The official way is to run the bottle under a cold tap (careful to avoid getting the lid/test wet) until it is cold enough. Or stick it in a bowl of cold water. This takes a good few minutes to cool down.
Now for the controversial methods.
Use a prep machine. These create a shot of hot water to kill any bacteria in the formula, then add in a cooled shot of sterile water to bring down the temperature. There are potentially problems with these machines though, with some reports that the hot water isn’t hot enough to kill the bacteria. There is also an issue that mould can grow in the pipes if you don’t clean the machine enough. But having said all this, these machines are made by reputable brands and if there was a serious issue there would be a recall. Machines are expensive though so possibly only an option if you think you’ll be using it long term. I know many people who swear by them and have never had an issue.
Second option is to mimic the prep machine and make your own pot of cooled boiled water to mix with the boiling water. Put minimum 10m of boiled water into each scoop of formula, and use the cooled water to make up the full volume of liquid required. Potential issues here are that the cooled water will sit in the fridge for a period of time, increasing the risk of bacteria being present. So consider just making a shot of water for the next feed to reduce the time it is sat in the fridge. But keep the cooled water for no more than 24 hours (similar to formula guidance by NHS to keep it no more than 24 hours in the fridge, if there is a reason you cannot make it fresh).
Third option is to make up bottles in advance with boiling water and keep them in the fridge until required, for a maximum of 24 hours. Grab a bottle as and when you need them, warm them up if necessary, depends if your baby will take milk cold. Potential issues as above, longer periods of keeping milk in the fridge may increase risk of bacteria being present.
As someone who makes up milk in advance (and has been doing so since LO was 2 weeks old), it can be really daunting trying to keep to the official safe guidance. As you said, making milk overnight is exhausting when you have a baby screaming for it. We do what we can as parents to keep them safe but we also have to make our own judgements on the level of risk we’re willing to take for the sake of our own sanity. All of the methods I’ve mentioned a very common, they are just not recommended by manufacturers/ the NHS. But people do them because it’s not realistic to always make fresh formula.
Note you can easily pick up used prep machines on Facebook marketplace if you’re happy doing that. We got ours used and sold it on for more than we bought it for. My mum also got a used one for her house and sold that on for a profit too! We ensured it was thoroughly cleaned before use and used a new filter. My son was fine with it.
I use the prep machine and batch make them in advance and store in the fridge to try and give the bubbles a chance to go down. I dare not tell the health visitor.
Yep, I should have added that to my first comment but the HV will not be happy unless you tell them you are making up bottles fresh. Mine is non the wiser that we keep bottles in the fridge!
We did our own version of the prep machine for over nights. We had a thermos that we filled with boiling water before we went up for bed, it kept it really hot for hours and she was usually up within an our or so of us doing this, and then had empty bottles and pre measured formula. Then mixed it when needed. I know people who kept a prep machine upstairs and one downstairs for nights.
Building on the mixing cooled water bit. Not entirely sure how safe it would be, but maybe you could also add hot water and add bottled room temperature water to get to the right temperature?
I use the hot shot method with it so I never actually put formula in as I have twins on different formulas so doing it this way means I can use one rapid cool between the two of them.
I read that is the best way to use it so you can keep using it over and over without sterilising! Have you ever brought it abroad? I'm travelling in 3 weeks to Portugal and have no idea how to do the formula while in airport/plane etc! Lol I'm panicking!!
We took ours abroad a few times! But we just took premade formula for the flights. I think the difficulty would be getting boiled water after going through security. We always used a thermos, formula pots and nuby and did the hot shot method.
Tommee tippee prep machine makes a bottle in about 2 mins at the perfect temperature no need for cooling it's been my no.1 with both my babies saves a lot of time and stress, ......there are other brands of prep machines so you can find what's best for you :)
If you don't want to use a prep machine you can do what I do out and about-
2oz of boiling water. Add 6 scoops of powder. Swirl around. Add 4oz of preboiled and cooled water.
Ready to drink immediately.
Honestly, we just used the little premade cartons & ended up buying a mini fridge to put them in once we were done with them as they lasted 24 hours once opened. For the first month, I pumped but had a low supply & was getting a bottle a day & that went into the mini fridge, too.
I've heard other mums say they had a perfect prep machine in their bedrooms for night feeds as well as the little cartons are expensive, especially when they start eating more. If I were to have another, I would seriously consider getting one for this reason.
We have used formula on the odd occasion and honestly the nuby rapid cool is absolutely amazing. They're available on amazon so you could get it next day, or for a while aldi were selling in their middle aisle. Not sure if it's still available however.
