Making formula bottles

[jessicakxx]

My baby is currently 2 weeks old and I've been using the tommee tippee prep machine since bringing him home. It's great as it makes the bottle in a few minutes at the perfect temperature, however my baby has been suffering with bad trapped wind and tummy ache and I'm wondering if the prep machine could be contributing towards this, as it adds a lot of extra air bubbles into the milk.

I don't shake the bottle as it suggests to, I only swirl.

My question is, if I wanted to try and make the formula not using the prep machine, what methods can I use? The thought of having to boil a fresh kettle of water at 1 and 4am and letting it cool for 30 minutes then running under water, whilst my baby is crying just seems like it's going to be an absolute nightmare.

Can you pre make bottles and leave them in the fridge and heat up, or even give the baby fresh out the fridge?

Thank you x

@NotMaryWhitehouse @iusedtoloveopalfruits1 thanks both, never heard of this! We burp him regularly throughout feeds and he brings up burps very easily within a few seconds. It is a combination of digesting the milk/trapped farts/constipation - he is only pooping once every 48 hours but often throughout the day see him straining and go red and upset. We have been using colief too.

I switched this afternoon to aptamil comfort. I'm not sure if I've done the right thing as a FTM I'm really worried, but I can't stand to see him crunch up and yelp in pain anymore. He doesn't cry/scream, he just yelps like I can hear his pain. It's not all day everyday, but various occasions throughout the day he will have a good 30 minutes where he is really struggling.

He was also on baby gaviscon from the doctor but I am going to stop this whilst he adjusts to the new milk as I don't want to overwhelm his stomach :/

Make up in advance as per nhs advice, it's on their website about formula prep.

The straining and red face in itself is not an issue, babies don't have the same controls over their anal sphincter as adults and older children do. It worried me when DD was born that it was painful for her, but honestly they are just getting used to using their bodies.

Pre make bottles for night feeds and heat up. NHS says this is fine when you can't make fresh, it's actually probably a safer method than the TTPP. (But I also think the TTPP is fine if feeding immediately).

You can also try paced feeding as it is apparently the speed of feeding which causes them to take in air, not froth on the milk or air in the teat as previously thought. It does take longer so might be a bit more of a pain at night.

It won't be the prep machine, it'll be the formula- we had the same problem and switched to HIPP organic and baby has been perfect since :)

@NotMaryWhitehouse
It’s proper magic stuff! It saved my sanity cos i was fed up with DS having puked soaked tops/bibs after every feed.

I was going to suggest trying new formula but can see you've said you've changed to something new so hopefully that helps. Infacol/Gripe Water as many have also suggested.

Regarding pre making bottles, I've done this since my little one was on formula at around two months. At first it's hard to know how many Oz to make as you're not too sure how much they'll drink but the suggestion at the back of the formula box will give you some guidance.

Boil the kettle and let it cool for half an hour, make the bottle and put it in a jug/pot of cold water until the bottles are cold (usually have to change the water 10/15mins in) and then place them in the fridge. You can only keep them for 24hrs.

As for making bottles once the baby's hungry I've never known anyone to make bottles that way😭 sounds like hell!

@c307 how long was it until you saw a difference in your baby? Did you put teat size up? Size 1 was seeming really slow letting it through cause it's quite thick formula, baby was falling asleep drinking it and looked like it was hard work for him to drink. So moved up to size 2, this seems a bit quick now 😭 literally no idea what I'm doing anymore

Don't panic, this was me!! It's so overwhelming at first! We had to use the vari flow teats when we changed to anti reflux milk. We also continued with Gaviscon with the anti reflux milk. It won't overwhelm the tummy.

I look back now 2.5 years on and think why did I worry about how bottles were made etc (OMG I googled so much). Everything gets easier with confidence and experience, I promise!

It won't stop the wind - our son still struggles with windy pops and we've just accepted that it affects his sleep when he's gassy. We just have to help him get it out - so lots of jiggling or when he was very little laying his tummy against your own with his head resting on your palm or put him over your knees. The pressure help expel the gas.

@Crimsonripple thank you ❤️ he seems a little better than he was on the Kendamil/boiled water/colief/gaviscon! And that's just using the comfort milk. Hope he continues to be ok.

Please can anyone help with some tips on making a bottle out? You can't get aptamil ready made in the comfort.

Would I need to take out a tub of formula, boiled water flask and cooled boiled water flask?

