Babies powdered milk question

JBD

daska wrote: »

Milk powder is NOT sterile. Just because you got away with making up bottles in advance or keeping cooled boiled water in the fridge (or your mum or next door neighbour did) is not a valid reason for advising anyone to risk any baby's health.

When my niece was 4 months old she contracted salmonella poisoning. She was just beginning to show signs of being unwell when I arrived to babysit, I spent the next 6 hours taking her (and 3 other children) to the hospital.

Since then, when not breast feeding, my sister and I and our friends have made bottles fresh and if that's not possible used pre-mixed milk which is available in sterile cartons.

I would like to add, salmonella can also be transmitted in different ways, eg if utensils had been used to prepare other foods and then not cleaned thoroughly. Therefore general hygiene is equally important.

tiamai_d

daska wrote: »

Yes, that's exactly what my sister did very successfully with her first daughter and carried on doing until her second child was made ill by following this procedure.

was the powder tested?

daska

Even if your general hygiene is very good (which my sister's is) if the milk powder isn't sterile then you may as well have a kitchen like a sewer. Milk powder isn't sterile therefore you shouldn't take unecessary risks with a baby's health.

dtc04

emlou2009 wrote: »

Not all babies will drink both powdered and carton milk they are very different! For example, my son suffered with reflux and couldnt keep the cartons down even with medication.

There is nothing unsafe about adding powder to water at the time the baby is about to be fed it! It is time that the bacteria in the milk needs to breed.

The problem with adding the powder when the baby is going to feed is that you dont kill the bacteria that is already in the powder because its not sterile, and that can make babies very ill. Its rare and most babies will be OK, but it can be very serious.

My baby wont drink the cartons either, she just doesn't like them. Luckily now shes older she only has one bottle during the day so if we are out I just give her a snack instead and give her a bottle later when we are in the house.

daska

tiamai_d wrote: »

And your personal view is that your neighbours child got salmonella from milk powder but you haven't stated if the powder was tested or not.

Boobs aint sterile either, so should we stop breast feeding also?

Unfortunately it wasn't possible to test the milk powder as it was the end of a can which she had transferred into one of those really useful containers designed for portioning up milk powder. The advice was from the consultant who treated my niece for salmonella poisoning having gone through my sister's general hygiene arrangements in detail trying to identify the cause.

Breast feeding is a very different scenario. Breast milk can be left at room temperature for several hours without becoming unsafe.

You are obviously unwilling to believe first hand experience so how about something more official? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18171262

tiamai_d

I have read all that, but as there is no proof beyond opinion, I will continue to feed my daughter however I like.

emlou2009

daska wrote: »

Perhaps you might like to read the advice from the FSA, as posted by olgadapolga only a few posts before yours, before promoting your personal view.

perhaps you might like to read it too - it says making up a fresh feed is advised, which is exactly what adding powder to water is doing

i understand that this is an issue quite close to you given that you feel you have some experience in the matter, but the fact is this has been discussed many, many, many times on this board and each time 99% of parents say they make up feeds in advance, with no problems whatsoever. Fact is, when you have a young baby crying for a feed, you dont have time to boil the kettle, wait 30 mins for it to cool, add the powder, cool the bottle down and then give the feed. Its just not practical, when there are other perfectly acceptable ways to go about feeding the baby. Its just that the other ways are the ones that arent advised any more. Many new mums feel close to breaking point before they realise they can bend the guidelines a little.

daska

olgadapolga wrote: »

From the Food Standards Agency:

Using infant formula

Remember, it’s always safer to make up a fresh feed whenever possible. You could also use a ready-to-feed liquid formula.[/I]

BTW DS2 is 2 yrs old and I'm disabled, I know about being at breaking point with a baby screaming for food

Morgan_Ree

Perhaps things have changed from 4 years ago but I had a very good HV who told me making up the days bottles in the morning was perfectly acceptable. They were fine to keep up to 24 hrs provided they hadn't been used

So many guidelines out!
I think i'd be extremely stressed if i was a new mum again now

Sublime_2

I used to make my feeds in advance, with no probs whatsoever. I also sometimes filled bottles with cooled boiled water, to add powder to when needed. This was from about 6 months old when I changed to bottle feeding.

With making feeds in advance, make sure that the milk is cooled quickly and put in the fridge as soon as possible to minimise possible bacteria growth, and you should be fine.