Advice on making up formula milk

[Dotty_woman]

I'm going back to work in a couple of months and looking for any tips for switching from breast to bottle. I'm struggling with the whole malarky of when to make the feed up. The guidelines on my milk say that I have to leave freshly boiled water to cool for 30 minutes before making it up, in which time I also need to sterilise the bottle. What happens if after doing all that my lo decides they don't want a feed? Can it go in the fridge and is it ok to heat it up later now? What can I do with the milk? It's 13 years since I last had a baby and when I switched to formula I used to make up all the bottles I needed for a day and keep them in the fridge until I needed them and my two have turned out alright. Apparently the don't recommend making them up in advance any more. If I have to wait until I know my little one is hungry, she'll be blue in the face before the milk is ready. Surely other mums don't go through all this palaver. Any advice would be appreciated. xxx

 

[SaraLouise]

If you've got the spare cash I would high reccomend getting yourself a Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep machine. It makes fresh bottles in less than 2 minutes, perfect tempature everytime.

You press the button & it dispenses a certain amount of 70 degree water, you then had the powder, swirl, then press the button again, and it makes up the rest of the bottle with room temp water. Shake & its ready.

The filter says it lasts around 3 months but ours actually lasted almost 5 x

 

[Dotty_woman]

Thanks for the advice but I'm not spending £100 for the privilege. What happens when you're out and about? I'm not sure how long you can keep the milk after you've made it up and is it still ok to warm it up after it's cooled down? The official advice is very limiting. xxx

 

[SaraLouise]

I just use cartons of ready made when we are out haha. We've ddefinitely got our money's worth from it.

I know lots of ladies that still make up the bottles in advance and refrigerate them even though it doesn't follow the guidelines x

 

[Babygiz]

I fill a flask full of boiling hot water on a morning, then when son needs a feed use this water and add powder to it. I sterilise all my bottles in one go and put the lids on, I was told as long as I use them within 24 hours they are fine. This way I can have a bottle made and cooled within ten minutes.

Obviously I change the water in the flask when I think it's getting cool.

 

[babyslog]

We have tried loads of ways having FF from 5days old..
But the way that had suited us is boiling kettle filling bottles all with 4/5oz boiling water.. Leave on side with lid on to cool.

When a bottle is needed re boil kettle and top up bottle with another 2oz of boiling water (if making 6-7oz) this is perfer temp so we add the fomula needed, shake and its good to go!
We do this when each feed is due and literally takes as long as the kettle does to boil to make! So no screaming babies waiting for milk to cool!
When he was having night feeds we would make bottles up same way but take a flask of boiking water to bed to use to top uo bottles with, the TT flasks stay boiling for hours! We use this water then to make his porridge up as its still nice as warm x

We have had no issues and have been doin this way for the last 7-8ms xx

 

[Toria111]

When I told my midwife I was bottle feeding, she started testing me on how I make up my bottles as the guidelines have changed since I had my older kids (5 and 8). I've got one of those perfect prep machines so no issuesand they are a god send. Got it from Amazon for £65 a few months ago.

Anyway, midwife said the formula isn't sterile so you must mix the formula in a bit of boiling water, then add cooled boiled water after. So if I didn't have my perfect prep machine I would boil water in the morning, keep in my brita filter jug then when I need a bottle do as above.

 

[Dotty_woman]

Thanks for your suggestions ladies. I think your method sounds like it would work best for me Babyslog. I'm not sure about mixing the formula with boiling water Toria as the instructions on my formula suggest that the water needs to have cooled for about 30 minutes before you attempt to mix it but perhaps that's just for the one I'm using. I think I'll have an experiment! xxx

 

[babyslog]

Good luck hun! Dont over think it, it drove me mad trying all different ways! But found this thr best xx

 

[Pippacarney]

My lo has her bottles at room temp, so I boil the water put into bottles and add powder when needed using a powder dispenser. If you look at the WHO guidelines, they actually say if used immediately bottles can be made up this way! So I just make them when my lo needs! There's no way that in a steraliesed bottle that bacteria can breed in 5 mins! I know this way isn't completly to guidelines, but it's also another very common way like the flask method. Nearly everyone I know follows this method. With your lo being over 6 months I don't think you have to worry about it too much. I beat myself up about every which way for weeks! Just do it how it works for you!

