CARE Fertility Bulletin Board

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Hi

Just wondered if anyone had disregarded the current guidance on storage of bottle feeds. 8 years ago when my DS was born we made up 6 bottles at a time and put them in the fridge, but now we're being told that you have to make up feeds as needed, which is a nightmare at 2am with 2 screeching babies, so we doing a combination of ready to drink cartons and sometimes a flask of boiled cooled water to make up formula.

Has anyone made up a couple of feeds for use later and has anything horrid happened as a result?

Thanks,

Roz

rlt · 19 Feb 2011

I think the issue is making a bottle fresh using boiled water so that any bacteria in the formula can be killed. Also it is deemed not safe to use bottle two hours after it has bee made.
However my sister and several friends have all boiled water in advance then poured in formula when time for a feed. No ill effects but not sure I would do this now I know importance of water temp.
Good luck I hope you find a solution you are happy with.

*Suze* · 24 May 2004

Hi Roz

this is more important for younger babies as sadly a baby died from a bottle which had made up in advance and thats why the instructions have changed

rlt is correct that the reason the bottle is to made up with boiling water and left to cool is so the bacteria in formula can be killed off however often as the babies get older mum's become more relaxed about this

best way to make you life easier and to be sure the baby's feed is safe is to use ready made formula at night and take a flask of boiled water to bed with you so you can warm the milk really quickly

hope that helps
Suze xx

nicster · 19 Aug 2010

Hi Roz, I was told that it is perfectly acceptable to boil the water in the kettle put the desired amount in each bottle then put the sterilised bottles containing the boiled water in the fridge. These remain sterile for 24 hours. When your babies need feeding take the bottle out and warm it either in a jug of boiled water or in the microwave, I allways used the microwave, so easy and convenient and only takes 20-30 seconds, then put the desired amount of formula in, give it a shake, test it and hey presto ! I think this is perfectly acceptable and never did my two any harm. This is how all my friends did it too x

Good luck x

Nicster x

Red Badger · 20 Sep 2006

Sorry but would you get a piece of chicken, cook it put it in the fridge and then partly warm it up to eat it, I think not but as an adult your gut can take more bacteria.

A tiny baby doesn't have these defenses!

I too was naive and made up formula as you describe with my DD when I had to stop BF at 8 months. Since then I have been on various training sessions with LLL, etc, and was horrified that formula powder was not sterile and would not take the risk for a little inconvenience. It has taken us too long to get our precious ones and they are tiny for such a short time why take the risk. There hasn't just been one instance of a baby dying we just don't read about it in the media as formula companies pay too much in advertising.

Phoenix_ · 10 May 2011

Hi! As someone else has said the issue requiring you to make up fresh bottles is not with the boiled water nor the bottles, it is with the formula itself. The formula is not sterile, so there is little point boiling the water & sterilising bottles if you don't then sterilise the formula. For this reason formula needs to be made up with water at 70 degrees Celsius minimum. I use boiling water at 100 degrees. This isn't recomended purely due to the risk of scalding yourself on the hot plastic, but I use a tea towel to handle the bottle. This saves waiting 25min for freshly boiled water to cool to 70 degrees. However, bottles made up using boiling water can then be stored in the fridge at 5 degrees celcius for up to 12hours. This is as per the guidance on the food standards agency website. I therefore make up 4 feeds at 9am using boiling water to get me through the day, at 2 at 9pm for night feeds. I use colief which is an extra faff so really can't make up fresh each time! I keep them in the fridge at 5 degrees then warm with my electric warmer once baby needs to feed. When out and about I use a freezer pack in a cool bag then warm, again as per the guidance on the food standards agency website.

Hood this helps Smile

xx

Briony · 06 Apr 2001

Hi Roz,

As others have said, its the powdered formula which is non-sterile, the ready made cartons are produced in a different way which eliminates the risk. Of course its up to every mum to make the right decisions for her baby and we all have a different risk profile. As Suze suggests I'd personally use cartons if time is short and save powdered feeds for when its less pressured. The new guidelines are pretty full-on, but it is the only safe way to make up feeds. Its interesting isn't it that our assumption is that its about sterilising the water/bottles and not the powder?

Love Briony

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful. I have to say I hadn't realised the seriousness of what could happen - I was thinking a dodgy tum would be the worst of it, but that's pretty scarey. Very glad now I'd not ignored the guidelines.

We will carry on with the ready-mix cartons at night I think. They work out pretty expensive but it's worth it to not have the worry that I'm doing something I shouldn't.

Thanks again Smile

Hobbit · 14 May 2007

Hi Roz,

Just as an alternative I used to store a sterilised bottle of boiled water in the fridge and when i made up her feeds I'd put half boiling water, add the formula (hopefully meeting the requirements to kill the bugs) and mix well then top up to the required with very cold at least that way it was ready to use very quickly without having to wait for cooling etc.... Hope this helps

Steph xx

stargazer11 · 09 Jan 2011

Hi
We did it by the book, made up fresh feeds during the day and used ready mix at night or when out for the day. BTW we were told that making feeds up at 70 degrees is the only way to kill the bacteria in the powder. I asked could we make up using newly boiled water at 100 degrees but the HV said it killed off the nutrients in the milk, so we always cooled it to 70. Don't know if it's right but we didn't take the chance.
x

