Cooling baby's bottle?
October 22, 2013 12:01 AM Subscribe
So we have started giving our baby some formula feeds (after advice from medical professionals. We are well aware of the benefits of breast feeding, and still do it as much as possible).
We have powdered formula, which mentions that feeds should not be stored longer than two hours after being made up. As a result, our son has a tendency to get hungry before we've made a feed. When he is hungry he makes his feelings.... somewhat well known...
The formula box recommends running the bottle under running water to cool it down, but this is quite labour intensive, especially when holding a baby. My feeling is that leaving the bottle in a basin full of cold water should have exactly the same effect, provided the body of water is large enough to not get heated up. Still, it can take some time, and it makes me wonder if it would be any faster.
So: is running a bottle under a running tap faster than leaving it in a bowl of cold water, and are there any other cooling techniques we could try?
We have powdered formula, which mentions that feeds should not be stored longer than two hours after being made up. As a result, our son has a tendency to get hungry before we've made a feed. When he is hungry he makes his feelings.... somewhat well known...
The formula box recommends running the bottle under running water to cool it down, but this is quite labour intensive, especially when holding a baby. My feeling is that leaving the bottle in a basin full of cold water should have exactly the same effect, provided the body of water is large enough to not get heated up. Still, it can take some time, and it makes me wonder if it would be any faster.
So: is running a bottle under a running tap faster than leaving it in a bowl of cold water, and are there any other cooling techniques we could try?
Is your issue that you are making the bottles with freshly boiled water? My sister and her husband boil enough water for half a dozen bottles, pour the boiling water (not the powder) into clean bottles and seal them. Then they sit out at room temperature to be used later, so there is no temperature issue panic at feeding time with crying babies.
posted by ktkt at 12:27 AM on October 22, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by ktkt at 12:27 AM on October 22, 2013 [7 favorites]
Why not just make up the bottle with room temperature water? That worked for us and for most people I know. If the tap water where you live isn't great, you can boil and then store water in gallon jars.
posted by judith at 12:28 AM on October 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by judith at 12:28 AM on October 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Ya same thing. We preboiled water. Also switching to canned from powdered formula made it much faster to make the bottle as you can premake bottles for the night. Powdered can't be premade not because of bacterial concerns but because it falls out of solution, then you have to shake it, then baby gets gas. After 2 kids the answer is definitely preboil and canned formula. The only option is one of those $15 bottle warmers from target/Walmart. Heat a bottle to lukewarm from the fridge in 90 seconds using a tablespoon of water. Single best thing we bought across 2 kids.
posted by chasles at 1:08 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by chasles at 1:08 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Two other techniques that are useful if your baby will only drink warmer (not room temperature) water:
1) Pre-boil water and refrigerate it. Then mix the cold water with water that has just been boiled to get the perfect temp immediately. We found a ratio of 1:1 worked for us.
2) If even #1 is too slow (because you have to wait for the water to boil) then do #1 and put it in a heat-retaining thermos ahead of time. When you need water, just open the thermos and pour out what you need!
posted by forza at 2:13 AM on October 22, 2013
1) Pre-boil water and refrigerate it. Then mix the cold water with water that has just been boiled to get the perfect temp immediately. We found a ratio of 1:1 worked for us.
2) If even #1 is too slow (because you have to wait for the water to boil) then do #1 and put it in a heat-retaining thermos ahead of time. When you need water, just open the thermos and pour out what you need!
posted by forza at 2:13 AM on October 22, 2013
Yep. Pre-boil, use a thermos, and pre-measure the formula -- you can get stackable containers for pre-measuring the powder out, that stay sealed until you're ready to make the bottle.
Formula containers from amazon.
Then grab one of your cool, pre-boiled bottles containing sterile water, grab your thermos containing hot boiled water, grad your pre-measured powder and you're ready to go in around a minute. Takes a bit of practice to work out how much pre-boiled water to fill the bottles with, but you can always work the hot tap / cold tap on the outside of the bottle to get the final temperature perfect.
posted by FrereKhan at 2:14 AM on October 22, 2013
Formula containers from amazon.
