Perfect Prep Machine.

[PinkButtercups]

Has anyone used one? Are they any good?

I purchased some MAM bottles. Used TT with DS and was reading the instructions on the MAM bottles when it said you shouldn't add boiling water straight to the bottles and instead should wait 30 minutes for the freshly boiled water to cool down a bit before pouring into the bottles.

I'm having twins so don't feel like I can wait 30 minutes for the kettle to cool down.

Used one for both kids, with mam bottles. I think they are a great invention!

The prep machine is the best thing to ever be invented perfect temperate every time takes 2 minutes it’s done ,if I had twins I’d probably get 2 to make it easier 😂

They are amazing. Best money I ever spent!

They’re not recommended.

Nuby Rapid cool is an excellent bit of kit though.

Perfect prep machine is amazing. I was recommended it by so many friends when I was pregnant and have gone on to recommend it to so many more. I would almost say it is a must have.

I think there was a finding that the water temp when mixed with formula was not high enough to kill any bacteria.

I wouldn't use one.

Ah see that's what I've heard that some people wouldn't recommend it because of the temperature.

I have been looking at the Nuby rapid cool but doesn't that need sterilising or something after each use?

Thank you for the advice so far.

I had one, it was life changing! I was so pleased with it

We had one with DS and use one with our DTwins now. It's the best thing ever. We clean it often and have never had an issue. We once tried with just a kettle and it was an absolute nightmare, you couldn't pay me any amount of money to do it that way

Buy new and keep it clean. Most problems with them are because mould has grown in the tubes from lack of use. As long as you use it regularly you'll be fine.

You shouldn't mix formula with boiling water anyway because it kills some of the proteins, think if I remember right it needs to be 70 degrees.

Mam bottles tend to leak with boiling water in because of the rubber seal in the self sterilising bit.

I used mam bottles with perfect prep without a problem

The instruction about waiting for 30 minutes isn't about waiting for 30 minutes, it's waiting no longer than 30 minutes. So the water is still hotter than 70 degrees when you mix it with the powder. If water is less than 70 degrees then any potential germs in the powder won't be killed.

I was put off by the concerns about whether the hot shot of the perfect prep was enough to kill bacteria in the formula. And the price of them.
Instead we bought 2 tommee tipee bottle warmers for £20 each (one for upstairs one for down) and just used to make 12hrs worth of bottles at a time to keep in the fridge and reheat as needed. The warmer only took 3-4 minutes so not too different to the perfect prep.
We also used to use premade formula bottles (expensive but so convinient) which she was happy to take at room temp cause that's how they'd been given when she was in neonatal unit.
Now she's transitioned to EBF so I'm glad we didn't spend all the money on the perfect prep.

It does need sterilising after very use but it’s not a hardship, quick rinse and clean, plonk it in bowl with Milton in. Sterilised in 15 mins. Personally I’d rather do that than risk using a product that’s been linked to lots of babies being poorly, through improper use and the machine itself not being hot enough to kill the formula in bacteria.

Highly recommend!

Yes, love it. It’s a bit pricey but my DD drinks bottles till over 2 years and I now have it set up and ready to go for number 2. Wouldn’t be without it.

I'd say the perfect prep was essential when feeding twins! We had it for DD1 and it was brilliant. Kept it clean and never had any problems. Have you ever heard of any babies becoming poorly from using it? I haven't.

I've got twins and perfect prep was a godsend at night. During the day I generally made them up to order as for in a routine of roughly when they would want feeding and would also put them in a saucepan of cold water to cool them quicker if needed

I believe the babies that were poorly off it it was found the parents weren't using the correct filters for the machine or following the correct cleaning procedures for the machine?
I've used a PP with both of my kids and no issues. The NHS does not recommend them however have you seen how the NHS advise you make bottles up? You have to boil the kettle, wait 30 minutes, make up the feed, then cool it down. So we're talking 40 mins to get a bottle made whilst you've got a screaming baby. Unrealistic.
If you do go down the route of premaking them I wouldn't bother using a bottle warmer, it will be quicker and cheaper to use boiling water and a jug.

We have a perfect prep and as long as you look after it (do the clean cycle regularly / change filter etc) they are brilliant. We've had no problems and it makes life a lot easier. Also use with the MAM bottles. Saw someone mention the Nuby flasks... we also have these as our little one isn't too keen on ready to feeds, seems to prefer a fresh made milk. To get around needing to clean/sterilise after making a feed in the Nuby we do the following:
Pour required boiling water into his MAM bottle, then pour MOST of the water into the cooling flask. Leave a small 'hot shot' in the bottle to add formula to and mix. Then when the rest of the water is cooled add that in. You get used to how much hot water to leave behind to make the perfect temp bottle and this way you can make multiple bottles throughout the day if you are on holiday/day out. xx

The NHS advice does not say wait for 30 minutes before pouring the boiling water. It say wait for no longer than 30 minutes! So the water boils, once it's stopped boiling you can wait 5 minutes and then pour the water. So many people seem to misread that step of the advice.

It says 'leave the water to cool for no longer than 30 minutes'. If you're leaving it inside the kettle for those 5 minutes it won't have cooled down at all and I believe you aren't supposed to use water at boiling temperature to make up baby bottles. Which is why I and the majority of mums understand the instructions to mean leave it for almost 30 minutes to cool down. If you're taking the bottle out of the kettle to cool down then fair enough.

Just tagging on to this one, how often do you need to do a full clean and how long does it take? Also considering this for my second.

@Betsyboo87 clean every 4 weeks, whenever you change the filter (roughly every 3 months) or when it's been unused for a while eg holiday. It doesn't take long I'd say 15 minutes maybe. My husband has an older child when these machines weren't around so we didn't immediately get one as he thought it was overkill. Cue a week post birth feeding every 2 hours with a reflux baby (undiagnosed tongue tie) whereby feeds took a long time winding keeping upright etc and he wanted one then one of the best things we bought xx

My plan is to take a flask of boiled water and bottles of cooled boiled water to bed with us, measure some hot water to mix with the formula then add the measured amount of cooled boiled to get the temp down. Know we’ll need to play around with how much hot to cold makes the right temp and can then measure the right amount of cold for each feed before bed so it’s only measuring the hot at the time. Think that would work without the expense of the perfect prep and the supposed risks as we could make sure there was enough hot going in at a high enough temp to sterilise the formula. Or am I missing something?

The Perfect Prep machine is a total game changer. I love it and highly recommend.

I didn't get it until he was 8 months old because he was mostly breastfeeding until then but even though I'll only get 5 or 6 months out of it it was still so worth the money.

When we go on holidays the prep machine is the thing I miss most from home!