Formula information please?

[bumblebee2235]

Baby 3 months, moving to prescription allergy formula today once in at pharmacy. Been breastfeeding till now but baby unfortunately has allergies 😭😭

Once made up how long out the fridge?

How long in fridge?

Do I need to warm it up when I take it out fridge?

What do you do during night? Take it from fridge from previously made? Or make it up when needed?

When going out for day how do you do it?

Also how many mls does a 3 month need a day and in feed? She's only 8lb now (has had lots of medical problems so very small)

Also any other guidance and info very much appreciated. I'm praying this actually works for her now and she gets better.

My little girl was trialled on SMA Althera as they suspected it could an allergy, it was very similar to preparation to regular formula. I’m not sure which one you have been prescribed but you can always double check the tin/ their website which should have preparation/ feeding guides.

But here’s what I do with our formula, hopefully it helps and gives you some guidance.

Once made up how long out the fridge?

Once freshly prepared the formula either needs to be placed in the fridge or must be used within 2 hours. If baby has started drinking from the bottle then it’s 1 hour from when they started.

How long in fridge?

Formula can only be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

Do I need to warm it up when I take it out fridge?

No you don’t need to warm it up from the fridge but some babies may prefer it warmed up, depends on your little one.

What do you do during night? Take it from fridge from previously made? Or make it up when needed?

At night time we use our Nuby Rapid Cool, which we wash after making formula and place into a Milton cold water sterilisation tub. Alternatively you could use previously made bottles if baby is happy drinking them cold or you could warm them up first.

You can warm them up using a bottle warmer or a put the bottle in a jug of warm water. I’m not sure if you are using MAM bottles but if you use the jug method you will need to remove the lid to stop water being sucked up through the bottom.

When going out for day how do you do it?

Going out for the day, again we use the nuby rapid cool if it was just for one bottle. Or you can take previously made bottles out in a cool bag with ice packs (this is only for 4 hours). Or some people take a flash of boiling hot water and one of cool boiled water to mix on the go.

Also how many mls does a 3 month need a day and in feed? She's only 8lb now (has had lots of medical problems so very small)

The tin should be able to suggest how many mls to offer. I think when my baby was 8lb she was having 4oz every 3 hours but some babies will want less or more.

Hopefully that helps you a bit, when I had to give up breastfeeding and move to formula feeding. I did find the NHS website quite useful. 😊

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/advice/

This is amazing!! Thank you so much for the effort and such a detailed reply! 🥰

Can I ask, it's day two of using the allergy formula. She is feeding and her allergy symptoms are lessening.. but she's not finishing a bottle? Does it matter if she's having less than the recommended amount? She is a lot smaller and I'm sort of suspecting due to the pain she was in she's never fed properly 😬 she's sleeping a lot today so for first time ever she is having big gaps between attempts... but since she was born she has been permanently overtired 😬 so wondering if it's just catching up now she can and hopefully start having habits/routine in coming weeks? The GP did say it can take up to 4 weeks to recover and start settling completely:)

Just panicked haha, I feel like I'm starting from scratch on learning her cues and needs as she seems a completely different baby already, I feel like past 3 months we were in survival mode 😅

No problem! 😊I’m glad I could help. I felt so overwhelmed when I first had to move formula feeding, as breast feeding was always the plan. I did hardly any research into formula and there is so much information.

With her not finishing the bottle, the NHS says to be guided by your baby as apparently they will know how much milk they need. I always offered the recommended amount every 3 hours which is what I still do with her now, sometimes she will drink it all and sometimes she won’t.

My little girl has a heart condition so I have to monitor her weight closely to make sure she is following her percentile and putting on the right amount of weight. My health visitors offer drop in clinics where I can take her to be weighed, for the first 3 months I went weekly and now I go monthly. This really helps with my anxiety around her not putting enough weigh on, that I am giving her enough formula and gives a chance to raise any other questions I have. I’m not sure if this something they offer in your area and maybe could help you too?

It does take babies a while to get used to formula, fingers crossed you start seeing an improvement in your little one soon and she is more settled. 😊

Those first few months of having a baby are so stressful, there is so much to learn!

Thank you. They don't offer that 😭 she was so poorly when born we were in neonatal for ages. She was weighed every 48 hours since discharge it's been difficult to get any help. At one point she was throwing up bright yellow gunge (bile) but couldn't get through to doctor (receptionist refused) health visitor took 24 hours to get in touch and 111 kept calling back apologising there was a backlog and could take 3 days 😭 she still isn't even on the percentile yet 😬 my health visitor was sick for 2 weeks, then on holiday then fully booked so next week will only be the second time in 3 months. I was praying that the formula will work, but she's starting screaming again... it's so hard to get her to feed. It could be wind, but due to all the issues and lack of sleep I'm constantly on high alert 😭 just keep crying 😅 she's had 470 mls so far (I think for her weight it's 600 in 24 hours) might just get there, but it's just so stressful, I feel I have to offer at any opportunity and get any little sip in I can. Not sure if that's the way forward or if I'm making it worse :(