room temp? is it ok??

[cobysmummy]

i am kinda new to the whole bottle feeding thing (Coby started to refuse me after 6.5 months :( ) but now i am totally formula feeding and have a few questions:

1. Is is safe for me to give him room temp bottles?
I wash, steralise and then fill with boiled water and leave them on the bench and when needed add the formula and feed...
2. Is it ok to leave them on the bench or should the plain water be kept in the fridge?
3. How long can a made up bottle be safe to drink?

i think that is all i have to ask!
Thankyou!

[Rell]

This is exactly how I use to make up both my 2 kids bottles. It is quick and convient and I never had a problem with it. So Yes it is safe to keep the bottles on the bench and to give them room Temp milk. Once a bottle is made up it realy needs to be refrigerated if it is not drunk straight away.

Hope this helps

[Chickadee]

1. Yep, room temp is fine and also easier when out and about if bub is used to it.
2. Not sure, I always made them up in advance and put them in the fridge. I'd defer to Rell's experience
3. How long can a made up bottle be safe to drink? - 24 hours if kept in the fridge, but only 4 hours if out of the fridge. I tried to keep it under 2 hours if out of the fridge just to be sure and if I was going out I usually put a small freezer pack in my bottle bag to help keep it cool in summer.

And also, most advice is that there's no need to sterilise or use boiled water after 6 months. Especially once bub is crawling and picking up lots of nice germs that way. Of course it's up to you, whatever you're comfortable with. I kept boiling till around 10 months (just had the routine and kept it) and sterilised till around 16 months.

[annsam]

Hi, I agree with everything except number 3........I was told by Nestles (who make the formula I use) to discard unused formula after 1 hour as at room temperature it breeds bacteria and can cause food poisoning.

Also I stopped sterilising when bub started eating proper food as food isn't sterile and neither are the spoons and plates he eats off. There is really no need if you dont want to but if you want to stick to the safe side that cant hurt either. I still use boiled water though but thats purely because I dont drink water direct from the tap myself.

Hope that helps.

[cobysmummy]

thanks for that.. i just wasnt sure and didnt want to hurt my lil man