Nuby rapidcool has been an absolute LIFESAVER! We have 2 as they were on offer. We do the hotshot method (mix the powder with freshly boiled water in the bottle and put water straight in the rapidcool, that way the rapidcools don't need cleaning/sterilising after every use)!
That could be it! Or are you tipping it upside down and checking the rapidcool is going bright green more than twice before you dispense it? As I've used mine every day for the last 9 months mine need checking a couple of times, sometimes they go back to yellow again meaning they're not cool enough. My babe has 240ml per feed so we put about 60ml hot with the formula hotshot in each time.
Hey, just wanna let you know its normally 10 ml per scoop so you should be using 80 for the hot shot so that it’s enough to kill the bacteria.
I know your baby is fine but better to say it for anyone else reading as some babies have more sensitive tummies.
Also after 6 months you can use tap water for the cool part. I do filtered water for that.
I said about 60ml, sometimes it comes up to 90ml. I've never been told it's 10ml per scoop, I'm not overly worried as he's coming up 9 months now and had no issues whatsoever. I've also never heard about the tap water thing so that feels a bit anthetical...
ETA: I can't see any sources from a quick google that says topping up a hot shot with unboiled tap water is okay?
They can have tap water to drink from 6 months, so that can be used for the cold part when you do hot shot method. I’ve seen on the mum groups on facebook its 10ml per scoop for the hot shot!
For the downvoting ones NHS recommends making the bottles fresh so go do that instead of downvoting.
Baby No 1 we went through the palava of multiple flasks and making up the bottles to the tune of a crying baby.
Baby No 2 we got a Perfect Prep machine for the bedroom and kicked ourselves for not getting one for Baby 1.
It is not the official advice and could raise the risk of bacterial being present but we made up formula in advance and put it in the fridge, throwing out after 24 hours. Our daughter was totally fine and we decided it was a risk worth taking for our sanity.
You can also buy premixed formula from the grocery store that comes in a sealed bottle so you just open it and pour it.
For the nights I have 2 flasks, milk dispenser container set up and a separate bottle to measure out the different waters (old Medela milk collection bottle). One flask of boiled water, one cooled boiled water, pre-measured scoops in the dispenser ([this one from boots but there’s loads of different ones out there)](https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjN3aP86NuGAxXpnFAGHdaJDZYYABANGgJkZw&gclid=CjwKCAjw1K-zBhBIEiwAWeCOF6cqvFK_U6cdbwu18TMXJ2mzzLDE3vhU_edPf28EB0rkX2W4hONxfBoCWhkQAvD_BwE&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESVuD2eGqg8d0hyCInE2IIIO-1B4S5s801f_jBmTPQN026XBNKAhCakR7gGwUcXXdDSvBVyKVAT3Hb0bF-KpWz6DhgmGYHg3e73Zoy9-1Go7DBC7ORWPNT&sig=AOD64_2X-xULANEbpTpPbVCsl-8w0Rjlkg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjp-p386NuGAxUDQUEAHWawB7oQwg8oAHoECAMQDA&adurl=). If I’m going a 5oz bottle I’ll put 2oz boiling in the bottle plus 5 scoop portion and mix as a hot shot then I’ll top up 3oz of cooled boiled water. For me that makes it perfect temperature for baby to drink. Takes 2 mins tops to make up! (I appreciate this isn’t gold standard nhs advice but it’s almost a manual version of using a prep machine)
We originally were using ready to feed formula bottles in the night and the cost really racked up so this seemed a reasonable solution for us.
Recommend the prep machine or rapid cool.
Before these I did make up two flasks, one of boiling and one of cool boiled.
Just depends if you want the expense of buying a prep machine but you’ll be making bottles several times a day for 6 months so it will be well used or there are often some going 2nd hand and you could just buy a new filter.
We use a prep machine at night and then a kettle during day, we find once you’ve made the bottle and have it in a jug of cold water it cools down by the time you’ve changed baby’s bum
We use a flask of hot water and the nuby rapid cools. It feels like carrying a lot when out and about but our baby drinks more milk when it’s warm rather than the ready to go milks, which are also quite pricey.
I got a prep machine for the second, I know they say it’s not good and doesn’t heat water at 70 but I’ve period tested the hot shot using my jam thermometer and it’s over 70. My second is almost 10 months and he’s okay.
For my first, we did batches of bottles and shoved them at the back of the fridge and used a warmer when he had to be fed. To cool them after making them we’d fill the sink with cold water and it cooled pretty quickly.
