Formula prep and sterilizing????????????????

Replies

• MLT

  Nov 22, 2007 6:48PM

  HI
  We have the TT digital steam steriliser and it keeps the bottles sterile (unless opened) for 3 hours. What i do is sterilise the bottles, and boil a kettle. Once the kettle water has been left for 30 mins i fill the bottles with the water to the level needed. I keep the bottles on the side in a coolish room. Then i just add the formula to the bottles when i need them.
  Matthew is 7 months so is only having 3 bottles a day so i do mine all last thing at night and then they are ready for the next day. I can't remember what and how many we did when he was that little (sorry!) I fed Matthew on demand and then just tried to stretch him out between feeds as much as i could. Eventually he went longer and longer between feeds and then we had to make sure he was getting what he needed by doing bottles every 4 hours or so. Sorry, but i can't remember what age he was then?!?!
  Hope that helps. I don't know about how sterile your bottles are in the cupboard but i think you're right that drying them would undo all the sterilising. Good luck. Have you got a helpful HV you could ring?
  Juliette

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• sarahwilde

  Nov 22, 2007 7:00PM

  thanks juliette,
  
  ive got the same sterilizer and the most concerning bit was not drying them and the water droplets would be unsterile. I have started to fill them with water and make them up as and when.
  
  Im feeding her as it says on the tin but not timing the feeds, as some girls I know are feeding at set times, but Im just doing it when shes hungry.
  
  Am seeing the HV next week so will check with her but shes so pro breast feeding she will prob ignore the question!!! (am still BF at night)
  
  Thanks Juliette again, I dont feel so bad now!!!!
  
  Sarah xxx

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• TriciaLaraKaylaOakley

  Nov 23, 2007 5:59AM

  WIth my 2 girls used to prepapre all bottles for full 24 hours. But now with wee boy due to the ingredients in formula you are supposed to prepare 1 at a time as needed as milk can breed germs even when cooled and in fridge. HV advised to sterilise bottles and fill with pre boiled water that has been cooled for atleast 30 mins then put teat/lid on. She then said to leave on worktop (out of sunlight) to keep water at room temp. Then all you need to do is add formula when required and shake and hey presto bottle is ready.
  
  It is prefereable that you re heat the bottle before adding the formula to 70c as it mixes better however you then need to cool it again!! and it is not necessary.

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• leet1976

  Nov 23, 2007 8:41AM

  this one will always be a bit of a debate, it's not the ingredients in the milk that mean germs will breed,it's that 'experts' say that you shouldn't make them up in advance, i think more for their own good, ie someone has done it wrong somewhere and they now say this as it keeps them out of any trouble. i make up a days worth at a time, as i have done since lo was about 1 month old. i sterilise his bottles then boil the kettle i pour the water into the bottles straight away to cool then after 30 mins add the formula then put straight in the fridge. i try to do it at night before bed so i don't have to mess around in the morning. you were able to do this until recently and there has been no harm to my baby he is growing and putting on weight well. i also feed on demand i dont agree with feeding them to suit you with a timetable although it may make things easier to know exactly when to do the feed if you do make up one at a time. he is now 6 months and has 4 bottles a day as he wont take more than 6 ozs at a time.

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• hushpuppy

  Nov 23, 2007 10:47AM

  I also make a days worth in advance and store them in the fridge. For the first couple of weeks after I stopped bf I made them as and when I needed them but with a baby screaming for food I couldn't get them ready quick enough!!!
  My hv said it was ok to do this as long as they were kept in the fridge and only brought out when you were ready to use them.
  I agree that hv's are very careful about what they will condone and won't, it's almost as if they're scared of advising you to do something just in case something goes wrong and you sue them!!
  

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• HappyMama

  Nov 23, 2007 2:32PM

  I also make up a days worth last thing in the evening. I put the bottles in the sterilizer and put the kettle on, then after 30 - 45 mins i fill the bottles woth the cool boiled water and add the formula. Then i put them in the fridge and only take them out when i need them. I've done this since my lo was a week old and we've not had any problems. This is how my mum did it with me and my siblings and we were all fine.
  
  My midwife told me that there's no reason why we shouldnt do this, she told me she thinks the new rules are a bit over the top.
  
  

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• annem1982

  Nov 23, 2007 2:49PM

  Hey there, my lo is 6 and a half months, when she was born I used to make the bottles up in advance I think she was getting feed every 3-4 hours, however, one time when I was feeding her with a made up bottle the milk had gone off which made her very sick (didn't even know the milk had gone off until she has drank 3oz and it was stored in the fridge and only taken out when her feed was due). From then on in I make the bottles up with just the water (just before I go to bed) and add the powder as she needs it.

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• Kristians_mum

  Nov 24, 2007 10:14AM

  i'm makeing Kristians bottles just with water and i make the powder in formula dispensers and its easier that way everything is measured u just add the powder in the bottle and if its in the fridge u need to warm it up and if u need to warm the water it takes just 10 sec in the microwave for formula takes longer(with screaming baby even 5 sec is a lot)and when u go out there is no risk of milk going off u always give ur baby fresh made milk

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• Louise_N

  Nov 24, 2007 11:09AM

  Hi my daughter is 10 weeks tomorrow and I have a TT steriliser as well. I boil the kettle and leave it to cool for 30 mins then put the desired amount of water in the bottle. When it is cool enough I put in the formula and leave them sitting out. My daughter gets room temp food so I don't see the point in putting them in the fridge and then taking them out to bring back to room temp before she gets it so I leave all my bottles sitting out and I have no problems at all with it. She takes her bottles great.