Then grab one of your cool, pre-boiled bottles containing sterile water, grab your thermos containing hot boiled water, grad your pre-measured powder and you're ready to go in around a minute. Takes a bit of practice to work out how much pre-boiled water to fill the bottles with, but you can always work the hot tap / cold tap on the outside of the bottle to get the final temperature perfect.
posted by FrereKhan at 2:14 AM on October 22, 2013
You could also consider using previously distilled water that you keep in the fridge. Something like Nursery Water, or the generic equivalent (we used Wal-Mart's brand). Fluoridated tap water can be bad for babies, or at least that's what our pediatrician told us.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 2:14 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 2:14 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Just to pile on with similar advice to others: we boiled the water and kept the boiled water in a thermos-type water jug thing. Then into the bottle warmer for a little while if necessary.
posted by pipeski at 2:29 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by pipeski at 2:29 AM on October 22, 2013
Anecdotal only
I found running water and swirling the bottle was the quickest. My theory was that the thinness of the liquid at the edge of the swirl cooled quicker.
Not sure why it's not been mentioned in the thread. But we used to pre-boil let it cool in the bottles and then microwave it to get it back to temp. 30s for around 6oz. and reduce time for less liquid.
posted by MarvinJ at 2:46 AM on October 22, 2013
I found running water and swirling the bottle was the quickest. My theory was that the thinness of the liquid at the edge of the swirl cooled quicker.
Not sure why it's not been mentioned in the thread. But we used to pre-boil let it cool in the bottles and then microwave it to get it back to temp. 30s for around 6oz. and reduce time for less liquid.
posted by MarvinJ at 2:46 AM on October 22, 2013
Why not just make up the bottle with room temperature water? That worked for us and for most people I know. If the tap water where you live isn't great, you can boil and then store water in gallon jars.
Yeah, that's what we did. I also think we'd make a large measuring cup full and used it all day. No one ever told us not to, although at the time we were basically zombies, so who knows. I think it was all we could do to get the powder to water ratio right and/or not make it with Country Tyme Lemonade Mix by mistake.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:52 AM on October 22, 2013
Yeah, that's what we did. I also think we'd make a large measuring cup full and used it all day. No one ever told us not to, although at the time we were basically zombies, so who knows. I think it was all we could do to get the powder to water ratio right and/or not make it with Country Tyme Lemonade Mix by mistake.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:52 AM on October 22, 2013
We ended up reheating with a microwave, and it was a lifesaver for us. Lots of folks online will say this is bad because 1 it will cause hotspots in the milk that will scald baby, and 2 microwaving will cause the proteins to "denature". Re 1, a quick shake and swirl resolves that, and re 2, it sounds like utter bollocks to me. Best of luck, its amazing how long 3 minutes beside a running tap can seem like when you've got a squalling baby in your arm at the same time.
posted by kev23f at 4:59 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by kev23f at 4:59 AM on October 22, 2013
Best answer: It's the continuous agitation, both of the cooling water outside the bottle and of the formula inside the bottle, that makes the under-tap method cool faster. (Assuming a decent sized basin of water, as you point out. It will also be important that the bottle is immersed in the cooling water, at least to the point where all the liquid in the bottle is immersed in the water. If like half the bottle is sticking out the top of the water in the basin it will slow the cooling a lot.)
If you just leave the hot bottle sitting in the basin, what happens is the temperatures immediately at the temperature boundary will equalize pretty quickly--so in this case, right near the outside of the bottle. But it takes a long time for those temperature differences at the boundaries to move by conduction and maybe a bit of induced convection to (say) the center of the bottle. So if you agitate the bottle & the water in the basin it speeds things up a lot.
So--if you would use a basin and just come along every minute* or so to swirl the bottle around in it, you'd probably find the cooling times to be quite similar to holding it under the tap.
*If you're nerd who likes to optimize things you could experiment with different intervals between swirls to find the precisely optimal trade-off between the annoyance of constant swirling and the speed of cooling.
posted by flug at 5:29 AM on October 22, 2013
If you just leave the hot bottle sitting in the basin, what happens is the temperatures immediately at the temperature boundary will equalize pretty quickly--so in this case, right near the outside of the bottle. But it takes a long time for those temperature differences at the boundaries to move by conduction and maybe a bit of induced convection to (say) the center of the bottle. So if you agitate the bottle & the water in the basin it speeds things up a lot.
So--if you would use a basin and just come along every minute* or so to swirl the bottle around in it, you'd probably find the cooling times to be quite similar to holding it under the tap.
