keeping bottles sterilised

[lisacaton1980]

at the moment I am BF and occassionally giving a FF at night. LO was born 4wks early and only weighed 4lb 15.5 oz so we need to get him to gain weight.

how can we keep a bottle sterile whilst we go out? I wouldn't feel comfortable BF in public so would take formula but not sure how long it can be kept and how to store it.

 

[NoSpringChick]

You can buy bottle bags that keep bottles cold or warm - what I do is I sterilise a bottle, put it straight in the bottle bag then buy a small carton of milk when out.
This is about the best you can achieve.

If you make up a formula bottle I would use it within 4 hours personally in a bottle bag.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

It depends on the bottle bag! My insulated pocket is only good for 2 hours. So I always take an empty sterile bottle,(put together empty) a small carton, and pair of scissors to open it!

 

[Vici]

It depends on the bottle bag! My insulated pocket is only good for 2 hours. So I always take an empty sterile bottle,(put together empty) a small carton, and pair of scissors to open it!

Thats what I do

You can buy packs of disposable sterile bottles from Boots and such like. I think they are about £3 for 6. OK for occasionally but would cost a fortune for FF babies

 

[NoSpringChick]

Mothercare have a room if you wanted to breastfeed there.
We use theres for ff but we're 99% of the time the only one in it.

 

[angelstardust]

The cartons are thicker and I noticed that Amber has problems drinking it and then she would be sick. So now I just fill up a bottle with boiled water and keep the powder in a dispenser and mix it as needed. I did this with the boys who were FF as that was the advice back then.

I can't feed in public either, but luckily I can go into my mum and dads coffee shop and use the disabled loo which I know is nice and clean (plus I can take a comfy chair and beany cube to get comfy)

 

[lisacaton1980]

thanks everyone. how do you keep the bottle sterilised though?

 

[Mary Jo]

a sealed sterile empty bottle will stay sterile until it's opened and something non-sterile is added.

so sterilise your bottles, put the teat and lid on, put in bag, go out. when baby needs feed, open and add water+powder or made up carton.

no need to keep it chilled. sterile = no bacteria, so even if it was kept at room temp or in a warm bag, there is nothing to grow. it's only once there is milk or formula in that you need to be careful, keep chilled and use within a certain number of hours.

 

[Fossey]

thanks everyone. how do you keep the bottle sterilised though?

What bottles do you have and which milk do you use? I used avent bottles (although stopped cos they peed me off) but you can buy caps for those to keep teat sterile. I also used SMA ready prepared bottles when she was younger. They were bloody handy.

 

[NoSpringChick]

Mary Jo, I dont see how that can be so. On my steriliser it tells you it is ONLY sterile for 3 hours in the steriliser - once you take it out the steriliser then it's on its way to being unsterilised - hence why to make bottles up just before you use them.

If what youre saying is true you could in theory sterilise a bottle one week and use it a month later.

 

[Mary Jo]

NoSpringChick, I do think that a bottle and its parts, sterilised, dry and put together, would stay ok for a while because there are no pathogens in it to grow and cause a problem - as long as you had clean hands and only put the parts on clean surfaces, etc. I've read it's certainly fine to leave an empty, sterile and sealed bottle for 24 hours before opening, filling and using. My steriliser says the same as yours about 3 hours in it, etc; I will resterilise if I've left them too long but if I open it, get them out and seal them up, I consider they're fine. Otherwise, I'd be sterilising each bottle individually only as I needed them, and what would be the point of having machines big enough to do 6 bottles at once? My baby won't take 6 bottles in less than 3 hours!