Pre-making feeds and storing in fridge.

[blinkybaby]

Ladies that pre-make their feeds, can I ask a question?

If you pre-make your feeds with boiling water and store in the fridge, do you put the milk straight in the fridge even though it's boiling hot?

My MIL confused me today, she said the milk will sweat if you put it straight in the fridge when it's boiling hot (much like hot food) so you should let it cool down to room temp before you put it in the fridge. I know this is true of hot food (that you have to leave it to cool otherwise you'll get condensation etc) before putting it in the fridge.

I have recently stopped adding powder into room temp cooled boiling water after I realised milk powder is not sterile, so this is a new way of doing it for me.

Many thanks

 

[KayBea]

It needs to be cooled first..
Either holding bottle under a running tap or placing in a bowl of cold water.
Make sure the bottles dont fall over in the water though.
Xx

 

[blinkybaby]

Thank you. What happens if it goes straight in boiling hot? Is it the same thing as what happens with food? xx

 

[KayBea]

Yeah same thing happens. It sweats, makes other foods hot etc..

Oh & dont put the bottles in the door, they need to be kept in the coldest part.. So middle shelf at the back, they are safe for 24hrs then.
Xx

 

[sw121]

I put mine in a bowl of cold water for 10 mins before putting in the fridge. You shouldn't put anything hot in your fridge as it can raise the temperature in the fridge which can cause the contents to spoil.

 

[bathbabe]

As the others have said, rapid cool and store at the back of the fridge x

 

[AimeeM]

Do you make it when the water is just boiled or leave it yo cool for half an hour first? I read that if you make it with the water too hot it burns the vitamins away but not sure exactly how true this is but maybe worth reading.

 

[KayBea]

Do you make it when the water is just boiled or leave it yo cool for half an hour first? I read that if you make it with the water too hot it burns the vitamins away but not sure exactly how true this is but maybe worth reading.

I leave the water too cool for half hour 1st, then add powder. Xx

 

[sw121]

Do you make it when the water is just boiled or leave it yo cool for half an hour first? I read that if you make it with the water too hot it burns the vitamins away but not sure exactly how true this is but maybe worth reading.

Sounds like a bit of an old wives tale to me - I think they only tell you to wait half an hour as it's more dangerous from a scalding perspective to do it sooner, but the water is still hot enough to kill bacteria. I've made feeds up after only 5 - 10 mins if I've been in a rush.

 

[AimeeM]

A few people have rang the companies and been told it can harm certain vitamins:

https://www.babyandbump.com/formula-feeding/474809-can-you-add-formula-powder-boiling-water.html

Here is a couple of people who have. If your unsure though best to ring yourself however I'd just play it safe anyway.

 

[Eclair]

I'm confused, at the moment I boil the water, fill the sterile bottles with water and let it cool. I then add the powder when baby wants a feed. Any unused bottles with water I empty and re sterilise after 6-8h

Should I be making the bottles up with powder and putting them in the fridge? If so how long do they last made up??? X

 

[AimeeM]

You need to make up feeds with water at about 70 degrees which is boiled water cooled for half an hour. That is so the water is hot enough to kill off any harmful bugs that can make your baby ill. It's hard when they want a bottle to do it like that though. When they are screaming for a feed waiting half an hour is not fair so I think storing it in the fridge is a good option although they say it is best to make it fresh. Feeds are ok for 24 hours in the fridge and it's a bonus if your baby will drink it cold xx

 

[Eclair]

So what I should do instead is make up some bottles for the day, put them in the fridge, and heat them as I need them?
Rather than making feeds from room temp cooled boiled water?... X

 

[KayBea]

So what I should do instead is make up some bottles for the day, put them in the fridge, and heat them as I need them?
Rather than making feeds from room temp cooled boiled water?... X

You can make it with room temp water but needs to drunk straight away and anything not drunk needs to be thrown.
Xx

 

[AimeeM]

It needs to be hotter than room temp (around 70 degrees) to kill the germs in the formula. If you read the side of the pack or the government guide lines it will explain xx

https://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/formulaguidance.pdf

Check page 3 and the last 2xx

 

[sw121]

So what I should do instead is make up some bottles for the day, put them in the fridge, and heat them as I need them?
Rather than making feeds from room temp cooled boiled water?... X

I make up two lots a day - in the morning I boil the kettle, wait half an hour and make up his feeds for the day ahead. I then cool them in bowls of cold water for 10 mins and store in the back of the fridge until needed.

I then repeat this before I go to bed for his night feeds.

This is how the formula companies used to say you could make feeds up, but because of a few isolated cases of babies becoming ill after having stored feeds they changed all the instructions to say you can't make up in advance - which of course is completely impractical.

As others have said, you need to add the powder to hot water, not room temperature, because the powder is not sterile, so room temp water would not kill anything nasty that might be in the powder.

 

[emzky90]

The whole "don't add formula to boiling water as it can damage or change the nutrients etc of the milk" is a MYTH. I queried this with Cow and Gate and Aptamil and they said the only reason they reccomend you wait for half hour for kettle to cool is to reduce the risk of scalding.

Here's what I do.

Boil kettle
Fill bottles with boiling water to the oz required.
Add powder.
Shake.
Put bottles in cold water to cool.
Put in fridge.

 

[kanga]

The whole "don't add formula to boiling water as it can damage or change the nutrients etc of the milk" is a MYTH. I queried this with Cow and Gate and Aptamil and they said the only reason they reccomend you wait for half hour for kettle to cool is to reduce the risk of scalding.

Here's what I do.

Boil kettle
Fill bottles with boiling water to the oz required.
Add powder.
Shake.
Put bottles in cold water to cool.
Put in fridge.

Just wanted ot add that I also do this. But I put in one less oz of boiling water than I should. Then when baby wants his feed I boil the kettle and top the bottle up with new boiled water so the whole feed is warm for him.

Do we think this is ok ladies? x

 

[Midgetgem]

i used to keep a bowl of water in the fridge and put the bottles in it (on the worktop) til they were cool and then put the bottles on the top shelf at the back..