There are only 4 days left until our little one, Osami, comes home. Time flies! My wife and I were chatting, when she suddenly gave me a task: to learn how to make baby formula 😅. At the maternity ward, they provide the formula, but we realized that we haven't tried preparing it ourselves at home. Luckily, we have baby bottles, a formula dispenser, and the I'M MOTHER formula that we received as a gift when we left the hospital. I decided to practice making formula at home.
First, I went through the instructions on the I'M MOTHER formula container:
How to Prepare the Formula:
1. Cool the boiled water to above 70℃ and pour about 2/3 of the required amount into a sterilized bottle.
2. Using the spoon provided, measure out the formula, leveling off the spoon against the guide.
3. Pour the formula into the bottle, seal it, and shake until the formula is completely dissolved.
4. Add the remaining warm water up to the feeding amount, seal the bottle, cool it under running water to body temperature, then give it a gentle shake before feeding.
It seems the I'M MOTHER instructions cover making formula without a dispenser to adjust the water temperature. Fortunately, we have a 'Borlur Formula Dispenser' (which I might review later), gifted to us by my cousin, which adjusts the water temperature perfectly to around 40℃. Considering the formula can cool down during preparation, I set it to 43℃.
It took a surprising 2 hours for the dispenser to cool the water down to 43℃, which made me wish I'd used less water to begin with 😭. Anyway, with the water ready, I added the formula to a sterilized bottle. Based on our discussions and Osami's age, we settled on preparing 80ml (there's no guide for 60ml, so we practiced with 80ml).
Before adding the 4 scoops of formula, I poured about 50ml of water into the bottle (2/3 of the total feeding amount). Then, I added 4 scoops using the spoon from the formula container. It's essential to refer to the guide on your formula container for the correct amount.
Instead of shaking the bottle up and down, which can create bubbles and lead to the baby getting gas, I gently swirled the formula to dissolve it. Once dissolved, I topped up the water to 80ml. Before feeding, it's good to check the temperature by dropping a bit on the back of your hand. If it feels warm, it might be too hot for the baby.
If bubbles form on the top of the bottle during preparation, you can gently rotate the bottle after opening the cap to remove them. Once the bubbles are gone, seal the bottle again, press out any air from the nipple, and start feeding.
Study Date: April 19th, 2023