Night feeding how does it work?

[diggy1]

Hello all. Now before I start I have 2 other children but they was both on the prep machine so I never made a bottle before to know this. I cannot understand how you do night feeds etc? I've heard you can make up the bottles boiling water cool it down put it in the fridge and do a hot shot from a flask but how do you keep the hot water in a flash at 70 degrees all night?? It's so confusing to me. I decided not to do the prep machine as both my kids have has tummy problems wand I realised a lot of people say the same thing with the prep I don't know what to do this time around it's been 7 years since my last child so yeah I'm a little confused lol!

@diggy1 since day one with my twins I’ve made bottles at night just put the boiling water in but don’t put milk in till they ready to have it and midwife from hospital also said that aswell never had any problems with their belly’s or anything and plus it gets them use to having cold and warm bottles as when they wake in the morning I make them a warm bottle twins are now 5 months and not one problem

This maybe no longer the given "rules" but I did this with my twins. Tbh I boiled water cooled it and took it and pre measured powder everywhere we went. Never bothered warming and they didn't care as they were used to it. You do have to ensure you mix well or the powder will block teat and you risk not having the mix right which can make baby sick.

@Flanjango thats the same as what I do and like u say it don’t bother them at all

My twins are 18 now so it definitely did them no harm 😁

Can’t wait till mine are that age lol they only 5 months was your on the nutriprem milk ?

I used ready made

Why if it's too cold for the baby on a night as I'll have to put them bottles in the mini fridge ?

@scoutingfor did that cost you a bomb?

Just use the prep machine OP. It does the hot shot and then adds cold water to make it the perfect drinking temp straight away. Takes 2 minutes to make a drinkable bottle

@TeddyBeans I was thinking this but my partners not on board with our other 2 children having the prep and having really bad tummies the whole times we didn't know what it was and neither did doctors, I see a lot of people saying about there babies getting tummy ache from these

I take two flasks to bed, one with cooled boiled water and one with hot, put 2 ounces of boiling into the bottle and add powder, mix then top up with cooled boiled. Basically like the prep machine does but with flasks.

I know I'm a very small case study but neither of my two had any issues with the prep machine. We've used it with both since they were big enough to drink the 4oz. Before that it was bottles of ready made to try and minimise waste. Can you get a prep machine for cheap off FB, give it a good clean and try it out? Much cheaper than getting a new one and if it doesn't work for you, not too much of a loss to sell on?

It's a massive faff. Our baby was initially v wakeful at night and would go bananas while I was trying to sort out a bottle). I tried all sorts: using pumped milk for the first feed (as it lasts a few hours outside the fridge). Refrigerating bottles and then warming so not "fridge cold" (takes what feels like ages to take the chill off). Splashing out on pre-made formula for night feeds.

When the baby was a little older started following US guidance: www.cdc.gov/nutrition/downloads/prepare-store-powered-infant-formula-508.pdf (which says the hot shot is only necessary for babies with weakened immune systems). On that basis we'd just make up bottles using room temp water. But this is not recommended by the NHS. Obviously you may well prefer to stick with NHS guidance!

Aaaaand eventually we got a baby brezza.

Sorry to ask the obvious but have you thought about breastfeeding?

Absolutely. Stomach issues are more likely related to being fed formula made from another animals milk rather than breastmilk.

Use the prep machine differently. Don't sit it on the stand but rather Hold the bottle tilted so the water runs down the side of the bottle (like pouring a pint). This stops the air bubbles forming which is what can cause the tummy issues. I do this and have tested alongside 'normal' bottle prep and there is minimal difference. Although there are lots of other reasons for tummy issues caused by taking in air( oral tethers, disfunction causing bad latch) but I agree eliminating the air bubbles in the bottle is a good plan

Prep machine made ours ill. So made bottles for our now twins. Make about 10 at night the usual cool boiled water add powder. I put half in fridge and take half upstairs with me for the night..works fine for us and my older children survived it haah

This might work better for you, if it's an option. Breastfeeding is almost always easier on stomachs.

@diggy1 get a hot water dispenser. You can make a bottle in seconds at the perfect temperature. Amazon have got some really good ones that aren't expensive at all. Could not have managed without mine

Boil water. Add 4oz to bottles.
Take bottles upstairs. The water is fine at room temperature as it’s just water.
Add formula powder as needed.

Dont loose your mind making at 70+ degrees as that’s just NHS guidelines. It’s not the guidelines of milk manufacturers ie hipp, aptimal etc if you look outside uk guidelines. So aptimal in Germany, France, America don’t tell you to make at 70+, and entire nations children aren’t ill.

I just keep ready made in sterile bottles in a mini fridge by the bed and a bottle warmer. Saved my sanity.

@diggy1 before my twins got discharged the midwife advised not to use them prep machines as it can cause stomachache so I just make bottles and add milk when they ready to have them

With my first, I boiled water, waited 30 minutes to cool down and added the formula. I made a few bottles like this and put them in the fridge (you can't keep them for more than 24 hours). You can just quickly warm it up when needed. My only problem with this method was that I wasted quite a lot of formula: I never knew how much I needed. They say you should always make it fresh but there was no way my little one would have waited 30 minutes for the water to cool down.

You can always buy a few thermos flasks with the right temperature water in them and keep them next to you. Measure the formula out before nighttime so you can quickly make the bottles.

Now I'm expecting my second and I will definitely get a formula machine!
With my first I did breastfeeding and pumping plus made formula so there was no time to sleep in between.

Thankyou everyone for your input you've all put your opinions Im going to try combi breast and formula

With my son the midwife scared me about using the prep machine, I only used it a handful of time. I used to use a flask of boiling water, add 2oz, then milk, shake, then cool boiled water I had stored in a sealed baby bottle - so like the perfect prep but a home made version. This time I'm going down the smart flask route, either nuby rapid cool or tommee tippee GoPrep. Its basically 2 flasks, you have boiling water in 1, tip the amount you need for a feed into the other along with milk powder, shake for 2 mins and it cools it to perfect feed temperature. If you have seen them already have a little Google, they look fab 👌🏼 and cheaper than the prep machine