Cooled boiled water for formula

Winky,_The_House_Elf

I would have loved to carry on bf with my daughter, but at 9mth she refused, and kept biting me! So I agree daska, that yes less faff etc however I do believe that once you've decided to bottle feed (for whatever reason) the information needs to be clearer, and the possible consequences made apparent.

Best practise has changed in medicine ie stuff that was considered ok for younger toddlers/babies is now banned, and in the same vein, what we understand about the potential risks of making up feeds with cool/cold water has changed.

We look back in horror at the idea that we should give teething babies a tot of whisky! (Oh it never did mine any harm...erm yes Mum)

Things change, and normally to minimise the risks to our darling babies, but we need to make sure that people understand exactly why they are doing it, so they get it right. The most important bit is to make it with boiling water. Of course ideally use it as quick as possible, but thats not always practical, but its the powder coming into contact with the boiling water that is essential.

lollipopsarah

I'm a bit confused now, I thought you had to make up formula with boiled (but not boiling) water, not warm - after half an hour.
Cripes after all the screaming when hungy in the night, I used to make up a bottle and take it upstairs with me for when needed, it never occured to me to warm it up and my darlings thrived on it - same when going out.
Glad I'm not a new mum now.
xx

Janepig

peachyprice wrote: »

I do think the lack of info for others who choose to FF is a problem, especially regarding sterilising.

I've heard many mums nowadays saying they just use the dishwasher, which IMO just isn't good enough for young babies, fine once they're weaned though. Also, advise has always been very vague as to what to do with the bottles once they are sterilised. Some leave them on the side open, some dry them up, some close them up once cold. And do you rinse the milton off if you're cold sterilising?

When mine were babies I used a steam steriliser, made the bottles with freshly sterlised bottles using tongs and made up 12hrs worth in advance (as was the advice then) using just boiled water then put them straight in the fridge. Would I do the same now? I think I probably would.

Oh, and I had a front sleeper too (as someone esle brought it up) which interestingly is how they laid him in scbu. The others started off as side sleepers

That's exactly what I did, even though the "rules" changed in the two years between DD and DS. That was the routine that had worked for me so I stuck with it.

Jx

moneysavingfamilycomp

i have to agree with janepig i had to put dd on formula as despite my best efforts and determination my milk was very poor and eventually dried up which was a complete shock to me as i fed my ds exclusively till he was 11 mnths but that was 18 yrs earlier lol. anyway i asked health visitor for advice on how long bottles stay sterile and the best way to prepare formula etc as id had no experience of it and was told she wasnt allowed to advise me as they have to encourage breast feeding. how rediculous is that it wasnt that i didnt want to breast feed. anyway the best she would say is it would be best not to leave bottles of water in the fridge for more than 12 hrs. i had no intention of leaving them that long. as far as im aware powder is unsterile and once made up can only be kept for 2 hrs (1hr if baby has taken a drink from it) i dont find it practical to make up feeds as needed so i make up 2 or 3 bottles with water and keep in fridge i then add powder when im ready to feed i know its probably not ideal but although i try to follow current guidelines i dont worry too much. when i was 16 my sisters best friend had a baby die of cot death so when my son was small i was paranoid. the latest guidelines then (1993) were never allow your baby to sleep on their back roll up a towel and place behind them to keep them on their side (which i did) and dummies are a one of the highest risk factors for cot death dont use them or if you must only when baby is awake and remove them if they fall asleep (i didnt use one). jump forward 18 yrs and for my daughter (2011) always put your baby to sleep on their back (which i do) and dummies have been proven to dramatically lower the risk of cot death when used to settle your baby to sleep (i tried one but my dd didnt take to it) so im guessing in a few years things will change again theyll probably be saying never make up feeds with freshly boiled water and always store in the fridge for 2 hrs before use.

Redouble

I never sterilised my bottles, I didn't have a dishwasher then either. With my first, when I 'had' to switch to formula (due to gross misinformation, but hey ho!) My health visitor asked me if I didn't have bleach, how would I disinfect my kitchen surfaces. I said hot (meaning almost boiling) soapy water. She then said this is all the bottles needed, a proper wash in very hot soapy water.

