So, is a perfect prep safe or not ?

[thunderonlyhappenswhenits]

When I had my ds 8 years ago we just used the kettle and cooked the bottle down in a bowl of cold water, seemed to do the trick for us. But I'm worrying about night feeds so was looking into a perfect prep or a formula kettle and can't really decide what's best.

The formula kettle boils and then keeps the water at 70degrees - is 70 degrees hot enough to kill the bacteria in formula ?

The perfect prep I've seen the nhs say that there isn't enough of a hot shot to kill the bacteria in the powder. So how is it legally able to be sold if it isn't 'safe'?

Sorry but it's all a minefield to me now ! I'm worried about getting everything right and don't want to give the baby a bad tummy either !

We use the perfect prep.... the first press sends boiling water into the bottle and the powder you shake it up and mix up the powder therefore killing any bacteria with boiling water.... then press again with cooler water.... x

@Moosh18 do you use it for every bottle ? How often have you had to change the filters ? And also how easy it it to clean?
Thanks

There was a panarama programme about 5 years ago on them, massive hewdlines about how they uncovered they are not safe. But the program actually concluded there not safe if you don’t clean them properly but otherwise they are fine.

I know the NHS don't recommend but I also know every formula feeding mum I came across while I was pregnant had it top of their list as an absolute must buy. It's a totally individual choice but I decided that many women were unlikely to be wrong and it's probably just the NHS being slow to respond, particularly for something that makes FF easier.

You add the milk powder to the hot shot and then the cool water comes after. It's an absolute doddle to use, the filter tells you when it needs changing, I've had one change in 4 months. The cleaning cycle is super easy too. I've heard people say they aren't hygienic but it's water in/water out so I don't see how terrible it can be!

FWIW my DC's tummy has been absolutely fine but I know that's totally individual as well

I had one for my current baby but stopped using it a few weeks ago. I changed the filter as advised by the perfect prep and it had white mould around the top - granted only a few specks but it completely freaked me out that my baby has been drinking that. I also don’t think the hot shot is either enough or hot enough to kill the bacteria. I’ve followed the instructions to a T, drained and changed the water daily, did cleaning cycles as advised and changed the filter whenever the machine prompted it but I’ve gone back to the good old fashioned way of making prep. We’re combo feeding so luckily I don’t make too many formula bottles a day.

😩 see the mould thing would freak me out too! I've got ocd pretty bad atm and contamination is top of the list !!
But I'm also very tempted by the fact baby can be drinking a bottle in two mins !

Does anyone know much about formula kettles ? I have googled but compared to the perfect prep they don't seem very popular and guess I'm wondering why that is !

They're fine OP. The study into 'mould' concluded it wasn't actually mould and was only present in machines where the user hadn't used the correct filter. The hot shot is also enough and is hot enough as long as you add the powder to the bottle and then the hot shot; it used to be the other way round in the instructions ie water and then powder which did mean that the water might have cooled too much if someone took ages to put the powder in but that's changed now. Just make sure you clean it as recommended and it is safe.

Personally judging the temp from a kettle isn't an exact science and is more likely to lead to the water being too hold or cold- if its too hot it can damage the formula and too cold it doesn't work effectively. Leaving to cool for x time doesn't take into account other factors such as the room temp, the amojnt you've boiled etc yet some feel that's more accurate for some reason.

The NHS will never recommend anything that makes formula feeding easier.

I love my prep!

Wouldn't be without it and and would recommend to every pregnant woman

I didn't formula feed but I would 100% use it if I had as the alternative methods seem like a royal pain in the arse to do multiple times a day and overnight. That and ready made bottles for taking out and about would be musts for me!

I was told by a health visitor once that they have to warn against the dangers (temperature, mould etc) but in reality every formula feeding family she visited had one and she'd never known any of the babies to become unwell as a result. So make of that what you will

I found mine useless. It’s a glorified water boiler. But then I made bottles the “old” way, where I prepared them in advance and kept them in the fridge.

I would save your money and just make up and rapidly cool a couple of bottles before you go to bed.

In my pp hormonal state after breast feeding hadn't worked out some of the photos of the prep and the mould put me right off. 2 years down the line I look back and clearly was a bit irrational/over emotional about the whole thing!

The official UK guidelines are very strict and so the prep doesn't follow it to the letter but the product wouldn't be on the mass market if it wasn't safe.

I did have a formula kettle and can throughly recommend the Uneeqbaby one. Kept the water at 70 and then cooled the bottle standing in a pot of cold water from the fridge. Took a minute or two in the early days. A little bit longer as the bottles got bigger and took a few more minutes to cool, but by that time they were in a good routine and I knew when a feed was coming.

You sure you were using it correctly?

Yes. You can’t really use it “wrong”. But I found it easier to make bottles in advance than make up as you go with the machine. My kids preferred them cold as well.

When I had my dd ten years ago, these hadn't come out. The advice was to make them up ad and when needed. A friend came round and said they make enough bottles for the day, cool down and then put in fridge until needed. Dd was fine doing it this way. We then had ds and prep machines were out so we used them and he was fine.

We used one and it was a god send. I ordered the special screw driver to open up the back and we never got black mould in it. I think this happens when it's left in a place with high moisture/condensation maybe.

Can’t you just make them up in the same way that the machine does but without the machine? That would avoid the mould issue? So boil the kettle, pour boiling water onto the powder, shake, then top up with cold. You could experiment to work out the proportions. Weigh the amounts of water in the bottle on kitchen scales. 10 millilitres weighs 10 grams…

You shouldn't use coke water from the tap so you'd need to boil the kettle, tip out some water to cool then do as you suggest but using the cool boiled star.

I tried doing this but found I kept forgetting to top up the cooled boiled water so it meant I had a screaming hungry baby who had to wait for the water to cool down. Sleeplessness made me scatty!

I do a mix of using the perfect prep on the go during the day then making up bottles with boiling water overnight and keeping them in the fridge.

You definitely shouldn't use coke 😆
But also cold water from the tap -whoops

We did it the "old fashioned" way. Made up 6 bottles in the morning and put them in the fridge. 30 seconds in the microwave and a good shake and you're away.

I know that isn't official guidelines, but it worked for us.

make the bottles in advance and keep them in the fridge, or use ready made. If you can get your baby to drink ready made formula at room temp then it's a godsend.

I have used our prep machine for both children.
No problems at all and we change the filter as soon as the warning light comes on.

Love it and wouldn't be able to survive the nights without it 😂

They aren't recommended 🤷‍♀️.

However, I used mine and all was fine. I made sure I cleaned and descaled it every single month to be sure.

@EvergreenForest 😂