Once you take a bottle out of the fridge, you have 2 hours to use it or you have to dispose of it.
Once Michael starts drinking a bottle, if it isn’t finished within an hour, it must be disposed of.
Once mixed with water, formula must be used within 24 hours or discarded. It must also be promptly refrigerated.
Bottles should be given on a schedule at 7:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 4:30 PM, 7:30 PM, and 10:30 PM.
If he misses a bottle, one should be given as soon as possible.
He is supposed to have 6 bottles a day to ensure he is consuming enough calories, so if he wakes up later, the bottle durations may have to be shortened to allow for all 6 bottles.
It’s best to keep him upright for around 5 minutes after he has finished a bottle, as that helps reduce him spitting up.
He naps around 9 - 9:30 AM, 12:30 - 1 PM, 4-4:30 PM. They are 30 - 60 minutes long.
Diapers should be changed when he is wet or poopy. He should be checked every 2-3 hours to see if he needs to be changed. Right now, he normally is not wet right after a nap but takes a few minutes after a nap before he starts going. If he smells poopy, it’s best to let him wait a couple of minutes before changing him so he will be finished.
We utilize an app called Baby Connect to log most of his activities. That information is used by Michael’s doctors to make sure he is healthy and doing what he should be. All the following activities can be logged in the app, via voice commands using our Amazon Echo, or manually (so we can add them into the app later).
Wet and poopy diapers must be logged.
App
Open Diapers, select wet/ poopy/ both of them.
There is also an option for a Diaper Leak, Open-Air Accident, Diaper Cream, and size.
Voice Commands
Echo, wet diaper
Echo, poopy diaper
Echo, ask baby connect to log a (small/ medium/ large) (wet/ poopy/ mixed) diaper
Echo, last diaper
Bottles must be logged and should be timed.
App
Open Bottle
Click Start Timer
When finished, click Stop Timer.
Adjust the size of the bottle to how much Michael drank.
Also adjust the type to be Formula.
Click Save.
Voice Commands
Echo, (start/ stop) bottle (starts or stops a bottle timer)
Echo, ask baby connect to (start/ pause/ continue/ stop) bottle timer
Echo, ask baby connect to log a formula feeding of 4.5 oz (saves a 4.5 oz formula bottle)
Echo, last bottle
We are starting to log naps to be able to set a more defined nap schedule.
App
Open Sleep
Click on Start Sleeping to start a sleep timer.
Click on Stop when he is up.
Click on Save
Voice Commands
Echo, ask baby connect to (start/ stop/ pause/ continue) (sleeping/ sleep/ napping)
Echo, ask baby connect when was the last sleep for Michael
Echo, ask baby connect how long as Michael been sleeping
Echo, ask baby connect how long has Michael been awake
Take a bottle from the fridge.
Put it in the Avent bottle warmer.
Check the water level. If the water isn’t at the same level as the level of formula inside the bottle, add some distilled water. However, the mater should not go any higher than 1 centimeter from the top of the warmer.
Check that the dial is set for the size of formula in the bottle. You don't need to do 1/2 sizes, just round down.
Press the button on the front of the bottle warmer to start the warmer.
The lights around the ring will start to flash. Once they are all solid, the bottle has been warmed. It normally takes around 3 minutes to warm a bottle.
It will keep the bottle warmed for up to 60 minutes.
Once you take the bottle off, press the button on the front of the warmer to stop the warmer.
One bottle does not use the general steps but the ones below.
Add 6 floz of water from the Brita pitcher to a clean bottle.
Add in the formula from one section of the blue formula container.
Swirl the bottle in a figure eight pattern to thoroughly mix the formula without adding in air bubbles.
Once it’s mixed use it like normal.
Use 12 floz of water.
2 sections of the blue formula container.
You can put the mixer top half on the mixer and run it while slowly pouring in the formula to help better mix it up.
Mix for at least 5 minutes.
2 bottles.
Use 24 floz of water.
4 sections of the blue formula container.
You can put the mixer top half on the mixer and run it while slowly pouring in the formula to help better mix it up.
Mix for at least 5 minutes.
4 bottles.
Use 18 floz of water.
3 sections of the blue formula container.
You can put the mixer top half on the mixer and run it while slowly pouring in the formula to help better mix it up.
