making formula bottle up

[Babybumpdec]

hiya ive just had my little one and giving him formula milk just wondered everyone seems to have a different way to make up the bottle , i boil the kettle leave for 30mins add the powder shake the bottles leave to settle for 5 10 mins then store in fridge but something tells me im doing something wrong xx

 

[DizzyMoo]

Well i was told not to store them in the fridge at all but to make each feed as & when, alot of people do store in the fridge though. The tins of formula do say boil water, wait 30 mins fill with water, add powder & cool by standing in cold water or running under cold tap. Doing that for every feed does seem a bit time consuming, I do 2 ways :
Fill each bottle with hot water from kettle, leave on the side to cool & reheat one as & when needed, when warm add powder . Or i fill the bottles an ounce or 2 short of a full feed, but i fill a thermos flask with hot water from kettle, when a feed is needed i fill the bottle to required ounces using the thermos flask which gives instantly warmed feed. Useful if out & about or during nights, unless you have bottle warmer that is.

There are that many diff ways to prepare a feed that people on here use i haven't a clue which is right or wrong, i guess it depends what fits into your life hun x

 

[suzib76]

they recommend not storing them in the fridge now, but when i had my youngets 6 years ago it was ok pmsl

only thing i would say is if you are making them up in advance make sure to cool them straight away and get them into the fridge as soon as possible - leaving bottles out until they cool down is where the bacteria grab the chance to breed

 

[Vici]

If you are making up bottles in advance (the recommended way now is to make up 1 bottle at a time when needed) then this IMO is the best way. It kills any possible bacteria in the powder and it stops any bacteria by storing at fridge temp. This is how I do mine hun and i just warm to room temp in a jug of boiling water when needed. I do use cartons when we go out tho as i am worried that i will not be able to keep the made up milk cold enough in the cool bag x

 

[shaunanicole]

You can skip boiling the water and buy distilled water (it's super cheap and comes in gallons). It is purified and clean so you can just pour the water right in without hassling with boiling a big hot pan of water.

 

[mummytobe]

After being advised not to store milk, and making up the bottles fresh everytime was really hard as i couldnt leave LO for 30 mins crying for her feed I decided to boil the kettle in the morn.. leave for 30 mins and poor it into a flask where it will stay at that temp for hours. Then when she needs a feed just poor into a bottle and add the milk, sit in a bowl of cold water for like 5 mins so its at room temp and voila. Im just too scared to store the milk. I dnt know why tho cause everyone i know who has babies do it your way and they all seem to be fine. Its whats easiest for you really. x

 

[MrsO29]

They are very strict about this up here now!

With my dd 5 years ago, you boiled the kettle, filled the bottles straight away, added the powder then put in fridge and could use up to 24 hours later.

Now you boil kettle, leave for 20-30 mins, add water to bottle then fridge.
You are NOT supposed to add the powder now until you ready to give to baby, as this was the part that was developing bacteria.

I take a bottle out of the fridge, heat in a bowl until room temp, then add my scoops. Bottle only good for 24 hours without powder in fridge, and only good for 1 hour after powder added.

I also heard about the advice to make a bottle only when needed, but my m/ws said this was really unnessesary, and also, you would never be done sterilising, waiting for bottle to cool down etc.
I know my baby would have screamed the house down if I made him wait 30-40 mins on me making a bottle up!

 

[DizzyMoo]

Doesn't anyone fill several bottles with the hot water & just leave them? Then use 1 as & when needed?
I don't understand where waiting half an hour comes from

I fill say 4 bottles with water from kettle & leave until needed, then just grab one & warm that in microwave , shake it up & add powder then re shake. No hot spots & ready within 2 mins.

 

[KrustyMiller]

Hi,

from what I have read the waiting time after pouring the water into the bottles is to give it time to cool slightly to reduce scalding. There is no other purpose for doing it. Its been said that the powder needs to go in before the water drops below 70 degrees to kill any bacteria in the powder.

Leaving boiling water for approx 30 mins takes it to around 73 degrees (I've found and does vary).

Making up one bottle at a time is ridiculous although according to most 'the best way'.

I make 6 bottles at a time. Boil the kettle, pour the required amounts in each bottle, add the powder, lids on, shake, cool in an inch of cold water in the sink, place in fridge. Heat one when required.

