Diaper Swappers

kitkateybug · 03-09-2013, 06:17 AM

All the buckets say you have to use or fridge formula within an hour after you mix it. But why? I just wonder how important it is to follow that rule.

makclair · 03-10-2013, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitkateybug

All the buckets say you have to use or fridge formula within an hour after you mix it. But why? I just wonder how important it is to follow that rule.

Formula isn't sterile and even unused formula can grow bacteria quickly

Rdesonia · 03-11-2013, 01:01 AM

Yep, it's better to be SAFE than to risk a sick baby.

I use to just keep the formula powder and bottles prefilled with water on my night stand. It was easy to just add the formula at night. (I didn't do formula till DS was 6 months old so I never warmed it at at that point. )

For out of the house, I added the formula powder to the bottles and added bottle water as needed. (adding water after the formula powder is less accurate but I figured it was just a little bit off and once a week to have a bottle that wasn't exact would not hurt.)

shm_helene1 · 03-16-2013, 01:16 PM

I could be wrong but I thought it was an hour after you started feeding...not an hour after you mixed.

mommaagain · 03-16-2013, 04:36 PM

ready to feed needs to be used within an hour of opening the bottle (single serve). refrigerated formula (mixed or ready to feed) needs to be used within an hour of coming out of the fridge. Freshly mixed formula needs to be used within an hour. Bacteria will grow and could definitely make your baby sick. You can use the room temp prefilled bottles of water and mix as needed from the newborn stage. It doesn't need to be "warm" just not chilled. HTH!

zeotwoski · 03-16-2013, 04:41 PM

Yup, unless it has changed within the last year it's use within 1 hour after the start of a feed (throw it out, can't refrigerate that) but TWO hours after mixing it it must be used. Perhaps PP is thinking about using it in 2 hours vs. refrigerate it within 1 hour?

It's like regular big person cow's milk. You wouldn't leave that out for more than an hour because it will spoil. Raw cow's milk (not pasturized) is different because the good bacteria has not been killed, same with breastmilk. I'm guessing that is why breastmilk can be at room temp longer than formula. Also, formula labels have to err on the side of conservative for legal reasons.

We too keep a bottle of measured water and a bottle of measured formula in the bedroom at night, and we do the same when going out--just bring two bottles; one has the powder and one has the water then just pour that water into the powder bottle. We've never ever warmed a bottle of formula, but we always use room temperature water. Never had a baby object to that (3 FF babies so far) although a COLD bottle from the fridge was not always well recieved.

marenmccoy · 03-26-2013, 09:38 PM

Yes to what others have said about bacteria and also the tip about room temp water and powder, but I also wanted to point out that I never treated this as an absolute. Like, if it is 5 minutes past the expiration I'd let the baby finish it. Its not like magic bacterial oogie boogies are on standby with a stopwatch.

D&MsMommy · 04-08-2013, 04:30 PM

I think it was feed within 2 hours after mixed, and within an hour if baby has started drinking from it. Mixed formula can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours. There were a few times that I went over the time limit, but those were under different circumstances. One of these times we were unexpectedly stuck in the E.R for several hours. It is very important to stick to these guidelines.. bacteria grows very quickly in formula.

dericasmom · 04-24-2013, 02:26 PM

I just logged on to ask this very question!! So I am going to start sending Baby D to daycare on Monday and am running out of BM in my freezer and not pumping enough to keep up with this hungry beast! My plan is to start putting a little formula into her bottles of breastmilk to make up the difference. If I mix the formula at home in the morning and put it in the bottle (say 4oz BM and 1 oz F) and the daycare keeps it in the fridge until time to feed, that should be okay, right?

bug2003 · 04-25-2013, 02:53 PM

Just to be the odd one here, my daughter uses an elemental formula and we've been told it is safe to leave it out at room temperature for 4 hours before having to toss it. Not sure if it's different for regular formula that's not broken down into amino acids, but it's straight from the company that the 4 hour thing comes from.

03-09-2013, 06:17 AM	#1
kitkateybug Registered Users Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 2	use in sixty minutes All the buckets say you have to use or fridge formula within an hour after you mix it. But why? I just wonder how important it is to follow that rule.

03-11-2013, 01:01 AM	#3
Rdesonia Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 4,709 Ratings: 8 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: use in sixty minutes Yep, it's better to be SAFE than to risk a sick baby. I use to just keep the formula powder and bottles prefilled with water on my night stand. It was easy to just add the formula at night. (I didn't do formula till DS was 6 months old so I never warmed it at at that point. ) For out of the house, I added the formula powder to the bottles and added bottle water as needed. (adding water after the formula powder is less accurate but I figured it was just a little bit off and once a week to have a bottle that wasn't exact would not hurt.) __________________ Sahm married to a wonderful man who does the dishes with DS 11/18/02 and DD 7/11/11 My Come Swag with me! http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/rdesonia

03-16-2013, 01:16 PM	#4
shm_helene1 Registered Users Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 44 Ratings: 2 Feedback: 100%	Re: use in sixty minutes I could be wrong but I thought it was an hour after you started feeding...not an hour after you mixed.

03-16-2013, 04:36 PM	#5
mommaagain Registered Users Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: my happy place Posts: 1,231 Ratings: 44 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: use in sixty minutes ready to feed needs to be used within an hour of opening the bottle (single serve). refrigerated formula (mixed or ready to feed) needs to be used within an hour of coming out of the fridge. Freshly mixed formula needs to be used within an hour. Bacteria will grow and could definitely make your baby sick. You can use the room temp prefilled bottles of water and mix as needed from the newborn stage. It doesn't need to be "warm" just not chilled. HTH! __________________ Jenn, happily married to 10/96, mom to 12/01, and 3/04, momma again to 1/10, and a new baby 3/13

03-16-2013, 04:41 PM	#6
zeotwoski Registered Users Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 684 Ratings: 80 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: use in sixty minutes Yup, unless it has changed within the last year it's use within 1 hour after the start of a feed (throw it out, can't refrigerate that) but TWO hours after mixing it it must be used. Perhaps PP is thinking about using it in 2 hours vs. refrigerate it within 1 hour? It's like regular big person cow's milk. You wouldn't leave that out for more than an hour because it will spoil. Raw cow's milk (not pasturized) is different because the good bacteria has not been killed, same with breastmilk. I'm guessing that is why breastmilk can be at room temp longer than formula. Also, formula labels have to err on the side of conservative for legal reasons. We too keep a bottle of measured water and a bottle of measured formula in the bedroom at night, and we do the same when going out--just bring two bottles; one has the powder and one has the water then just pour that water into the powder bottle. We've never ever warmed a bottle of formula, but we always use room temperature water. Never had a baby object to that (3 FF babies so far) although a COLD bottle from the fridge was not always well recieved. __________________ Cathy SAHM to B, 6 and S, 4 , H, 2 and baby M. and baby A Missing babies N and L.