help needed, pre making and night feeding

[mum2be257]

Decided to switch over to formula, i am going to use SMA. At the moment she feeds every 2 hours but can be dragged out to 3 and when we have formula fed she went for hours during the night. BUT...so many different views i have gotten confused...can I pre-make bottles and keep them in the fridge for 24 hours and then heat in microwave? And once out of the fridge can i keep them by my bed? How long can they stay out of the fridge pre-made? x

 

[arlene]

I make 4 bottles up around 9pm, amd keep them in the fridge, when I need one I sit it in a jug of boiling water for a couple of minutes to take the chill off it as my LO happily takes it at room temp. I don't use the microwave. I think once the bottle has been taken out of the fridge and warmed up it's only good for 1-2 hours.

 

[Best step mum]

I made 24 hrs worth of bottles for Daniel at a time when he was small. He was on 3 hourly feeds day and night, I made them before bed and brought the bottles up with me for during the night. He took them at room temperature which was handy.

During the day I heated the bottles in the microwave for 30 seconds and shook it well to make sure that it was evenly heated.

It wouldn't be e first time at I left them out of the fridge all night and nothing happened to Daniel after he drank them. Just if you are keeping them in the fridge use the shelves and not the door to store them

I now just measure the water into sterilised bottles and premeasure the powder into a container and mix when I need it. We have to mix carobel for reflux into the bottles just before using so it is just as easy to add all powder at once.

Do what you feel happy with.

 

[MindUtopia]

I would pre-make the night bottles just before bed (10pm ish) and store in the fridge immediately. Then when she woke, either my husband or I would boil the kettle and immerse the chilled bottle in a bowl of boiled water (with a bit of cold added in so it wasn't completely boiling). This only took about 6-8 minutes which is usually the time it took to also change her (so by the time she was changed her bottle was ready). You shouldn't really microwave bottles, though I know in the U.S. some people do because we Americans (I'm from there originally) don't usually have electric kettles. It's worth investing in one if you don't have one already. They make life with a baby so much easier. They say you shouldn't microwave them because they create hot spots, but I think even more crucially, microwaves cause some nutrients in food to degrade. I can't image it's not equally bad for formula.

You should feed this heated bottle pretty much right away (within 1-2 hours but the sooner the better). I personally don't leave the pre-made ones out more than an hour (and really if my daughter hasn't finished in by then it's because she's gone back to sleep) so I throw out the rest and start with a fresh bottle if she was to wake up again. An alternative (which is what I do during the day, especially if I go out) is to fill a thermos with boiled water and a container with a pre-measured amount of formula powder, then just combine in a sterile bottle when I need it and stick in cold water to cool. Again, it only takes as long to cool as it takes to change my daughter, so then it's ready as soon as we need it. You could probably easily keep this all next to your bed and mix them fresh and cool if you didn't want to go down to the kitchen.

Oh, and I personally don't use pre-made bottles that are more than 12 hours old. That's just me. I'm not sure if there is any actual recommendation on this. I only pre-make the night or now just the first morning one (my daughter STTN) so there's no need to have old ones lying around. It's easy enough to make them fresh. The biggest hassle I think is washing and sterilising the bottles, but I just do this in two lots (at night after dinner and in the morning while my husband holds the baby and has breakfast). Then I quickly close up the sterile bottles I don't need (use an electric steam sterilizer) so they are ready when it's time to make a bottle later.

 

[Serafina83]

Bets thing to do is fill your bottles up with the right amount of freshly boiled water just before you go bed leave them on the Side and add the powder as your heating the kettle up to warm the bottle. This way there is no chance for bacteria to grow but also the bottles don't take as long to heat up in the water as they haven't fully cooled down also throw any left over milk away after an hour as it starts to taste vile xx

 

[Katerz]

We keep a kettle in our bedroom. When she wakes we fill a bottle to 4 oz of cooled boiled water. We boil the kettle whilst changing nappy then once the kettle is done boiling we top up bottle to 5 oz and add formula. The temp is just right for LO.

Xx

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I made 24 hrs worth of bottles for Daniel at a time when he was small. He was on 3 hourly feeds day and night, I made them before bed and brought the bottles up with me for during the night. He took them at room temperature which was handy.

During the day I heated the bottles in the microwave for 30 seconds and shook it well to make sure that it was evenly heated.

It wouldn't be e first time at I left them out of the fridge all night and nothing happened to Daniel after he drank them. Just if you are keeping them in the fridge use the shelves and not the door to store them

I now just measure the water into sterilised bottles and premeasure the powder into a container and mix when I need it. We have to mix carobel for reflux into the bottles just before using so it is just as easy to add all powder at once.

Do what you feel happy with.

Same as this x

 

[skeet9924]

I made 24 hrs worth of bottles for Daniel at a time when he was small. He was on 3 hourly feeds day and night, I made them before bed and brought the bottles up with me for during the night. He took them at room temperature which was handy.

During the day I heated the bottles in the microwave for 30 seconds and shook it well to make sure that it was evenly heated.

It wouldn't be e first time at I left them out of the fridge all night and nothing happened to Daniel after he drank them. Just if you are keeping them in the fridge use the shelves and not the door to store them

I now just measure the water into sterilised bottles and premeasure the powder into a container and mix when I need it. We have to mix carobel for reflux into the bottles just before using so it is just as easy to add all powder at once.

