handy tips on formula feeding - Page 2

[motherhendoula]

I cant seem to find it anywhere....well, it sounds like im wrong - so i would say that powdered was easier than liquid, and i think a bit cheaper as well.   Powdered is easier for when you are out or for overnight - bottle with measured amount of powdered formula in it, and a thermos of warm water - mix and shake.  The looooongest  part of feeding with formula was waiting for the bottles to heat up while baby CRIED! 

[PatioGardener]

Here is Health Canada's recommendation for preparing infant formula - they recommend using hot (as in boiled and cooled to no less than 70 degrees C) water if powdered formula is used for little ones, because it can contain some dangerous bacteria. They also give good ideas for bulk prep. and storage.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/kitchen-cuisine/pif-ppn-eng.php

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/infant-nourisson/pif-ppn-recommandations-eng.php

HTH!

(They recommend the heated water step for at-risk infants, while the WHO recommends it for all infants. http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/files/pif_guidelines.pdf)

[poppiesinjuly]

My babe is on formula. 

We use tap water.  Our peditrician said tap was fine, so that's what we use.  We haven't had any issues with it.  He also said that powdered was fine from the time that we started using formula, so we have used it all along.  We have not had any issues with it.

We do run our bottles through the dishwasher.  At my mom's house (where we go for extended vacations), she doesn't have one, so I just wash them by hand.  Both places I have a strainer in the sink (at home ours is a kitchen aid one that hangs over the sink, at my mom's, it is just a plastic one I sit in the sink)  When I bring a bottle to the sink I just give the parts a quick rinse and leave them in the strainer so none of the parts gets lost.  I have enough bottles so that I only wash or run the dish washer once a day.

For outings we take powdered formula in the plastic dispenser container and bottled water or a thermos or if it's someplace where we might need to feed him super simply (like on an airplane) I take the 8oz bottles of premixed (or the 2 oz ones when he was tiny).  They're more expensive, and some gets tossed because he doesn't drink 8oz, but sometimes the convience is worth it.

I make a pitcher of formula at night and make sure to use it up or toss it out before the next night when it is time to make it again.

I take his bottles to bed in a cooler bag with icepacks.  He likes them cold (actually refuses them warm) so I just pop it out of the bag and into his mouth.  When he was smaller and would take them warm, we just had a second bottle warmer upstairs with us.  We would pop the bottle in the warmer, go change his diaper, and by the time we were back, the bottle was warm.

I was afraid at first that bottle feeding was going to be a super big pain, and horrible, but honestly, it hasn't been so bad.  I felt *blessed* to be formula feeding when I had to have my gall bladder removed and had complications when my baby was 3 months old.  I was in the hospital for three days and on lots of medication for a couple of weeks afterward.  He spent three days with friends while my DH was at the hospital with me.  It was hard enough on him as it was without him having to struggle to eat too.  When we all came home, my husband was able to take over the majority of the baby care while I got some rest.  It was the only time I have been happy to not be breastfeeding. 

[baglady]

The water depends on the quality of water where you live. I've lived in two different cities. In one I used bottled water; now I use tap. I would talk to your pediatrician. Neither pediatrician I've used thought boiling water was necessary.

I feed on demand and make bottles as I go. I feed it at room temperature instead of heating up. The only time I ever pre make bottles for the fridge is if I'm leaving the baby with a sitter for a few hours because I want to make sure it's mixed correctly. Then we put it in a cup of warm water to remove the chill.

I have the same method for nights and outings. I pre measure the water into the bottles and the formula into a formula sorter. I mix as needed. At night I keep the supplies on my nightstand and neither me nor the baby has to leave the comfort of the bed.

It might be worth it in the beginning to buy some of the two ounce ready to feed bottles, because they eat so often.

Definitely make sure you have enough bottles to only wash once per day. I also find it helpful to have extra nipples. Those little buggers have a tendency to disappear.

You'll find out what works best for you. For me breastfeeding has always been a heartbreaking and difficult task. Being able to feed my babies when they were hungry without struggle and disappointment is so satisfying. To me bottle feeding is way easier, but that's just my personal experience. After a while it will be old hat. Good luck and congratulations on the new baby.

[jezebelle]

We used the premixed 2-ounce "nursettes" when J came home, and I recommend carrying around a Sharpie and writing the time you open them on the bottle.  Those first few weeks are so disorienting and sleepless that it's easy to forget how long they have been sitting out.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

here's the deal on the water-boil it but only for 2-3 minutes, you don't want it to boil for long or the heavy metals will become concentrated. Many things i've read say not to use bottled, there is actually concern for it being contaminated with bacteria. we are lucky that our tap is not disinfected with chemicals but by uv light so no added fluoride.

