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AIBU?

to point out that formula feeding doesn't necessarily require you to be sterilising bottles and scooping out powder in the middle of the night...

453 replies

itsakindarabbit · 22/02/2013 21:56

Keep seeing this on threads which mention ff...how people couldnt be doing with getting up in the night andstsrilising bottles/making up feeds.

I bf and ff but found ff no problem at night - i would take up a carton of ready made formula and a pre sterilised bottle and i could feed without getting out of bed.

And yes, i know ready made formula is expensive and not everyone uses it. But some of us do/did.

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honeytea · 22/02/2013 21:59

Does the formula have to be warm? I have not used it but I have heared about warming cooling bottles.

In the middle of the night pooring a carton of milk into a bottle in the dark would be beyond me, but my co-ordination skills are not the best even when I am fully awake.

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PurpleStorm · 22/02/2013 21:59

We used the ready made formula once I stopped expressing breast milk. I think DS was about 9 months old then.

But it is expensive if you're planning on using a lot of ready made formula for a significant length of time. And you obviously still have to sterilise the bottles at some point.

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Snazzynewyear · 22/02/2013 22:00

Fair point but it would be too costly an option for a good few people, I guess. Are the pre-sterilised bottles one use only?

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itsakindarabbit · 22/02/2013 22:01

No ir doesnet have to be warm.

Who said it had to be dark???

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PurpleStorm · 22/02/2013 22:01

The ready made formula doesn't have to be warmed, but DS refused to drink it cold, so we had to warm it to a temperature he liked. I guess some babies wouldn't be bothered though.

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fruitpastille · 22/02/2013 22:01

We used to have pre made up bottles upstairs at night in a cool bag. Lots of babies don't mind what temperature it is served.

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babiesinslingsgetcoveredinfood · 22/02/2013 22:02

Still not as easy as wopping out a boob.

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PurpleStorm · 22/02/2013 22:02

And I would guess that by pre-sterilised bottles, the OP meant a normal re-useable bottle that had been sterilised normally and had a cap over the teat?

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Moominsarescary · 22/02/2013 22:03

No it doesn't need warming.

I used powdered milk and a flask of hot water at night with ds3 and cartons when he was older so it wasn't any faff really. Ds4 is 3 weeks old and bf but has a carton in the night.

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babiesinslingsgetcoveredinfood · 22/02/2013 22:04

Perplexed at this thread

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itsakindarabbit · 22/02/2013 22:05

Oh its way easier thsn wopping out a boob... "dh, the baby needs feeding, it's your turn" Grin

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Moominsarescary · 22/02/2013 22:05

We also used the ready made bottles of formula that come with sterilised teats but they were expensive

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Moominsarescary · 22/02/2013 22:06

its that's why I'm using formula at night, I just poke dh awake and go back to sleep

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FoxyRoxy · 22/02/2013 22:08

Bottles are sterilised, made and cooled and then put in the fridge. This is in line with WHO guidelines and means in the middle of the night all I had to do was take a bottle from the fridge and put it in the microwave bottle warmer.

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GirlOutNumbered · 22/02/2013 22:08

Surely people that ff know this.... So your point is to start a bunfight, surely.

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Sprite21 · 22/02/2013 22:08

Maybe this is just a bf thing but often DD would wake 4,5 times or more wanting feeding. Wouldn't that mean getting out a new bottle every time? Seems a right faff to me.

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HollyBerryBush · 22/02/2013 22:09

Clearly I am a feckless and uselss parent - I filled all 8 bottles once a day and stuck them in the fridge - then >shhh< I microwaved them

No one died or got burned or had the shits and I didnt get mangled nipples Grin win-win

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KitCat26 · 22/02/2013 22:09

With mine I used to make the bottle up, put it in the fridge until I went to bed then take it up to bed in an insulated bag. Both mine happily drank milk warm or cold.

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ChairmanWow · 22/02/2013 22:10

Wish I'd seen this thread a couple of years ago. It would have saved a lot of bleary-eyed kitchen visits. Planning on BF this baby but if I can't again I'm def nicking the flask idea. Face-palming at not having thought of it before.

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MorrisZapp · 22/02/2013 22:11

Time waits for no woman. In the two years since I said goodbye to formula, they've brought out big bottles of ready made stuff. Assume that while still pricy, they're cheaper than the equivalent in single use cartons.

I really disliked the cartons themselves, though I loved the convenience. A screw top bottle is so much more user friendly.

Like anything, it all gets easier and better designed.

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NumericalMum · 22/02/2013 22:12

BF til 9 months and FF after that. BF was definitely easier. No amount of DH can you feed the baby worked - he would need the light on to make the bottle (unfortunately the formula was powdered as it was an allergy one) would require making enough noise to wake the neighbours and ensure baby was properly awake. Feed baby... after all that I was wide awake and usually baby would take 30 minutes to settle. Biggest regret ever was giving up BF when I returned to work thinking it would be easier!

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KitCat26 · 22/02/2013 22:12

Both mine only woke once or twice a night Sprite, no. 1 was bf for the first 6 weeks too.

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itsakindarabbit · 22/02/2013 22:13

Not at all, girloutnumbered. Just saying that ff is not necessarily as onerous as some perceive.

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NumericalMum · 22/02/2013 22:13

Oh and in the day BF won hands down. No worries about running out of clean bottles, formula, boiled water etc.

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itsakindarabbit · 22/02/2013 22:15

Numericalmum - sympathies, but surely you can understand that i wasnt referring to cases like yours? Whole purpose of the thread, as per title is that ff doesn't necessarily require making night feeds. Sadly in yourcase it did.

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