Let the formula settle If you're using powdered infant formula, make sure you let your freshly mixed bottle settle for a minute or two before feeding your baby. Shaking and blending naturally introduces air bubbles into the mix, which your baby can swallow, resulting in gas.
Tap water is usually safe, but contact your local health department if you are not sure. Shake infant formula in the bottle to mix. Do not stir. You do not need to warm infant formula before feeding.
To mix the formula, it's a good idea to gently swirl the bottle rather than shaking it vigorously. The latter method is much more likely to introduce air bubbles into the mix that can give your baby gas. If your baby is uncomfortable after a feed and you suspect gas is the culprit, be vigilant to burp your baby.
Shaking Formula
Brown's bottles are designed to help remove air, shaking the bottle can do more than just add in extra air bubbles and pressure; it can actually shake up a leak from the bottle collar.
Immediately after the formula powder is added to the water, shake your baby's bottle vigorously and vertically until all of the powder has dissolved - this takes at least 10 seconds.
There is no published evidence to support that shaking actually damages breast milk when compared to swirling. Many of the issues identified with shaking are better described as myths, and simply do not hold up when the actual shear forces are calculated.
The components of the medicine may settle down after some time and so, a 'shaking' is required to mix them again properly. Whereas in case of solutions and colloids, the particles do not settle down at the bottom.
Stirred, not shaken!. Be sure to stir the breastmilk or formula to mix instead of shaking the contents. Shaking creates lots of air bubbles mixing with the milk that will end up in your baby's tummy.
Avoid shaking the bottle to mix the formula, as this can add air into the milk which can increase colic symptoms. We suggest that you stir the formula gently with a spoon to mix the feed.
If shaken hard enough, the brain could bruise or bleed. This hurts the brain, and can cause blindness, learning problems, brain damage, or death. This usually happens with small babies, but even three and four year-olds can be hurt this way. Shaking may seem harmless, but it is very dangerous.
Excessive burping can indicate that your baby is swallowing too much air from bottle feeding or crying. Your baby may be crying, arching their back, drawing their legs up toward their tummy, or clenching their fists. Spitting up (while typically completely normal) can sometimes be a sign of gas build up in the stomach.
Some of the most common causes of increased gassiness include feeding issues, formula or food intolerance, crying and constipation.
Signs of a gassy baby include spitting up, crying, drawing legs up, and a reduced appetite. Usually, gas will pass; talk to your child's healthcare provider if the symptoms don't go away. Some babies have food allergies or sensitivities, lactose intolerance, or eat too quickly.
It may only take 1 or 2 hard shakes to seriously injure a small child. This is because babies and toddlers have relatively big, heavy heads and weak neck muscles. When they are shaken, the brain slams back and forth inside the skull, resulting in bleeding around the brain and damage to the brain itself.
When an infant or toddler is shaken, the brain bounces back and forth against the skull. This can cause bruising of the brain (cerebral contusion), swelling, pressure, and bleeding in the brain. The large veins along the outside of the brain may tear, leading to further bleeding, swelling, and increased pressure.
A gentle tummy rub
Baby massage is a method nurses use to soothe infants with gas bubbles. It's called the “I love you” massage. Lie your baby down on her back, then start rubbing her tummy in a circular motion and mimic writing the letters “I,” “L” and “U” with two or three fingers across her belly.
So this is good evidence that shaking a water bottle does increase the temperature of the water inside the bottle. "With no heat losses you can equate the loss in gravitational potential energy to the gain in heat energy." I question this.
Leave the water to cool in the kettle for no more than 30 minutes. Then it will stay at a temperature of at least 70C. Water at this temperature will kill any harmful bacteria. Remember to let the feed cool before you give it to your baby.
Because shaking the can introduces lots of small bubbles into the liquid, the dissolved gas can more easily vaporize by joining existing bubbles rather than forming new ones. By avoiding the difficult step of bubble formation, the gas can escape more quickly from shaken soda, thus resulting in more fizz.
If you shake the bottle before opening it, some of the carbon that has been floating at the top of the bottle gets suspended in the liquid. This “extra” carbonation stays in larger (though not necessarily visible) bubbles than the already-dissolved carbon.
Opposite to common belief, shaking a bottle of champagne decreases the pressure inside slightly. This effect lasts for about half a minute, the pressure then returns to the normal level of about five times atmospheric pressure.
Stir, don't shake
You're probably used to seeing people shake a bottle to mix the formula and water, but try not to do this. Shaking causes air bubbles to form, which can give your baby excess gas. Use a spoon or a knife to stir instead of shaking.