The formula hasn't actually changed since you fed your last baby, so if you want to make them up in advance then also do so! It's just there were so risks, due to a lady in France making a weeks worth of bottles and feeding her premature baby, her baby then got a terrible stomach but and sadly died, but due to her making those huge mistakes, they had to change the guidelines.

 

[Toria111]

Thanks for your suggestions ladies. I think your method sounds like it would work best for me Babyslog. I'm not sure about mixing the formula with boiling water Toria as the instructions on my formula suggest that the water needs to have cooled for about 30 minutes before you attempt to mix it but perhaps that's just for the one I'm using. I think I'll have an experiment! xxx

At the end of the day our older kids survived!lol

Think the 30 min cooling period is so baby doesn't get burned. Midwife said that's the best way to kill any bacteria in the formula. I just nodded and didn't think much more of it. The perfect prep machine does the same thing. A hot shot that you mix the formula in to, then once it's dissolved it adds the remaining cooled water.

 

[Toria111]

My lo has her bottles at room temp, so I boil the water put into bottles and add powder when needed using a powder dispenser. If you look at the WHO guidelines, they actually say if used immediately bottles can be made up this way! So I just make them when my lo needs! There's no way that in a steraliesed bottle that bacteria can breed in 5 mins! I know this way isn't completly to guidelines, but it's also another very common way like the flask method. Nearly everyone I know follows this method. With your lo being over 6 months I don't think you have to worry about it too much. I beat myself up about every which way for weeks! Just do it how it works for you!

The formula hasn't actually changed since you fed your last baby, so if you want to make them up in advance then also do so! It's just there were so risks, due to a lady in France making a weeks worth of bottles and feeding her premature baby, her baby then got a terrible stomach but and sadly died, but due to her making those huge mistakes, they had to change the guidelines.

Omg, I can't believe someone would think it's ok to make up a weeks worth of bottles :-/. Midwife said to me they changed guidelines because some babies got salmonella poisoning. I'm sure a week old milk would do that. Poor baby.

 

[LD1978]

I do the same as babyslog and top up bottles with boiling so they are warm. Yes technically it's not killing bacteria but it's done my lo no harm. One midwife told me you can fill bottles for the day and add formula when needed but I find it better just a bit warm. Also if you want to make up for the day I really believe that will be fine (I've also had another midwife and hv say to do it this way). I think they cover their asses for the people who do silly things. I bet tons of people aren't even that hygienic and even wash bottles properly! Do what works for you hun, my sisters made all hers up (although was years ago) and they were all fine xx

 

[Jojo84]

We make up 2 bottles at a time so they're not going to be in the fridge more than 6hrs - we also use mam bottles- no steriliser needed and 3min per bottle +1 min fir every additional bottle. When we go out I take our mam ore sterilised bottles (also means u can wash and sterilise if you have micro access) with little bottle of oremade formula

Making the bottle up at the rime didn't euro fir us as when LO us hungry he's not going to wait 29-30 mins! Hell the few minutes if takes to heat a bottle is bad enough lol

 

[Seabrook]

Every morning I used to fill up sterilised bottles with 5 oz of boiled water, and leave them on the side. I'd then fill a thermos flask with boiling water. When he needed a feed if top up the 5 oz with the hot water from the flask to 8 oz and it wad the right temp.
Not one upset tummy.

 

[iWitch]

Call me crazy if you want but surely a bit of bacteria is good for LOs anyway to build up a tolerance?

I make bottles using the perfect prep machine (worth every penny at £65 & I'd probably pay £100 for it too!) & when I'm out I follow the guidelines but surely a bit of bacteria isn't the worst thing in the world for a baby??

 

[Dotty_woman]

I'm not one of those anti-bac mums. I've just found the advice really complicated. I don't think the people who make the guidelines have really thought about what it actually means to a mum with a screaming baby trying to make up a feed quickly whilst also following these "guidelines". I've had a go cooling boiled water quickly to make a feed on the fly. Think I can speed up the process with a bit of practice. Waiting 30 minutes for the water to cool to 70 degrees is nuts. I've just cooled the water once it's in the bottle. xxx

 

[Sophie_P]

Agree totally Dotty xx