Mix for at least 5 minutes.
3 bottles.
Then repeat again to make 6 bottles.
Add the water from the Brita pitcher to the Baby Brezza mixer.
Then add in the section(s) of one of the blue containers of formula.
Put the lid on the mixer and press the button on the top of the mixer to start it up.
Manually swirl the mixer a few times to help mix the formula.
Let it mix for the time specified above.
Once it’s done, turn it off by pressing the button on the top of the mixer.
Now twist the ring on the bottles and the ring, nipple, and lid should all come off.
Make sure to put those tops with the lid facing down, as the inside of the nipples are sanitized, and the kitchen counter won’t be.
Pour in 6.5 floz of mixed formula into each bottle. The US measurements are on the right side of the bottles (UK measurements are on the left)
If there is extra formula, distribute it evenly amongst all of the bottles. Sometimes there is extra due to the mixer whipping some of it into a bit of a foam.
Promptly refrigerate the bottles.
Then rinse, wash, and rinse (again) the mixer, the mixing blade, and the lid. Be careful to not submerge the lid in water, as it has electronics inside it. You can pull the mixer blade out by gripping it and pulling it straight out with a bit of force.
Now put the mixer upside down on one of the baby drying racks. The mixer top should be button side up on one of the drying racks. Also put the mixer blade on one of the drying racks.
Wash out the bottle, nipple, ring, and lid with soap and water.
Add 7 oz of distilled water to the base of the sanitizer.
It should fill it up to the oval indentation.
Once they are cleaned, you arrange them on the sanitizer.
The handle for the top section can come off by squeezing it and pulling it out.
You can normally sanitize up to 7 bottles and 2 pump bottles or 6 bottles and 3 pump bottles at a time.
Bottles go upside down on the bottom section.
Nipples go on the top section, and you can normally set the rings around the nipples.
Sometimes you have to put a couple of rings in the bottom section.
Lids for pump bottles fit wherever you can find space.
Lids for bottles don’t have to be sanitized so are normally just placed on the baby drying racks.
Make sure the lid of the sanitizer is fully on.
Press the button on the front of the sanitizer.
It will beep a few times to indicate that it is starting up.
After about 6 minutes it will beep to indicate that it has sanitized the bottles.
About 10 minutes later, it will beep again and the lights will go off indicating that it has cooled down.
Give it a few more minutes to cool down.
Then move all of the parts to the baby drying racks, while keeping them sanitized.
The white plastic Tupperware container by the sanitizer is cleaned daily and can be used to help transport parts to the drying racks.
When putting things on the drying racks, it helps to shake out as much water as you can.
Things will take a few hours to dry. The nipple tips take the longest to dry out.
Once everything is dry, put the nipples in the rings, screw the rings on the bottles and add a lid.
Then you can put the bottles on the counter with the rest of the empty bottles. It’s best to add new clean ones to the back, so we rotate through all of the bottles.
Once the sanitizer is empty, unplug it from the wall and dump the water in the sink.
Then you can plug it back in.
It works best to dry the sanitizer if you stagger the parts so there’s more room for air to flow around the parts.
Refrigerator, on the bottom shelf
On the kitchen counter, on the far left.
On top of the refrigerator
Refrigerator, on the middle shelf
On the kitchen counter.
On the kitchen counter, normally under the counter overhang.
On top of the counter in the kitchen.
On the kitchen counter, by the sanitizer. Normally try to use the bottles from left to right so we rotate through all of the bottles.
On the table under the thermostat.
Angled Rack
Best for bottles, and rings on the top
Two Level Rack
Best for baby bottle lids on the vertical parts
Best for nipples on the top level
Best for breast milk bottle lids and other parts on the bottom level.
The mixer and mixer top work on the tall vertical parts.
Green Rack
Best for pump parts
On the kitchen counter next to the bottle warmer.
The Tommee Tippee travel bottle warmer is great if you are going to be out and about and Michael is going to need a bottle.
You need to boil up to 17 floz of water, and put it inside the metal thermos.
Make sure the top pop is up, otherwise you'll be pouring the water out early.
To use it, unscrew the white cup, put your bottle in the cup, push the top pop down, and pour the water into the cup. The water level should go up to the level of water in the bottle. Give it 5 - 10 minutes and the bottle should be warmed.