Can you boil water in advance?

[Daisybelle]

Can i get bottles of boiled water ready and cooled to room temperature to just add formula to when I need a bottle for baby?

Flo is 17 weeks and I'm just starting giving her formula but I find that by following packaging instructions from the formula which say I have to make up bottles right when they're needed it's quite hard! This is because she gets hungry and it takes so long to boil the water, get bottle ready and then wait for it to cool that she is starving by the time i manage to feed her.

So... Can i get bottles of boiled water ready and cooled to room temperature to just add formula to as and when they're needed?
Similarly, does anyone make up bottles in advance.. or is this really bad?

x

 

[Serafina83]

I pre boil the water. Takes far too long to do a feed else.i personally would pre make the bottles but have friends who did with their kids and they where fine!

 

[MumMumMum]

The WHO guidelines say that if it's not possible to make the bottle fresh then it can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hrs. Just make them according to the instructions, rapid cool them and store them at the back of the fridge. I do 3 at a time, so for the next 12 hrs.

The reason the water should be 70º is to kill any bacteria in the powder, as it's not sterile. Having said that, lots of people leave the water on the side and add powder to it at room temp. It's just not recommended.

 

[MindUtopia]

It's better to pre-make bottles (using hot water at or above 70C) than to make bottles with cold boiled water. The reason you need to use boiled water to begin with is to kill the bacteria in the formula not as much in the water as most mains water is very safe already. It doesn't happen often, but babies in Western countries have died from formula that wasn't made with hot water. So if you can't make a bottle fresh, then yes, I'd make several at a time with hot water, cool them quickly and store them in the fridge (then you can warm them as you need them).

Something else that might also help is to boil water and store it in a thermos flask, then as long as it stays hot, you can use it to make bottles without having to boil the kettle each time (usually stays hot for about 4 hours at a time). I now make all my bottles fresh with newly boiled water as I find it doesn't take me anymore time than warming a refrigerated one, but I used to use a thermos with a formula powder dispenser (so measured out the formula amounts each morning, so it only takes a sec to dump it into the bottle) and that was helpful.

Also, realistically, a bottle is technically good for up to two hours after you make it (without refrigeration). So if you can estimate about when your baby might need to eat, for instance, if it's always after a nap, you can boil the water during the nap, make the bottle and leave it to cool for 20 minutes, so it's ready for your baby as soon as he/she wakes. You don't have to make the bottle immediately beforehand as long as it's finished fairly quickly thereafter (within an hour or two) if that means it's easier to make with hot water.

 

[Serafina83]

Ooo I didn't realise that must of miss understood what the hv said I usually boil kettle bout an hour b4 x

 

[PoppyPainting]

Ooo I didn't realise that must of miss understood what the hv said I usually boil kettle bout an hour b4 x

The HV can't be seen to tell you to make bottles in advance or use a flask.

However I do exactly what mindutopia has just said. If you use pre-boiled water and put it in a clean never used for anything else flask it is safe. Realistically you cannot boil a kettle and wait 30 mins when you lo needs to be fed the minute she/he is hungry. As long as you rapid chill made-up bottles (using water preboiled and now at 70degrees) and store in the top of a clean fridge (so nothing could drip on them) then again it is safe.

 

[Lady H]

https://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/micro/pif2007/en/ WHO guidelines, just download the leaflet.

 

[fairygirl]

I've been boiling water and putting into a sterile bottle, cooling down and putting in fridge. Then at feeds boiling kettle, adding half the water I need and the formula to kill all the bacteria, then adding the right measure of my cold water to finish the bottle. It's what that new prep machine does, I just do it myself

 

[CherylC3]

I pre boil and sometimes pour half out and add more boiled water when making the feed or just give at room temperature. X

 

[ispeakinsongs]

I also premake them every morning for the day...and premake one at night for the morning xx

 

[ispeakinsongs]

PS they give different advice in different countries, just coming back from Germany and on the Aptamil box there it says cool down to "at least" 70degrees

 

[usmcwife78]

I do boil my water and store it but I also have bought this bottle warmer that is a kettle that is called Baby Brezza Kettle. I bought my at Target for about 40.00 and it is so worth it. It keeps the water at the temp that the water for a bottle needs to be. it holds 56oz, so I usually only have to refill it every other day. and it takes any where from 1- 5 mins to get to the temp it needs to be and it has a light indicator when it is ready which is blue and red when its not. It also tells you what the temp is. It plugs in, so I just keep it plugged in and pour the amount of water then add the powder formula and go....cuts the making bottle time down WAY down and I mean WAY down.
They also have it on Target website