Preparing Baby Bottles Help Please

3KIDSNOMONEY

i am feeling like a real first-timer, but things have changed so much in the last few years regarding making up formula feeds.

just weaning of breast to bottle. guidelines say mke up feeds as you go - how on earth do people manage? particularly with very early morning feeds and days out. just bought six new bottles and a powder dispenser. from what i have read you should boil water then after half an hour make up feed, surely the water wouldbe too hot and you are not supposed to put boiling water in bottles because of a high level of something that bottles are made from.

would love to know how others manage. finding it a real struggle weaning too.

Also when did everyones periods reappear after stopping breastfeeding?

mooma_2

What I do is this (advice was from my Health Visitor, so this is perfectly safe and fine to do):

wash and sterilise all 6 bottles

boil the kettle, leave for half an hour to cool

fill all bottles to desired level (e.g 7oz)

the bottles keep for 24 hours, no need to put in the fridge

Now, whenever your little one needs a feed - just add the formula milk, mix and heat if needed (i just feed at room temp though.)
So when you are out and about, just carry the pre-filled bottles, and add the milk powder when your little one is due for a feed.

If you haven't used all the water filled bottles in 24 hours, re-sterilise and re-fill.

Hope this helps!

Woby_Tide

we did just as above bar leaving for 30 minutes after the kettle boiled to cool. We weren't ever using a feed until overnight/next morning when the water would have cooled

Nicki

3KIDSNOMONEY wrote: »

Also when did everyones periods reappear after stopping breastfeeding?

Be careful about this one! I stopped breastfeeding no 1 at 5 months (without having had a period) when I realised I was 2 months pregnant with no 2! I'd been told by FPC that as I was fully breastfeeding and had fertility issues that I didn't need any other form of contraception until periods started again..There isn't any rhyme or reason to when your periods return - some women get them while still fully breastfeeding, others don't but still fall pregnant, and yet others take a few months or more to settle down.

gooismeid

We came up with a brilliant system for travelling, to avoid having to ask for bottles to be warmed up wherever we went. Get two small stainless steel thermos flasks, sterilise them with Milton fluid like you would with bottles, rinse and fill one with just-boiled water and one with boiled, cold water. Use some from the hot and some from the cold to make up the formula in a sterilised bottle. Hey presto, no waiting for the milk to get to the right temperature!

Sarahsaver

i used to make up a batch of bottles each day to last the whole 24 hours
I also had a separate kettle to boil the water for the bottles as I found that the kettle was getting used by Oh for a cuppa or something and you are not supposed to boil the water more than once.

sasha_108

Even easier, we used say 4 oz cool boiled water in the bottle when out and topped up with 2 oz of hot water from a thermos!

louisehj

My little boy is 7 weeks now and the midwife told me to make 3 bottles up at a time to store in fridge. I steralise, boil the water, fill the bottles and let them stand for 20 mins. Then I add the powder (midwife told me that by adding the powder when the water is still above 70 degrees then this kills any bacteria in the powder which may have got in when you have opened the can before which is why they now advise to make up as you need them), sit the bottle in cold water to cool.

HTH

Mrs7ones

I used to make up my 6 bottles on an evening and pop 5 of them in the fridge to keep for the next day, but take on up to bed with me and pop it under my pillow to keep warm for the early morning feed!!!! No need to faff about with getting out of bed and warming a bottle when DS2 needed one!!
(also, as he was my 3rd baby, I was a bit of an 'old-hat' with the bottle feeding lark, and from birth, he was just as happy to have his milk straight from the fridge as he was to have it warmed up.... never suffered from colic etc either!)

starbump

The boiling water thingy is something to do with BPA (Bisphenol A) in the plastic. If you want to avoid this completely buy polypropylene bottles instead of polycarbonate bottles. If you've already bought bottles, I think it is okay so long as you don't put boiling water in them (although I confess after hearing about the BPA stuff I threw all my Avent ones out and bought MAM bottles instead). How old is your little one? We stopped sterilising bottles after 6 months - it seemed a bit pointless as we can't also sterilise food, toys, the floor, garden mud, leaves, etc. You don't necessarily need to warm the milk - we stopped warming expressed milk after realised baby didn't seem to care either way, plus it saves having to wait for it to cool down again if it was heated too hot!

Weaning is a pain. At 6 months, food is a kind of game because it's all new and fascinating (and mostly goes on the floor). By 12 months, growth has slowed down (hence less appetite) and baby is running around and unwilling to sit down for long. The only things that really help us is putting snacks on a table (to pick up while toddling about) or eating with baby (food from your plate is apparently nicer than their own food even if it is exactly the same).

3KIDSNOMONEY

Thanks everyone.

I bought boots own wide neck bottles and i think i have done the wrong thing as i am presuming they made of the stuff that is involved the the BPA thing. Makes me feel awful as my other children all had avent and boots bottles. I also use sma which i have just read is worse as it is in a metal tin.

Decided to make up 4 bottles of just cooled water and put them in the fridge in the morning for the day. i have put one in for tonight ready for morning, so all i have to do is warm it and put in the formula - i will probably put in the formula and then warm it. It's all so confusing. not looking forward to the faff of getting up in the early hours. i know i will be cursing myself for giving up the feeding but feel i need to. my baby tends to bit and bob with his feeds and cos he is weaning too i am sure that i am going to end up throwing feeds away, not really sure how much he should have at 5 months. i am so used to just popping in my 'boob' when he seems hungry.

anyone else stories on when their periods started following finishing breastfeeding?