Bottle feeding questions - Please help!?

Question

Right, I have just changed from breast feeding to bottle feeding and have a few questions, can anyone help me please? (my son is 7 months old)

1. Do you always have to boil tap water first?
2. If you boil the water, can you mke the formula while the water is still hot (straight from the kettle) or do you have to wait until it has cooled down first?
3. If they drink 4oz of a 7oz bottle, can you put the rest in the fridge for later?
4. Can you make a bottle from water directly from the cold tap?
5. How many times can you reheat a bottle that was made with hot water?
6. How many times can you reheat a bottle that was made with cold water?
7. Can I make a bottle up when I go to bed and leave it in my son's bedroom in the night for when he wakes up, or does it have to be kept in the fridge?
8. If I am going out for the day, will a bottle be ok if I take it in and out the car with me all day?

Sorry for all the questions! Can anyone help me please?

Thanks!

I forgot to mention, I had to give up breastfeeding because I need to take tablets for a medical condition - believe me, I would have loved to have continued breastfeeding!

Answer 1

1. Yes. tap water should be boiled at least until the child is a year old.
2. Wait until the water is cold. Using hot water will boil the nutrients and ruin them.
3. Yes, you can , but it does not last longer than 24 hours from when you mixed the formula into the water.
4. I used to do that, but from filtered water. Did you know that breastmilk is room temp, and so you can serve bottles at room temp?
5. only once. It will curdle if you reheat it more than once
6. same as above
7. keep it in the fridge (see below for some tried and tested)
8. again, see below

Tips:
My son was bottle fed from the beggining (a preemie) and I more or less mastered the art of making a bottle anywhere.

For home (day):
Keep a bootle of boiled water in the fridge to be used exclusively for baby. When he needs a bottle, fill to approx 80% with the cold (boiled) water and the rest with freshly boiled water - to get the right temp instantly. Add formula, shake and serve!
For home (night):
Boil water and fill the bottle with the amount you will need. Place in room with a box of formula. By the time he is awake and needing his bottle, it will be room temp, and all you ahve to do is add the formula, shake and serve!
For day trips:
Boil water and add amount you will need to bottle. close tightly and pack together with a small bag with premeasured formula. when he is ready to eat, add formula, shake and serve at room temp.

THere is no need ever to warm a bottle, as breastmilk is room temp and can even be cold. Warming the bottle will cause more hassles that it is worth, and will spoil the child so that when you are stuck without a warmer, he wont take the bottle. You are better off investing in a few smaller bottles, so each feed can be fresh. when you go out, always take one more bottle than you reckon you will need - you never know what can happen (traffic, stubborn baby, you name it!)

Bottle feeding can also be a time to bond with your child - just like breastfeeding. Dont underplay its importance! Here, the father can get to bond too (especially at 4am!) :)

Best of Luck!

Answer 2

Ok i teach new mums to make up bottles as part of my job and this is what i tell them!
1. you must use boiled water from the kettle that hasnt been re boiled over and over
2. You can make the formula whilst the water is still hot just dont put them straight in the fridge or it will warm you fridge up!!
3. You should try not to re heat milk once its been heated once already as it is a playground for germs.
4. No you must always use boiled water so you know its pretty sterile.
5. If you can help it try not to reheat once the milk has cooled (as above)
6. You shouldnt use tap water.
7. Yes you can leave it in his room as long as the room isnt too hot and you throw away any unused milk the next morning, it would be better left in the fridge but i know this is easier said than done!
8. The milk should be fine left in a cool part of the car, those special bottle bags are good as they keep the milk cool untill you need it.
Your son is 7 months old so he will be putting all sorts of things in his mouth anyway so dont worry to much, all you can do is try and stick to these basic rules as best you can. Good luck.

Answer 3

OK, I don't think you have to boil tap water first. I have done that and there aren't any problems. However, check with your doctor. I know this wasn't one of your questions, but I have a suggestion. I give my baby formula and I just always have a big container of poland springs water on our counter. That way it stays at room temperature and it is never too hot or too cold. You can put the bottle in the fridge and it can last up to two days refrigerated. If you leave it out it is only good for I think 1 hour after that. It will say on the label for formula. Otherwise, it will start collecting bacteria. If you ever heat a bottle, put the bottle in a pan of hot water. Never microwave a bottle because it will burn the baby's mouth. Hope this helps!! And don't worry about the fact that your baby is being breast fed. It is healthier but for some of us there is no other way than formula. Don't let people make you feel bad because of it..