Thank tou xx

Glad to hear he's doing well. The first year is horrible in terms of not knowing if you're doing it right. Just remember if it works for you it's right

I used to just take the water made by the perfect prep in the bottle then took the powder in a pot already measured out. Then just mixed when I needed it. My son was happy with room temp bottles. It goes against the whole has to be boiling hot when adding the powder but to be honest we never had any problems and it made for an easy life!

@Crimsonripple thank you!

Does anyone know - baby is way over his birth weight now, he's 3 weeks old yesterday. I'm currently feeding him every 3 hours unless he shows hunger signs earlier - every now and then 2.5 hours. Sometimes he can go 4 hours. This week he's been taking 4oz per feed. He also wakes twice in the night for feeding. The tub says 4oz 6 times per day but he's feeding around 8 times per day? Should I be trying to stretch him to 4 hours? It's hard cause he cried if he's hungry

I'm going to the doctors again next week, his stomach cramps seem to have returned and he's very unsettled. It isn't trapped wind cause he's farting now like a trooper. I am convinced he has cmpa and the midwife also said he has symptoms of this :/

I would ignore the box tbh and feed to your baby's appetite. Mine never got to 4 hourly until they were 4 months old

@dementedpixie thank you, I don't want him going hungry but also wasn't sure if I'm over feeding him. Today so far he did his usual 1am 4oz, 4:45 4oz, he then had a sleep and next fed at 8:50 and he's currently asleep so he's going on over 3 hours again for his next feed. Assuming I shouldn't wake him to feed him unless it's coming upto 4 hours.

I'm so worried I'm messing everything up regarding feeding. I'm also not sticking with a routine like wake up time and bed times? I'm just going off his wake windows, so putting him down for naps after 1 hour 30 max. Is this ok or should I be waking up the same time everyday and putting him to bed the same time?

He's only tiny still so i wouldn't worry too much about a set routine as it will change as he gets older anyway. Sounds like he's sleeping quite well which is good

@dementedpixie thank you ❤️ he's sleeping much better now I'm tracking his wake windows. The first two weeks he was staying awake upto 8 hours at a time in the day which is mental.

He wakes the same times through the night which is always around 1 and around 4. After 4 he will only sleep on my chest, which I'm happy to do if it means we both get some sleep

X

I think you're over thinking and worrying - I know it's hard not too when everything is so new and unknown.

Like someone else, he seems to be sleeping well and into a bit of a routine. You'll know if he's hungry.

I would not try and stretch him between feeds. Advice now is just to feed on demand, if you're trying to get them to have just the last bit of the bottle etc then it's meant to override their cues of recognising when they are full.

You probably know about how much he tends to want in one bottle, so just make a bit more than that so you always finish with a little bit left. When he starts finishing those bottles you know it's time to make them a bit bigger.

@jessicakxx please don't worry about a routine at this early stage. You just follow the baby's lead, sometimes it might be every two and then next time four hours and definitely don't wake a sleeping baby. I found it quite helpful to stop obsessing about day and night, telling myself I didn't have to make plans in the day or put pressure on myself to go out if it had been a hard night and that helped!

@tigerbreadandtea thank you that's a good way to think about it ❤️ I am going to return to the doctors next week as he spent the evening and night in pain with his stomach :(

X

@jessicakxx are you still using the prep machine?

@cruffin yes still using

Does anyone know when I should up the oz's I make? He's draining 4oz bottles every feed for the past 3/4 days. He's 3 weeks and 2 days old

The guidelines (not rules) are to do each bottle from fresh.
However, these came in between my babies so I did the same for both of them - please remember that this is against guidelines
Sterilise 6 bottles. Boil kettle, allow to cool slightly. Fill all 6 bottles with water and then add powder, shake. Put all 6 in the fridge. Heat in the microwave when needed

If he’s regularly draining bottles then up feeds by an oz going forward. Ignore the box.

Safest way- make up each bottle fresh using water over 70 degrees

Second safest way- make up in advance, flash cool, store in fridge for up to 24 hours (this is what they do with specialist feeds in NICU)

Absolutely 100% safe- use ready made formula

Of unknown safety-
Perfect prep machines
Hot shot methods

Personally we did the second safest method and fed straight from fridge, no warming. However they were term infants, low risk so the risk was tiny.

Any risk factors I’d go for ready made.