ok I've just switched to feeding LO when he wakes me and not the other way round during the night (after the advice of you lovely ladies).

Also aptamil says you must make bottles up when you need them. so even if I jump up and run down to the kitchen at his first stirrings, by the time I've got the cooled boiled water from the fridge, added formula, warmed it up and run back upstairs he is already screaming blue murder and has woken OH who is less than impressed as he's up for work st 5.

can someone please tell me if there's a nack/trick to speeding the bottle making process up?

My cousin makes the bottles up before bed (Minus the formula) Then uses little pots to put the measured out formula in, then when her LO wakes for a feed, she pores the formula into the bottle and has a bottle warmer, and within a few minutes the bottle is ready.

If you don't have a bottle warmer, take a flask of boiled water to bed with you to heat the bottles up.

This is how I plan on doing it for my LO too when he is born.

Hope this helped. (And makes sense haha)

You can't add formula to cold water - it needs to be at least 70degrees to kill off the bacteria in the powdered formula. That's why the instructions say to boil the kettle and let it sit for 30mins before adding the formula.

A lot of the FF ladies on here premake the bottles, then rapid-cool under a cold tap before storing at the back of the fridge. Then when you need one you can either pop it in a jug of hot water to warm it up/take the chill off it or use a bottle warmer. You shouldn't really put them in the microwave to warm them up but I do as I have MAM bottles and they have holes in the bottom so can't stand them in water!! I just do it at 80% power for 40seconds & shake the s**t out them once they come out to make sure there are no hotspots.

If you need it to be quicker than this then you might want to think about ready made cartons if you don't want to pre-make as above? Or you could take LO downstairs with you to feed so you don't wake OH?

TBH ive always made up my bottles with room temp water, never had a problem with my lil boy n no probs now with my lil girly. i pour the right amount of water in n keep the milk in the pots in the bottles n take up wot i need for the night n jus pour in the powder as n when, ready in about 30 secs lol x

There is so many different ways and really I think you have to do what's best for you!
With my DS I would prefill the bottles with cool boiled water but a couple
Ounce less than he needed, measure the right amount of formula out and leave it in one of this little sectioned containers and then when he woke I'd boil a small amount of water in kettle and add thy to the already cool boiled water in his bottle, add the formula and shake! Always perfect drinking temp! So say for 5oz I'd do 3oz cooled, 2oz freshly boiled and then his 5scoops formula. I never had any problems with him!

With the new guidelines of making up with 70c water I am a bit weary but then it's all personal choice you can make up, store in fridge and then use microwave but no matter how much you shake that bottle there can still be hotspots! (I'm a nurse and have saw it) so your also taking that risk!

The amount of bacteria in formula is minimal and with probably sterilised bottles etc this reduces the risk even further, again it's all personal choice xx

I used to do this last time, and this time I have MAM bottles - I didn't even think that the holes would stop water cooling/heating. That would have been a steep learning curve! lol Thanks for the tip lol.

OP - I had a Lindam Day and Night feeding station - this has a cooler with ice block to keep bottles cold enough to be stored, then a bottle warmer for you to use to heat the bottles. My only criticism was that the bottle warmer was a little unpredictable, but I only used it three times I think as Earl liked his milk cool/cold - strange child lol. My other comment would be that after the age of about 6-8 weeks (in hospitals they don't ever 'heat' milk I've been told) it's not imperative that you heat milk, just taking the chill off is enough. I used to aim for room temperature rather than body temperature and this meant that it didn't take as long. Ready made cartons would be at room temp too, so much easier Night feeds are a difficult thing, but you'll soon get the hang of it.

Another thing I used to do if I was staying away from home for example. I'd pre-make and rapid cool as normal but quite early on in the evening so that the bottles were chilled from about 9pm. Earl would have his first bottle about 11ish (up til being about 11 months we sometimes had up to 3 bottles overnight lol) so at 10pm I would take the bottle out and put it next to my bed/chair to warm to room temp. You've got 2 hours to use it and I knew he would wake - once he'd woken and had the bottle I would go and get the next one and wrap it in a cloth to keep it cooler until he woke 2-3 hours later. Quite wasteful if they are not guraranteed to wake, but much easier than trying to walk through a strange house with a screaming child!

It's more that they take the water IN and then that blocks the holes so the function of the holes is compromised and also some of it dribbles all over you lol!!

ive yet to do this overnight but during the day i boil the kettle and make as per instructions,then cool the bottle in a jug of cold water and ice cubes around it...it cools pretty quick, maybe not quick enough but quicker than it just under the tap im hoping to test run this tonight......eep!

We've been making up the next bottle for the next feed at easch feed if that makes sense - I know it says you shouldn;t but I can;t predict when he will wake as it changes each night - I cool it quickly under a tap and then put it in the fridge - back in the day before people knew better they used to make up the feed for the whole day - I'm not saying do that but that's what happened to me and I am perfectly fine.

In the day I try to predict when he will wake and make it on demand - also have some cartons on hand just in case

I use room temperature nursery water. Yes it is an added expense but you can find on clearance for 84 cents a gallon and a gallon lasts us about 4 days. I have the nursery water already in a bottle on the counter so all I have to do is add the formula mix and feed. I also bring my son down to the kitchen with me so he doesnt stir my husband awake. I am lucky that my son will take a room temperature bottle, I know a lot of babies who refuse, but it is worth a try. I also know babies who love cold bottles right from the fridge, I did try that but my son had too much spit up and was to fussy during his feed. But honestly anything is worth a try, you will know right away if it is working or not.

there are also bottle warmers on the market that can make your life easier as far as warming the bottle.

and if you are able to spend the money you can buy formula that is already prepared. we are planning on buying for when we go on our mini road trip home to chicago in the summer. I dont want to be on the road mixing powder formula and messing with a gallon of water.

I feed on demand so there is no predicting with my son sometimes he eats every two hours sometimes its 4-5 hours. The other night he slept for over 6 hours before waking me to feed.

You will find your groove and what works best for you and your baby. Sam also responds to a paci sometimes to calm him while I am getting the bottle ready, so that is something else you can try.