Preparing formula feeds

[Jane D]

Just wondering how you all prepare your formula feeds in advance.

The new government regulations released 2005 (since my last lo was born) seems like we are getting more and more paranoid in the UK about sterilisation and rearing our children in a sterile environment. 

I am all for keeping things sterile but it seems sometimes to be extreme and makes it really difficult for us busy mums especially when there are more than one lo to consider.  Also I do somewhat believe that a complete sterile environment is leading somewhat to the increased cases of skin disorders and asthma that we now have in this country.

For my last lo I prepared the formula and kept it in the fridge ready for use within 24hours of its preparation.  With this lo I am chosing to store sterile water in the fridge and heat this up in order to prepare the feed each time required.

However the government are now suggesting that fresh boiled water is used for every feed (boiled no longer than 20 minutes before and remaining above 70 degrees).  So if feeds are required outside the house you need to take the just  boiled water out in a flask then find a way to cool the feed down once youve added the powdered milk.

I guess the other alternative would be to use liquid prepared feeds but thats a bit pricey if doing regularly.

Let me know your thoughts

Jane

[Seona1973]

I put the boiled water into the bottles and them leave them to cool and only add the powder when the feed is required. DS takes them at room temperature. 

The main issue is formula made up in advance as the powder is contaminated with bacteria that can then multiply and cause your lo to get ill.  Although the water I use isnt hot enough to kill the bacteria, at least they dont have time to grow to a sufficient level to cause illness.  It is all about the risks you are willing to take.

[donna_issabella]

we boil water, i pour it in the bottle, and then close them and put them in the fridge to cool, ready for use the next day. i add formula just before use and heat the bottle to desired temperature. i agree that we are being too sterile and we are seeing more and more LO's with asthma and eczema than years before.

[Johno & Aurelias Mum]

It does amaze me.  My first was bottle fed and we made the feeds up and kept them in the fridge.  I friend did the boiled water and added the powder at the time which I thought was more sensible and wish I'd done it that way.

This time round though I'm breastfeeding to start with and I can't believe what a contrast - it seems so incredibly unhygenic compared to the regime we were made to follow with the bottles!  If the same rules were applied to breastfeeding as bottlefeeding, I'd be sterilising my clothes! 

I think its like everything else, we need to be sensible with hygiene but it can go over the top.

[Stace]

I give DD a couple of bottles per day at the mo but I'm mainly BF and TBH I find it much easier and quicker to make a bottle as and when I need it. I simply boil the water add the formula, mix it up and cool it straight away in cold water for her to have. I had been making bottles in advance, cooling them quickly, putting them in the fridge then heating them up but it takes so long to heat them again and I feel this way is fresher.

As far as feeds when out and about. I have a thermabag (insulated bag instead of a flask) and I put two bottles of just boiled water in it and add the formula when I need them. I always have a couple of made up cartons with me too for emergencies.

I never know if I'm doing the right thing and get quite paranoid about how long the bottles have been sitting in the steriliser etc but as DH says, our parents and their parents didn't have all the sterilisers etc that we now have and not all of them will have been able to BF and we turned out okay  .

I totally agree that in some ways we are becoming too sensitive and probably doing our kids more harm than good in the long run by not allowing them to build up their immune system gradually cause let's face it, as soon as they become toddlers we have a limited control of what's going in their mouths!!

Stace x

[* Paula *]

We would boil our water first thing in the morning, add all the water to the bottles and re-seal them.  When we were ready to make a bottle up, we would just add the formula and heat up when required.

I am going to try and BF this time round plus add the odd bottle of formula as and when needed and I will be doing it the same was as we did with DS.

Paula