Is using the fridge method for formula safe?

[EmmaR0305]

Due to babies silent reflux we cannot use the prep machine, and have been advised against using any hot shot methods. We have been currently making one feed up at a time with the kettle which is recommended but I am finding that baby is ending up screaming and going bright red if the bottle is not made up in time.

I am wondering if I could make a couple of feeds up at a time so they would be in the fridge less than 6 hours.

Its fine.
Well I did it without issue (and made up 24hrs worth)

Its not the NHS recommended method, but they have little interest in making formula feeding easy, or the manufacturers preference (who want to cover their backs...)

But

The WHO lists it as a safe method.
It also meant we could more easily demand feed.

If i had another baby and bottle fed, it's what I'd do without a doubt

As long as the water has been added to the water at the recommended temperature to kill any potential bacteria in the powder then it’s ok isn’t it?

Yes we do it for night time bottles. In the day we basically do our own prep machine. So we boil a full kettle night before and fill a small jug, put in back of fridge. Then when we want to make a bottle, boil kettle add half water, powder then shake then add other half cold water and it's perfect temp. We have done both of these for 8m now and no problems at all

You have to use with 24h.

Make a full day's worth if bottles once a day, store in fridge

We did all our night feeds that way, but would totally recommend a formula kettle. Keeps water at a suitable temp to make the whole bottle with and then stood in cold water for a few mins to get to the right temp.

I have used this method at times and found it to be fine. I reheated either in microwave for a few secs, giving it a v good shake of course, or by sitting it in a jug of hot water for a few mins.

i would use it again and felt it was safe.

i lined bottles up in the fridge in order, oldest at the front, so there was no risk of me accidentally not using a bottle within 24 hours.

We did, for the same reasons. Initially though we used the ready made cartons - would that be an option for you? It’s more expensive than powder but I was a bit worried about doing the fridge method while DD was really tiny.

I bought my niece a set with a couple of nuby rapid cool flasks as a gift. I didnt realise how brilliant they actually are, a feed cools so quickly I didnt believe it when she showed me.

She keeps some shop bought premade formula for emergencies if both flasks have been used and not sterilised yet but very rarely needs it.

This. Did it with two babies and it was fine. Always.

Thank you, we use ready to feed too. For about 2 feeds a day (I use them when I’m out and about and for morning feeds)

It’s not the advice now but I used to boil a kettle, let it cool slightly then add it to 6 bottles at a time, shake gently and pop in the fridge.
As I said it’s not the advice but it’s what I did twice with no issues

Did it for 5 children over 14 years and never had an issue.

I did this with my baby 20yrs ago- (it was recommended at the time) - did 6 bottles every morning- straight in the fridge and used within 24 hrs. Never any issues - must be very frustrating making up bottles in the middle of the night.

My sister made up 6 bottles at a time, I compromised and made 2 up. All children are now adults and doing well. It's like the 6 months weaning thing, was 4 months when my oldest was born. So many more allergies and intolerances these days. If humans were so fragile we would not be so widespread.

It's fine. As long as you make with hot water, and keep at the coldest part of the fridge for no longer than 24 hours, the risk is low enough to be acceptable even for newborns.

What I used to do when we were topping up was make one ASAP after a feed so there was always one ready to go, but it was never sat around for hours and hours. This also means you only ever have one bottle in the fridge at a time so no need to keep track of when it was made. When we were using half-bottles of the premade stuff at a time I had to write the date and time on or we'd lose track of which was which and I'm sure we ended up feeding 2-3 day old formula sometimes D:

Second the recommendation for a formula kettle!

We did it with no issues. Keep in coldest part of fridge, not the door.

We pre-made them a couple of years ago and had no issues. Let kettle cool for half an hour, made a full day’s worth of bottles, and then quickly cooled them down in a tub of water (containing ice packs) before storing at back of fridge and used within 24 hours.

@Allmyghosts thank you. Did you cool your bottles before putting them in the fridge?

Yes we did it this way, we made three bottles twice per day, used within 24 hrs. The most important thing is to make the bottles correctly, ie 90C water, then cool them immediately. We used to do this by filling our small sink with cold water and ice blocks from the freezer and putting the bottles in there until cool, then straight in the fridge. We also gave bottles at room temperature so we didn't need to faff about with warming them up when out and about.

We went through a phase of this after MW told us not to use the prep machine. In the end our baby had the same issues no matter how we made the bottle up and grew out of it! Went back to the prep machine and no issues at all.
I use ready to feed and the Nuby rapid cool and would really recommend