How to make night feedings easier?

[ENMS]

Hi! DH and I are still adapting to bottle feeding DS who is 2 weeks old.  Does anybody have tips on how to make night feedings the less disruptive possible? DS cries really hard when he wakes up and we'd like to be able to give him his bottle as quickly as possible.

We're using powder so I thought about filling up the bottles with boiled water before bedtime, leaving the powder in the room, and just mixing it together when it's time for a feed - but I've never tried mixing formula with water at room temperature - is it as good as with warm water?

Any advice / good tips would be appreciated!!

[lilybug25]

Bottle warmer in room, with bottles already made on headboard.The first sign that Lo is waking turn bottle warmer on, so by the time lo is already up bottle is warm and ready to go.

[creations]

Powdered formula should really be made with water above 70 deg C to kill any bacteria it contains, the point of the boiled water is not 'just' to help the powder mix or to give LO a nice warm feed, killing bacteria is the priority.

If your LO doesn't mind chilled milk you can make up a bottle (with the hot water) prior to BT, rapid cool and keep chilled (back of fridge).  It can also be warmed from chilled (by sitting it in a tub of hot water or using a bottle warmer).  There are some night feed machines you can get which keep the made up bottle chilled, then at a time pre-set by you it warms the milk.  An expense I wouldn't go to but I'm sure many people find them very useful.

[Lolly]

I agree with creations! The safest way to make bottles is with freshly boiled water at the 70 deg c and if you are making them in advance (which isn't recommended any more) then cool very quickly and store in the back of the fridge. Once formula is made up it's only good for 2 hours at room temp but once a baby has started drinking from the bottle it needs discarding after an hour.

Another fairly quick way is to keep boiled water in a flask upstairs and an empty sterilised bottle and the powder measured out in a container. Then just make the bottle and cool under a running tap which doesn't take very long. This way you don't need to wait for the kettle to boil in the middle of the night!

Laura

[Nauvoo]

we use a bottle warmer as well and love it!!!!

[*Kara*]

Concentrated formula is so much easier than powder   And, actually does work out cheaper than powder.  I make it in a jug and keep it in the fridge, so awesome in those early days when baby has erratic eating habits

That said, with night feeds, we used a divide and conquer method!  As soon as baby started to stir, I ran in to her (though we co-slept for the first 12 weeks) and got her bum changed while DH ran down to the kitchen and tossed a bottle into the warmer... once we got things all figured out and had this system in place, there was maybe one-two minutes of time where me and baby waited for the bottle to arrive  

I had the Avent Express warmer and LOVED it!  Worth every single penny!

http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=3349707&prodFindSrc=search&foreSeeBrowseSampling=15&foreSeeBrowseLoyalty=1&foreSeeEnabled=true

[ENMS]

Thanks everyone! DS seems to have quite a character as he has absolutely zero patience when he wakes!! I use the bottle warmer now it goes much faster.  Kara, I agree about the concentrate! With DD that's what we used, now we started with powder as I thought it would be easier but TBH I hate it... Once the jug is empty I'll buy concentrate... Unless, of course, by then DS is back to breastfeeding fully and does not need to be supplemented (cross my fingers)!

[*Kara*]

Fingers crossed he realizes that boobs are much quicker at 2am

[clairebear79]

Can you get ready made cartons out in canada?  We used powder for day feeds & would make them up in advance, but in the early days we used the ready made cartons at night.  Already at room temperature so just pour & serve, or warm slightly in bottle warmer/jug of hot water for a couple of minutes & hey presto.  I had a screamer so I needed to get him fed quickly!

[MommyMoulton]

Ok here's some 'bad' mum advice. My ds was bottle fed because he couldn't latch due to inverted nipples. I'm not a germ nut as I am a paramedic and a virus now and then is good for the immune system.
We made a large container of formula before bed and placed the right amount in each bottle. Then went ds woke to eat we popped it in the microwave from the fridge with teat off. always fed bottles little warmer than room temp. Did eraeach into whether microwaving did anything to the formula......surprised to learn it does nothing. The only reason not to microwave is risk of burning baby mouth. But as long as you stir out hot spots and test it before you give it to lo its completely safe.... And fast!

[*Kara*]

LOL MM - Add me to the Bad Mum list   I have used the micro since DD was about 7 months...

All you have to do is invert the bottle 8-10 times to get rid of any hot spots... I can do a 9 oz bottle in 1 min on full power...

Not sure why I didn't suggest that!  If I had to FF again, I would use the micro from the get go!

[ENMS]

Thanks everyone for the great advice!