Making up bottles... #BabyBabble

So many different guidlines to follow, a lot of them can be rather contradicting in my opinion too and, having made the decision to formula feed Finley, it is stressing me out!

The basics:
  • Wash bottles thoroughly in hot soapy water with a bottle and teat brush.
  • Sterilise the bottles.
  • Boil fresh water in the kettle and leave to cool (not any longer than 30 minutes to ensure it is hot enough 'sterilise' the formula - 70C)
  • Use 30ml of water per level scoop of formula.

Back when Carson was a baby I was told by the health visitor that it was acceptable to make up the day's worth of bottles and store them in the back of fridge, warming as required throughout the day.
  • To warm the bottle, place in a jug of boiling water and test the milk on your inner wrist. 
  • If it feels OK to you, it will be perfect for baby. 
  • Once the bottle has been touched by baby - any left after 2 hours must be discarded. This worked perfectly for me. 
  • Any feed remaining in the fridge after 24 hours MUST be discarded.

Now I'm told to make 'on demand'. Never pre-make a batch of bottles for baby. URGH!!

Aside from being inconvenient when out and about, this is making my entire day revolve around his feeds. When a newborn requires a feed every 2-3 hours, I'm not kidding you. Your entire day is consumed. Not to mention the dreaded night feeds. No more whipping one out of the fridge and warming to room temp in the trusty old jug of boiling water. Nope!

You can't even sterilise your bottles in batches either because, if using a microwave steriliser, once you've opened it up to retrieve one bottle - the rest will only be sterile for approx 4 hours. So sterilising 2 bottles at a time is even pushing it.
Luckily for me, I use the solo steriliser from Milton (that I reviewed HERE) with cold water and sterilising tablets. This way, when I take one bottle out I can place a pre-washed bottle back in ready for next time.
But that still leaves the mega-drama of waiting for the boiled kettle to cool enough to make up the formula, and then placing in a cold jug of water to cool further for baby's delicate little mouth - all whilst baby is screaming half of the street down "I WANT MY BOTTLE WAAAAAAAAA!!" Talk about pure stress!
OK, so there are ready feeds that you can buy, but at Finley's age - he ain't gunna be drinking the full 200ml that they come as and I have to discard any that hasn't been used. So, at 60-odd pence a bottle it gets quite expensive to say the least, never mind wasteful.

So I researched online and came across a handy PDF from the World Health Organisation (I found it HERE) .... and guess what? I can ignore my Health Visitor! 

It is perfectly safe to pre-make a batch of bottles and store in the fridge (no warmer than 5C)

Just make sure that once you've made them up they are cooled quickly and stored at the back of the fridge, and for no longer than 24hours.

Hope I helped someone out there... this has massively reduced my stress-load anyway.


#BabyBabble





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11 comments:

  1. Honestly the changing goalposts drive me completely mad. My theory is that if it worked ok for my 3yr old them I'm going to repeat with the newbie.

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  2. I find all the conflicting information so confusing!
    We decided to buy and Tommee Tippee perfect prep machine and it's amazing! Probably our best baby purchase as it just takes some of the stress out of feeding! Thanks again for hosting this lovely link-up! x

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  3. It is so confusing isnt it! Way back when I put the water in Olivias bottles and measured out the powder into pots ready for the next feed. The bottles would be stored in the fridge until her feed. My sisters also use this method for their babies now and it seems to be working for them. I was lucky she liked her bottles at room temperature too so no reheating!

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  4. There does seem to be a lot of conflicting information. It must be frustrating.

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  5. jeeze i had no idea it was so complicated! no wonder peopel get so stressed
    Lauren
    livinginaboxx

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  6. We use the large Milton steriliser and it's much better as not having to turn the steriliser on each time! Also we keep them in the fridge too ;) x

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  7. seems like lots of work with bottlefeeding, do you have any idea how to sterilise just with water?!

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  8. This is exactly what I've been worrying about. With Bradley I was able to make up bottles for the day but had heard its no longer acceptable. A friend recommended the Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep which we've purchased to make things easier!! I wonder what else has changed!!
    Lianne | TheBrunetteSays...

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  9. I've had this discussion at NCT, women giving birth within months of each other are told different things for feeding, swaddling vs sleep bags, to cosleep or not to... It's so stressful! I think do what feels right unless you see conclusive evidence against it. Although easier said than done when you're a sleep-deprived new Mum on the edge, as I'll discover next month!xxx

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  10. I have just linked up because it is finishing in 30 mins. So will grab the badge and comment on others tomorrow :-)

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  11. Great post! We had to rely on my mum telling us how to make up bottles as there was so little info from the NHS. After some subtle hinting from our health visitor that it's ok to make up bottles in advance, that's what we do. So much conflicting advice!!x

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