Talk to me about room temperature bottles and other questions

[babybarr]

So the plan is to bottle feed these two!

Everyone I have spoken to has suggested serving the bottles at room temperature to save time with heating etc and I just wondered how people went about this.

Is it a case of sterilise bottles, boil water, fill bottles and leave them on the kitchen side and then add the powder at the last minute, mix and serve?

How long is the water ok left in the bottle on the side?  How long is it ok for the milk to be left made up?  What do you do when you go out - do you take the water and milk separately or do you just add the milk before and just leave the bottle till you need it?

TIA

[my3girlsjde]

Once I had a system down, this was so much easier

I would boil my water and leave it in a jug at room temp. I would only make enough for a day so I didn't worry about it going stale or anything. I would also steralize the jug every day. When it came time for a feed, I would pour the water in the bottle and add formula and shake. With E I had a separate shakers bottle with a metal coil to help break up the sticky powder because HAF is super clumpy. If going out, I would prepare the bottles with water and leave them in the diaper bag until needed. I had an awesome little powder container with a flip top and compartments made just for this (very cheap at any baby store) then shake and feed.

With my big girls I made the mistake.of making up a jug of formula and refridgerating it and I would have to heat each bottle and carry it in an insulated cooler  PITA!!!!! Warm is actually warmer than bf so I would actually think less natural iykwim.

I loved the room temp and making as I went - I had lots of help from los who loved to shake things. Perhaps something O would enjoy?

[Lolly]

I have a health warning for you! If you are using powdered formula then you need to make the bottles with water that is no less than 70 degrees centigrade (kettle boiled once and left to cool for about 20 mins) because the powder isn't sterile and you need the water at that temp to kill bacteria. There is a specific bacteria that is found in formula which can cause problems, particularly in young babies.

This link is the WHO guide http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/micro/PIF_Bottle_en.pdf

When DS was tiny we made each bottle fresh and then ran it under the tap to cool. We kept a thermos flask filled with hot water, made the bottle from that and then re-filled it so it was ready for the next bottle which saved waiting for the kettle.

We did eventually make bottles with cold water from bottles I had pre-filled because their reflux formula mixed better with cold, they were 6 months (ish) by then so I was comfortable with the risk. If you sterilise a bottle and fill it with once boiled water, put the teat and cap on straight away and leave to cool it stays sterile for 24 hours providing it's not opened until you need it.

Laura

[*happy*]

was just about to post with what we did, but Lolly explained it much better than i could have!!!(FWIW, & a slight aside, but she also held my hand & guided me in the right direction-time & time again while i figured out the whole FF-thing!thanks again Lolly!DD has you to thank for not being poisoned!!!!)
i foudn it handiest to use the cartons of formula if we were out & about for a feed....they are more expensive, but it was stress-free,iywim!?! i used to buy them in a specific pharmacy(not sure if i can say the name!?) so that i was collecting points at the same time & didn't feel so guilty about taking the "short-cut!"

[koe2moe]

What I did was to put boiling water with formula (just enough to dissolve it) and then add enough boiled cooled water to the required temp.  That is way faster. 

I keep a flask of boiling water and a jug of covered cooled boiled water.  I measured out formula in those boxes for out and about even at home.  You will get the hang of how much hot water with cooled water for the desired temperature. 

[Shiv52]

Yup needs to be made with hot water each time. You can't use cooled boiled water to make up bottles.

My friend who has twins said she got into a routine of making the bottles up before she knew they needed fed. The only way she said she kept sane was being quite regimented and feeding 3 hourly or whatever so she'd start preparing them a bit before that to avoid two screaming starving babies.  I can't remember what she said but there is also a time frame for how long you can leave a bottle sitting so you can't make it too early.

For out and about she used the pre-prepared cartons but at family etc she brought powder in those wee contrapractions you get and just made them as normal.

[Lolly]

What I did was to put boiling water with formula (just enough to dissolve it) and then add enough boiled cooled water to the required temp.  That is way faster.   

The only problem with this method is that you may not be adding the correct amount of water. When you add the powder it displaces the water and creates more volume so a 6oz bottle actually looks like a 6.5/7oz bottle but it contains 6oz of water and 6oz worth of nutrients and calories. If you don't put the correct amount of water into the bottle first you may not be diluting the formula to the correct ratio which is potentially dangerous especially if there isn't enough water.

I can't remember what she said but there is also a time frame for how long you can leave a bottle sitting so you can't make it too early.

Yes! A freshly made bottle is good for 2 hours at room temp BUT once it has been drunk from it need to be used/ discarded by 1 hour because of bacteria washing back into the bottle from the baby's mouth.

Laura

[koe2moe]

What I did was to put boiling water with formula (just enough to dissolve it) and then add enough boiled cooled water to the required temp.  That is way faster.   

The only problem with this method is that you may not be adding the correct amount of water. When you add the powder it displaces the water and creates more volume so a 6oz bottle actually looks like a 6.5/7oz bottle but it contains 6oz of water and 6oz worth of nutrients and calories. If you don't put the correct amount of water into the bottle first you may not be diluting the formula to the correct ratio which is potentially dangerous especially if there isn't enough water.

it is fairly easy to work out the end volume, just by doing it.  Write it down.  On our formula box it has the amounts with water added and the end volume listed.   Eg, 1 scoop, x g., 30ml water, you get 33ml formula, etc.

[babybarr]

Pre-prepared cartons - of course   With O he had soya milk so everything had to be made.  His milk also *only* mixed with boiling water else it'd remain lumpy.  I used to make his bottles for the day and then heat them individually.

So what you're saying is really there's not easy way of making room temperature bottles I'm guessing the people I know who do it are maybe not aware of the risks

I guess I could make all the bottles with milk and then leave two out on the side a bit before feeding time? (if I remember and if not warm through a bit?) just the night time will be a pain.

Any other thoughts?  Vicki what would you do?

[koe2moe]

If you are going to make them and keep them in the fridge, I would add boiling water to it to warm it up which is fast and safe. 

[babybarr]

If you are going to make them and keep them in the fridge, I would add boiling water to it to warm it up which is fast and safe. 

So you;d make a smaller amount and then add the additional boiling water???

[koe2moe]

Yes.  Say 3 scoops to make up with 90ml water to make 100ml formula.  I would add say 60ml first and then add 30 before feeding.  You will work out the magic number very quickly.  I write it down for DH to mix.  I suspect for chilled milk, you might need close to half the amount to warm it.  Bear in mind you want to get them used to room temperature but we were going for hand warm.  It was a real PITA as DS really refused anything cooler even at 3 (for cow's milk, ie).

[babybarr]

I'd really hoped I was going to be saving myself some time... clearly not

[Lolly]

We found keeping a flask of hot water quick at night. The water was hot and ready and it only take a couple of mins to cool under running cold water.


Laura

[koe2moe]

Keeping a flask of hot water and then add cooled water was the fastest!  No need to premake and no wastage.  Cooling under water took too long.  We had a very hungry baby.  (in the end, we changed to hungry baby formula so that the feeds were not every 2 hours at 4 mo!).