germs & bottle feeding questions

Hi! This is my first post here as a mommy!! My lo's were born this past Thursday the 16th at exactly 36 weeks. We have been doing 70% formula feeding (on orders of the pediatrician) and while in the hospital we just used and threw away the Similac Neosure 2oz bottles, even if they only took 1/4 an ounce. But now that we're home and the bill is on us, we've begun to do what we can to conserve. I am afraid I'm not washing/sanitizing correctly. Here are my questions:

1) How long can the formula be saved (in fridge) once it is opened but unused (like when we open one of those 2oz bottles but then realize we had already opened one)?
2) Can we save a refrigerated BUT partially used bottle of ready-made formula? Obviously I would close the cap and use a new nipple next time. If so, for how long?
3) How should we best sanitize nipples? My mom thinks they need to be boiled - I haven't been doing that, have just been using soap and hot water and letting them dry.

Thanks!!

 

First of all, :welcome: to First Year & congratulations on your babies!

I sterilized bottles for a couple of weeks before giving up. To properly sterilize them, they do need to be boiled or put in the microwave in a sterilizer made for the microwave. Whether you feel the need to sterilize them or not is a decision you have to make, or you & your ped. I believe formula can be kept 24 hours in the fridge once opened, but check on the can it will probably say on there. I did keep partially used bottles in the fridge when they were older, I didn't when they were young, though. There is some thought that saliva from the babies mouth can get in the bottle when they are eating, causing bacteria to grow. I don't know really know how true that is or if it's really that much of a danger. ardon: How careful you are with things like sterilizing & using leftover formula totally depends on what you are comfortable with.

 

Congrats on the new babies. I will take a stab at some of your questions.
1) Formula that has been opened, but unused is good for 24 hrs if refrigerated.
2)Once a bottle has been used, the remainder needs to be tossed. I know it stinks to throw away formula, but bacteria from the babies mouth can enter the bottle through the nipple and contaminate the formaula. One thing you could do is transfer some of the formula to a different bottle before you feed it. For example, put an ounce in a different bottle to feed them. After the ounce, if they need more, re-fill it. If they don't need more, you can refridgerate the portion that is in the original bottle that they didn't drink out of. You may end up with more dirty dishes this way, but won't waste as much formula.
3)Different people do different things, but I always wash my bottle nipples in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle, put them in a setalizer or boil them. However, I breasetfed/pumped for the first 5 months and we had horrible yeast issues, so I am a little over-cautious when it comes to the nipples. I have a microwave steralizer that I use if I just need to steralize a few bottles/nipples and don't need to do a full load in the dishwasher.

Good luck!

 

Congrats on your babies. :welcome: to the First Year!!

1. 24 hours
2. You can leave it out on the counter for about an hour and then if you dont use it you should probably throw it away. There are lots of mom's on here who do put it back in the fridge and re-use it, but I didnt do that.
3. We used a micro sterilizer for about the first 3 months (mine were preemies) and then just ran them through the dishwasher with a heated dry cycle.

HTH!

 

Welcome to the FY and congrats on your babies!! :wub:

1. 24 hrs refridgerated after opening.
2. If they are only eating a partial bottle consistently then I would pour what they need into a different bottle to use and save the rest of the original bottle in the fridge. I never re-use formula after they've been eating it.
3. Boiling for 5 mins is a quick easy sanitize method for all new bottle parts (bottles, rings, nipples). But it's only "necessary" for before first use. After that in a dishwasher or hand washing with soap is fine. I only boiled before first use but some prefer to sterilize for the first few months (or even the first year).

 

Congrats on your babies!

I would say that you can keep formula that has been opened or prepared but not used for 24 hours in the fridge. Also highly recommend powder, and Target brand, if there is no reason your children have to be on a certain type.

We would keep opened, used formula for one more feeding. So, if they only drank an ounce of a 3 ounce bottle, we would refridgerate the other 2 and offer it at the next feeding.

I never sterilized anything - just washed everything in hot, soapy water. Our hospital, the hospital's pedi, our pedi, all said sterilizing wasn't necessary.

 

First of all, Congratulations!!!

1) How long can the formula be saved (in fridge) once it is opened but unused (like when we open one of those 2oz bottles but then realize we had already opened one)? Once formula is mixed [in your case, opened] and refrigerated it's good for 24 hrs. If you take it out of the refrigerator and do not heat it up, then it's good for 2 hrs. If you heat it up, then it's good for 1 hr.

2) Can we save a refrigerated BUT partially used bottle of ready-made formula? Obviously I would close the cap and use a new nipple next time. If so, for how long? You'll get different answers on this one. After a bottle is used or drank out of [saliva etc.. gets in the mix] bacteria starts to grow. I would save the bottle for no more than the following feeding - just to be sure.

3) How should we best sanitize nipples? My mom thinks they need to be boiled - I haven't been doing that, have just been using soap and hot water and letting them dry. My MIL has been a nurse for years. She said that the last generation [our parents] used to boil bottle to sanitize because of certain issues back then. Now-a-days all you really need is to soak them in hot soapy water and clean each piece with a bottle brush - that's what I've always done. Though if you want to you could run the bottles, nipples, etc.. through the dish washer on high heat as a way to sanitize. But boiling isn't absolutely necessary and if you choose to do it that way you only have to do it once.

Good luck! And let us know if you have any more questions!

 

I agree with everyone on here. There are a lot of ways to go. You certainly can't go wrong by over sterilizing. I tend to be more relaxed about this and wash our bottles in the dishwasher. My guys tend to cluster feed, take an ounce and then take another ounce or two 30 min later. So I do hold onto bottles for about an hour before tossing. I try to guage how much they will take by how long it has been since their last feeding so I mix the correct amount. I use powder because I think it is easier.

 

:welcome: to the First Year! Congrats on your arrivals!

Before I give you my answers, I need to give a little background. We participated in a formula study for Similac for 3 months. We had to use the bottle just like they gave you at the hospital for every feeding. I also breastfed, but I wasn't making much so they didn't drink much. Because the formula was free, I did things very differently the first 3 months.

1) One hr if not refrigerated, 24 hrs in the fridge.
2) In the beginning I threw out what was left after feeding both babies. If one 2oz bottle was finished and there was some left in the other, I'd let the boys share bottles. I really hate waste. After they were 3 months old, we would reuse the bottles once. By the time they were 10 months old, I reused the bottles twice. Now they use their sippy cups all day long. I think it's gross but they don't get sick often so I'm not worried about it and it's much easier.
3) I sterilized my breast pump tubes and pumping equipment (and those bottles) in those microwave bags Medela (sp?) sells. Everything else got washed in hot water and soap.