Bottle Feeding

Krystaltips

The reason each bottle should be made fresh is because of the bacteria that will grow in it if it is left to stand. The water needs to be approx 70 degrees because this temperature will kill off bacteria without damaging the nutritious make up of the milk... Any cooler and it won't be effective at killing off the bacteria...

Countless people can sit here saying 'well it never did me any harm' but there are families that have lost children through illness that wish they could say the same... The guidelines are there to prevent more baby's becoming ill....

wannabe_sybil

There is a Lindam bottle heater which uses steam to warm the bottles and includes a bottle carrier and ice pack - you keep the warmer in the nursery and two bottles with the ice pack with the warmer and that helps to take care of night feeds. I used the ice pack and carrier when I took LB out with me when he was very little. That worked really well. I am sure there is no reason you could not come up with your own version. If you want to try taking out the ready made cartons, check that your little one can't tell the difference in taste - little bear was fine but you never know!

With the bottles and making up away from home - the bottle does not become full of plague as soon as you take it out of the sterilising fluid. If you keep the lid on and be sensible it should be fine. Ask your other half to see what is being sold by Boots and Mothercare to take bottles out and about - that will let him see the usual ways that people manage. Men like to find out about solutions for themselves :rolleyes:

I think if you are meticulous about sterilising and making up the bottles then you should just go with your instinct.

sooz

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

No point me reading this thread - the guidelines are bound to have changed by November

buy a fresh tin for each feed. Then climb nearest mountain & collect fresh water from the top of a mountain stream, with a silver thimble...

sooz

Krystaltips wrote: »

The reason each bottle should be made fresh is because of the bacteria that will grow in it if it is left to stand. The water needs to be approx 70 degrees because this temperature will kill off bacteria without damaging the nutritious make up of the milk... Any cooler and it won't be effective at killing off the bacteria...

Countless people can sit here saying 'well it never did me any harm' but there are families that have lost children through illness that wish they could say the same... The guidelines are there to prevent more baby's becoming ill....

But what do the new guidelines state about the sterilising? I think the OP was desperately trying to steam sterilise each bottle individually for every feed, then boiling the kettle, then cooling etc. Baby might well have learnt to crawl & wandered off by the time she'd done all that, & caught it's own food.

wannabe_sybil

I think if you are meticulous about sterilising the bottles, washing your hands, keeping surfaces clean, refrigeration, not reboiling water and ensuring that bottles at room temperature are not left for more than one hour then you are minimising any risk associated with making up a batch of bottles at one time.

This is not eliminating risk, but the sanity of the mother has to be a factor.

OP I was always really keen to keep the steriliser stocked up with bottles because I always took ages cleaning the bottles fully and made sure the bottles were fully sterilised but in a rush I would use slightly cooler water from the kettle or run the made up bottle under the cold tap to cool it down enough for LB if I needed a bottle quickly.

Also I did not use soap - I had wanted to BF but couldn't in the end so hadn't researched. I kept soap away as much as possible so that LB did not get an upset tummy from it and used red hot water from the tap and used a sturdy bottle brush to push round a paper towel to get everything out. Sterilising fluid shows up patches missed - dear heart didn't always spot everything and I would re-do.

And cuddling babies also helps keep them well.

Fleago

Goodness, I really do feel for Mums nowadays and all the conflicting info you have to put up with! Twenty six years ago, we just made them up in advance and didn't worry about it.

I can even remember my HV catching me sterilising bottles once my daughter was crawling about, eating some solids and putting everything that was available into her mouth. She told me off in no uncertain terms...............................................for faffing about wasting my time and making work for myself sterlising, when good hot soapy water was quite sufficient. :rotfl:

li'l_p

jinky67 wrote: »

And all this faff and confusion is why i chose to BF both of mine

I'm not going to get in to the ins and outs on this as this isn't what I asked... I was hell bent on breastfeeding right up to having the baby and would still love to be able to - it was only after the baby was born that we have been unable to breastfeed that we have HAD to resort to bottle feeding.

Please don't judge people, when you do not know their personal circumstances.

jinky67

li'l_p wrote: »

I'm not going to get in to the ins and outs on this as this isn't what I asked... I was hell bent on breastfeeding right up to having the baby and would still love to be able to - it was only after the baby was born that we have been unable to breastfeed that we have HAD to resort to bottle feeding.

Please don't judge people, when you do not know their personal circumstances.

I wasn't judging:o

sorry if i upset you:kisses3:

liney

My HV said sterilising was only required up until the baby was 6 months old, and then to just do the bottle in the dishwasher. I suppose this has changed too now?

jinky67

liney wrote: »

My HV said sterilising was only required up until the baby was 6 months old, and then to just do the bottle in the dishwasher. I suppose this has changed too now?

As far as i know this is still ok