Im starting to get annoyed with myself now............how do you make up your feeds?? Do you mix powder with boiled water straight from kettle when baby is ready for feed....ie crying?? then leave to cool??

or do u boil kettle and fill bottle with amount u need, leave to sit however long, then add powder when needed and just warm through by sitting bottle in warm water?? or do you put water in fridge??

im so confused, im getting people saying so many different things its annoying me now. originally i used to make the feeds up, put them in fridge then warm them through as needed. but i was told you shouldnt leave them in fridge longer than 2 hours......well i might aswell not bother as ollie goes 4-5hrs between feeds so it would be pointless. now i boil kettle and fill a few bottles with the amount of water i need, then leave until i need then just add powder and warm through.

what is correct?? if any?? or do you do it another way?? please tell me i dont have to make each bottle from boiling water straight from kettle cos ollie would scream the house down waiting for it to cool down. im never 100% when he'll want feeding as it does change so cant really boil kettle in readiness as chances are he'll fall asleep again! HELP!!! Ive just read something that says you have to add the powder to water thats 70 degrees+ to kill the bacteria in the powder?? If thats the case i havent been doing that?!

So many people tell u different things i never know if what im doing is correct!!

Hi,

A couple of years ago the goverment advice was to make up a days feeds and put them in the fridge warming them up as they were needed.

Then they changed the 'rules' to making the feeds up on demand and cooling them down with running cold water/ice.

It's really up to you how you choose to do it. We figured that we'd survived quite well on the old guidelines and our friends also did it that way. We don't tend to make a day's feeds up but we'll do 2 or 3 at a time and pop them in the fridge (we have a dedicated shelf for them) and then warm up as necessary.

You can also put the pre-boiled water into the bottles and cap them up, leave them on the side and add the powder as necessary and warm them up if you need to. I've never done this as I think it's better to add the powder to >70degree water for bug killing/formula mixing properties.

It's confusing as the government like to cover their backs against all contingencies (ie it's unlikely that lo would get any tummy bugs from making feeds up fresh whereas it's theoretically possible if the milk has been made a while) but you have to decide what you're happy with and go with that.

Our decision was based on what friends and family do/did and lo has been fine.

Hope that helps a bit?
Clare x

apparently the reason the gov changed the guidelines was because idiotic folk were making up 6 bottles & just leaving them on sunny windowsil sorta thing.

my friend has 2 wee girls 13minth between them when the 1st was born she did 5 bottles a time into fridge & warm as req, not even very warm she just took chill off. when 2 came along she had tommy tippees with the powder contained in them, so poured the water into bottle, then added the powder container & just mixed as req (never refridgerater) & just fed at rm temp.

I boil kettle and allow water to cool for half hour add water to approx 3 sterilised bottles at a time with tommee tippee powder dispenser in bottle. Leave bottles on side in kitchen. When feed due I add powder and warm through.

xx

This is a great question as there seems to be so many ways to do it.

Hope you don't mind me asking - is it really ok to add formula to water that has been allowed to cool? I always thought it had to be hot for some reason.

Sorry to g/c from pregnancy xx

Having seen several different containers of formula over the last few weeks (DD is on Aptamil 1 but changed to C&G Comfort for two weeks before returning to Aptamil. She was then prescribed SMA Staydown for her reflux if we needed it) my opinion would be to follow the instructions on the particular container you are using.

All 3 of the formulas I have mentioned above are made entirely differently so there is no one way of making up the formula.

I hope that helps.

Love and hugs
Clare & Caitlin
11 weeks 4 days

Thats interesting to know lolliepop, id never read another container apart from aptimil, Im not actually making it the way they say.....well im mixing it the way they say, but im keeping it in the fridge longer than i think they say, but i simply cant make it up fresh.....its impossible if ds and i are to have a life. Sorry if people think that sounds selfish, but i cant mix up when ds stsrts crying, especially if im out as he'd be waiting too long xx

My friend said the biggest mistake she ever made was letting her lo get used to a warm bottle.
Ive decided today to switch to formula after a month. I was trying to express the odd bottle but was only getting milk from one side.This kind of explained when harry kept wanting more, if he had fed on that side. I noe think it obviously wasnt coming out enough.
Ive decided to boil water and fill a couple of bottles and use the powder dispensers. Then just mix when required, probably at room temperature.
I understand from this thread that everyone does it a little different, and im sure there are no big differences in the growth of our little ones :-)
Dx

Have just returned from visiting my parents in America and all the formulas over there say that you can make up in advance and keep in the fridge, all the formulas I've looked at over here say not to keep for longer than 2 hours!

I tend to make it up as I need it, but just take the water out of the kettle, not worrying about whether it is hot or not! (I always re-fill the kettle when empty and click it on, so know it's always boiled!) LO doesn't mind how he gets it so long as he gets it! Have even given it straight from the fridge before and he didn't mind it!

Cas and Zach - 7 months!