Formula Feeding Question - Arlington Heights,IL

I warm my baby's bottles by running the water in the ktchen sink until it is hot. Then I fill a plastic cup or container a 1/3 to a 1/2 way up then put the bottle in it for a couple minutes. We used the same method w frozen breast milk. This is how they do it in the hospital in the NICU.

Usually I give my son 4-5 oz. He is 8 months old. For school I make 4 5oz bottles. He usually eats 3 & I bring the 4th home. He will have 1 more at night & one more in the morning. Sometimes he wants a little more so I'll mix 2 more onces.

I buy either at SAMs or costco or the generic version at babies are us or target. My baby takes similac sensitive.

Do not mix old and new formulas.
We never warmed bottles so no help there. I know they say not to use a microwave but most everyone I know who warmed bottles used this method.
Mix a container or pitcher of formula and keep in fridge. So much easier than making bottles as you go. Just pour into the bottle when ready to use. At 5 months 4-6 ozs. a feeding is appropriate.

I think everyone has covered question number one so I won't even respond to that one. As for question number two we fill a gallon water jug up with the water out of our fridge and just set it out on the counter to allow for it to get room temperature. Then when our daughter is ready for a bottle we pour the water from the jug into the bottle and add the needed amount of formula. This way we don't have to warm the bottle, and it's ready right away.

As for question number three our daughter who is four months drinks six ounces a feeding. If she acts like she wants a little more then we make another two ounces in the same bottle. She doesn't drink as much when it's time for bed so we make a four ounce bottle, and if needed have the stuff ready to make another two ounces. Formula isn't too cheap so we don't want to waist any more then we have to, and figure she could wait the minute it takes us to make her an extra two ounces.

As for question number three we usually buy our formula at Sams Club just because they are bigger cans. If you go to the formula's website and join their club or mailing list they will usually send you a sample to start with, and then some coupons for $3.00 to $5.00 off. Those coupons come in a check form so Sams Club will accept those. They don't accept any other forms of coupons.

Congratulations on your baby girl, and good luck.

Hi,
We had to switch to mostly formula at 2 months, so I understand your situation. :)
1. i wouldn't mix old and new formula, but not sure what the rule is on that.
2. I didn't start out with a bottle warmer, I put the bottle in a cup of hot water. But then I broke down and got one and its the best thing ever! So much faster! 5 or 7 minutes and its warmed. I got the Phillips Avent bottle warmer (even though I used Dr. Brown's & Playtex bottles) It works so well!
3. We make up all the bottles we think we'll need the night before. Then they are all ready in the fridge as we need them. So maybe you could make up a bunch of 4 oz bottles. Then if she finishes one you could quickly warm up another.
4. We had to use similac soy formula as all the others made him gassy. But we signed up for Similac's club thing on line and got $5 similac checks in the mail. My husband and friends signed up too and gave me the checks, so we got $5 off each can we bought. I also waited until they were on sale too so we only paid about $15-$17 a can. They were cheaper at Target & Walmart. Sometimes Diapers.com

Hope it helps!

1 - no
2 - microwave and shake well - bottle warmers take too long!
3 - make a bunch of 5 or 6 oz bottles and put 'em in the fridge. Or make a pitcher and leave it in the fridge. Pour what you think she'll drink. If she finishes the whole thing and wants more - just pour and go.
4 - I used powder and bought it by the case. This was almost 18 years ago now... Just shop around.
LBC

if she's already drank out of the bottle of formula, you shouldnt give it to her again later. The bacteria in her mouth mixes with it and can make it go bad.

What I did was buy a formula pitcher at Babies 'R Us, and make a pitcher full of how much she normally ate in a day, then dole it out as the day went on. It worked out pretty well.

1. If its a bottle she didn't finish, no. Throw it away. (I just wanted to add that formula's are milk based. So think about heating up milk, then chilling it, then warming it up again. Not the best)
2. I used to put mine in the microwave. I know they say not to do this but I never had a prob. with it. I just put it on low for a few second and shook it really well. (they say microwaves cause hot spots, but if you shake it then those hotspots simply mix). My bottle warmer never worked right, and it took a while to warm the bottle.
3. I always offered 4 ounces to start with, then if she was still hungry I made a few more.
An easy solution to questions 1 and 3 are to get a good plastic jug with a seal on it, and make a batch for the day. You can start by mixing 16 ounces at a time then just pour it and warm it as needed. Atleast thats what I did. It's especially easier when you have to get a bottle in the middle of the night.
4. We bought our formula at Costco. It was more ounces for the price. Watch out for sales though because sometimes target and walmart had the same size for a slightly better price. I guess it depends on the formula you are giving her. I gave my baby enfamil (we bough the largest can) so thats where I found that brand of formula for the best price. (I also tried other formula's and those were cheaper but I preferred enfamil). Once you get in a routine with the bottles it gets easier. I don't think I have warmed a bottle since mine was around 4 months, she wasn't paticular about the temp. Hang in there. =)

Mix lots of formula ( I made 24 ounces) and do little bits at a time. Side note daycares DO warm up the bottles if you tell them that thats what is needed!!!! Anyway, you dont need bottle warmers and I say to warm it quick, use warm tap water, heat the bottle in the microwave and then mix the formula or use a crock pot and just put the bottle in (thats how I was taught at the daycare). You have one hour after the baby stops drinking it to finish it. 6oz and add more as she needs more. I heard buying in bulk is cheaper, but we just by from walmart, heb somewhere like that and I use MANY coupons :)

To question #2 my favorite way is to get a plastic sandwich baggie and get some HOT water and put the formula in the baggie and then dip the bag into the water. It's super fast. Minute tops depending on how hot and how much in the bag. You can also rinse out the bag and reuse it as long as you make sure it stays open to dry.

