with my breast pump) with the right amount (3oz) of cold boiled water for one feed. This is not the bottle the baby will drink from, so can be anything you've sterilised)

When you need to make a feed, put hot water from the flask into the baby's bottle, measured the same as the perfect prep (1oz in my example) then add the powder. Shake. Then pour in your pre measured cold water, and you have a feed that's the right temperature.

Doing it this way means you cover the really important bits of mixing the powder with hot water to kill any bacteria in the powder, and also makes sure you use the right amount of water, as if you just pour cold water in to the 4oz mark it doesn't allow for the space taken up by the powder and the milk will be too strong.

The answers above I’m guessing are for regular first infant formula? I’ve fed anti reflux and it has to be made quite differently: you add it to cooled boiled water not hot water like you would normally to kill bugs, you can’t reheat it and to my knowledge you can’t get it ready made either.

OP, I just used to pour boiled water into the bottles in advance so it would be room temp and then add the powder when ready to feed and follow the usual mixing instructions.

Either as described above with hot and premeasured cooled

Or

Made up and chilled in the fridge. Then carried round in one of these which keeps it fridge cold www.amazon.co.uk/Koo-Di-KD401-01-Koo-di-Cooler/dp/B07B8MJ28D/ref=asc_df_B07B8MJ28D/?hvlocphy=9044986&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=310838774817&hvpone&hvlocint&th=1&hvpos&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-658425724751&hvrand=1755057395219290109
And picked up one of these for a few quid second hand to warm up if I was going somewhere with no access to hot water www.amazon.co.uk/Tommee-Tippee-Travel-Food-Warmer/dp/B002L3TEN8?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

My LO would take any temp so I made the bottles up I needed for the day with cooled boiled water and added formula!
I also had a stress trying to work this out!!

@PinkCookie11

My LO would take any temp so I made the bottles up I needed for the day with cooled boiled water and added formula! I also had a stress trying to work this out!!

Added formula when ready to have a bottle should have said!

@PinkCookie11

My LO would take any temp so I made the bottles up I needed for the day with cooled boiled water and added formula! I also had a stress trying to work this out!!

This is what I did too

@PinkCookie11

My LO would take any temp so I made the bottles up I needed for the day with cooled boiled water and added formula! I also had a stress trying to work this out!!

Also done this.

@ShyTown but OP wouldn't be using a perfect prep in that case, would she?

I don't know, I didn't use anti reflux milk, but I assumed the confusion was because of the need to add the powder to hot water and then it's too hot to drink? Maybe it's that adding it to cold is too cold to drink.

OP if your powder says it is OK to be added to drinking temp water and doesn't need to be 70 odd degrees then that's even easier!

From my recollection of using reflux formula a few years ago the SMA one is made using cool boiled water so just take out pre measured powder in a formula pot and a bottle of cool boiled.

I'm assuming as you use a prep machine you use cow & gate/aptamil which needs boiling water? In which case take out a pre measured amount of powder, a flask of boiling water and a bottle of cool boiled water. Add a few ounces of boiled water to the powder in the bottle to mix and then top up with cool boiled. Use about 3 times as much cool boiled as boiling water to make the milk a good temp to use straight away.

@ShyTown but OP wouldn't be using a perfect prep in that case, would she?

Anti reflux formula is a complete pain to make and I actually I used my perfect prep to make it easier- just do both the hot shot and then the rest of the water back to back, adding the powder at the very end. Otherwise you have you have to boil the kettle and cool the water for 45 minutes before you can make the feed. So I presumed OP was doing that but maybe her brand is different to mine? I fed Hipp and I recall SMA being made the same way but not sure about the others. If hers requires hot water then the 2 flasks idea is a very good one!

I take two flasks, one with cooled boiled water, and another with boiling. Measured formula in pots.
That way I can tip the formula into the bottle, add x amount of boiling water, swirl around, then add the cooled water. Replicating the perfect prep. I find my formula for CMPA goes clumpy if added to cooled water. So can’t take that out in the the bottles and add to.
If I know she will need a bottle within a hour, I also make one up and store in a bottle bag.

I used to carry a flask around with boiled water in and make it when out and about as I would do at home. We didn't have perfect prep machines when my kids were babies which was only 8 years ago xx

We used anti reflux. We would take a bottle out and give it by the end of the two hours.
Baby would usually take at least some, so it extended our time out and we either then had to make a bottle while out (I.e. kettle at in laws) or get home in time for the next feed.
I recommend the MAM self sterilising bottles.

Thanks for the replies. Would seem I need to figure out how much boiling water and how much coo" boiled water is required and then carry those around in 2 flasks and then just measure it out when I'm out.

As stupid as this sounds as I've never done it, is cool boiled water just water that has been boiled in a kettle and left for 30 minutes and I would then transfer that to the flask? Or should it be left for longer or sooner?

Also finally, it is HIPP Organic that I am using. They do their first infant milk pre made which would make things so much easier for me. Would it really make that much of a difference if I used reflux formula when home, and first infant pre made when out? Or is this a big no no?

I used to make my bottles at home and take them out in a cool bag with ice pack. I'd then carry a flask of boiling water and a jug which I'd then use to heat the bottle up.

@merrynelly do you use a prep machine? If so look at the ratio on there, doesn’t have to be exact science. I do 2oz of boiling, and then 5oz of cool for my DD 7oz bottles. Just test once made to ensure it’s not too hot. Yes boil the kettle and then I leave it to cool in a jug for 30minutes before placing in the flask, or after this time store in the back of the fridge until I’m going out.

One of the tips I gave my sister was to not warm up bottled formula. Solves the problem (take bottles of the water, formula, and just add it to the bottle when needed and there you have it.) Baby only wants to drink warm because that's what they are used to, so don't get them used to it (same works for food too).

I have this problem too..so I'm clueless as to how to do it without a prep machine

Would an option be to make up the formula using boiled hot water in a thermos. Then put the bottle in a bowl of cold water to cool down before the feed?

Feel a bit behind on learning things parents would know quite early on!!!

I used to take a flask of boiling water straight from kettle and a bottle of sterilised cold water. Would only take a couple minutes to make up then. Used to just copy the prep machine for example for a 5 oz I would put in 1.5-2 of boiling water then formula to sterilise it then top up with cold water. X

I used to take my tommee tippee flask and pop it in the bag and just before I went out I would make a fresh kettle of water and put the boiled water in the bottle and put it in an insulated bag or the insulated pocket of my changing bag.

It stayed warm for around 4 hours. I'd just pop the formula in and heat the bottle up with the water from the flask just left it to sat in there for a while.