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Preparing bottles for infant formula

Wash and rinse bottles before use.

Clean equipment. Wipe down preparation area. Wash hands with soapy water. Wash bottles in hot, soapy water. Rinse thoroughly. Squirt water through hole in teat.

Sterilise bottles and teats until baby is 6 months old.

Sterilise equipment. Cover bottle, teat and ring with water and bring to the boil. Boil for five minutes. Or use a microwave, electric or chemical steriliser following directions. Store empty sterilised bottles in a sealed container in fridge.

Keep children away from boiling water.

Be safe. Keep children away from boiling water. To avoid scalding yourself, let equipment cool in the pot until you can touch it. Use sterilised equipment within 24 hours.

Making up infant formula

Boil fresh water and leave to cool.

Boil fresh tap water. Cool for 30 minutes until lukewarm or room temperature. It’s best to prepare only one bottle at a time. If needed, store sterilised, sealed bottles in fridge.

Fill a sterile bottle with the correct amount of cooled water.

Check instructions on formula tin for how much water to use. Put this amount of cooled, boiled water in a sterilised bottle.

Add the correct amount of formula.

Check instructions on tin for how many scoops of powder to use. Tap scoop, and level powder with a sterilised knife. Add powder to cooled, boiled water in bottle.

Getting bottle ready for baby

Tap the bottle to disperse powder and shake vigorously.

Put cap on bottle. Tap bottle gently so powder falls down into water. Swirl and then shake bottle well to mix powder and water. Use formula within one hour. Throw away any leftover formula.

Warm the bottle in water and check the temperature.

To warm formula to room temperature, put bottle in a pot of warm water. Shake bottle and squeeze a drop of liquid onto your wrist to test temperature and make sure milk is flowing from teat. Cold formula is OK too.

Keep formula in the fridge if not using immediately.

When going out, put bottle with right amount of cooled, boiled water in insulated bag with cool pack. Pack measured amount of powder separately. Mix when baby needs a feed.

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Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government. Member organisations are the Parenting Research Centre and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute with The Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health.

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