Phoenix_ · 10 May 2011

That's interesting stargazer - I asked my health visitor & checked on the cow&gate website both said the 70 degree was purely due to scalding risk & not related to the formula nutrients, as I wondered whether that was the reason. I've been using boiling water so hope it's ok! X

stargazer11 · 09 Jan 2011

Hi Phoenix,
I never found anything official on the web to state that making up feeds at 100 degrees kills nutrients, only references to it by people on comments boards like this one. And of course we get conflicting information on them, as well as from various Midwives and HV's so I don't know for sure. I just cooled to 70 just in case, it's hard to tell when its right temp at first as they say 30 mins cooling in the kettle which is a bit vague depending on how much water is in the kettle, then the added frustration of someone else coming in the kitchen and flicking the kettle on again whilst it's cooling! Initially I poured boiling water into the bottle (x2) and bought a temp gauge and worked out on one of the bottles when it got to 70, then discard the tested one and use the sterile one. After a few times of doing this I soon got to know what 70 felt like so didn't need to go through the rigmarole after that. I was petrified of doing it wrong!
I have to say that 17 years previously when I had my other child, Matt, I used to make up a days feeds all in one go (6 bottles), mix it cold and store in fridge. He was sick on and off but I was always told all babies are sick all the time. With Lucy I followed new guidelines to the letter and I can count on one hand the number of times she's been sick. x

wishuponastar · 24 Oct 2010

When my first DD was born we made up the six bottles as was the norm and she never had any vomiting bugs as a baby.
When DD2 arrive 4 years ago, the new guidelines were inforce to make up as you go along.
I know all the reasons but it was just too faffy so I used to make up 3 in the morning for feeds through the day and then 3 at night that would see us through until first feed the next day.
Again, she never had any upset tums.
If we were going out I also took a sterilised bottle and carton and on holiday I did this too so I could have a bit of time off from chore of bottle making up!!
Do what you feel comfortable with so that way you will not feel guilty about not doing the right thing-well until the next dilemma!! x

Mae · 31 May 2007

Have had 5 children (last two are twins) and always made up feeds in advance & kept them in the fridge, making up enough bottles each morning to last for 24 hours.
Have five extremely healthy, very robust children & agree with wishuponastar probably worth saving your energy for the next real dilemna!!
Am also a microbiologist by trade & understand in perspective the "so-called" risks of formula - nothing in fact is sterile - not even a sterilised bottle or boiled water the second it stops boiling..... so don't feel guilty. Even if formula was "sterile" the minute you open the tin it isn't sterile anymore .....
The minute you open a carton it isn't sterile etc etc !!!

stargazer11 · 09 Jan 2011

does that mean that we don't need to sterilise and follow the guidelines?

Fudgie · 19 Nov 2007

I think that you have to decide what is best for you (and what you are comfortable with) as nothing is, of course, completely risk free. It's all about being sensible. We have twins (now aged 3) and we used powder by day following the recommendations, boiling kettle and leaving about 30 mins before making up the bottles; then at night we used the cartons. I know it's expensive, but also so much easier when you are sleep deprived and staggering about in the middle of the night! My sister in law stopped sterilising when my nephew was only 4 months old, whereas we kept going til the girls were about 1. My nephew was and is absolutely fine, but I wouldn't have been happy doing that. I would stick to recommendations when they are really tiny to be on the safe side, but that's just me. It is a complete pain though!

F x

Briony · 06 Apr 2001

I think you've hit the nail on the head Fudgie, nothing is risk free - so its about making an assessment and decisions for your family, whilst being aware and sensible.

The new preparation guidelines were drawn up by the World Health Organisation in order to give the best information on the least risky way to prepare formula feeds. Some babies will be at increased risk - for instance pre-term or low birthweight, so maybe different precautions should be taken under those circumstances. The full report can be downloaded here: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/micro/pif2007/en/

Hope that helps,

Love Briony

wishuponastar · 24 Oct 2010

Thanks for the link Briony. As I know look after my sisters baby while shes at work its always good to keep on top of new advice.
The thing that confused me though is that its said you need boiling water, cooled to 70, then cool down to safe temp to feed immediatley but on the last page it says if you are going to use the feed straight away, which is what they recommend, it is ok to use room temp safe water? SO, if this is so, why faff with the boiling?
Hope you don't mind me asking you but you seem to be a fountain of knowledge when it comes to feeding babies.
TIA x

Rallygirl · 06 Mar 2006

Hi Roz,

Havent read the replies properly, sorry. But here's what I did: Sterilised the 16 bottles, boiled the kettles (plural, had one for tea making and one for my bottles so nobody nicked my freshly boiled water) and filled the bottles with two thirds of the required final amount. So, when they were on 6oz feeds, I filled all the bottles to 4oz. I sealed the bottles and left these on the kitchen work surface. When a feed was due, I'd boil fresh water again, top up to the 6oz, add the powder. This meant the bottles were freshly made, the water was hot enough but also cool enough to drink straight away. A blessing a night time!!

Anyway, Ive been away from the boards for so long, I need info!!! What did you have, when, what weights, how are you?

Jo xx

Briony · 06 Apr 2001

Hi Wishuponastar,

Oh that's interesting, I've never read all the way to the end before! You know, I'm not sure what they mean, that's probably a question for a health visitor tbh. They do imply that its ok to use previously boiled water at less than 70 degrees if you absolutely have to, whilst simultaneously stating that there is no safe way to make up a bottle other than using it boiled and cooled to 70. I know lots about breastfeeding but practically nothing about bottle feeding, other than knowing that the guidelines all changed recently, so my knowledge has definitely reached the end of the line!

Jo, the method you describe above is no longer recommended because the overall temperature of the water mixed with the powder would be reduced to less than 70 degrees when initially mixed, which is not enough to kill the potential bacteria they now know can exist in powdered formula. Funnily I was talking about this with a midwife friend today and she thought the method someone else suggested whereby you partially make the feed up with boiled water (therefore killing bugs) and then topped up with cooled previously boiled water would probably be ok. As has been said already above, it comes down to personal choice and risk spectrum doesn't it?

Love Briony

Rallygirl · 06 Mar 2006

I know Briony, but...!

Briony · 06 Apr 2001

I know Jo!