Some people say this isn't right but works for us. People will always complain or say this is wrong thats wrong etc.

People put powder in cold, boiled water then heat to drink and have no problems so go figure. The guidlines show the strictest way of doing things to cover all angles, not always the most practical.

Just my 2 pence worth.

 

[OmarsMum]

we usually boil the water, keep it until it reaches the right temperature then store it in a water stanless steel flask. It is very convenient

 

[Mynx]

Doesn't anyone fill several bottles with the hot water & just leave them? Then use 1 as & when needed?
I don't understand where waiting half an hour comes from

I fill say 4 bottles with water from kettle & leave until needed, then just grab one & warm that in microwave , shake it up & add powder then re shake. No hot spots & ready within 2 mins.

That's how I do it too hun. I'll make up a few bottles with just water, leave em on the side and then just heat em up as needed, and add the powder. It's worked for us so far. I do like your other way of doing it too by the way, might have to try that!

 

[elainegee]

i will boil kettle and depending how hungry he is will either make the bottle up their and then and cool it down or pour the boiled water into bottle and leave for a bit to cool down.

I also make one bottle up before i got to bed for the morning. When i had my daughter there was no rules about not pre making feeds so i used to do this with her. It is alot easier than waiting for kettles boiling etc. so i make one up at night cool straight away and put in fridge.

 

[Boomerslady]

Dizzymoo I do it exactly as you do. Boil the kettle, pour it into the bottles, and then leave on the side.

The only slight variation is I then add powder when he's ready for a feed, and put it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. Then shake like mad to get rid of hot spots.

 

[Babybumpdec]

had the health visitor come round yesterday and she said just fill the bottles with hot water leave to cool on side leave them out and add powder when his feed is and give at room temp forgot to ask if you can warm it up as in this weather i like to give it to him warm to warm his tummy up xx

 

[Love Bunny]

I'm probably naughty too but we figured sterilising, boiling the kettle, filling 6 bottles with the boiling water, add powder to kill the bacteria in the powder (midwife told me this!) and then cool and put in the fridge and reheat in a bowl of hot water, shake and then feed when needed ! works for us anyway and thats how most of my friends with babies were told/have been doing it x

 

[Bingles]

oh wow I just popped in here to see how its done. I am still awaiting my first lil one and freaking out about things I dont have a clue about. I really didnt know there was so may ways of making bottles up. Its deffo gave me an idea how to do it now tho so thanks for a great thread. xx

 

[lisa35]

My midwife told me i can store 2 made up bottles in fridge, i only thought you have to put powder in 30 degrees to stop the risk of scalding?

 

[KrustyMiller]

My midwife told me i can store 2 made up bottles in fridge, i only thought you have to put powder in 30 degrees to stop the risk of scalding?

2? Is it a small fridge!?!? hehe. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever, why 2 why not 1 or 3? Or more?

Apparently the powder goes into water above 70 degrees to kill any bacteria in the powder. The risk of scalding is down to your tolerance of pain!

Even with fresh boiled water the risk of scalding is very minimal unless your a complete buffoon, your pouring something into something else you do it when you make a cup of tea...

P.s I am in no way shape or form suggesting that you or anyone is a buffoon!

 

[pheobe]

my 2 pence worth...I make up 6 bottles in the evening before bedtime routine. 3 go upstairs with me for last feed, night feed & first morning feed. the other 3 see us through the next day and are cooled & stored in the fridge. (warmed to room temp in microwave as and when needed)

I'm really very sure many will say this is wrong but hey ho it works for us...I understand the need for strict hygeine standards so the bottles are always sterilised etc but I strongly believe that there is some goverment employed busy body who has created a handbook for HV's on how to make life as difficult as possible for parents.

I also believe that we are nowadays generally speaking far too over sensitive where babies are concerned, I'm really not interested in wrapping Niall up in a bubble by being over cautious...simple common sense does me fine

Good luck to anyone with different views or who does things differently though

x

 

[Bee-Jeweled]

i'm not sure if it's different with different brands of formula (??) but i use Similac Sensitive powder formula and make up a batch every night for the entire next day. the container says it's good in the fridge for up to 24 hours so it's just easier for us to prepare a days worth and heat up bottles during the day as we go ... we boil water, let it cool, prepare 32 oz of formula and store it in the fridge, then warm a bottle up in a hot cup of water when we need it. very easy system!