![\"blog-2009-baby-P1010020-feeding\"](\"https:\/\/chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/blog2009babyP1010020feeding.jpg\" "\\"blog-2009-baby-P1010020-feeding\\"")
![\"blog-2009-baby-P1010022-feeding\"](\"https:\/\/chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/blog2009babyP1010022feeding.jpg\" "\\"blog-2009-baby-P1010022-feeding\\"")
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2) Add y<\/strong> volume of boiling water and shake well. Adding boiling water to the milk powder will help to kill most germs since the powder is not sterile. (To achieve the right temperature for warm milk that’s just nice for the baby, I use the ratio 1 part<\/strong> boiling water to 2 parts<\/strong> cooled, boiled water at room temperature) Since we need 180 ml of warm water, it would be 60 ml boiling water + 120 ml cooled, boiled water. Now, the following is slightly tricky. Since the milk powder is already in the bottle, how does one determine the volume of boiling water to add? Well, I work it backwards. For the very first time I prepare the formula milk, I would add the boiling water first and then add the powder and shake well to avoid lumps. This is where I would take note of the new volume of the mixture (e.g. 80 ml) in the bottle. So the next time when I add the powder first, I would pour boiling water until I reach the mark (i.e. 80 ml). Actually, it is a bit more complicated than this. After adding the powder, I would pour less than the required volume of boiling water and shake the bottle vigorously to dissolve the powder first. Then I would top up with boiling water to the required mark (i.e. 80 ml). I have better accuracy of milk temperature by this way.<\/p>\n 3) Top up with z<\/strong> volume of cool, boiled water. To determine this amount of water I have to work it backwards again. By using the standard way of preparing milk, I would be able to tell the final volume of milk prepared as shown by the marking on the bottle. E.g. 3 scoops of milk powder + 180 ml of warm water = 200 ml of milk. Placing the bottle at eye level (I place the bottle on our oven), I would pour cooled, boiled water to the required mark (i.e. 200 ml). Voila, the milk is made!<\/p>\n There is one piece of feeding accessory which I find useful but it is not absolutely essential. It is a bottle warmer. After my sister in-law Jasmine shared with me about it, I bought one too. I use it to warm up milk during each feed as the milk cools down significantly during the 30- to 60-minute feed. The milk is warmed during intervals for burping. There are also times when the baby is not ready for feeding immediately after the milk is prepared or the feeding session is interrupted by say, the baby throwing up milk. The warmer comes in handy for these situations.<\/p>\n In addition to preparing formula milk for every feed, I also prepare a separate bottle of warm water for Hannah. Same thing, the ratio used for preparing warm water is 1 part boiling water to 2 parts cooled, boiled water. There is no recommended amount of water to feed the baby alongside with formula. But it is highly advised to feed the baby with some water as formula milk is ‘heaty’ and more concentrated than breast milk. As for Hannah, my practice is to feed her with 20ml of water first before giving her her 2.5 scoops formula milk. A hungry baby will drink water well but may reject water if fed after the milk. I know that some mothers use barley water or even glucose solution to feed their babies when water is rejected.<\/p>\n Finally, I adopted a practice my confinement lady had when she was around to feed Hannah with formula. She added more water to the milk. Her rationale is to ensure that the baby has sufficient water just in case she doesn’t drink plain water well. So these days, I would throw in another 10 ml of water into the milk made for Hannah. As long as she empties the bottle each time, she would still consume the right amount of nutrients derived from the milk powder.<\/p>\n Whew, so much to share just on preparing formula milk! And I haven’t even touch on washing and sterilising milk bottles! Indeed, blessed are those who can breastfeed their babies totally. Er, even then, the milk bottles have to be used for feeding the baby with expressed milk when the mother is not available. And often, it is a good idea to introduce the taste of water in a bottle to the baby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hannah has been on total formula when I stopped breastfeeding her after 3 months. I have developed my own way of preparing formula milk after starting off with the recommended method. The main reason for doing so is that the<\/p>\n![\"blog-2009-baby-P1010023-feeding\"](\"https:\/\/chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/blog2009babyP1010023feeding.jpg\" "\\"blog-2009-baby-P1010023-feeding\\"")
When I started out to prepare formula milk, I’d usually drip some milk onto my inner wrist to test its temperature before feeding Hannah. But after coming up with the above method, I have almost 100% success at obtaining the correct milk temperature. There is minimal testing of and making fine adjustments (i.e. heating up or cooling down milk) to the milk temperature. In short, I increase my efficiency. It only takes me 5 minutes to prepare a feed for Hannah. This is especially helpful when you have a bawling and hungry baby plus a new and stressed-out mother.<\/p>\n