Preparing water for baby formula
When you’re preparingbaby formula, the first step is toalways wash your hands with soap. It’s also important to make sure you use a clean area to prepare the formula.
Next, boil fresh tap water in an electric kettle or on the stove top. In places with a clean water supply that meets Australian standards, hot water urns like hydroboils are also safe to use for preparing formula.
Let the boiled water cool down to a safe temperature – lukewarm (body temperature). This will take at least 30 minutes.
You canput cooled boiled water in sterilised bottles and store them sealed with a ring and disc in the fridge until needed. Use these bottles within 24 hours.
If you’re using refrigerated boiled water, you can warm the water slightly by standing the bottle in a container of warm water. This will make it easier to mix the water and baby formula.
It’s important tosterilise bottle-feeding equipment until your baby is 12 months old. Your baby’s immune system isn’t strong enough to fight off some infections, so sterilising equipment reduces your baby’s chances of getting sick.
Making up powdered baby formula
Before making up baby formula, make sure to check the expiry date on the formula tin. Throw away opened tins of formula after one month.
Here are thebasic steps for adding powder to water to make formula:
- Read the instructions on the formula tin. These instructions will tell you how much water and powder to use.
- Wash your hands.
- Pour the right amount of cooled, boiled water into the sterilised bottle.
- Using the scoop from the formula tin, measure the right number of scoops into the bottle. Level off each scoop. You can do this with a sterilised knife or something similar. Don’t press the powder into the scoop.
- Seal the bottle with a ring and disc. Shake the bottle to mix the powder and water.
- Take the disc off and replace it with a teat.
- Before feeding your baby, test the temperature of the formula by placing a few drops on the inside of your wrist. Make sure the formula isn’t too hot – itshould feel just warm.
If your baby doesn’t finish all the formula,throw it away within one hour. When your baby drinks from a bottle of formula, bacteria from your baby’s mouth get into the milk. These bacteria can make your baby sick if you give your baby the same bottle again later.
Never add extra formula powder to a bottle. Infant formula should always be prepared according to the directions on the tin.
Preparing infant formula in advance
It’s best to prepare one bottle of formula at a time. It’s also best to prepare each bottle right before you feed your baby.
But if you need to prepare infant formula in advance, refrigerate the formula below 5˚C within 1 hour of making it, and use within 24 hours. Store it in the back of the fridge where it’s coldest, not in the door where it’s warmer.
If you can’t keep the formula cold, throw it away after one hour at room temperature.
You can also use ‘ready to drink’ formula if preparing formula in advance isn’t an option for you or you’re travelling.
Using formula when you’re out and about
The safest way to transport formula is to take cooled boiled water and the powdered formula in separate containers.
But if you need to transport bottles of formula that are already made up, make sure the formula is icy cold when you leave the house. Carry it in a thermal baby bottle pack or a cool bag with ice-packs, and use it within 2 hours.
You can put the bottle of formula back in the fridge if it has been in the bottle pack or cool bag for less than 2 hours. But use it within 24 hours of when it was first prepared.
Throw away any prepared formula you haven’t used or put back in the fridge within 2 hours.
Warming and cooling infant formula
There’s no need to warm chilled formula or ‘ready to drink’ formula.If your baby doesn’t mind cold formula, it’s fine for your baby to have it cold.
But many babies, especially young babies, like their formula warmed a little. The safest way to warm formula is to stand the bottle in a jug of warm water. Don’t leave the bottle warming for more than 10 minutes. This might cause bacteria to grow in the formula.
Bottle warmers are convenient and safe if they have a thermostat control. Don’t leave the bottle in the warmer for more than 10 minutes.
Gently swirl the bottle or container to mix the formula after warming. Test the temperature of the formula by putting a few drops onto your wrist.
Microwaves aren’t recommended for heating infant formula. Microwaves can heat formula unevenly, and the formula can burn your baby’s mouth.
If you accidentally make the formulatoo hot, cool it down by holding it under cold running water or placing it in a jug of cold water. Swirl the bottle and recheck the temperature on your wrist before feeding.Don’t put this bottle back in the fridge for later use.
Read more abouthow to bottle-feed and download ourillustrated guide to formula preparation.
