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 !

Thank you everybody. It seems the vast majority are for the perfect prep. I might give it ago and see how we get on with it, I just worry about the hygiene side of things, but I wouldn't use and use without cleaning it!

If I was to use the kettle I'd be buying a formula one anyway as don't like the idea of using our old kettle for bottles to be honest ..
I guess it'd still be quicker calling it down from 70 degrees than boiling anyway.

Is 70 degrees hot enough to kill the bacteria??

'White mould'? You mean limescale.

I used perfect prep from four months after I gave up expressing milk. Amazing and if I have to use formula again I'd 100% use it again. Wonderful invention.

I might be reluctant to use it for a very tiny baby under, say, 8 weeks, but even that is probably excessive caution on my part.

I was advised against making up the bottles and microwaving them or warming them so got a prep machine and if my flat was on fire I'd go back in for it 😂

Used ours without issue - loved it! No mould at all. Cleaned it as per instructions and used the correct filters

I’ve used them for all my kids (youngest currently 8 weeks old) and no adverse effects at all. I even replicate what the PP does while out and about - same amount of boiling water from a thermos, powder, then top up with cold water. So have never have to wait for a bottle to cool down in my 7 years of parenting :)

Yep, never had a problem with ours. Use the proper filters, cleaning is really easy as you just follow the instructions on the machine, we used to take ours up to bed with us it was so handy! Kiddo is fine. He eats worse off the floor now as a toddler than milk made with the perfect prep

I didn't use a perfect prep but rather than getting a formula kettle, I found having boiled water in a thermos flask helped with making up feeds.
Then I got brave and made up the feeds at night, flash cooled and kept in the fridge. used a bottle warmer to warm up

How is the cold water sterile? Or is it pre boiled?

Omg GET ONE itll save your sanity!!!!!!!!
if youre unsure- buy a second hamd one first
i cant believe i was dicking about with freshlu boiled kettles waiting 30 mins adding in cooled water.
it lets you know when the filter needs changes
swirl the formula-dont shake

With my 1st 14 years ago I made bottles fresh as and when we needed them, nightmare through the night! But perfect preps wernt available unfortunately

My 2nd who's 11 months I've used since birth and it's an absolute god send!! Never had a problem, changed the filters when the machines says it's due, bottle ready in 2 minutes day and night!

If I was to have another it would be a absolute must again 😊

I asked the midwife when I was coming close to my due date about them and she said she has never heard a bad thing about them, and there fine and perfectly safe to use, aslong as the filter is changed as and when and they get a good clean from time to time

Yes, 70c is fine for killing any potential bacteria.

And your normal kettle will be perfectly fine too - it gets boiled multiple times a day/week so should be pretty bacteria free!

The perfect prep machine is also perfectly safe.

Saying this with the best will in the world; you need to find a way not to obsess over stuff like this. Your baby will soon be crawling and putting all sorts of things in their mouth. You will drive yourself mad worrying if you can't find a way to relax about it. ☺️

For my bottles I bought a very good thermos flask. It keeps the water above 70 all day. I fill it in the morning and again at night. Then I have a sterilised bottle of cooled boiled water in the fridge. I fill half of what is needed from the hot flask and mix with powder then fill the other half with the cold water. Essentially same principle as the perfect prep machine but a reaction of cost and not noisy.

No, I mean fluffy white mould. Little dots around the top of the Tommie Tippee filter that were only noticeable when I took it out to replace as directed by the machine.

Know I'll probably get slated for this but I make up bottles, put them in the fridge then warm in microwave.

I also made up bottles and put them in the fridge for the day.
I have 3 teenagers that all survived this unscathed.

I had a prep machine and absolutely swore by it. It was a god send.

When we went on holiday, I boiled the kettle in the morning, let it cool completely and poured 1 litre into a bottle, so that I had a bottle of sterile water.

Then throughout the day, I just boiled the kettle, did 2oz boiling, added the formula, then topped up with the sterile water.

It worked exactly the same as the perfect prep and wasn't really any hassle to be honest.

What about the nuby rapid cool? You make the formula using boiled kettle water then shake in the nuby rapid cool and it makes it the right temp not personally used by my friend uses one and stopped using her prep machine to use this!

Even making them and storing in the fridge isn’t “recommended” NHS says make fresh ideally every tine you can. We personally use the prep and it’s been fine. If they were as dangerous as is reported there would have been (and still be) thousands of ill babies from them, but there isn’t.

Used it with my daughter and it was a godsend! I used the proper filters and never had any mold or issues.
If i have another baby I'll buy a second one, one for upstairs and one for downstairs

I think I've changed my mind again 🤦🏼‍♀️ leaning more towards the formula kettle now purely because I keep thinking the hot shot isn't going to be hot enough ! We've got a coffee maker and the hot shot out of that just isn't hot, it's hot but not hot hot if that makes sense?! And I can't help but think it's like a coffee machine lol
With the formula kettle you boil to 100 degrees then can set it to stay at 85 degrees or 70 degrees, and I'd feel happier with it at 85 I think. Also it isn't going to take too long to cool it down really, I managed fine before. And I could always get the ready to go milk for the early days and the night feeds !

I think you're way over thinking all this...I had a prep machine. Best thing ever.

For ds I used to boil some water (say 6oz), cool it and then pop in fridge and change every 25 hours (if it ever didn't get used). Then I'd make, for instance a 4 oz bottle:

3oz fresh boiled water
4 scoops powder
Give a really good shake
Top up with an oz of the cooled boiled water

As volume got bigger I changed the amount of cool water ( so for 6oz I'd probably use 2 oz) to keep temp right. At night I either did this or used ready made formula (I used aldi mamia powder and aptamil bottles).

This was also easy for out and about as I didn't have to worry about how long a made up bottle had been done - I just took flask, measured powder and a bottle of the cooled boiled water with me

I do t trust the perfect prep, one due to issue around cleaning and two because it hears the water "up to" 70 degrees whoch it need to be.

If you’re worried about the hot shot not being hot enough, then consider that in many countries around the world (USA, New Zealand, etc.) using hot water isn’t a requirement in preparing formula, never mind near-boiling. Even the UK bought anti-reflux formula that 2.5yo DD was on for a bit couldn’t be made up with hot water as it made it go clumpy- so much for needing to “kill any bacteria” with boiling water.

So long as you’re keeping the formula powder in a clean and dry container and are washing your hands before preparing each bottle (both of which you’ll be doing as a matter of course) I would buy the Perfect Prep without any qualms. Also- if you put your formula scoops into a powder dispenser before you go to bed there’s zero need to measure anything when you’re doing the bleary-eyed night feeds. 100% worth it.

I'll probably change my mind again anyway 😆 I probably am overthinking it but I just want to do right by my very wanted baby, I have major anxiety and ocd so everything has to feel just right ! And something is holding me back with the perfect prep...