In the early weeks go with ready to feed, that way you don't have to worry about mixing and pouring. For the first few weeks i kept the 2oz ready to feeds in the room with some bottles and just fed like that. I also breastfeed and around 3 weeks dd started not drinking the formula, even so she is going about 6 hours without breastfeeding or formula a night so now i don't worry about bringing anything to the bedroom, so you can gather that after a month or so your lo will sleep more and and your will be more physically able to get up and make a bottle if need be.

again going out, the first 6 weeks we used the 2 oz ready to feed, but now it is the powder with bottles of water mixed when needed.

washing-i hand wash, but i am paranoid about the dishwasher not getting stuff clean enough go figure..

I use a bottle warmer for the the cold bottles and if i don't have that, hot water in a bowl works too...

[smeep]

I know this is not the point of this, so forgive me, but have you thought about getting donor milk? Perhaps not for all of it as that's unlikely you'll find someone who can do that, but to use in combination with the formula. Eats On Feets is a good resource. And you might want to look into organic formulas if you can afford it (though the DHA & ARA is synthetic, something that might be worth looking into if you want).

At any rate, just throwing that out there, I do wish you the best mama and congrats!!

[teamla]

Originally Posted by motherhendoula 

Hi - I am searching for the link but i was always told that powdered formula for infants under 3 months is not recommended. 

We were discharged from the NICU with powdered formula to supplement my BM, and in fact it is the only way this preemie-specific formula is sold.  Our pedi and the perinatal nutritionist would not support any other brand/type of formula.  I have also heard what you have about powdered, but it does not seem to bear any weight in the preemie world, at least here anyway.

[shambhala]

thanks for all of your great input.  i feel like i have a bit more of a handle on the whole

formula feeding thing.  one question about sleeping - we plan on co-sleeping with

this baby like we did with our others, but when i breastfed them we would just lie

down & feed until one of us feel asleep.  does a formula fed baby need to be

more upright while eating & burped before they fall asleep?

also how many bottles do you have or use each day?  i am trying

to figure out how many to buy.  if you offer baby a 4oz bottle & they 

only eat half do you toss the rest or refrigerate for later?

thanks again for all of your help.

claudia

 

 

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by shambhala 

thanks for all of your great input.  i feel like i have a bit more of a handle on the whole

formula feeding thing.  one question about sleeping - we plan on co-sleeping with

this baby like we did with our others, but when i breastfed them we would just lie

down & feed until one of us feel asleep.  does a formula fed baby need to be

more upright while eating & burped before they fall asleep?

also how many bottles do you have or use each day?  i am trying

to figure out how many to buy.  if you offer baby a 4oz bottle & they 

only eat half do you toss the rest or refrigerate for later?

thanks again for all of your help.

claudia

 

 

I am cosleeping with DD.  In the evening I give her a bottle in my usual chair (a glider) and she usually falls asleep while eating, otherwise I rock her a bit till she's asleep.  If she falls asleep while eating she usually won't burp.  At night I feed her while we're both laying down and don't burp - this doesn't bother her any but babies can be different about this I'd think.

Now at 4.5 months she has 7-8 bottles in a 24 hr period, she has 2 at night and during the day eats about every 3 hrs.  She ate more frequently at first (every 2 then 2.5 hrs) so you'd either need more bottles or to wash more frequently (we washed throughout the day as we were not planning to bottle-feed so we kind of figured things out as we went).  After the first few 4 oz bottles I started getting the 8 oz ones as they don't really use the little ones for long (plus having the larger bottle only half full makes it easier to shake and mix the formula IMO).  I think my DD started taking more than 4 oz at a feeding by around 3 months old.

I don't refrigerate partly eaten bottles, I may offer it again in an hour to see if she wants more (now she sometimes gets distracted and feels hungry again soon) but if not I toss it.  We feed room temp bottles though so it would be a pain to have to warm it up, if you normally warm all bottles anyway then it may work fine for you.  I think Dr. Sears says that it's fine to reheat as long as you refrigerate it promptly.

[MsDolphin]

does a formula fed baby need to bemore upright while eating & burped before they fall asleep? approximately the first 3 months, I needed to burp DS after his bottles.Even if he fell asleep, if I lifted him up over my shoulder and patted his back, I usually got a burp out of him. Now (11 months) he doesn't burp after finishing the bottle and goes straight to sleep.

also how many bottles do you have or use each day? I think we had 8 bottles.

i am tryingto figure out how many to buy.

if you offer baby a 4oz bottle & they only eat half do you toss the rest or refrigerate for later? If it was during the day, I would refrigerate for use later the same day. I never bothered at night, I just threw out what was left, if he didn't finish.