- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
January 2012 Moms
PsyDr04
member
Have to supplement and don't know much about formula
PsyDr04
member
DS had his 4 month appt today. He grew 2.5 inches since his 2 month appt but gained less than a pound and a half. I have been EBF but we now need to supplement because obviously DS isn't getting enough with BM alone. The pedi gave us some Enfamil GentleEase (powder) and I bought some distilled water to mix it with. My question is do I have to refrigerate the remainder of the distilled water in the jug after I open it? I probably would prefer to even if it's ok not to, which leads me to my second question - can you heat up formula the same way you heat up breastmilk, like under warm water? I know these are probably dumb questions but we've only used formula about 4 times in the past and that was the pre-mixed liquid kind.
TIA.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Have to supplement and don't know much about formula
You don't have to refridgerate the water, in fact you don't even have to use distilled water! I use tap water, boiled every morning in my electric kettle to make it warmish, and that's it. If you prefer to refridgerate your water, that's fine too though.
You can heat up formula with warm water, but you can also just put it in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds and then shake it to make sure all the heat spots are out. Both ways of heating formula work, one just takes a bit longer then then other. You can also serve formula direct from the fridge or at room temperature if you want. I do room temperature so that way when we are travelling she doesn't need it heated up!
One final note - I am no doctor, but from what I understand breastfed babies will gain lots the first few weeks and then slow down around 3 or 4 months, so your baby gaining only 1 1/2 pounds in 2 months isn't actually all that bad. My oldest gained only a pound a month on formula after about 4 months, so don't feel all that bad about the weight gain of 1 1/2 pounds because he is still gaining and he just might be right around the bend from a growth spurt too! Unless he has dropped way off his curve (which is still based on formula babies, not breastfed ones) I would keep putting him to the breast as much as possible and limit your formula to maybe one bottle a day if that? If you enjoy breastfeeding and it is working for you then I see no reason why you need to heavily supplement right now. A couple ounces here and there will be no big deal, but if you do a lot of supplementing (like at every feed) then baby may start to prefer bottle over breast and then you'll have a challenge.
Daughter #1 - February 12, 2010
natural m/c March 11, 2011 at 8 1/2 weeks
Daughter #2 - January 11, 2012
Ectopic pregnancy discovered November 6, 2012 at 6 weeks
Daughter #3 - January 19, 2014
Started our exploration into the world of international adoption June 2012. We have no idea what this is going to look like but we are excited to find out!
So I can't pre-make bottles of formula for daycare the morning of say and refrigerate them and have them keep them refrigerated at daycare until ready to use?
I do plan to continue giving him as much breastmilk as possible.
I think the one hour formula rule is after the baby's mouth has touched the nipple. It introduces bacteria and shouldn't be used after an hour (like you can't re-feed the same bottle if he only took a sip).
Ditto the growth charts. Look @ the WHO chart (breastfed) and compare to your doctor's chart (likely CDC). Here's more info from KellyMom:
https://kellymom.com/health/growth/growthcharts/
I supplement because he eats more than I pump, and I just leave the bottle of nursery water out. He will take formula room temp, but prefers BM warmed. You can premake the bottles and they are good for 24 hours in the fridge. The easiest, least wasteful thing to do though would be to bring a can of formula and a gallon of water to daycare and just let them mix it as they need it (if they are ok with doing that). That's what we do, but my babysitters are either my mom or DH so I'm not sure how it would work with daycare.
The only thing I'd be kinda concerned with keeping the water in the fridge is that you might have a more difficult time mixing the formula completely into the water. Once it is in suspension, then it should be fine cold.
My son has 3 bottles and a can of formula at the daycare. They make them as he needs them.
You can also buy something called a formula dispenser. They usually have three compartments and allow you to put in enough formula to make a bottle so all you have to do is dump that into a bottle of water (either distilled, or boiled and cooled). They are great for on-the-go.
You can take the dispenser and some bottles with pre-measured water and there is no need to chill just the water. When it is feeding time, just mix the powder from one part of the dispenser with the water and away you go. Otherwise you can heat it slightly as you would breastmilk.
I would only keep powder formula pre-mixed in the fridge for 24 hrs and if it has been heated or given to your baby then it has to be used within one hour or discarded.
Formula, once mixed, is good for 24 hours if it is refrigerated. You can pre-make bottles for daycare and they will heat them using a bottle warmer. Our daycare center requires us to make the bottles ahead of time; per licensing rules they are not allowed to mix the water and formula.
If you leave the bottle out and not refrigerated, or you warm it up, it is only good for an hour. Warm it up using warm water or a bottle warmer - do NOT use the microwave. It heats unevenly and even shaking the bottle doesn't get the hot spots out.
Fwiw, we use tap water. We fill the bottles with water and then add the formula using a formula dispenser (easy and quick) when DD is ready to eat. She takes the bottles at room temp which is nice because then when we are out and about I can pack a bottle filled with water and the formula dispenser and then when she is ready to eat I don't have to worry about finding a way to heat it up.
DD 1/3/2012
BFP 5/21/2013 MC 5/24/2013
BFP 7/16/2013 EDD 3/27/2014