If I remember rightly, in America they don't sterilise, and also I seem to recall there being a study(?) saying that sterilising had a negative effect? Although what that could be I do not know... (except perhaps with the older plastic bottles with BPA in, perhaps the heat affected it. Apologies for not having full facts, I haven't formula fed since for about 18 to 24 months so the information is not fresh in my mind xx

digitalphase

Well, I breastfed for about 3 months but had to give my baby the odd bottle of formula as his upper lip was swollen when he was first born, due to forceps, so he couldn't suckle.

We always washed bottles etc in hot, soapy water, then sterilised in microwave. Boiled kettle then put the four bottles in the fridge. Then took one out as needed, added milk, then warmed with warmer.

Now he is 8 months old we don't sterilise his bottles now. But they are washed in hot and soapy still of course, or more often than not, in the dishwasher. A kettle is boiled as required. Left to sit for about half an hour. Poured out, formula added, then cooled to required temperature.

My baby is around 23lbs now, very healthy, and we have had no problems doing things this way.

I always read not to make up feeds prior and not to store them, but there is such a lot of conflicting info out there it's hard to know what to do sometimes.

lilrahi

On the carton of formula it says once made it, the feed is only good for 2 hours, after that it should be thrown away.

But anyway, I never followed those instructions because when I was at home, I used to make up the feeds as and when I needed to. When DD was newborn I used to take hot water up in one flask, cold in another and an extra bottle to make sure I was getting the right quantities. If I was making up 4 ounces, I'd add 1.5 ounces of hot water, add 4 scoops formula and then use another bottle for the remaining 2.5 ounces of cold water and that (usually) used to make a perfect temp feed for DS. A lot of faffing around but it worked.

When I was going out, I used to either take a ready-made feed carton or make up a feed using boiling water and then give that to her when she needed it (usually we'd returned home by then!)

Kaz2904

Another thing to remember is that a carton of ready prepared formula milk may well be sterile when it's sealed but as soon as the seal is broken, it is no longer sterile because the bugs have got to it.

My friend had real issues when she was pregnant because she knew she couldn't breast feed. She kept asking her midwife for information about formula feeding and getting nothing so she kept asking in her antenatal classes. She was always poo pooed by the midwives running the course saying not to worry and it would all be fine. She got towards the end of the course and asked again. The midwife kept putting her off but she was getting really worried as she needed to know what to take to hospital with her. The midwife said again that she was sure she'd be able to breast feed if she just gave it a try despite my friend asserting that there was no way she could breast feed. Eventually my friend had to blurt out in front of all of the other Mums to be and their partners that she couldn't breast feed due to the fact that she had no nipples so no where for milk to come out. Now, due to my friends visible scarring, it should have been fairly easy to make the mental leap that she may well have been correct in the assertion that she couldn't breast feed.
Gah!

fantafan

I followed this from the Department of Health http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/formulaguidance.pdf

My baby has never been ill in 8 months other than a cough for a couple of days. I combined breast and bottle until at 4 months went down the formula route when he just wanted bottle. Yes, in an ideal world we'd all know our babies soooo well we could anticipate 30 mins plus cooling when they would need one but it isn't so simple as all babies are different. People don't half get on the moral high ground when somebody asks for support and a simple question!

Freshly made up bottles with cooled water last for 2 hours before you should discard.
If you make a bottle up and cool it in the fridge immediately, it will last for 24 hours before you should discard. Also make sure it is cooled fully before it is reheated.

Yes, I moved on to using a microwave after a few weeks too (shock-horror!). Bottle warmers were also not quick enough for my hungry baby. Why let him cry? He doesn't really whinge now as I read his signs. (make sure you wait a minute or so before checking and giving microwaved bottle as the molecules apparently bounce around after it's heated up).

Formula is not poison compared to breast! It is full of vitamins. Breast is not for everybody....be it not want, can't or not able to.

Good luck with baby OP x

PS I agree there should be more FF support too. I didn't have a clue how to bottle feed when it came to the point when I had to. My HV was good though and did show me.

go_cat

lollipopsarah wrote: »

Glad I'm not a new mum now.
xx

Me too !

Clearly I was doing it all wrong for my darling DS 4 years ago maybe I should hand myself into social services