is this disgusting?

i seem to have lost my grossness meter since having the twins, so let me know if this is gross...

i am kicking the bottle habit with the twinks and have been giving them formula in their sippies at meal/snack times. i fill it up in the morning and after breakfast, rinse it off and put it back in the fridge. then get it out at snack, rinse it off and put it back, repeat, with refills as needed. it is never out more than 20 minutes or so and i am not warming it up, so it stays pretty cold. they are using straw sippies so i don't think the backwash down the straw is too bad...

i'm sure the best thing would be to start with a fresh sippy at each meal, but that would be like 10 a day!! not to mention all the formula that would go down the drain...

what do y'all think??

 

Using the same cup all day might not be the best thing. I only say this because when my son was around 5 or 6 months, I accidentally gave him some formula that had been sitting for too long and he got sick, threw up all day. You just never know how much the bacteria is growing even though it still feels cold. On the other hand I really do understand what your saying. Have you tried maybe fixing only small amounts and then washing the cup after each use so you aren't wasting.

 

At 11 mos, I'd save what they didn't finish for the next meal and add just enough to it to make it the right amount. Then if they didn't finish it that time I'd toss it and start fresh for the second two of the day. When they went to milk, I'd do what you are doing and toss what was left at the end of the night. Not sure why, but I felt like milk was okay and formula wasn't! ardon:

 

I try not to keep milk or formula in sippies for longer than the next feeding. I'm pretty picky about germs & bacteria, though.

 

I would use 10 sippies a day only because I put them in the dishwasher, so dishes aren't a big deal to me. Any amount of bacteria can be bad especially for a little baby. If my girls don't finish their bottles I put it back in the fridge but not more than a 1/2 hour (they usually finish it within that 1/2 hour). If they don't finish it after that I just toss it. I have two girls with very sensitive stomachs, so I'd rather waste the formula than hurt their tummies and have to deal with sick babies all day.

 

I do the same thing.

 

If there is more than 50ml left in the bottle I usually put it in the fridge for the next feeding and use that bottle first, then give them the fresh formula, so they will finish the old formula and if there is smthg left of the new formula I could put it in the fridge for the next feeding so I don't have to throw it away. I never refrigerate the formula more than once and don't use it later than the next feeding. I never change bottles or nipples, and if I'm thinking now this could be a problem, but they never had any stomach issues. Maybe it was just luck.
What you could do is to put smaller amounts in the sippies and if they don't finish it give it to them the next time and hope they will finish or some smaller amount it's left that is not so hard to toss. I know I have a hard time to throw away formula when the almost 800g can is 29CAD and they eat at least 3 a week.
So when they finish the old formula you give them a new small amount that you think they will drink and if not refrigerate and so on.
It's just a suggestion. I think this is what I would do, we are not there yet.

 

I never gave my girls formula in their sippies that I remember, only milk. But even with milk I used to give them a new sippy each time. I don't do that anymore, now I just rinse it.

 

ok, so the general consensus is gross to kinda gross..

this will be my new plan, a compromise:

sippy 3/4 full with breakfast then save leftover for snack. after snack, dump leftover and rinse sippy out, put in fridge empty. then repeat and start fresh for dinner. i like the rinsing idea, i don't mind washing the actual cup part, but the straw part is a PITA...

thanks for your input! i can always count on you guys to set me straight...

 

We do milk now, but I don't use a different sippy for each meal. If there is milk left, I put it in the fridge. If not, I rinse their cups out. They've never gotten sick. I think it's fine as long as it's not sitting out for too long.

 

I asked about reusing formula when we brought the twins home from the hospital - as the nurse put it "I'm not telling you to reuse formula however if its not out for more than an hour its safe"...I don't think what you're doing is gross at all....but I'm not a germaphobe either...my kids didn't get their first stomach bug till they were a year old - so I guess it was ok!

 

A related question . . .

How often do you all think sippy cups should be washed when they have water or juice in them? Does water mixed with juice need to be refrigerated if it is not consumed right away, or should it be thrown out?

 

Same here! I used to think it was gross to drink out of the same cup all day (I only drink water) but DH did it and he never got sick. When I started doing it I got sick less too. I do think it's gross to some level, but I do it anyway.

May be gross, but our water cups go 1-2 days. No juice here but when I tried it, I kept it refrigerated.

 

Never considered it might be gross. We do this with milk and water or juice in insulated sippies. For milk, I feel the outside, and if it's still cool, I put it in the fridge to be reused. For water or juice, we just refill and get a new sippy every 1 - 2 days. I rinse the outside if needed since they get food on them.

 

i usually toss juice after a few hours but i don't refrigerate it, i just leave it out. and i just wash my water sippies at the end of the night with the rest of the dishes, just refill during the day as needed with no washing.

after the last few replies i think i may revert to my old ways... maybe just not fill it up all the way in the am and refill more frequently. it is funny because i am a total germophobe when it comes to other things but for some reason this just doesn't set of any germ alerts... maybe because it is all their own germ action...

 

I would probably use the same sippy cup all day and refill and rinse after each use. I'm sure you all know, but make sure you take the plug out all the way and clean every piece. Working at a daycare in the past alot of parents didn't know to do that and I would always find mold growing in that area and have to tell the parents that they have to take it completely apart, not sure if they were just putting it all together in the dishwasher or not, but I have cleanned alot of sippy cups with mold in them.

 

ewwwww... now that is gross!