Am I doing this right? Is there an easier but safe way?

[Butterfly89]

I know there are many different opinions on properly preparing/storing formula... but I am wondering if what I do sounds ok! I am going by the guidelines on Nestle Goodstart's site as well as Canadian guidelines. Which is.... wash all the bottles and parts in hot soapy water, then boil for 2 minutes on the stove top to sterilize bottles and tops and use the microwave sterilizer for all the little parts like nipples/rings/vents (until LO is 4 months old), then fill with slightly cooled boiled water and store in the fridge for no longer than 24 hours. Then as I need them, add powder, THEN warm up with bottle warmer (apparently Nestle doesn't worry about needing hot water to add the powder to??). I usually end up doing this all twice a day. It's not that difficult really but it does take a bit of time! Does this sound safe? I know most US sites say to add the powder to already heated water... should I switch to this or follow Nestlé's guidelines?

The problem lately is LO is really unpredictable with how much he takes. It can be anywhere from 2 to 5 oz, so we are wasting a lot of formula which is fine if this is the safest way... Nestle says their formula has to be prepared either as needed or with the above method.

However, Canada says its safe to store formula for 24 hours in the fridge premade. So I am thinking of getting a formula mixer, making enough for half a day (just to be sure I am within the time limit) and storing it so I can pour the amount needed. But what I am wondering is what do I do about bottles? If I sterilize them, would putting them in the fridge empty and sealed still work to keep them as sterile as possible?

Or is there another way to do things? I would love to sterilize and boil on demand, but LO is really impatient, lol. And honestly.. I'd be making mistakes if I had to do that all night long.

 

[Leesy]

There is alot of conflicting advice / opinions. I wash bottles in hot soapy water, rinse off in cool water then microwave steralise them and fill with boiling water. I leave them to cool. When lo is hungry I take the lid & teat off the bottle zap it in the microwave to heat the water and add the formula. we have wastage doing it this way as my lo is also unpredictable of how much he wants. What you are doing sounds fine. As for the premade formula for 24 hours, I'm not sure if it's ok but I have heard of other people who do it that way. Sorry can't be more helpful.

 

[Beccaboop]

We use sma formula and this is what we do:
Wash bottles in hot soapy water when we do the washing up then sterilise everything in the steriliser then make the 4 bottles that the steriliser holds and put them straight in the fridge and make sure we use them by 12 hours but as lo is have a bottle every 3-4 hours thats not a problem then when he wants a feed we put the bottle in the bottle warmer to warm it up!

 

[melfy77]

I boil water and prepare 8oz of formula, usually 2x a days. I wash the bottles with soap and hot water, but I don't sterilize (unless you have water issues then you should do it). I keep the formula for 24 hours. The reason fort adding boiling water to the formula has to do with bacteria and other potential pathogens. If, for some reason, there is any, i would kill them.

 

[LilyValley]

I'm probably not much help - I make up each bottle from scratch every time. LO eats every 3-4 hours so I have some predictability and when he first murmurs for his night feed I just go and boil the kettle. I wash all bottles in hot, soapy water then rinse. I sterilise them all and will do this for as long as LO uses a bottle. I follow the guidelines on the formula I use so as long as you are doing that I wouldn't worry. Different brands have different guides.

 

[flamingpanda]

We store them in the fridge, it's so much easier. However we never do more than 4 at a time and we make sure that they're all used within 24 hours. We use 5 1/2 oz of water with 9 scoops of powder. Then when we're ready to use I boil and add the remaining 3 1/2 oz of water. We find that makes it the perfect temp for drinking.

 

[Becks2]

We wash in soapy water, rinse and sterilise the bottles.

I keep cooled boiled water in the fridge and warm up in the bottle warmer when required and then add the formula.

My little girl wants her bottle as soon as she stirs, so I couldn't make up as directed on the SMA tub or she would be screaming for 1/2 hour...

 

[momofmisters]

I formula fed both my DS...we would make a batch of formula at night depending on their age. We would make enough for 24hrs. We would boil water...let cool to luke warm temp...mix formula up and pour into the clean bottles and store in fridge...when babies were hungry we would take the bottle from the fridge and warm in bottle warmer.

 

[RebeccaG]

There is alot of conflicting advice / opinions. I wash bottles in hot soapy water, rinse off in cool water then microwave steralise them and fill with boiling water. I leave them to cool. When lo is hungry I take the lid & teat off the bottle zap it in the microwave to heat the water and add the formula. we have wastage doing it this way as my lo is also unpredictable of how much he wants. What you are doing sounds fine. As for the premade formula for 24 hours, I'm not sure if it's ok but I have heard of other people who do it that way. Sorry can't be more helpful.

This is also what we do x

 

[meya]

We wash, boil and fill our bottles with boiling water. then we keep one in the bottle warmer at the temp he likes his feed (when my lo wants his feed he wants it there and then, no waiting for him lol), the rest we put in the fridge. When he wants his feed we just pop the milk in

Also if my lo only have a little of his feed, i wash the teat and pop the bottle back into the warmer and see if he want the rest 30mins later. i chuck it after an hour.

 

[kellycontrary]

Im glad someone else posted this as im so confused!

Ive just started switching from BF to FF and up til now we have pretty much used the read made aptimil cartons.

Now that most of his feeds (except from the middle of the night and first morning ones) are formula feeds, im using the powder to try and wean myself off the expensive cartons! However, Im stressing myself out with the 30 min wait as my son will just scream and scream - surely this is not practical?

however I get what you are all saying about pre-making them, but I was told taht the reason you add formula to freshly boiled water after 30 mins is to kill off any bacteria - that the water should be above 70c to do so...but you cant add formula to the freshly boiled water as this would kill nutrients...


Could they make it any more difficult for mums?!!

At the moment, to be on the safe side ive been second guessing every half hour and boiling and waiting, throwing away if he isnt awake/hungry then doing it all over again. Expensive and pointless!!

My mum said she used to premake all our bottles - with the formula in it too - when we were all little and we were all fine but I keep saying guidelines change and shes talking 30 years ago. However, there must be a better way of doing it!

My friends do what some of you suggested when shes out and about. Has freshly boiled but cooled water in a bottle, warm in hot water then add the feed. But surely this isnt hot enough to kill the bacteria... thats if this is fact and not because the manufacturers are worried that we are going to burn our babies??!

WAAA help! Im sure its easier when connor has a set feed pattern. but until this time im confused by all the conflicting advice!!