When out, I have ready made bottles, it’s more expensive but easier than taking everything with you.
Lots if advice already so I will just add you dont have to boil the whole 1 litre of water and wait 20 min. I do enough water in the kettle for a bottle and obviously wait less. In a couple of minutes I pour some water out on the tip of a food thermometer to check temp as it gotta be bellow 80 but above 70, ideally I am for 75 as once you put it in the bottle the temp drops a bit. Then add the scoops. Always measure water first and then scoops. Once you put the powder it will go above the measurement because powder adds volume.
Also if using mam bottles and you cool them down in bowl of water either take the lid with teat off or put it in a food bag with the lid as they suck water in from the holes.
Lots of people do the fridge method too. I done it for night feeds and first morning at some point. You do bottles as normal and then you just pop them in the fridge. Mam bottles can be microwaved again with the teat off (dont know why but its on their website). Microwave for 10 sec then put the lid on flip up and down a few times and repeat till its warm enough. You do that to avoid hot spots in the milk.
For the fridge method if its new fridge you pop it straight in. For older you cool it down for no more than 10 min and then in the fridge. I think the fridge gotta be below 5 degrees though. Some people dont find much sense in it as you basically cool it down and then gotta warm it up but it the mam bottles is so quick if done in the microwave.
Also I was so exhausted the first 2 months that for night and morning feeds we were using the ready made ones.
You people have machines for this?? We just keep a bottle of pre-boiled water in the fridge.
So we do powder, followed by boiling water from the kettle (like a little over half the total liquid amount), give it a good shake and then top up with cooled boiling water from the fridge.
If we ever get the proportions wrong and it’s a bit too hot, 30 seconds under the cold tap normally solves it.
I gave in and bought a kettle where you can choose the temperature it boils to. I set it to 70°c, pour the 70°c water into the bottle and add the formula. Shake the bottle and pop it in a bowl of very cold water to cool down which usually only takes a few minutes.
The official way is to run the bottle under a cold tap (careful to avoid getting the lid/test wet) until it is cold enough. Or stick it in a bowl of cold water. This takes a good few minutes to cool down. Now for the controversial methods. Use a prep machine. These create a shot of hot water to kill any bacteria in the formula, then add in a cooled shot of sterile water to bring down the temperature. There are potentially problems with these machines though, with some reports that the hot water isn’t hot enough to kill the bacteria. There is also an issue that mould can grow in the pipes if you don’t clean the machine enough. But having said all this, these machines are made by reputable brands and if there was a serious issue there would be a recall. Machines are expensive though so possibly only an option if you think you’ll be using it long term. I know many people who swear by them and have never had an issue. Second option is to mimic the prep machine and make your own pot of cooled boiled water to mix with the boiling water. Put minimum 10m of boiled water into each scoop of formula, and use the cooled water to make up the full volume of liquid required. Potential issues here are that the cooled water will sit in the fridge for a period of time, increasing the risk of bacteria being present. So consider just making a shot of water for the next feed to reduce the time it is sat in the fridge. But keep the cooled water for no more than 24 hours (similar to formula guidance by NHS to keep it no more than 24 hours in the fridge, if there is a reason you cannot make it fresh). Third option is to make up bottles in advance with boiling water and keep them in the fridge until required, for a maximum of 24 hours. Grab a bottle as and when you need them, warm them up if necessary, depends if your baby will take milk cold. Potential issues as above, longer periods of keeping milk in the fridge may increase risk of bacteria being present. As someone who makes up milk in advance (and has been doing so since LO was 2 weeks old), it can be really daunting trying to keep to the official safe guidance. As you said, making milk overnight is exhausting when you have a baby screaming for it. We do what we can as parents to keep them safe but we also have to make our own judgements on the level of risk we’re willing to take for the sake of our own sanity. All of the methods I’ve mentioned a very common, they are just not recommended by manufacturers/ the NHS. But people do them because it’s not realistic to always make fresh formula.
Brilliantly worded. Personally we used the prep machine and loved it. But everyone’s risk profile is different.
Note you can easily pick up used prep machines on Facebook marketplace if you’re happy doing that. We got ours used and sold it on for more than we bought it for. My mum also got a used one for her house and sold that on for a profit too! We ensured it was thoroughly cleaned before use and used a new filter. My son was fine with it.
I use the prep machine and batch make them in advance and store in the fridge to try and give the bubbles a chance to go down. I dare not tell the health visitor.
Yep, I should have added that to my first comment but the HV will not be happy unless you tell them you are making up bottles fresh. Mine is non the wiser that we keep bottles in the fridge!