I don't have all the answers, but here are a few from my experience:
1. I wouldn't mix the formula, because after a while if you keep mixing there could be some very old stuff in there. Best to just start over after one cup or bottle is gone. But I did reuse old stuff (up to 24 hours or so)... put it in the fridge after a feeding and then took it out for the next one.
2. I didn't ever warm anything very much. If the bottle was coming out of the fridge (so it was cold) I actually found the easiest way was to fill a larger cup with warm/hot tap water and then put the bottle in there for a few minutes to bring it to room temp. After a short while I learned to just mix as much formula as I needed for a feeding and then used lukewarm tap water to mix it with (no, I didn't boil anything or use any special nursery water).

We had to wean our kids at a month and started with Enfamil but switched to the Walmart Parent Choice brand. It's $12 a can, half the cost of the brand name and exact same ingrediants as Enfamil.

We were fortunate in that neither of them needed the bottles warmed. You can make any amount you need. If they were still hungry I'd add another scoop and water to the bottle. Our friends used to heat them up in the microwave but it tells you not to. I would heat in a cup of warm water or under running water. Good luck. It sounds like a pretty easy transition so that helps. =)

I don't know why you would want towean at five months, as you've made it through the rough part and your baby could still benefit a lot. Not to mention it's free and you seem concerned about the cost of formula. That said, I know you're not supposed to mix old and fresh formula. Bacteria grows very quickly in that stuff, and you don't want to add to the stress on your baby's body by giving her rotten formula. If you're going back to work or something you can still do formula during the day and nurse when you're home.

we never made any bottles bigger than 6ounces. a month ago he started wasting alot of it, and he as soon as the bottle went bad (they only have an hour to drink it after they start) he would want more so we would have to get out a whole new bottle. now we make 4 ounces at a time and if he wants more we pour a little from another bottle into the one he is drinking. I didnt let him get use to warm formula so he drinks it straight from the fridge. we are on wic so we get emfamil, and the extra that we buy is the store brand, and we havent noticed a difference in either. We did have a problem with the nestle Good Start formula it would not mix well and gave our baby a belly ache.

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even though they say as long as you give the baby the formula within a 24 hour period it's not such a good idea to give her whatever she didn't finish later on and on top mixing it with new formula. My oldest son was hard to find out how much to give him and how much he would eat. So I started out with the less amount 4 oz. lets say. However, in a different bottle I had the extra 2 oz. just in case. What type of formula are you using? Pre-maid or powdered? With the premaid you need to have it refrigerated in it's casing after the first opening - so i can understand where you and baby get frustrated that you can't heat it up fast enough. you can either a) boil hot water and stick the milk in a glass and put the glass in the hot water until it's enough. Or put the milk in the glass and put it in the microwave. They do not however recommend microwaving milk because the power of the microwave may leave the top of the milk luke warm but in the middle it's HOT. I did both ways but I always shook the milk to mix it when i microwaved it just to be sure it wasn't hot in the middle. But the safest way is setting it in hot water. Remember do not use plastic containers to heat up formula because of the "Born Free" epidemic.

Everywhere you go no matter what formula is going to cost the same. However buying it in the case may save you money. Do you have a wholesale wearhouse where you live like a Costco's, BJ's or Sam's club - that's where you can usually find the cases and it may be cheaper to purchase it that way. I used Similac for my younger son and I found it cheaper at a latin pharmacy in town called Navarro - I don't know if you have anything up there like that. Grocery stores are usually the most expensive though.

I hope this helps! Congratulations.... also look out for the coupons on formula in the parenting magazines and sign up for every baby club you can possibly think of - they have great coupons too. Usually at your local grocery store.

Hi there-
Don't mix old formula with new formula. Whatever she doesn't finish in her bottle within an hour or so, throw it out.

I second the suggestion to either use a formula pitcher (or another container) to pre-make some formula ahead of time (what you will use in a day or even just enough for a couple of bottles at a time).

Get a bottle warmer. They don't cost much or you can find one used (Craig's list, a second hand sale, etc.) I thought I wouldn't need one, but it turned out to be perfect for warmer up refrigerated or defrosted breast milk, not to mention formula mixed up ahead of time in a formula pitcher.

I would suggest initially offering 8 oz until you figure out how much she consistently takes. My son almost never took a full 8 oz bottle (breast milk, formula, or even whole milk after he turned 1 year!) For a long time we gave him 4 oz., then 5, then 6. Generally, if he finished every last drop we'd offer a little more-but since he didn't like the disruption in his feeding, we would just increase the amount in his bottles when he seemed ready to drink more.

I found the cheapest way to buy formula was with coupons and watching sales. Sam's Club did not carry the formula we ended up using-so we went to Target & Babies R Us the most often. We discovered that different locations of Babies R Us/Toys R Us have different prices for the same formula-so if there's more than one in your area, definitely compare the prices. Sometimes stores offered extra large bonus size cans that, combined with our coupons, were the best deal. We registered online with the formula companies & had a friend who seemed to get TONS of coupons, so she shared those with us. Some folks are happy with the store brand formula. If you feel comfortable with that, then that is probably the least expensive way to go. One word of caution, whichever brand you choose, I would not suggest stocking up until you are certain of which one is going to work best for your baby. My son had latching troubles, so I pumped all of his milk for the first 3 mos. I couldn't keep my supply up, so I began supplementing with formula. At first it seemed fine, but once his diet consisted of half or more formula, I noticed that he started having very very bad gas. He was never fussy, but suddenly he was crying and uncomfortable! He had trouble on Enfamil. We ended up switching to one of the Nestle GoodStart formulas.

Good luck to you!