How to Safely Prepare Formula Bottles

The first step with any bottle: Clean the counter and WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WATER! Scrub for at least 20 seconds, rinse, and thoroughly dry your hands to make sure you don’t introduce any moisture into your formula powder.

Choose your water:

Advice on this varies by your baby’s age/condition, your region and public health agency; it is best to ask your pediatrician what they advise. 

Generally, if your baby is healthy and over 2 months of age and your tap water is safe, tap water is what most people use. 

For babies under 2 months of age, medically fragile, preemies, or where tap or well water is not safe, the advice is to boil water for 1 minute, let it cool for 5 minutes, then add formula and let it cool to drinking temperature. You can also use distilled or purified water.

Preparing a liquid, ready-to-feed bottle of formula

Open the bottle and decant into a separate, clean bottle with a slower flow nipple.

You can warm the bottle (in a mug of warm water or running under hot tap water) if your baby prefers.

*Never add any additional water

*If you are not offering all of the prepared formula, the remainder in the original bottle can be stored in the refrigerator for 48 hours til another feeding

Preparing a bottle of powdered formula:

Start by adding the amount of water - if you are making a 4oz bottle, add 4oz of water

Then add the correct amount of formula powder according to the directions on your formula package - this can vary by brand so check each container. Powder scoops should be leveled off with a clean utensil or the side of the package.

Add the formula to the water, add the nipple and lid and shake to mix thoroughly. Allow to sit for a few minutes for bubbles to settle. 

You can warm the bottle (in a mug of warm water or running under hot tap water) if your baby prefers.

Timeline:

1 hour: Once baby has started drinking a bottle, it is good for 1 hour

2 hours: Once formula has been prepared but not yet served to baby, and is sitting at room temperature, it is good for 2 hours

24 hours: Once formula has been prepared and has been stored in the refrigerator, it is good for 24 hours

Clean bottles

Clean bottles after every use by: separating each piece (nipple from collar, anti colic pieces taken apart, etc), and then either handwashing (rinse then scrub with soapy warm water then rinse again) and sanitizing, or running through the dishwasher.

Note: These directions provide the most accurate and sanitary way to prepare formula. If you use a formula dispensing machine, please carefully read and follow directions on cleaning, sanitizing and calibrating to ensure that the formula is accurately dispensed and the machine is routinely cleaned to prevent mold and bacterial growth, as those are well known issues with the machines.

Tip: If you’ll be preparing a lot of formula in a day, especially if you’re boiling water, many people find it easier to batch formula preparation (i.e. make all the ounces that Baby will consume in a 24 hour period at once) in a pitcher. You can buy a formula pitcher (similar to this) to keep in the refrigerator, which should have an agitator to gently recombine the mixture before serving. Some people find this creates a formula that is better diluted with fewer air bubbles than bottles prepared with vigorous shaking. Prepared formula should only be kept for 24 hours and then discarded.