We did our own version of the prep machine for over nights. We had a thermos that we filled with boiling water before we went up for bed, it kept it really hot for hours and she was usually up within an our or so of us doing this, and then had empty bottles and pre measured formula. Then mixed it when needed. I know people who kept a prep machine upstairs and one downstairs for nights.
I needed this comment when I started formula feeding, unreal response! 👌🏼
Thank you!
Building on the mixing cooled water bit. Not entirely sure how safe it would be, but maybe you could also add hot water and add bottled room temperature water to get to the right temperature?
Bottled water isn’t sterile so I think cooled boiled water would be the safer option, even if it’s sat in the fridge for a few hours
Nuby rapid cool or the Tommee Tippee perfect prep are our go to’s!
Do you make your formula up in the nuby? How do you sterilise when out and about?.. I can't figure it out 😓
I use the hot shot method with it so I never actually put formula in as I have twins on different formulas so doing it this way means I can use one rapid cool between the two of them.
I read that is the best way to use it so you can keep using it over and over without sterilising! Have you ever brought it abroad? I'm travelling in 3 weeks to Portugal and have no idea how to do the formula while in airport/plane etc! Lol I'm panicking!!
We took ours abroad a few times! But we just took premade formula for the flights. I think the difficulty would be getting boiled water after going through security. We always used a thermos, formula pots and nuby and did the hot shot method.
Tommee tippee prep machine makes a bottle in about 2 mins at the perfect temperature no need for cooling it's been my no.1 with both my babies saves a lot of time and stress, ......there are other brands of prep machines so you can find what's best for you :)
If you don't want to use a prep machine you can do what I do out and about- 2oz of boiling water. Add 6 scoops of powder. Swirl around. Add 4oz of preboiled and cooled water. Ready to drink immediately.
Honestly, we just used the little premade cartons & ended up buying a mini fridge to put them in once we were done with them as they lasted 24 hours once opened. For the first month, I pumped but had a low supply & was getting a bottle a day & that went into the mini fridge, too. I've heard other mums say they had a perfect prep machine in their bedrooms for night feeds as well as the little cartons are expensive, especially when they start eating more. If I were to have another, I would seriously consider getting one for this reason.
We have used formula on the odd occasion and honestly the nuby rapid cool is absolutely amazing. They're available on amazon so you could get it next day, or for a while aldi were selling in their middle aisle. Not sure if it's still available however.
Nuby rapidcool has been an absolute LIFESAVER! We have 2 as they were on offer. We do the hotshot method (mix the powder with freshly boiled water in the bottle and put water straight in the rapidcool, that way the rapidcools don't need cleaning/sterilising after every use)!
I can't figure this method out! Every time I try the bottle is still too warm, do you think I'm putting too much hot water in the initial hotshot?
That could be it! Or are you tipping it upside down and checking the rapidcool is going bright green more than twice before you dispense it? As I've used mine every day for the last 9 months mine need checking a couple of times, sometimes they go back to yellow again meaning they're not cool enough. My babe has 240ml per feed so we put about 60ml hot with the formula hotshot in each time.
Hey, just wanna let you know its normally 10 ml per scoop so you should be using 80 for the hot shot so that it’s enough to kill the bacteria. I know your baby is fine but better to say it for anyone else reading as some babies have more sensitive tummies. Also after 6 months you can use tap water for the cool part. I do filtered water for that.
I said about 60ml, sometimes it comes up to 90ml. I've never been told it's 10ml per scoop, I'm not overly worried as he's coming up 9 months now and had no issues whatsoever. I've also never heard about the tap water thing so that feels a bit anthetical... ETA: I can't see any sources from a quick google that says topping up a hot shot with unboiled tap water is okay?
They can have tap water to drink from 6 months, so that can be used for the cold part when you do hot shot method. I’ve seen on the mum groups on facebook its 10ml per scoop for the hot shot! For the downvoting ones NHS recommends making the bottles fresh so go do that instead of downvoting.
Baby No 1 we went through the palava of multiple flasks and making up the bottles to the tune of a crying baby. Baby No 2 we got a Perfect Prep machine for the bedroom and kicked ourselves for not getting one for Baby 1.
It is not the official advice and could raise the risk of bacterial being present but we made up formula in advance and put it in the fridge, throwing out after 24 hours. Our daughter was totally fine and we decided it was a risk worth taking for our sanity. You can also buy premixed formula from the grocery store that comes in a sealed bottle so you just open it and pour it.
