Making up feeds and storing

[toxitears181]

Hello new mum over here
Which is the best way to make up baby feeds and store them?

Boil kettle and leave for 30 mins to cool
Add boiled water and powder to bottles
Stick into fridge

Is this method correct?

Also night feeds I'm thinking of using a thermos flask will the water be at the right temperature or will I have to cool bottle down in cold water during the night

Xx

Bear in mind DD is nearly 6 so things may have changed...i used to make 4 or 5 feeds at a time fresh. Boil water, wait to temp, add powder. Then rapid cool in the sink, straight into the fridge. Last 24 hours (think this was WHO guidelines for batch prepping). Then i just blitzed in the micro at 30 second intervals - if you shake well no hotspots. My HV was happy with this & DD thrived. Will do the same again this time if DS won't bf

Under current advice that is not ‘correct’

Bottles should be made fresh with boiling water added to the powder each time and used immediately. But your method has been used for years and years with little ill affect.

I used to boil the kettle fill up bottles for the day with 1oz less than needed and then store in the fridge. At each feed I’d reboot the kettle add the powder to the 1oz boiling water in a fresh bottle and then add the cooled water from the fridge. It meant they were a good temperature too!

All advice from health care professions is not to make up feeds in advance. Obviously you can do what you please but keep this in mind when the health visitor starts questioning you.

I would recommend the perfect prep machine

Perfectprep!

Things have definitely changed 🙈 you could buy the ready made for night time feeds (the idea of a screaming baby whilst waiting for water never did it for me).

Have heard mixed reviews of perfect prep...worth getting???

I bottle fed DC3,just used ready made as I couldn't be faffed with the kettle and all that bad press about the perfect prep put me off. Worked out at about £6 a day until 3 months ish then it went down. This combined with a c9ld water steriliser made bottle feeding a doddle

Just checked current WHO guidelines on this...it says fresh is obviously better BUT if you do want to make & store then make, rapid cool & in the fridge for 24 hours top is how they recommend

A long time ago I used to put boiled water only into the bottle, let it cool down and then put it in the fridge.
I measured the milk powder into the little pots with the 3 separated compartments, devised especially for the purpose, and then made them up when needed.
www.johnlewis.com/philips-avent-baby-milk-powder-dispenser/p230850442?sku=230850442&s_kwcid=2dx92700027447644762&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzNfJ-oHb2wIVE4jVCh3_wA_gEAQYAiABEgLgLPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I currently make up 2 fresh at a time, flash cool in iced water then stick at the back of the fridge (where it’s coldest).
Current advice is to be made fresh every time, however you may make and store as above to be used within 12 hours if necessary.

I then can warm the bottle when needed or just give it straight from the fridge as my little one doesn’t mind.
I used ready mades when out just as I’m lazy .
Used this method with my 4yr old and now with my 3mth old with no issues.

How did you warm the bottle up after it's been in the fridge do you stick in bowl of hot water or put in microwave for like 10-20 seconds ? X

You can do either...i did microwave but people hate that. If you do it steadily & shake it well you eliminate hotspots. That's not the 'right' way tho so your HV might whinge

That’s the method I used, I made a batch in the morning and a batch in the evening although they say it is ok or 24 hours, I just preferred doing it every 12 or so. I warmed in a jug of boiling water but they weren’t particularly warm just took the edge off.

WHO say it is fine to do this. If you have a baby who doesn’t feed to a schedule it is much kinder to make up and have a bottle ready quickly than having a crying hungry baby waiting for the kettle to cook for 30 mins.

As pp I microwave only for 20secs to take the chill off as opposed to warming and a thorough shake. I also put it on the edge of the turntable so the whole bottle is warmed and less chance of heat spots.

Cool

Biggest bit of advice i got was try get DC used to having room temp bottles sometimes...takes the pressure off of you if you do end up with a screaming hungry small person

My youngest is 6 but I used to fill a sterilised jug with lid with boiling water and fridge it, then when bottle needed I'd add 2/3rds cooled boiled water from jug and 1/3 fresh boiled water then add formula and mix - I used Hipp organic which melted easily unlike aptsmil then

We were told not to make up feeds in advance by the HV when DD was born in January, so we just make them when needed. It's not as bad as we thought it would be. Also for night, we use a flask. You just have to make sure the water is kept above 75 degrees to be sterile when added to the powder.

@mustbemad17 the perfect prep machine is my best baby buy. I can make a bottle at the perfect temperature in under 2 minutes! I can't recommend it enough.

mummastripes that sounds like bloody heaven for night time!!! Might be something to look into if bf doesn't happen