Formula advice from the hospital -- anyone follow it?

[Trillian]

OK, I used to do that with the water - boil it and then wait till it cooled with a screaming hungry baby in my arms, but then I smartened up and would have some cooled boiled water in a bottle already and then only add enough boiling water to make it the right temp - usually about half and half. The thing with sterilising is that something is only sterile whilever it is in the sterlisising solution - as soon as you take it out it isn't sterile anymore as it's been exposed to the air kwim? I would sterlise in miltons and then take them out as needed, but by the time I got to baby #4 I wasn't even doing that - just washing in hot soapy water and putting them away after they had air dried and we'd never had a problem.

[ss_storm]

It took me a little while to work out my system, but now here is what I do:

I use an electric steriliser, so wash bottles at night after she has gone to bed and sterilise them. Then I'll take them out once it switches off and part fill the bottles with boiling water (she gets 180ml bottles so I put 100ml in). Put the lids on the bottles and then pop in the fridge. When it comes to feed time I add 80ml boiling water to the bottle (the other water is now fridge cold) and it brings it up to the right temperature, add formula and feed! I used to make up the bottles fresh everytime, but I too found it awful waiting for the bottle to cool down while I had a screaming hungry baby in my arms! It's also handy with night feeds, don't have to stand around wasting precious sleep time waiting for a bottle to cool!

i did try filling the bottles with 180ml of boiling water and leaving them on the bench until ready for a feed, but found she didn't like it quite that cool (over winter our house gets quite cold especially overnight).

That's what worked best for me, as i said it did take a little while to find the right way for me to do it, but once you nut it out and figure out what works best for you, you'll be fine! I think as long as the sterilised bottles are used within 24 hours it'll be fine. If DD only has 5 bottles in one 24 hour period, even though i still have one left over (my steriliser does 6 bottles at a time), I'll still empty it out, re-wash and re-sterilise.

[LimeSlice]

I would follow the advice - based on the fact that you are in Vietnam and they may bne considering the water conditions in Vietnam when they write the things for formula use.

Can you contact a local nurse you can ask about the relevance of these guidelines to your own circumstances?

[Schmickers]

How hygeinic is the place you are living in? As long as you have access to some form of steriliser for your bottles, a refridgerator, safe drinking water, and a way to boil it, you should be fine. Sterilise your bottles - enough for 24 hours if you have them. Boil the kettle. Wash your hands thoroughly. Take your bottles straight out of the steriliser, fill them up with the boiled water (to the right amount to make up each bottle), and seal them. Let them cool, then store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

We store cool boiled water in our formula fridge for 24 hours before changing it and resterilising the container. If it's good enough for a children's nurse, I reckon it is good enough for anyone else.

[Trillian]

YIKES! I didn't realise you weren't in Australia. I would be following their advice too then hun.

[feeb]

YIKES! I didn't realise you weren't in Australia. I would be following their advice too then hun.

Same here they know there water conditions best

[GoingtobebiginAsia]

Sorry, I should have clarified.
I live in Vietnam but I came home to have the baby. The hospital there was a bit too scary and my Vietnamese isn't good enough to deal with medical issues.
I'm in Queensland and this is the advice from Nambour hospital. I go back to Vietnam in January. We drink bottled water there (imported from France), so it will be the same procedure, just really expensive!