Formula questions

Do you make 3 or 5 oz bottle? Since 1 scoop of formula makes 2 oz bottle, we need 1.5 scoop to make 3 oz. My husband thinks that there is no way to measure half scoop correctly, he insists us to make 4 oz bottle even though most of the time our girls can't even finish 3 oz bottles. It's just hurt to see so much milk go to waste with every feeding!

 

I agree with your husband and that's what the formula comapnies will tell you too. Formula that is too concentrated is hard on their system (I think its their kidneys that it is bad for, but I'm not sure) and formula that is too weak does not contain enough nutrients.

What you can do is premix, say 24 ounces (or whatever you need for the day) and then pour out 3 ounce bottles. I use Rubbermaid mixermate bottles to mix and then pour into 8 ounce bottles (but my guys are bit older!).

Or you can use a digital scale and figure out the exact weight of 1/2 a scoop and then measure by weight when mixing.

Or you can make a 6 ounce bottle and pour 1/2 into another bottle for the other twin or a later feeding.

 

I always used Ready to Use Formula - my kiddos couldn't stomach the corn base in powder formula, so I didn't have a mixing issue, but why not mix a large batch of formula for the day and then just pour 3oz in each bottle. That should help eliminate the extra waste. Hope this helps

 

We have the same problem. Ours are on 3 oz bottles. We used to mix up a whole batch of formula and store it in the fridge and just pour out bottles as we needed them. However the playtex drop in bottles can't be used with a bottle warmer for baby (ours melted our bottles!!!) and warming it up in a sink of hot water just sucks at 2 am. So cold formula wasn't a good idea for us. Now we do what the PP said about making a 6 oz bottle and then just splitting it up between the twins.

 

get a big pitcher, measure out a whole day's worth of feedings for both babies and whisk to mix. then pour out bottles as needed. that was our daily routine. your formula container should have instructions for mixing 1 cup of powder with a specific quantity of water to make larger batches. at 7 months we were making a quadruple batch every day, and that allowed us to pour out 8 ounces for some feedings, 7 ounces for others, and 8 1/2 to 9 ounces on hungry days. here's what a quadruple batch looks like: photo :blink:

 

Wow, I always just eyeball it for a half scoop. I don't like to waste and we use room temperature water so I am not one to make up bottles or formula ahead of time. My babies are still alive!

 

How long can pre-mixed formula stay in the fridge for?

 

I did the same thing. I know that formula that is too strong or too weak can be a problem but, in my opinion, the tiny bit of a difference that it would make in estimating a half-scoop isn't going to be enough to cause a problem. ardon:

 

I always premixed and filled bottles for 24 hrs so they were ready to grab and heat in the microwave. Go ahead :tomato: .

 

we eyeball half a scoop and have had no problems. It depends on how particular you want to be and what you're comfortable with but we just figure room temp water works for us b/c heating bottles in the night is not an option. Our babies have shown no signs of distress, so we're good.

 

there was a previous post suggesting that formula be premixed at double strength...then all you have to do is add hot tap water to the refrigerated formula and voila, warm formula!