HELP! Premature baby and starting powder formula

[Sisi003]

Hi everyone, i'm new here and need your help

My baby was exactly 1 month premature weighing at 4lb

He was on aptamil ready made formula and breast milk for the first couple of weeks
I realised very quickly that i had very low milk supply and had to use the ready made formula.

He is now 3 and a half months and i need to start him on powder formula because, as you can expect, it's getting very expensive

In all honesty, I'm scared he wont like it and wont take to it. I have found lots of information online about boiling the water and cool time, some say 30 minutes some say 5 minutes.

Does anyone have any experience with premature babies and formula feeding with powder? My questions are:
Which milk did you use for your premature baby?

How long do you wait before putting the powder in?

How do you prepare the bottles for the day and night in advance?

How do you prepare the bottles straight away if the water needs to be cooled down?

Do you put them in the fridge?

My questions seem stupid but i'm just a scared first time mum that wants to get it right!

THANKS IN ADVANCE

Make a batch and stick them in the fridge. They last 24 hours like that. Use a bottle warmer or heat it in hot water when you need to.

If you need to cool one down, run it under cold water and keep shaking to make sure there's no hot spots.

I've only babysit my sister's bottle fed babies so I forgot whether it's 2hrs or 1hr the bottle lasts once it's been drunk from. Maybe less, you can always ask your health visitor too :-)

*ETA, any milk is fine providing they don't have specific dietary requirements.

Leave the kettle for 10 minutes or so - NHS just says not longer than 30.

Which formula will you be using @Sisi003?

I'll be using cow and gate.

I've heard bad things about it though so I'm confused on that too

@NortieTortie thank you so much!

The guidelines are all written on the back of the box. Just follow that and you'll be fine

Get a hot water dispenser, you can do a perfect 70°c bottle, no faffing warming it up or cooling it down. Was a game changer for me

Cow and Gate is fine. I'm the UK the manufacturers have to comply with strict guidelines. So whilst the ingredients may differ from one formula to another, you know your baby will be fed adequately on any of them.

If you want some detailed guidelines on making formula, have a look at this from WHO. You'll probably need from page 16

Thank you! Much appreciated

It’s not recommended to pre-make bottles now days. Best to make them fresh each time especially as baby was prem. The risk with batch making is potential bacteria growth the longer you leave the bottle. There are the nubi rapid cool on offer in asda, the boiling water sterilises the powder then the water is rapidly cooled to make a bottle pretty quickly / when you are out the house they seem super handy too. Speak to your HV and they will tell you the same info around not premaking it’s not been recommended for over 10 years.

Again as baby was prem and there have been issues I would stay away from perfect prep machines.

With powder it’s key the water is hot enough to kill off any bacteria in the milk powder sometimes referred to as the hot shot. If you google I think it’s got to be over 75C (I can’t quite remember). That’s the main issue with powder then different ways to cool it down, putting the bottle in cold water and shaking or the nubi as stated above etc.

@Georgethecat1 thank you for your reply. I will definitely check out the Nubi item and speak to the health visitor.

Get yourself a Perfect Prep Machine, takes all the stress out of making bottles.

Yup these are good (dramatic exaggeration but life saving!) but just be aware that NHS do not recommend them. So it's your choice.