Would you pre-make formula for night feeds?

[sprite25]

I know breast is best but after failing with DD this time round I'm abit more prepared and have already brought some powdered formula for DC 2 just in case. When DD did go on to formula I remember it taking what felt like hours of her crying til the bottle was ready. I know once formula is made up it's advised to be used or thrown in two hours but would have also seen alot of people on here say they make up a few bottles before bed, quick cool them then store them in the fridge for quick warming up throughout the night. It sounds so much easier with a DD who already wakes in the night and a DH who sometimes has to be away over night for work but I'm also worried I'd cause LO to be ill. Would you do it?

I do that. I did it for my now 10 year old and now also sometimes my baby. Or I use my perfect prep machine which only takes a minute to do each bottle from scratch.

I wouldn't, but I used a perfect prep machine and I know there are lots of people who wouldn't use those either.

Yes.
And I used to make in advance for days out back in the good old days

I made up the bottles with cooled boiled water then put them in the fridge. I then measured the scoops into one of those powder holder things so all I had to do was microwave the water and add the powder and shake.
Someone will probably say you shouldn't microwave but the vigorous shaking dissipates any hot spots. I could make up a bottle in around 40 seconds.
At my super laziest I used to chill an empty sterile bottle and just pour ready made in.
I also stored made up bottles but I gave that up because I used to forget how long they'd been there sometimes.

I did, and brought them upstairs in a Fridge to Go and warmed them up under the bathroom tap, or under the duvet. Perfect Prep machines weren't around 5 years ago though. Fridge to Go was also very handy on days out, and is now a perfect lunch bag.

I make formula up in batches of 6, and make sure they are used or disposed of within 24 hours. Just pop one in the bottle warmer or a jug of hot water for 5 minutes job done.

As long as they are made up with boiling water, cooled and stored correctly and good hygiene is practiced it should be absolutely fine.

I used the bottles of ready made stuff overnight. DD took it at room temperature, so just opened, poured, done.

We use the pre mixed bottles for the night feed

Yes. DS is not dead (although he's fairly zombie-like in the mornings).

guidelines dont advise this due to bacteria

use a perfect prep machine

do a diy pp by doing 2/3 cooled boiled water in bottle,boil kettle and add 1/3 -so for a 6oz bottle do 4oz/2oz for a 4oz bottle roughly 3oz/1oz

use pre made

It's the hot water that kills any bugs in the non sterile milk powder.

So you're better off storing some cooled boiled water in a sterile bottle and some empty sterilised bottles. Make up a feed in an empty sterilised bottle with half the amount of hot water and powder, good shake and then add the stored, cooled, boiled water.

Nothing sitting around and hot water is used as per instructions. Just make sure you do add the cool water to get the right strength milk.

Those perfect prep machines have been in the news lately because of mould in pipes issues.

It's a tough time so make life easier where you can

This is what I do.

It's fine.

I made up my boys bottles in advance and kept them in the fridge, reheating when they needed them. For night feeds I kept made up bottle in a cool bag beside my bed, along with a flask of boiling water and a jug so that I could heat bottle without leaving my bed.

Plan to do the same this time too.

As a couple of others have said above, I basically did a DIY perfect prep... boil a small amount of water in the kettle, pour into the bottle (about a third - equivalent of the 'shot' from PP machine) add formula , shake loads and add cooled boiled water.

I didn't discover this method until we were about 6 months in, wish I'd known! Before that I used to make up the days feeds first thing in the morning and the nights feeds just before heading to bed, and stored them in the fridge.

When we went out, we eventually started taking the ready made stuff (when we eventually discovered it!) as DS was happy to have it at room temp.

I used a perfect prep machine but if I hadn't had that I'd have done the homemade version i.e. added enough boiling water to dissolve the powder then topped up with cooled boiled water from the fridge to make it the right temperature.

I didn't offer any formula until after six months but when I did I used half boiling water, chuck in the powder and mix up, other half cold water. Comes out a nice temperature and the boiling water killed the powder bugs.

I used to make the whole day's bottle feeds once I stopped BF. I'd make 6, cool and refrigerate. Never hard about a 2 hour rule. Mine are 16 and 13 and never had any problems, everyone did it that way!

No definitely not. The reason breast in best is because people don't follow formula instructions.

Oh yes ready made cartons. I almost fell to my knees in Boots when I discovered them. Great for a day out or for in the night for you OP.

NHS guidelines:-

If made-up formula is stored:
in a fridge – use within 24 hours
in a cool bag with an ice pack – use within four hours
at room temperature – use within two hours

here

So perfectly ok to make up beforehand, store in a fridge and warm as you need it - as long as it's within 24 hours.

I did this every night for probably 15 months total (between all DCs). Never had any problem and it was SO much easier. I also never heated up a single bottle and my babies never complained, even though they were combo fed so used to getting breast milk warm. I try to make things as easy for all of us as possible.

Thankyou celen !

No 2014newme it isn't

It's because breast milk has all sorts of natural goodness in it that formula is unable to replicate.

I made bottles up as I needed them during the day but made the night feed ones up before bed & stored them at the back of the fridge. DS never had any issues. If I can't breastfeed this time either then I'll do the same.

My DB bought a perfect prep & said it was a waste of money, lots of hassle to clean, change the filter etc & ended up selling it after a few weeks.

I always had ready made cartons in as well in case DS wanted an extra feed. Always had one in the changing bag in case we were out longer than planned. It came in handy numerous times as DS was a very hungry baby.

As Celen said, it's perfectly ok to make up formula in advance. Key things are to follow the steps on the packet, exactly (none of this half-and-half messing) then cool the bottle very quickly under running cold water and/or in a deep jug of iced water. Store it in the back of the fridge.

The WHO says fresh-made consumed within two hours is best but that pre-made flash-cooled formula stored in the fridge is also a perfectly acceptable method.

No health organisation or formula manufacturer endorses use of Perfect Prep or DIY variants.