*If you're nerd who likes to optimize things you could experiment with different intervals between swirls to find the precisely optimal trade-off between the annoyance of constant swirling and the speed of cooling.
posted by flug at 5:29 AM on October 22, 2013
We always put the baby bottle in a cereal bowl full of cold water and icecubes. You can just leave it standing there for a few minutes that way.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:51 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:51 AM on October 22, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks for that, I'm glad to see putting it udner the tap does something!
Re: pre-boiling, the issue as I understand it is not with the water, but with the powder. While preprepared formula is sterile, powder is not, so the water needs to be boiling (or close to it, recommendations allow half an hour cooling period) to ensure sterility.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 5:56 AM on October 22, 2013
Re: pre-boiling, the issue as I understand it is not with the water, but with the powder. While preprepared formula is sterile, powder is not, so the water needs to be boiling (or close to it, recommendations allow half an hour cooling period) to ensure sterility.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 5:56 AM on October 22, 2013
Running under the tap is faster but it is also a bit of a pain in the arse. I do a mix of the two: run it quickly under the tap and then stick it in a small bowl of cold water with a small freezer block in it.
posted by ninebelow at 6:07 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by ninebelow at 6:07 AM on October 22, 2013
My first kid was formula fed, and her formula was provided by our county (she's covered by WIC). We got cans of formula instead of powder, and you might consider that option (if you're SUPER RICH because holy gods that stuff is expensive). We mixed up a can at a time into a little tupperware jug, and kept a day's worth in the fridge at a time. At mealtimes we did the exact opposite of what you're asking about here- we ran a bottle under hot water from the tap.
posted by SeedStitch at 6:14 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by SeedStitch at 6:14 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
While preprepared formula is sterile, powder is not, so the water needs to be boiling (or close to it, recommendations allow half an hour cooling period) to ensure sterility.
Talk to your pediatrician. Unless your baby has some specific immune system concerns, this level of sterility might not be necessary.
posted by judith at 7:00 AM on October 22, 2013 [8 favorites]
Talk to your pediatrician. Unless your baby has some specific immune system concerns, this level of sterility might not be necessary.
posted by judith at 7:00 AM on October 22, 2013 [8 favorites]
To save time boiling water I'd suggest looking into an electric kettle, you can get ones for tea that you can set the temperature for, but even a cheap one boils water faster than any stove. I mention this as I've noticed in the USA almost no one seems to use one and they are super handy.
posted by wwax at 7:03 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by wwax at 7:03 AM on October 22, 2013
According to the CDC, the water only needs to reach 158 degrees to sterilize the formula.
I have this kettle, which allows you to heat the water to different temperatures, as low as 175 degrees. I've had it for 4ish years and it's still going strong.
A roommate in grad school had one of these devices that keeps water at a certain temp all the time -- it was awesome.
So, maybe start with less-than-212-degree water, and then use the running cool water to cool to the desired temp.
posted by melissasaurus at 7:03 AM on October 22, 2013
I have this kettle, which allows you to heat the water to different temperatures, as low as 175 degrees. I've had it for 4ish years and it's still going strong.
A roommate in grad school had one of these devices that keeps water at a certain temp all the time -- it was awesome.
So, maybe start with less-than-212-degree water, and then use the running cool water to cool to the desired temp.
posted by melissasaurus at 7:03 AM on October 22, 2013
Response by poster: These are all interesting suggestions. I will note at this point that I live in the UK, where pre-ready formula comes in cartons/bottles (at least, I haven't seen it tinned), and we do all have electric kettles. Also noteworthy, the main reason I'm using powdered formula over pre-prepared formula is money, which is an issue: I can't imagine a permenantly boiled kettle is cheap!
posted by Cannon Fodder at 8:01 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by Cannon Fodder at 8:01 AM on October 22, 2013
Best answer: So: is running a bottle under a running tap faster than leaving it in a bowl of cold water, and are there any other cooling techniques we could try?
Put the bottle in a bowl.
Put the bowl under a gently running cold tap, making sure it's not blocking the drain, and let it brim over gradually with water.
Presto: continuous flow of cold water, preventing the boundary layer thing that flug describes, without having to stand there and hold the damn thing under the faucet the whole time.
(This was also the Health Dep't Approved way of defrosting meat in the co-op I used to live in. If it's good enough for thawing out 100 servings of raw chicken under the stern watchful eye of the city inspector, it's good enough for cooling off a baby bottle.)