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• Allie73

  Nov 24, 2007 11:28AM

  It took months for us to come up with a good system for making bottles, but we finally sorted it out. At night, or first thing in the morning, we pour cooled, boiled water into enough (sterilized) bottles for the day. We put the powder into some Tommee Tippee formula dispensers. They fit right in the bottles. So, the bottles and formula are measured and ready to go when the baby is ready to eat. They don't have to be refridgerated and they're ready to go if we go out. It works much better for us than when we used to pre-make the bottles.

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• Smithya85

  Nov 25, 2007 7:03PM

  Nashy do you make up a few at a time when you do ths or just one at a time? How long do you leave them out at room temp before using them? We used to do this and lo was fine wit it but recently Ive started putting them in the fridge them warming them when needed, I make up a few at a time. Find the whole thing so confusing!!

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• TriciaLaraKaylaOakley

  Nov 26, 2007 8:29AM

  Sorry to have to disagree with you tallulahlola - but the milk does breed germs even when its in the fridge and it is proven. Sorry if this sounds blunt but there was an incidence of over 100 babies getting ill due to this and thats why it is now advised not to pre make them. Of course it is down to evey individuals preference but having known a friend whose baby was affected by this and I will now always make them as I need them - or use ready made milk.
  
  xxx

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• carolines100

  Nov 26, 2007 9:11AM

  we used exactly the same method as Allie73 and hv was very impressed with the milk dispensers i think they had just come out when i used them my LO is now 15 months.
  
  My friend has just started doing the same with her 8 week old as she was making one up each time until i showed her these.
  
  they only fit the one sort of bottle though but i guess putting right amount of water in each bottle and adding powder when needed is just the same.

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• Louise_N

  Nov 26, 2007 4:57PM

  Smithya85 I make up 4 or 5 bottles at a time and they do me for the night feeds and half of the next day so they are sitting out for a while. I have no problems with this and have been doing this for weeks. I used to put them in the fridge at the start and when I was using one bottle I would have taken the next one out to bring it to room temp. I stopped this as I didn't see the point in putting them in the fridge to cool and then bringing them back to room temp and it was also quite annoying especially if you needed one in a hurry. Now all the bottles are sitting ready and waiting once I need them. My daughter has never had a problem with me doing it like this. She is 10 weeks old.

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• lj007

  Nov 27, 2007 5:08AM

  hiya, sorry I didn't read this thread before I posted one similar. I use to make my LO feeds up in advanced and just thought that my LO was just a sicky baby, It's just by fluke that I've found out that he's better on freshly made feeds. I now just put the amount of cooled boiled water into the bottles and leave them on the side, when I need the feed I just warm the water up in the microwave then add the milk powder. By doing it this way, he has rarely been bringing his feeds back!!

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• mumto225

  Nov 27, 2007 9:32AM

  i also leave bottles of boiled water on the bench then add milk when needed, i was worried that maybe the bottle and water wouldn't be sterile anymore so i'm glad i'm not the only one to do this. making individual bottles takes too much time! but i dont think that anyone should leave bottles with the milk in on the bench (sorry) i wouldn't leave a pint of milk of milk on the bench as it would go off, so will formula! if you leave the water on the bench and add milk when it's needed it's still going to be at room temp.
  

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• Louise_N

  Nov 27, 2007 10:38AM

  I know what you are saying about milk on the bench but I have had no problems with it. The other reason why I started this was because when my baby was in the special care unit for 2 weeks and all the formula that they had in the glass bottles was left in a press at room temp and they didn't seem to have any problems with it and obviously have been doing this for years. Maybe because it is airtight its ok I don't know. Maybe I will try it your way and see but to me you are shaking the formula into the water just before the feed and leaving all bubbles in it which will make the baby sick. I prefer to let the milk settle first. I will maybe try and experiment with the way you are saying but at the minute I am having no problems. I suppose everyone has their own way of doing things.

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• Sscn

  Nov 27, 2007 1:59PM

  The wee glass bottles hospitals use are fine at room temp untl opened, after opened they can only be kept for 4 hours in a fridge, and only if baby didnt feed directly from them (OH's dad works in a hosp)

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• sarahwilde

  Nov 28, 2007 4:30PM

  Gosh!!! Thank you ladies for your replies!
  
  Im basically now pouring boiled water into the sterilized bottles and leaving it at room temp till needed. I was worried about adding formula too early and germs breeding in the fridge, but I do think this might be quite safe too, will see how I go on the other way till shes a bit older.
  
  I have got the TT formula containers too and only use these when I go out, but I suppose I could measure out the formula in advance too. Its a bit of a pain really isnt it washing bolltes and sterilizing and heating up or cooling down...! I always seem to run out of bottles too.........
  
  Thank you ladies xxx

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