Babies powdered milk question

Lotus-eater

When you make up a bottle of milk and as I understand it, after an hour you have to throw it away.
Is this true and if not, how long can you keep it for?

I'm sure there must be something about sticking it in the fridge as well.

skylight

Freshly made and in sterile bottles, they can remain in a fridge for 24hrs unopened. Once used you should throw away after 2hrs.

For newborns and young babies. Older babies you can be a bit more lax in the sterilisation process. But if in doubt, treat as normal milk. You wouldn't pour yourself a glass of milk, warm it but leave it out and drink 3hrs later!

snapping_crocodile

The new guidelines state that bottles should be made up as required and not stored in the fridge. This is apparently because powdered milk, contrary to popular belief is not sterile, it still contains bacteria. So the advice is to make it up as required with cool boiled water, and the water should be left to cool for no more than about half an hour, this way it kills any bacteria in the milk

Lotus-eater

skylight wrote: »

Freshly made and in sterile bottles, they can remain in a fridge for 24hrs unopened. Once used you should throw away after 2hrs.

For newborns and young babies. Older babies you can be a bit more lax in the sterilisation process. But if in doubt, treat as normal milk. You wouldn't pour yourself a glass of milk, warm it but leave it out and drink 3hrs later!

Thanks, it's because mine has a habit of drinking a little bit from a bottle, then falling asleep for an hour, then waking up being hungry.
So, if what you say is true, then with 2 hours to play with, I should be fine.

Lotus-eater

snapping_crocodile wrote: »

So the advice is to make it up as required with cool boiled water, and the water should be left to cool for no more than about half an hour, this way it kills any bacteria in the milk

I don't understand this fully. Are you saying that after boiling, the water shouldn't be left for more than half an hour before making up the milk? And after that, throw it away?
And how would that kill bacteria in the milk?

Atm we fill all the bottles with boiled water in the morning, then use them throughout the day. Sounds like we have been doing it incorrectly.

oystercatcher

If it's been in the babies mouth then it needs to be chucked after an hour.
Small amounts of saliva enter the teat and can make the milk go off very rapidly. It's not worth risking with a tiny baby.
Better to make up a small amount and encourage the baby to drink the lot. If it's only been an hour then wait a bit longer until the baby is properly hungry and it should take a more sunstantial amount, then will sleep longer and get a more regular routine.

So easy to say, not so easy to do !

skylight

I make (made) up the days bottles in the morning (with boiled water) and put them in the fridge (smaller ones and fed regularly rather than bigger filled ones). Although I do understand guidelines have changed in recent years (in the middle of my babies); I ignored it and carried on with how I had always done things.

The first 3 though I fed exclusively until a few months old then mixed fed, the youngest 2 I mixed fed from birth (all big babies and flippin hungry!) so have only done the bottle thing from newborn for two of mine. It hasn't done any harm to any of my kids.

But I do think you need to see how things work though. Mine never suffered from dodgy tums (one has a more delicate tum than the others) so it didn't matter making bottles in one go. If you think yours has a weaker tum then make sure you follow advice correctly to eliminate any problems.

(Not a health professional, just my opinion.)

oystercatcher

Oops didn't notice how confusing the other messages were.

NOTHING kills the bacteria in the milk powder which is why it's not safe to store made up milk, one or two bacteria won't hurt the baby , as long as they aren't left to breed.

The boiled water needs to be cooled quickly and then stored in sterile bottles so that there is no chance of bacteria entering the water..... again can cause problems if left stored. Water that has been cooled quickly can be stored in a refridgerator for 24 hours.

So make up the amount you think baby will drink and get it into the baby as quickly as you can. Over an hour and dump the made up milk and start again.

snapping_crocodile

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I don't understand this fully. Are you saying that after boiling, the water shouldn't be left for more than half an hour before making up the milk? And after that, throw it away?
And how would that kill bacteria in the milk?

Atm we fill all the bottles with boiled water in the morning, then use them throughout the day. Sounds like we have been doing it incorrectly.

Sorry if i've confused you!! The water should be boiled and then left for no longer than half an hour to cool before it is added to the powder, that way it is still warm enough to kill off any bacteria in the powder

JBD

I believe the bottle should be thrown away 1 hour after the start of the feed, not 2. If your baby keeps falling asleep during the feed I would suggest making up smaller bottles. You can always go and get another one.

Curious_George_2

when DD was a baby (shes now 9 1/2) we were told to make up the milk, store it in the fridge but to use it within 24 hours,

with DS (now 2) we had to make the water (boil then pour the correct amount into sterile bottles) and add the milk powder to it only just before the feed was given to the baby

i prefer the new way, there was much less wastage
both children were/are happy and healthy by the way, no damage done by doing them this way!