57: Safely Preparing Infant Formula

Parenting Podcast – Episode 57 – Safely Preparing Infant Formula

For the full show notes, visit: https://growingourfamily.com/s02e57/

In this episode, Brittany covers how to safely prepare and store infant formula. “It is important that infant milks are made up safely. Powdered infant formula is not sterile and needs to be made up of a temperature which will kill any potential bacteria present. All equipment needs to be sterilized, and it is important to know how to make up and store milk safely.”

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Show Notes

• What is infant formula? 
  • Different types of infant formula
    • First infant formula
    • ‘Hungry baby milks’ or ‘second milks’
    • Follow-on formula
  • Fun Fact: “Unless your doctor or health visitor gives you different advice, first infant formula is the only type of formula your baby needs until they are one year old.
• What you need for formula feeding 
  • Bottles with nipples and bottle covers
  • Bottle Brush and Nipple brush
  • Formula (powdered or sterile liquid formula)
  • Sterilising equipment
• How to sterilise feeding equipment 
  • Cold-water Sterilising solution
  • Steam sterilising (electric or microwave)
  • Sterilising by boiling
• How to make up a feed

1. Fill the kettle with at least 1 litre of fresh tap water from the cold tap (don’t use water that has been boiled before).
2. Boil the water. Then leave the water to cool in the kettle for no more than 30 minutes so that it remains at a temperature of at least 70°C.
3. Clean and disinfect the surface you are going to use.
4. It’s really important that you WASH YOUR HANDS.
5. If you are using a cold-water steriliser, shake off any excess solution from the bottle and the teat, or rinse the bottle with cooled boiled water from the kettle (not the tap).
6. Stand the bottle on a clean surface
7. Keep the teat and cap on the upturned lid of the steriliser. Avoid putting them on the work surface.
8. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and pour the correct amount of water into the bottle. Double check that the water level is correct.
9. Loosely fill the scoop with formula – according to the manufacturer’s instructions – and level it off using either the flat edge of a clean, dry knife or the leveller provided.
10. Holding the edge of the teat, put it on the bottle. Then screw the retaining ring onto the bottle
11. Cover the teat with the cap and shake the bottle until the powder is dissolved.
12. It is important to cool the formula so it is not too hot to drink. Do this by holding the bottom half of the bottle under cold running water. Move the bottle about under the tap to ensure even cooling. Make sure that the water does not touch the cap covering the teat.
13. Test the temperature of the infant formula on the inside of your wrist before giving it to your baby. It should be body temperature, which means it should feel warm or cool, but not hot. 
14. If there is any made-up infant formula left after a feed, throw it away.

• Storing a feed
• Feeding away from home
• Transporting a feed
• Warming the formula back up

Sources

All of this information was pulled from https://www.firststepsnutrition.org/

A full guide to everything I talked about in this episode can be found in the following pdf pamphlet: Guide to Bottle Feeding by UNICEF Baby Friendly and Start4life

[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212827/2900017-Bottle-feeding-leaflet-v1_0-no-crops.pdf]

Other great fact-based articles and downloadable pdf’s from First Steps Nutrition:

Milk preparation machines: the safety of formula feeding equipment 

[https://www.firststepsnutrition.org/s/Statement_on_formula_preparation_machines_Nov-2016.pdf]

What infant formula to choose: A 10 step guide: https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/baby-friendly-resources/bottle-feeding-resources/infant-formula-responsive-bottle-feeding-guide-for-parents/ 

The bacterial contamination of powdered infant formula: https://www.firststepsnutrition.org/s/Bacterial_contamination_final-bth6.pdf 

Intro Song courtesy of:

I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626 Ft: J Lang, Morusque