Making bottles in advance?

[Yellowflower123]

Hello everyone

So I'm prepping for when baby is born but just need to decide on this whole new world of feeding 😅

Apologies for the mind diarrhoea...

So I was thinking of getting the tommee tippee prep machine, especially for at night. However the minimum it makes is 4oz which means a waste of formula and would require new filters every 4 weeks (so cost involved).

I was thinking the alternative would be, would it be OK to make formula bottles in advance and put them in thr fridge for over night? They way I could take them out and put them in the tommee tippee warmer instead? (And not worry about wasting formula or buying new filters). I know it's controversial making them in advance but just wanted to know the general consensus!

Thank you

They aren't, but neither is making up bottles in advance. If we're going off NHS guidelines we're supposed to boil the kettle and leave it for 30 minutes. Then make the bottle and cool it down. Completely unrealistic - having a baby screaming for 40 minutes every time they need a feed will push a new mother into PND. I haven't met anyone who follows their guidance in relation to preparing formula feeds.

OP have you decided you don't want to breastfeed?

That's definitely easiest at night, and possibly overall, as long as you have support to establish latch etc at the hospital / birth center. X

I’m not sure, I breastfed and actually found it easier to express for the night feeds as then my husband could help and I could get some much needed sleep. If they’re already made in the fridge or you use readymade, I can’t see how that would be more difficult?

When I had DS my Sil had her DD.
We had bottles ready in the fridge but she wanted to follow the “new” guidelines.
I would have DS feed, burped, changed and asleep while she was frantically walking around with a crying baby waiting for the kettle to cool down

Just so you are aware the filter needs to be changed every 3 months not every 4 weeks

We used a flask of hot water and one of cooled boiled water to make up feeds until baby was ready to be offered 4oz - which was a lot sooner than we thought, he's only 4 weeks now. For some reason I've never fancied making them up in advance - I think it's all the conflicting advice on it, though it would make my life a lot easier!

@Medoca I'm sure different ways suit different people better. With night feeds, sure pumping and having partner do some is a good way to get a rest, but you ultimately need to pump at the time you skip the feed if you want to keep up supply, if skipping regularly, and also because we have a lot more milk producing hormones at night, it's good to feed at night as again it helps supply - both milk quantity and duration of feeding are benefitted.

I always found the thought going down to the fridge in the middle of the night and heating up milk to sound much harder than just scooping baby up from next to me or lying down to feed and safely co sleeping. But again, I'm sure everyone is different and they have diff reasons for bottle or breastfeeding.

The reason I asked the question and offered mt view is because some new mums want to breastfeed but worry they won't be able to so buy formula and bottles etc as prep, just in case, but actually this can derail breastfeeding if that's what you want to do - so key is to get that support early on.

Different ofc if you've already decided you don't want to bf.

I used to have a fridge full and warm them as I needed them. Never had any machines. Used a cold sterilisation bowl with tablets.

Got into such a flap during the night trying to make a bottle while DD was crying it was a life saver just making them up before hand

Did it involve a tap?

If you need a 2oz feed, make up a standard 4oz with the perfect prep then split between two bottles and pop in the fridge. Ditto if you need a 3oz feed, make a 6oz bottle with the machine then split it between two bottles for two 3oz feeds then pop spare in the fridge for later.

Yeah, I guess as I wasn’t going down at night, it didn’t bother me - also they could just move the prep machine upstairs for the night shift (assuming they have stairs)? Sometimes we used ready made formula which could just be left next to the bed and all you had to do was tip in the bottle! We were lucky, ours slept solidly at night from 10wks so no night waking after that. Initially the night feeding was comprising my ability to bond with my baby during the day as I was just so knackered, so it was a major benefit for our family. We never heated milk either, so that wasn’t an issue for us.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought guidelines recommended making bottles fresh and not preparing in advance? I used to work in a baby room and we used to make up bottles with just boiled water then when we needed them add the formula and put in a warmer but when I asked my midwife if I could do that for my baby last year I was told no 🤷 I never understood cos the formula wasn't going in until later but I didn't do it anyway. The instructions on formula usually instruct to dispose of any undrunk formula after an hour or 2...

Id definitely recommend a prep machine though it was a life saver! Yes for the first few weeks it was useless cos of the 4oz issue but baby gets up to that amount fairly quickly! What we ended up doing for night feeds before that was buying the little bottles of aptimal that are ready made (don't ask me why it's OK for the manufacturer to do it and not parents) and using those in the night and doing the long waiting for kettle to cool for bottles in the day when we were (marginally) more awake.

We stuck to NHS guidelines making fresh for the first couple of weeks (first time parents) and honestly it nearly killed us both off in the middle of the night

If you can afford it, get ready made formula for night feeds, we always use the Aptamil 200ml
bottles.

When LO was taking smaller amounts, we would open one of the bottles, use 100ml for example then the other half could go into the back of the fridge and was fine for another feed as long as it was used in 24 hours.

This. Boiling water on the formula, shaken well and topped up with cooled boiled. It’s what the perfect prep does

I made ours in advance for the night and put them the fridge.

A top tip for anyone still making bottles: get a cocktail stirrer for mixing the powder with the boiling water. You get fewer air bubbles than if you shake it. The stirrer can then be sterilised with all the other bottle parts after washing. My son had reflux and switching to stirring rather than shaking really made a difference.

I love all these replies... thank you everyone for being so helpful!

Definitely buy a tippee.
Make the 4oz and split between 2 bottles.
Just make sure to use within 24hrs.
Personally for new born I'd make with boiled kettle water until 3 months old.