Answer 4

1. As long as you live in an area that has city water, you don't have to boil it at all. (So says my boys' pediatrician, and we lived in an area that had some of the cleanest tap water in the country.) However, if you have a well, or you're concerned about the safety of your water, either boil it or buy bottled. Keep in mind...from about 3 months of age, your baby needs flouride, and most standard bottled water or well water doesn't contain flouride. You have to buy "nursery" water.

2. If you are going to boil water, I'd let it cool to at least luke warm before you mix up your formula.

3. Yes, just be sure to wash off the nipple before you put the bottle in the fridge, and keep in mind that most prepared formula has a shelf life of about 24 hours, refrigerated.

4. Yes.

5. I would say only once, just to be safe.

6. Probably still once.

7. If he's going to wake up in the next few hours, you can probably keep it in his room. (I don't know about all formula, but Similac can be kept at room temp. for 4 hours before refrigeration is necessary.)

8. It will if you keep it in an insulated bag with those frozen cooler inserts, to keep the bottle cold.

Also, some people are sort of particular about heating the baby's formula. I always warmed my boys' formula when they were newborn, but once they started eating cereal (4 months old), I just made their bottles with warm tap water. Sometimes if they were really hungry, I'd make it with cold tap water and not heat it. Babies don't NEED warm formula/milk. When was the last time you saw someone give their 18 month old son a glass of milk and heated it up first, you know? Studies have shown that there's absolutely no benefit to heating up formula. You could give a newborn an ice-cold bottle from the fridge, and he'd be fine.

Answer 5

Everyone will probably give you a range of different answers, but here are mine.

1. Yes, boil if you do not have a filter on your tap (or you can buy gallon of water and leave it unrefrigerated).

2 No, water should be cool not luke warm, not hot. I'm guessing you are using the powder formula. I quit using the powder and went to pre-mixed. It tasted better to my son.

3.No. you should always dump out what is not used. Formula is good for only 1 hour after you mix it. I was told by my pediatrician that it collects bacteria if left longer than an hour. This could be harmful to the child if left out for long periods of time.

4. yes, but some people wouldn't recommend doing that.

5. you shouldn't have to re-heat a bottle at all. feed one time with one bottle. Whatever he/she eats is all, the remaining contents of bottle should be discarded. If you feel baby is still hungry, make a new bottle.

6. Only heat bottle ONE time when using cold water. NEVER place bottle with formula into microwave. Place bottle in a cup or pot of hot water and keep checking formula until it is luke warm. Formula should not be HOT.

7.You can make you bottles up ahead of time and keep them in the fridge. When your son wakes up you can heat your bottles with hot water ran over the bottle. Bottles made ahead of time (including pre-mixed formula) are good for 72 hours, no more. They should never be left out because of bacteria that forms inside the bottle.

8. Always keep your bottles in a cooler bag for the baby with some ice. This may be the only time you may not have a chance to warm the bottle and baby may have to drink it cool. I always carry two bottles just on the safe side. You never know what might happen....

I hope this helped you out a bit. Feel free to ask me any other questions. Good Luck and Take care!

Answer 6

First of all you should know that it is harder on you than it is on him right now, I too was a nursing mom, and you have given him a great start.

Ok for your questions:

1. Not necessarily you could use filtered water, but we use water specially made for babies with floride. You can get it at most grocery stores it is really inexpensive about $1.00 a gallon and then you don't have to worry about the water.
2. It is best to wait for the water to cool if you are boiling but again if you purchase baby water you don't have to worry about that.
3. If he is just drinking 4 or so ounces just make about 5 ounces at a time. That way he gets his fill and there is plenty if he is a little hungrier than usual. Why waste the formula?
4. I wouldn't ever use water straight from the tap, but we use room temperture baby water for our 5 week old grandson.
5. Are you using powder formula? if so then there usually isn't a need to reheat just make it fresh each time it only takes a moment. Making formula ahead can be tricky if you are not careful to rotate your bottles so there is never an "old" bottle in the fridge.
6. See #5
7. What I do is measure the water into 2, or how ever many you use in a night, and have the powdered formula right there ready to measure into the bottles then it just takes a shake and it is ready and you know that your baby is getting the freshest most healthy formula he can get.
8. Again measure the water into the bottle and bring a really small container with the premeasured amount of formula in it ready to mix. That way you don't waste formula if he doesn't need it until he gets home. We keep a small container, Rubbermaid, in the diaper bag all the time just incase of emergencies.

