How long are bottles of formula good for

If the flask is full and sealed, the water will stay above 70C for several hours. Make up a fresh feed only when your baby needs it. The water must still be hot when you use it, to destroy any bacteria in the formula powder. Remember to cool the bottle with the lid on under cold running water before you feed it to your baby. Read more about making up a feed. Alternatively, you could use a carton of ready-to-feed liquid formula when you're away from home.

If it is not possible to follow the advice above, or if you need to transport a feed for example, to a nursery , prepare the feed at home, cool under a running tap or in a bowl of cold water, and cool it for at least 1 hour in the back of the fridge. Take it out of the fridge just before you leave and carry it in a cool bag with an ice pack, and use it within 4 hours.

If you do not have an ice pack, or access to a fridge, the made-up infant formula must be used within 2 hours. Bottled water is not recommended for making up infant formula feeds for your baby. This is because it's not usually sterile and may contain too much salt sodium or sulphate.

Again, bacteria is the issue here — and bacteria thrive even more once given a nice warm environment to grow in. A heated bottle should be used within 1 hour, and any remaining should be poured down the sink after that time. This applies to formulas prepared from powder as well as concentrates and ready-to-drink options.

Generally, you should use up powdered formula within a month of opening the container. Related: 10 organic formula options worth trying and where to buy them.

A sealed container of formula, whether powder, concentrate, or ready-to-drink, will always have an expiration date on it. The powdered formulas we looked at in our local store had dates more than a year away.

You may have questions about feeding your baby. How much should they eat? Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Related Links. Body and Mind Resources for Teachers. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.

Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website. Here are the basic steps for adding powder to water to make formula: Read the instructions on the formula tin.

These instructions will tell you how much water and powder to use. Pour the right amount of cooled, boiled water into the sterilised bottle. Using the scoop from the formula tin, measure the right number of scoops into the bottle. Level off each scoop. You can do this with a sterilised knife or something similar. Seal the bottle with a ring and cap. Tap the bottle gently on the bench so the powder falls into the water. Swirl the bottle gently, then vigorously shake the bottle.