Making up feeds...

[nori]

Hi All,

Well i had the health visitor round today and i had the conversation about making up feeds and i got the usual response that they are trained to give.. "make up every feed from fresh each time".. well bugger that when i have a screaming baby.

Now i have spoken with a few of my friends and they seem to be boiling the kettle, putting it into the sterilised bottles and leaving at room temperature. When it is time for a feed, add the formula and warm the bottle. When i spoke to the HV about this she said that the formula needs to be put with the boiing water to kill any bacteria so if im going to do a batch its actually better to boil the kettle, add the formula, put in the fridge and then warm up.

What do you think? This whole making up feeds milarky is confusing me now!

Claire x

 

[nazmomi]

I make up feeds with boiling water then keep them in the fridge, I know they say your not supposed to, they obviously have reasons to say that but we have been OK so far. I only make up a couple at a time, I dont like the idea of them sitting around in the fridge too long

 

[LisaJ1986]

My sister does the batch of boiling water, add formula then fridge it. Just heat it up and go. That was how she did it 4 years ago, and things have slowly changed. Her 4 year old is perfectly healthy as are her younger 2. Her youngest is 8 months and she still does it this way.
Less time with a screaming baby!

 

[lea m]

I was always told NOT to make up the feeds with boiling water!?!? Its always completely different from one MW / HV to the next dont you think?!
I make up the bottles by either heating up boiled water in the kettle to the right temp for baby and then mixing in the feed or pouring in boiled water to a certain point (say 3 ounces) then leaving to cool, then when babs wants a bottle, adding boiling water to the amount I want so making the bottle the right temp for her then mixing it!

 

[Jade&Evie]

MY HV told me to let the water cool a bit, then make up the feeds fresh. FINE. If you have a baby that feeds every 4 hours so you know when to start preparing the bottle. NOT FINE. If you have a baby who feeds whenever the hell they want to... like I have.

After a few weeks I learnt that actually my HV wasn't going to take away my baby if I defied her and now I make up the bottles and store them in the fridge then heat them up when I need them.

Evie's still alive so I guess it's ok to do it that way too...

 

[tinkerbell*]

at the end of the day. we boil the kettle,wait for it to cool and fill up the bottles (theo has 4 x 240mls) so we fill them up to 150ml with the cooled boiled water.
then put them in the fridge overnight, so they are really cold for the morning (or whenever they are used) then we just boil the kettle when Theo needs a bottle and top it up to 240ml. and add the formula. and shakey,shakey! it takes less then a minute, when there is only a tiny amount of water in the ketle. and it heats it to the purfect temp. (obviously if baby is having smaller bottles you pre-fill the bottles up less)
x x x

 

[daftscotslass]

We do the same as above only we don't bother putting them in the fridge. She will also take them at room temperature if we're out and about.

Officially you should add the powder to boiling water that's been allowed to cool down for 30 minutes as the powder itself is not sterile and it being hot will kill off any nasties. Totally impractical when you have an unpredictable screaming newb though because you can never cool it down quick enough.

 

[Morganuk]

I make up my bottles with just hot water then leave them untill Jaeda wants a feed when I add the milk.
To me its the easiest way as when put in the fridge you have to warm them up.
But you can do it either way, whatevers best for you hun.

 

[Krystal]

Your meant to add the powder to boiling water to kill any bacteria. This is what I used to do;

Boil the kettle then leave to cool for 30 minutes
Add * scoops of powder to bottle
Shake well
Stand bottles in dish full of cold water (you are meant to try and cool the milk as soon as possible)
Stand in the back of the fridge and get out as needed, warm either using boiling water or microwave

 

[lisa&alex]

You are DEFINATLY not supposed to add the formula to boilin water as this denatures(kills) the enzymes in the milk

sweet cheeks way is just fine,
you could also sterilise the bottles add the water cool and put the water in the fridge warm the water then add the formula when needed,

At the end of the day you have to do what suits you hun. i make up the water 2oz below what i need in the bottles leave them on the side when he wants a bottle i boil the kettle make up to the 9oz (in other words add the 2oz) then add the formula. xx

 

[Krystal]

You are DEFINATLY not supposed to add the formula to boilin water as this denatures(kills) the enzymes in the milk

as sweet cheeks said that way is just fine,

No I said to leave the water to cool for 30 minutes. It still needs to be above 70c though to kill bacteria.

 

[lisa&alex]

no i know that lol...edited what i said... ment ur way is fine what you said. not u said put it in boiling water.. i must concentrate more

 

[Krystal]

lol it's ok, i'm too tired and probably didn't read it properly anyway

 

[xmcnickyx]

I make them up with boiled water at each feed then cool the bottle in cold water. Generally start changing her bum while it's cooling so that she's well ready by the time it's cooled and she's got a clean bum.

Works for us. I have started measuring out the formula before though, since I tend to forget what I'm doing during the night and can't remember how many scoops I've added.

 

[jayla's mummy]

we made bottles up in advance but them in the fridge and warmed them in a jug when jay was hungry.

 

[nori]

You are DEFINATLY not supposed to add the formula to boilin water as this denatures(kills) the enzymes in the milk

See i didnt realise this.. i thought you HAD to add it to boiling water to kill the bacteria as it says dont let it cool for more than 30mins on the SMA tin as it has to be above 70 degrees? Now im confused! How long should i wait then?

I think it sounds like most of you make up the bottles with the formula and put in fridge rather than leave water at room temperature and add formula so i may start doing that. Is it just a case of making sure they are used in 24 hours?

Also i have bought a fisher price bottle warming flask so if i am out and about would i just fill the flask up with boiling water and take the portion pot and add it all when out?

 

[Magic Monkey]

We boil the water, add to bottles, leave on the side and then add the powder as needed. I checked this was ok with about 5 MWs and 2 HVs when Ella was first born and they all said this was fine and safer than making up and keeping in the fridge! They all say something diff! All I will say is that we have been doing this since day 3 and Ella had her first ever tummy bug last week, so it can't be too bad!

 

[Morganuk]

Your meant to add the powder to boiling water to kill any bacteria. This is what I used to do;

Boil the kettle then leave to cool for 30 minutes
Add * scoops of powder to bottle
Shake well
Stand bottles in dish full of cold water (you are meant to try and cool the milk as soon as possible)
Stand in the back of the fridge and get out as needed, warm either using boiling water or microwave

Oh so am I wrong for adding the milk to cool water?
If thats the case im going to do what Lisa says and leave it at 4oz then add the other with 2oz of kettle boiled water then put the powder in as and when I make a bottle.
You do mean boiling water dont you Lisa?

 

[daftscotslass]

The 70C advice is because you boil the water and leave it to cool for half an hour, after which time it's gone from 100C (which would kill off the enzymes like Lisa said) to 70C which is still hot enough to kill off most nasties as the milk powder isn't sterile. Below that temperature it doesn't kill off any nasty bacteria that might be in the powder.

Bear in mind the advice they give has to be the absolute safest that it can be. I can't say we followed it to the letter because my DD fed so unpredictably when she was younger. Most of the time we just half filled the sterilised bottles with boiled water (which cooled) and topped it up with boiling water when she needed a feed, adding the powder then. She's never had any kind of tummy upset except when I changed her milk.

 

[lisa&alex]

yip what daftscotlass said lol

morgan i use boiling water straight from the kettle to top up xx