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Original poster

Preparing bottles in advance

129 replies

birchykel · 01/06/2011 16:20

Hi all,
I am 37 weeks pregnant and planning on breastfeeding but am open minded in case it doesn't work out. I had my first girl 8 years ago and back then I started breastfeeding but became poorly and ended up using Sma, I would make them up fresh before bed say 11.30pm and store about 6 in the fridge and then warm them up when needed during the night.
I emailed SMA to find out if this is ok and they said basically not really, I need to boil the water, leave to cool no longer than 30 mins and then make it up and either use it or keep it at room temp for no longer than 2 hours. Obviously whatever is best for baby but surly at 1 or 2am with a screaming baby in your arms, having to freshly boil, wait 30 mins, make it up and make sure its not too hot for babes is alot of waiting and no doubt a tad stressful??
Like I said I am hoping to breastfeed anyway but want to be prepared, anyone out there that can advise? Maybe I am being completely thick??

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Valpollicella · 03/06/2011 23:09

Geodie, exactly.

There was a great thread on here years ago (RTKanga?) who detailed why sterilising wasn't always necessary.

I wouldn't eat a raw egg through fear of getting food poisoning (ie it's not cooked/properly/to a high enough temp - small chance, I know) so I would never have made up formula any other way than the guidelines for the same reason

Parietal · 03/06/2011 23:15

Here is a case of formula giving a baby meningitis www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21035233

The 'wait 30 mins after boiling the kettle' rule confuses me -my kettle cools in about 5 mins. So I normally make bottles up with v hot water (to sterilise the powder) and then put them in the fridge for night feeds. I reckon warming the bottle once in the night should be ok as long as you use it within the hour. But I'm not a microbiologist.

Valpollicella · 03/06/2011 23:19

Parietal, if you cool the bottles very quickly and then store in the back of the fridge the risk is reduced. Not sure how you do this but I used to stick a bottle into a jug of water, with a lot of ice cubes in it.

Would cool the bottle very quickly (3 mins ish) instead of in just water/left to cool at room temp.

kingbeat23 · 03/06/2011 23:19

I wanted to BF but couldn't. I then got very upset that I couldn't and worried myself sick about it. I ff. I know that these threads get very emotive, but...once you have DC follow the guidelines that have been given. Ince you have got into a routine of what are MEANT to do you will what suits you.

I know this seems like a=quite an ambiguous post that doesnt really sum up to much, but really, worrying about what you are going to do is neither here nor there. You will know how your baby is when it is born. It might have hyper sensitive allergies, it might be ok with anything, it might like bf, it might like ff.

If it does like FF then follow the guidelines and see if it suits you. My DSis has 3 DCs. 8, 5 and 2 and the guidlines changed for all of them.

I made up bottles of sterile water and kept those in the fridge then made up the bottles as and when i needed them. However, this might not work for you.

Valpollicella · 03/06/2011 23:24

Kingbeat...It's not about the water being sterile!

Yes that routine might have worked for you, but sterile, cold water won't kill and of the above mentioned bugs in the powder!

RitaMorgan · 03/06/2011 23:27

It's a food hygiene issue rather than finding something that works for you though.

The guidelines are there so you can feed your baby safely, not to make your life difficult.

kingbeat23 · 03/06/2011 23:27

Absolutley true Val, I ws lucky that it worked for me and I am not condoning that OP follow what i did at all...the guidelines are there for a reason and not to make more work for parents. They should be followed and I was one of the lucky ones that "got away with" making it up as i went along.

RitaMorgan · 03/06/2011 23:29

I also find it really odd that people are really scrupulous about sterilising the water and sterilising the bottles, but not bothered about the powder.

Geordieminx · 03/06/2011 23:31

((((((goes off to find a sterile wall to bang head against)))))

Thornykate · 03/06/2011 23:32

Re: cooling quickly, I used to stand the bottles upright in a pan or jug and stand this in the sink under the cold running tap, it chills them v quickly.