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 8:40 AM on October 22, 2013
Put the bottle in a bowl.
Put the bowl under a gently running cold tap, making sure it's not blocking the drain, and let it brim over gradually with water.
Presto: continuous flow of cold water, preventing the boundary layer thing that flug describes, without having to stand there and hold the damn thing under the faucet the whole time.
(This was also the Health Dep't Approved way of defrosting meat in the co-op I used to live in. If it's good enough for thawing out 100 servings of raw chicken under the stern watchful eye of the city inspector, it's good enough for cooling off a baby bottle.)
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 8:40 AM on October 22, 2013
Geez, we never even knew you were supposed to boil the water in the first place. Never had any problems.
posted by valkyryn at 8:54 AM on October 22, 2013
posted by valkyryn at 8:54 AM on October 22, 2013
Yeah, we're seven months into a second baby, and never, not once, boiled the water. We used luke warm tap water. They use tap water at the daycare to make extra bottles, too, as far as I know.
We did use bottled nursery water at my in laws because they have well water.
Crap. Now I'm going to have to think about whether to boil the water.
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:31 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
We did use bottled nursery water at my in laws because they have well water.
Crap. Now I'm going to have to think about whether to boil the water.
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:31 AM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Our munchkin is 9 months now. I only boiled water and sterilized for the first couple of months. After that it was just filtered tap water popped in the microwave for varying amounts of time. Just long enough to get the water to the temp he likes.
But if I thought it was too hot after it was mixed I just swirl it under cold tap water.
posted by MayNicholas at 12:02 PM on October 22, 2013
But if I thought it was too hot after it was mixed I just swirl it under cold tap water.
posted by MayNicholas at 12:02 PM on October 22, 2013
We heard, back in the day, if you have well water, it should be boiled. Otherwise just use whats out of the tap or bottled water. The more complicated you make it the more you're limiting yourself to having the "perfect bottle" which your kid will demand. We would take the powder and its scoop in a small sealed container along with bottles of water when we were out and about. Pour water in bottle, pour in measured scoop of powder, shake, plug in kiddos mouth. They lived to reproduce and did the same thing with the grandkids.
posted by PJMoore at 12:08 PM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by PJMoore at 12:08 PM on October 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
If the baby is breastfeeding, she's getting bacteria. You don't sterilize your breasts after all. We were given the okay to use clean tap water for formula at I think 3 months, and we had a tiny ill baby who was also formula/breastfed. We stopped sterilizing her bottles at about 4 months when we realised she was licking the cat if she could. Talk to your paediatrician and I bet they will okay ordinary water.
Friends of mine got an electric air pot like that which was genius - fill with water, set to a warm temperature and bam, perfect water right next to the crib.
BTW, my husband and I had a long-running argument over formula temperature, and since he made it mostly for this baby, he won. He believes in warm formula, I wanted room temperature or fridge-cold. Now the toddler will only accept warmed up formula, huge hassle. Our last kid would take a bottle straight from the fridge. We live in the tropics, but I did the same when travelling with the last kid in winter and he was fine. Next baby, no warming up! Tap water and no sterlization.
posted by viggorlijah at 12:24 AM on October 23, 2013
Friends of mine got an electric air pot like that which was genius - fill with water, set to a warm temperature and bam, perfect water right next to the crib.
BTW, my husband and I had a long-running argument over formula temperature, and since he made it mostly for this baby, he won. He believes in warm formula, I wanted room temperature or fridge-cold. Now the toddler will only accept warmed up formula, huge hassle. Our last kid would take a bottle straight from the fridge. We live in the tropics, but I did the same when travelling with the last kid in winter and he was fine. Next baby, no warming up! Tap water and no sterlization.
posted by viggorlijah at 12:24 AM on October 23, 2013
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It's a matter of time as you suggest. You might defrost a frozen chicken in a sink full of cold water, but you wouldn't leave it out on the counter to defrost without inviting bacteria to grow. It's the same thing here. Cold running water will cool down a bottle of formula significantly faster than placing it in a non-agitated bowl of water. OTOH, kids are pretty durable and manufacturers extremely cautious so I wouldn't been too pedantic.
posted by three blind mice at 12:10 AM on October 22, 2013