2 flask method? Is it ok to do?

[Babyontheway21]

Hi

I use a prep machine and wondering if I can use two flasks ones with cooled down boiled water and one boiling and make the bottles as I need them with the same measurements as the prep machine?
If I can, can I boil the water the night before and let it cook and put it in a flask ? Or should I be refrigerating it overnight?

Cool*

I thought you were only supposed to use boiled water for half an hour after it's booked?

Nhs has advice on storing bottles made up but it's best to book the kettle abs then cool the made up mill each time

No, not really. Prep machines aren't advised either. Formula should be made with only boiling water to kill all bacteria, then cooled to the correct temperature.

Perfect Prep are advised. As long as you use the right filters and maintain them properly.

OP, we use the two flask method when out and about or staying over somewhere it’s not work packing the PP for. Has always been absolutely fine.

It’s a hugely personal issue though: some prefer to make the bottles and chill and reheat. Others only use premade. Then some will only make with boiling and cool.

Give it a go and if you feel comfortable; continue.

So what I do is boil the kettle fill a flask that keeps it red hot, measure out a "hot shot" add the formula then add coiled boiled water out of the fridge, I have 5 wee bottles that I measure out the cold shoots into let cool then pop in the fridge. So can make up a bottle quickly as and when needed

Thank you that’s what I was thinking if I do what the perfect prep does with the hot shot and powder then top up with the cooled water.
I just wasn’t sure if I boil the water and cool it tonight and keep it in the fridge or leave out at room temp
Yeah I’ve had all different advice about the pp that drove me loopy but I do change the filters and maintain it and my baby has never got sick with it and tbh it really is a godsend.

Thank you

@glasshalfsomething

Perfect Prep are advised. As long as you use the right filters and maintain them properly.

OP, we use the two flask method when out and about or staying over somewhere it’s not work packing the PP for. Has always been absolutely fine.

It’s a hugely personal issue though: some prefer to make the bottles and chill and reheat. Others only use premade. Then some will only make with boiling and cool.

Give it a go and if you feel comfortable; continue.

No NHS Trust would advise perfect prep. They all have guidelines to advise against their use. This is the Norfolk & Norwich version:

Perfect Prep machines
Some people use ‘Perfect Prep’ machines to make up formula feeds. We strongly
advise you against using these machines because they deliver a small volume
(‘shot’) of very hot water and then add cool water to make up the rest of the feed. This is
not a sufficient temperature to kill the bacteria in formula milk and your baby may
become unwell.

If you saw someone not being 100% hygienic regarding raw meat you wouldn't just ignore, but someone admitting they're not following formula guidelines risking a babies health and its ok to ignore???

I was told by midwives and hv that it was fine to use… anyway I’m happy using it and if anything stopped upset stomachs that’s not my concern I just wanted to know what people did when out for the day

My mum often wonders how I got to the age I am as she made bottles the night before for the next day and did lots of other things that the new breed of baby these days can’t have.

Yes, perfect method. I'll be judged so much (😂) but I do not sterilise the powder. I just boil the water , get it to perfect drinking temp and put it in the flask. Then use that water to make bottles over night. Your method will sterilise the powder so perfect, I think the powder is sterilised by water over 70c.

I did with neocate but that has to be made up with room temperature water. I bought a new flask and insulation cover for it ( lifeventure) and then use cheap baby bottles to store the boiled cooled water. Can’t remember how long the flask stayed very hot for but it was quite a long time. You could check with a meat probe. You could also use more veryhot water and then rapidly cool the bottle under a tap

@Babyontheway21

My mum often wonders how I got to the age I am as she made bottles the night before for the next day and did lots of other things that the new breed of baby these days can’t have.

Exactly... the advice when I was a baby was to just sterilise the water. In America they use water straight from the tap!

I buy ready made formula as I can't be arsed to deal with the powdered stuff. Do what's right for your baby.

In the US they don't use sterilisers and I believe they don't boil and cool their water for formula powder, it's used straight from the tap.

In Europe they don’t sterilise bottles at all and they use bottled water like Evan to make bottles (microwave Evian in the baby’s bottle until it’s lukewarm and add powder). This is what is advised on formula tins in France and what doctors and midwives tell parents to do. I’m not saying it’s better but surely it’s okay as that’s what all parents do, as advised by all professionals?

@heywassuphello

Yes, perfect method. I'll be judged so much (😂) but I do not sterilise the powder. I just boil the water , get it to perfect drinking temp and put it in the flask. Then use that water to make bottles over night. Your method will sterilise the powder so perfect, I think the powder is sterilised by water over 70c.

This is what I done what out and about! Loved PP machine in the house. DS was absolutely fine.

It’s strange how every country has different advice yet we are all the one kind of human
Thank you, so I’ll boil the water in the morning and put it in the flask and not tonight. That’s great thank you

I've done various methods with mine and used a perfect prep at home (best baby item ever).
I did a mixture of boiling kettle and pouring it in the bottle and adding powder as and when needed - pretty sure this wouldn't have sterilised the powder oops.
Otherwise if I was making a 6oz bottle I would put 4oz of cooled boiled water in a bottle, bring a spare bottle and bring a flask of hot water, top up the empty bottle with 2oz out the flask, add powder then top up with the cooled water.
Never had any stomach upsets with mine

My 17 month old made it through a year of a perfect prep/ boiled cooled water so I could replicate it when out and about. As long as you use boiled water to kill the bacteria it's all good. I found 3oz boiling and 4oz cooled (refrigerated) boiled made the perfect drinking temp for a 7oz bottle

That didn't make sense but hopefully you can understand what I mean (can I still blame baby brain if he's 17months old?!)🤣

No that made total sense and was what I was thinking of doing how did you store it in the fridge? Would u boil the night before let cool then refrigerate?

It's just different levels of risk tolerance. The risk of contamination in the powder is more theoretical than anything. It does happen, but it's very rare. It happened in France a few years ago and some babies died. They do not advise to boil water for formula there and didn't change this advice after that incident.

It's not surprising that you survived because these are very small risks that we are reducing further by following guidelines. It's your choice as a parent which set of guidance you follow (including simply common sense or your own judgement) but the modern guidelines are more up to date and have the benefit of more knowledge and research than the ones from the 80s. Not a new breed of baby, just new knowledge about babies. And infant mortality is lower so something about modern life is better (of course, probably a combination of things!)

The two flask method is fine, as is making up all the night feeds and storing in the back of the fridge until you want to feed them, this is NHS/WHO second best advice after making with hot water and cooling quickly.

I think I would be more concerned about making errors with the measurement in low light in the middle of the night than bacteria multiplying in the feed, so personally I would pre make, with kettle water (not PP) and store in fridge.

Thanks Bertie. Everything you said makes perfect sense and really common sense is key I suppose second to facts.

I do the two flasks when out and about. I've got a 200ml for boiled water, added straight to the flask from the kettle, and 360ml for the cool water. You cannot cool the water in the flask even in the fridge because the flask keeps it hot! I cool it in a sterilised bottle in the back of the fridge and then add to the flask when cool. About 60ml of boiling is enough to sterilise 5-6 oz of formula, then top up.

Always been fine for us