Thanks for the links, I will have a chat with my MW about this & see what she thinks too.

kingbeat23 · 03/06/2011 23:32

It is unfortunate that there are no guidelines for parents as to making up bottles properly...I'm probably going to get flamed, but I'll don my suit now, I guess....I cried for 5 days not being able to BF, but when oush came to shove, I had to FF DD. Why was there noone to show me how to do it properly and how to follow the guidelines as per sterilising the powder as well? Is this to do with prevention of promoting FF? (real question BTW)

Chynah · 03/06/2011 23:33

*Chynah you are spectacularly missing the point. The dirt/sterilizing issue is like comparing apples and buses.

You aren't adding water to kill germs, in the same way that you would sterilize a bottle, you are using hot water to kill a potentially fatal bacteria, similar to ecoli....*

Not missing the point at all - nothing to do with bottles - never said it was.

OK so someone cited cases from 2004 - think i'd probably take my chances on that one (and already have).

aethelfleda · 03/06/2011 23:33

I guess the most practical way if you're at home would be to sterilise the bottles in advance, then when bottle is needed, boil fresh water and add to the bottle, then a few mins later when water is just off the boil, add the formula and shake. This then kills any contaminents in the powder.

Then all you have to do is get the temp down for baby- waiting 20 mins with screaming baby not really an option so I'd guess either running it under the cold tap, immersing in cold water or iced water, and keep checking the temp.

This doesn't cover what to do if out for the day- maybe a thermos to keep the water hot and a pre-sterilised bottle plus premeasured formula? I still think there's a degree of conspiracy by the people who sell ready-to-use formula- why can't they just make formula uncontaminated???

Geordieminx · 03/06/2011 23:34

Rita...exactly. Tbh washing/dishwashing a bottle is going to get it roughly to the same level of cleanliness as the inside of a midrs basket, if not more. Perfectly adequate IMO.

All this using pincers to put bottle together after steaming it to within an inch if it's life, then adding formula to cold water is absolute madness

RitaMorgan · 03/06/2011 23:35

Your midwife should have shown you how kingbeat - it's part of their job. The NHS also produces leaflets on safely making up formula, and the Department of Health issues guidelines.

Also, there are instructions on the formula box.

aethelfleda · 03/06/2011 23:35

One last thing though- most of this is going to apply to the littlest babies on formula (under 6 months when they don't have a good immune system yet). By 8 months both of mine were crawling, chewing dad's trainers, eating dirt....

Geordieminx · 03/06/2011 23:36

Kingbeat I am sure there are instructions on the side Irvine formula tins???

RitaMorgan · 03/06/2011 23:37

This is the most recent NHS leaflet on preparing formula I believe.

Valpollicella · 03/06/2011 23:39

Rita, that is true in principle but not always the case.

Kingbeat - I really do understand what you mean. I was going mad trying to figure out how to do it 'properly' as per the guidelines. Worked myself into a stupid frenzy over it all. Wish I'd known about MN then...

RitaMorgan · 03/06/2011 23:41

I don't doubt that some midwives/HVs aren't doing their jobs properly Valpollicella - our health system seems particularly crap when it comes to infant feeding.

kingbeat23 · 03/06/2011 23:41

Yes, Rita, she should have but she didn't I also had problems with DD feeding but her answer was she had never seen a hungry baby so in an inner city setting with 1000+ people under her care I guess she didnt give a shit!

I was lucky, that's why I told OP to follow the guidelines, thing is, if you've never done it before it can see very daunting...thankfully OP has us lot to ask instead of overworked, harrassed, not caring HVs eh?

Valpollicella · 03/06/2011 23:42

Agreed Rita, whether that's BF or FF

Geordieminx · 03/06/2011 23:45

EATING DIRT IS NOT THE SAME AS INGESTING POTENTIALLY FATAL BACTERIA. ITS LIKE LICKING A RAW CHICKEN!

fifi25 · 03/06/2011 23:50

I used to steralise bottles, add boiling water, cool in pan of water and store in the back of the fridge. I then used to heat the water when needed and add milk. This was per HV 2 yrs ago so may have changed. When i went out i used to take a bottle of boiling water in sterile bottle and add milk when needed.

My dd3 was always fine. So were dd1 and 2 who used to have prepared milk stored in the fridge.

Valpollicella · 03/06/2011 23:53

2 yrs ago Fifi?

DS was born nearly 5 years ago and the guidelines on the pack then were to make up as needed as powder wasn't sterile....

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