Do what you feel happy with.

Same as this x

i use the liquid formula during the day and pre make all my bottles for the day and put it in the fridge for when i'm ready to use.

at night I do the same as above. I measure my water into bottles and have a container of powder mix and just add the powder and mix it as needed.

 

[nimbec]

Hi I also make up the nights bottles store them in the fridge an then zap in microwave when needed.

Skeet I also use carobel due to reflux and after speaking to the company I now put it in when I initially make the bottles shake let it thicken instant cool then put in the fridge. It works perfectally and doesn't get thicker as it stands or when it's reheated. This was my concern!

 

[Butterfly89]

The formula companies will usually say never premake formula. But honestly.. its not reasonable. When you are tired, baby is screaming and hungry, and you have 50 bajillion other things to do.... its so not feasible to boil water, sterilize a bottle, make your formula, etc 8+ times a day. SO here is what I do, lol.

It depends if you use powder or concentrate, IMHO. In the beginning, we used pre-mixed (really expensive omg) because we were too nervous to premake our own. Then he ended up on premixed alimentum for a few weeks anyway... But around 6 weeks he was back on regular formula. I would boil water, let cool, pour into bottles for each amount, then store in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Then add the powder as needed and heat in a bottle warmer. In Canada, they tell us to add the powder to cooled water, but I have heard in the US they say use hot water... so I'm not sure which is right! The powder can in very rare cases contain a bacteria that needs to be killed but supposedly concentrate doesn't have that risk. And for some reason, my son gets worse gas with the powder but he has a really sensitive system.

Then around 10 weeks, I realized concentrate is actually the same price here (or maybe $2 more), which is great. So now I boil the water, let cool, pour it in the formula pitcher/mixer with the concentrate and store in the fridge for 12-24 hours. When he's at family's houses, we premake them right in the bottles, and they are always used within 24 hours anyway, usually like 12 hours. I also keep all my empty sterilized bottles in the fridge just because I don't want to leave them sitting with water droplets in them just in case but I think its unnecessary technically.

When he turns 4 months, I will probably just store all the bottles in a sealed container in the cupboard after sterilizing with the caps on. Here they say its ok to stop sterilizing at 4 months, but I will still be doing it til he's around a year since we have a microwave sterilizer so its really fast (it was $40 but worth it!). Though he has started putting EVERYTHING in his mouth anyway. I never stop cleaning lately, lol... sigh.

I really would say avoid the microwave for heating formula, but some moms don't. I think its personal preference but I say better safe than sorry. For me, the last thing I'd want is to be overtired and have to deal with having to cool down a bottle that I accidently heated too long or something. The hot spots can really hide in there too apparently so I feel more comfortable with a warmer! Mine is Munchkin brand, around $30 from Walmart, takes about 1:30 or 2 mins to heat a full 8oz bottle, its been awesome. He also has a First Years warmer at grandma's house, also works great!

 

[A132429]

I made up a few bottles at a time I boiled the water, left it to cool for half an hour then put it in the bottles and left them out at temperature,then added formula when needed

 

[Vyka]

I made up a few bottles at a time I boiled the water, left it to cool for half an hour then put it in the bottles and left them out at temperature,then added formula when needed

This is what I do as well. I also take a thermos of boiled water up at night to heat the bottle before I add the powder.

 

[cupcaker]

I use liquid formula at night (individual cartons)...snip, pour and feed!! Can be served at room temp if your baby will take it. I LOVE THIS and for me, the expense is well worth the easy nights we have (69p a carton makes it higher than powder formula). I really do have hassle free nights though..I feed in this way and he goes straight back down to sleep. He is a baby who is overall happy, but has ZERO patience waiting for feeds and gets upset easily. This keeps us all happy.

Failing that, how about this machine https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tommee-Tip...8&qid=1370602650&sr=8-1&keywords=perfect+prep if you want to use powder . I use this machine in the day time, and I have SO much more confidence with formula this way, as each bottle is freshly made (like you are meant to) and ready in seconds. I always felt anxious at the idea of making up feeds in advance and would rather go down the totally fresh route (although respect the methods of others). The advertisement states that it takes 2 mins to prepair a bottle, but it's far quicker I'd say!!! I know there are other (free) ways of doing these things but I have such a stressfree time feeding him with these gems (the machine and liquid formula). I was a breastfeeder for 6 weeks, never planned to be on formula so these have helped sooooooo much x

 

[littlebabyboy]

We keep a kettle in our bedroom. When she wakes we fill a bottle to 4 oz of cooled boiled water. We boil the kettle whilst changing nappy then once the kettle is done boiling we top up bottle to 5 oz and add formula. The temp is just right for LO.

Xx

do you reboil the same water??

 

[cocosianelle]

We have the perfect prep machine and I must say its been the best purchase yet.

As a FTM who wanted to breastfeed I'd never even looked at formula, unfortunately things didn't go as planned and we ended up on formula. Reading on the internet about all the different advice blew my mind so when we came across this machine I said to my hubby we had to get it and haven't looked back since.

We have a bottle ready in a max of 1 minute I'd say which is ideal when you have a screaming hungry baby.