Tips for organising bottle feeds

My DS was bottle feed from birth and from my experience and research everyone has a different way of doing things so its really about finding a way that works for you and that you are comfortable with.

You should only keep a used bottle of formula for an hour so if he starts a feed at 10.30, you should tip the milk out at 11.30 although after about 15 mins I would be putting it back in the fridge.

I use to boil the jug in the morning, leave to cool and then fill my 6 sterilised bottles with the amount of water needed and then put in the fridge. I found this heaps easier.

I would then get the bottle out of fridge and heat in microwave (I had a really good play with our microwave to work out the exact time it needed), add formula, shake really well and feed. That was the quickest way for me and meant it was only 1-2 mins of screaming rather than 5 or so waiting for the bottle to heat in water.

I know lots of people say not to heat in the microwave but I was comfortable doing it as I had a really good play first and always shook well to avoid heat spots and tested on my wrist.

When we went out I would heat the water in the bottle and put in a insulated bag and then take the formula in a travel dispenser and mix and shake when needed as the water was always at the right temp.

Biggest tip though is to get your child to drink formula at any temp. Make life 10x easier as they get older!


As I said at the top, everyone has their own way of what works and what they are comfortable with so just go with what works for you

As Peanut said one of the best things you can do is get your baby used to having bottles at any temp. Finley is totally OK to have cool bottles - a friend of mine told me that in hospital they often give it cold!!

I have the powder measured out into my avent pot first thing in the morning (Sophie is only on 3 bottles a day so I can fit a whole day in now) This means that the powder is there when you need it and you don't have to faff around measuring it out. It also means that if you are heading out in a hurry the powder is already done.

I also ALWAY refill and re-boil the jug as soon as I have used any water. Not the most enery wise thing but it is really bad to be stuck with no boiled water when you really need it. I also have an Avent expressing storage cup (Via??) on the bench with cooled boiled water. VERY handy.

The insulated bags are good too. I also keep a sachet of powder in my nappy bag incase I forget the powder (have done that more than once )

I do the exact same thing as peanut...have all the bottles filled to required amount to all i have to do is heat in microwave (we used glass bottles so no bpa) then put in powder. Also I get it ready JUST before she needs it so i do not have to go through the screaming thing....easier to see when she is awake however when she is asleep i leave her in her cot and get the bottle ready so I do not have to do it with one hand.
Hope that helps

I always kept a sealed jug of boiled water in the fridge and just made the bottles from scratch.

When DS was little and was having weird amounts (and we couldn't afford to just keep chucking formula out) I would make up big batches, enough for the day, then pour them into the bottles and popped in the fridge. Obviously if you're out you can't do that though. Cos sometimes he would want say 160ml but normally you would have to make 120 or 200, so I made big batches and then divided them into the lots I knew he would drink. Saved us a lot of money in the long run.