Remember how nervous when you started nursing? Well you did great and you will do great with bottle feeding. Also don't appoligize for asking questions if anyone laughs at you just remind them that they were new mothers at one time as well. Trust me we I asked some of the most boneheaded questions in my time but was lucky to have my mom and lots of aunts who were patient and were great helps. Feel free to e-mail me if you need anything else

Answer 7

First, I suggest "what to expect the first year" all your question (plus more) will be in there.

1. I often boiled a bunch of water and put it in a sealed rubbermaid pitcher in the fridge, that way I only had to do it once. I guess it depends on your water quality rather or not it's a necessity but I alsways did.
2. I'm not positive on this one, I don't know if you can 'cook' nutrients out of the formula. I always let it cool just because when the water was so hot it was impossible to shake the bottle to mix the formula.
3. Well, this depends on how long that bottle has been setting out. It starts to grow bacteria almost instantly. Just think, how long would you let a glass of milk sit out before you dumped it? I think the rule is about 30-40 minutes.
4. I'm guilty of doing this as the children got older and their tummies weren't so sensitive.
5.&6. This won't matter, only reheat once, warm milk is a breading ground, formula is expensive and I know you hate to waste it so instead of doing this and giving your baby a very upset tummy, best to jsut make smaller bottles, you can always make another if he/she wants more.
7. NO, NO, NO! you wouldn't drink milk that had been setting out all night. You can buy (babies R us) cool contraptions that store bottles cold on one side and have a warmer on the other that plugs into your baby's room.
8. Again, no. Pack a bottle of water and a container of premeasured formula. I used ziplock bags and just tore off a bottom corner when needed, it fits perfectly in the mouth of the bottle will no spilling. You can also buy formula pouches but they are expensive and unnecessary.

My own suggestions....I stored a pitcher of sterlized water (sealed) in the fridge and a smaller pitcher of pre-made formula (again, sealed) to use during the day. Then all I had to do was pour into bottles and set them in hot tap water to warm (never use a microwave, it kills nutrients and could scauld your baby) and you also had nice clean water prepared when ever you needed to run out in a hurry. Just remember, the pre-made formula is only good for 24 hours!

Answer 8

I read from a baby book that now and days one don't have to boil the tap water because it's not bad for babies to drink, but ask your Ped. just to make sure it's ok. The way I do it is 1st. make the bottles and boil water in a small pot, turn it off and put the bottle inside the water to warm up. Make sure you take the nipple of the bottle off when you put bottle in the pot. I leave it for a few seconds, shake the bottle w/formula and then test to see it is not that hot on my arm but the inner part. Of course I do this when he is ready for a bottle. The rest of the bottles I keep in the refr. Once you make a bottle and they don't finish all of it you can't keep it for no longer then 1hr. First because the milk has been warmed up already. Read the back on the cans of formula. It explains what you should do. I found it very easy for me to give him liquid formula in the day time when I am not tired and can warm up the bottles and in the night time I prepare 3 bottles w/ water and feed him the powder formula. It makes my life way easier when he wakes up in the middle of the night. I don't have to warm up the water because I keep my water in room temp. so it is not hot or cold. I also use the powder formula when I am going out because the liquid once you open the cans has to be refr. I buy the baby gallon water. Personally, I don't want to give my baby the tap water yet. The gallon water is around $1.29, so it's not going to kill me to buy it. You can take a bottle with you if you know that the baby is going to be drinking it in an hr or less time. Good luck, and I hope I help you out alittle.

Answer 9

1- yes
2- let it cool down then puor in bottle and mix in the formula in the bottle.
3-try to keep left over formula
4- no
5- once you boil water try to keep it in a thermo and you could just keep using that water with out reheating it threw out the day.
6- ?
7- refer to answer #5
take thermo w/ you if baby wakes up doring the night you could make formula with that water.
8- take a bottle already made then take 2 xtra bottles just with water if baby gets hungry just add formula to the water bottles.

hope this helps!

Answer 10

1. Yes, it's safer. If your baby doesn't have teeth yet, its better for you to use distilled water because tap has fluorine which your baby only needs for teeth.
2. You can but,let the water cool down first.
3. No, once air hits the formula, it starts to go bad. For now just fix 4 oz and if it wants more then you can fix more.
4. Refer to #1.
5. You can heat up as many times as you want, as long as the baby hasn't drank from it.
6.^^^
7. It has to be kept cold or it will go bad.
8. Yes, it's fine as long as it isn't locked up in a hot area.

:)