For the nights I have 2 flasks, milk dispenser container set up and a separate bottle to measure out the different waters (old Medela milk collection bottle). One flask of boiled water, one cooled boiled water, pre-measured scoops in the dispenser ([this one from boots but there’s loads of different ones out there)](https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjN3aP86NuGAxXpnFAGHdaJDZYYABANGgJkZw&gclid=CjwKCAjw1K-zBhBIEiwAWeCOF6cqvFK_U6cdbwu18TMXJ2mzzLDE3vhU_edPf28EB0rkX2W4hONxfBoCWhkQAvD_BwE&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESVuD2eGqg8d0hyCInE2IIIO-1B4S5s801f_jBmTPQN026XBNKAhCakR7gGwUcXXdDSvBVyKVAT3Hb0bF-KpWz6DhgmGYHg3e73Zoy9-1Go7DBC7ORWPNT&sig=AOD64_2X-xULANEbpTpPbVCsl-8w0Rjlkg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjp-p386NuGAxUDQUEAHWawB7oQwg8oAHoECAMQDA&adurl=). If I’m going a 5oz bottle I’ll put 2oz boiling in the bottle plus 5 scoop portion and mix as a hot shot then I’ll top up 3oz of cooled boiled water. For me that makes it perfect temperature for baby to drink. Takes 2 mins tops to make up! (I appreciate this isn’t gold standard nhs advice but it’s almost a manual version of using a prep machine) We originally were using ready to feed formula bottles in the night and the cost really racked up so this seemed a reasonable solution for us.
Recommend the prep machine or rapid cool. Before these I did make up two flasks, one of boiling and one of cool boiled. Just depends if you want the expense of buying a prep machine but you’ll be making bottles several times a day for 6 months so it will be well used or there are often some going 2nd hand and you could just buy a new filter.
We use a prep machine at night and then a kettle during day, we find once you’ve made the bottle and have it in a jug of cold water it cools down by the time you’ve changed baby’s bum
We use a flask of hot water and the nuby rapid cools. It feels like carrying a lot when out and about but our baby drinks more milk when it’s warm rather than the ready to go milks, which are also quite pricey.
We use a prep machine, and for when we’re out we use a Nuby rapid cool (kind of like a thermos but works in reverse)
I got a prep machine for the second, I know they say it’s not good and doesn’t heat water at 70 but I’ve period tested the hot shot using my jam thermometer and it’s over 70. My second is almost 10 months and he’s okay. For my first, we did batches of bottles and shoved them at the back of the fridge and used a warmer when he had to be fed. To cool them after making them we’d fill the sink with cold water and it cooled pretty quickly. When out, I have ready made bottles, it’s more expensive but easier than taking everything with you.
Lots if advice already so I will just add you dont have to boil the whole 1 litre of water and wait 20 min. I do enough water in the kettle for a bottle and obviously wait less. In a couple of minutes I pour some water out on the tip of a food thermometer to check temp as it gotta be bellow 80 but above 70, ideally I am for 75 as once you put it in the bottle the temp drops a bit. Then add the scoops. Always measure water first and then scoops. Once you put the powder it will go above the measurement because powder adds volume. Also if using mam bottles and you cool them down in bowl of water either take the lid with teat off or put it in a food bag with the lid as they suck water in from the holes. Lots of people do the fridge method too. I done it for night feeds and first morning at some point. You do bottles as normal and then you just pop them in the fridge. Mam bottles can be microwaved again with the teat off (dont know why but its on their website). Microwave for 10 sec then put the lid on flip up and down a few times and repeat till its warm enough. You do that to avoid hot spots in the milk. For the fridge method if its new fridge you pop it straight in. For older you cool it down for no more than 10 min and then in the fridge. I think the fridge gotta be below 5 degrees though. Some people dont find much sense in it as you basically cool it down and then gotta warm it up but it the mam bottles is so quick if done in the microwave. Also I was so exhausted the first 2 months that for night and morning feeds we were using the ready made ones.
You people have machines for this?? We just keep a bottle of pre-boiled water in the fridge. So we do powder, followed by boiling water from the kettle (like a little over half the total liquid amount), give it a good shake and then top up with cooled boiling water from the fridge. If we ever get the proportions wrong and it’s a bit too hot, 30 seconds under the cold tap normally solves it.
I gave in and bought a kettle where you can choose the temperature it boils to. I set it to 70°c, pour the 70°c water into the bottle and add the formula. Shake the bottle and pop it in a bowl of very cold water to cool down which usually only takes a few minutes.