Feeding on the go

Hi,

We're about to go on our first holiday with DS and I'm a bit nervous about how to handle feeds while we're out and about (ie at the airport, on the plane).

Does anyone have any tips on how to tackle this? I've seen gel bottle warmers on the net but not sure if they're any good or not. They also take a good 20 minutes to heat the bottle.

I've only just started DS on formula so an still learning how it works. Is it safe to leave boiled water at room temp and just mix his bottles up when needed, therefore eliminating the need for heat, or does it need to be chilled once it's cooled down?

Any tips would be appreciated!

If you're out and about, just ask someone (plane, coffee shop, restaurant, etc) if they have a microwave. I've noticed in a lot of shopping centres they have microwaves in parents rooms.. so it's possible!

We sterilise all the bottles & teats, then fill them with boiled water and leave to cool, so they're already filled with water, we just have to add formula when we're out and about.

We usually throw left over milk out, but if DD has left a lot of it in the bottle, we will put it in the fridge. We generally throw it out within 24 hours if she hasn't used it.

Hope that helps!

Hi!

I always just used to keep boiled water in the bottles and then mix in the formula when its drink time. No need to worry about keeping the water chilled.

The air hostess can heat up the bottles for you on the plane. And when your at the airport just head to cafe , there usually more than happy to heat a bottle for you. And often the airport will have parents rooms that have a microwave.

All the best with your travel! smile

Hi,
If your on the plane its best to ask for hot boiled water once you get one before take off, as the dont actaully have microwaves on planes. I have travelled a few times withh DD and DS when DD was still on the bottle and DS still being on the bottle. we have travelled to and from NZ a few times.
Otherwise they give you cold water or cold full cream milk if your dd/ds is on that. They will ethier give you boiled water or bottled water (NOT boiled) heated up sitting in boiled water so takes a little while to heat up/cool down. Luckily for me both my DD and DS wernt to fussy on how warm/cold their botlle was so when they were crying on the plane they were happy with a cold bottle to settle them.
Anywhere else usualy has a microwave. At the airports Iv been to they have microwaves in trhe parents toilets otherwise any cafe should do it for you.
We have one of the formula dispensers, it has 3 small compartments that you put however many scoopes you need into each one and a hole (about the size of a coke bottle top) with a lip pops open easy for you to tip into the bottle of water, the lid spins so you can use the rest easily too. That way you dont have to carry the huge tin of formula. OR some brands sell the little single satches that are just as easy.

We used an insulation bag (avent sell them not sure on other brands) and just put bottles with hot water in them. They would cool down a little bit by the time they needed to be used. Just a warning if you put boiled water into the bottles you lose some of the water from condensation so they need to be topped up.
The airhostesses/hosts are fantastic, they fill and clen your bottles for you.
Customs are also fine with you taking baby bottles of water.

Thanks for the responses ladies!

DS will be 12 weeks old when we go away.

At the moment, I use boiling water in a jug to heat his bottles (I don't like to use microwaves either). But when I say heat, it's really only taking the chill off of it and probably bringing it back to a room like temperature (as at the hospital they told me it didn't need to be warm for him to drink it, just not cold).

So, although he's under 6 months, if he's happy to drink it at room temperature, is it okay not to refrigerate the water once it has been boiled and then add formula when he feeds? Sorry if this is a dumb question that I should probably know the answer too, I still have a lot to learn. smile

You definitely dont have to refrigerate the boiled water.

When my DS was on formula I used to boil the kettle in the morning and put the water in a jug and leave it on the bench for the day and fill bottles as required, adding the formula powder to each bottle. When I went out i just pre-filled a couple of bottles and took a formula dispenser container with the required scoops in each compartment. My DS never had warmed bottles, only ever room temperature so i never had to worry about heating bottles when i was out.

If your DS will take it at room temperature dont worry about putting the water in the fridge, it just makes more work for you to heat it up when he needs a feed. It doesnt matter that he is under 6 months. My DS was on formula from the very beginning as i was unable to BF and he never had a warmed bottle - he actually didnt like it warmed.

sometimes if we knew we'd be out for a feed then we would take a Thermos with boiled water in it, had the bottle with cooled boiled water in it then just put the boiled water in a cup and sat bottle in it to warm up.

I haven't read all the other comments, but, we live very rural so to go anywhere it's guaranteed a bottle will need to be made! So I take clean sterilized empty bottles, a thermos with hot water and a bottle with cold boiled water and mix the two with the formula to the right temperature smile