Bottle feeding when out and about?

Hello, I bought a handy "gizmo" from asda, but you can get it at mothercare.

It is a sort of tupperware with compartments, you fill this with the required amount of powder in each compartment, then, you take out a bottle of boiled water (with the required amount of ozs of water in) and turn the lid of the compartment until the opening is over one of your compartments and tip it in! That way, the milk is being stored as it would in the tin, so no harm there and it doesn't matter how long you have it out.

If you need to warm the water first, you could keep it in a thermal jacket, or sneak into a public loo and hold the base of the bottle under a hot tap. Or, if you're more organised, get some boiled water in a cafe (Debenhams do free bottle warming and provide the equipment). If we think we'll be out for a while, I take one bottle of just boiled, and one of cooled water, the just boiled will be just warm when I need it, and the cooled can be warmed if I require it.

It is a faff, and I must admit, 6 years ago when my first was born, you could store bottles (pre-made) and there were no such warnings. I do so wonder why we are suddenly led to believe it will kill children born in the last few years, yet the kids born 6 years ago all lived!

But, there you go. The formula gadget will serve you well, mine is an avent, but mothercare make one, and tommee tipee.

yes!!! i make all of my little boys bottles in the morning, wash and sterlisie the bottles, boil the water and leave it to cool for no longer than 30 minutes and then put it in the bottles! when he is ready for a feed i then put the formula in the bottle. some people make the bottle complete with the formula in but this has to be kept at a certain temperature, so is no good when your out and about really. i have tommee tippee pots that fit inside the bottles so i just measure the amount of formula into these before i go out and just tip them in when its needed, saves carrying a box of formula around!! you can also buy pre made cartons of milk aswell which are very good but can be expensive at 70p a carton. they dont recoomend to make the bottle with the formula until the bay is ready for a feed! x

Hi, yes you are right so much different advise about this. What you are suggesting to do is perfectly fine. Boil the water and allow it to cool, measure the correct amount of water into a bottle. You can buy sachets of formula pre-measured or measuring tubs, but it is easy enough to measure it out into a small bag to take with you. The hardest part is making sure you dont spill any powder when you pour it into the bottle, it can be difficult so a funnel might be handy. Once mixed shake well and go to a shop such as Boots, Mothercare or many centres now have 'baby rooms' with bottle warmers. Cafes will happily give you a jug of hot water to heat it.

Alternately if you are not anywhere handy you can buy bottle warmers that plug into your cigarette lighter in your car (it sounds like a gimick thing but they are really handy).

Years ago we would take heated water out with us in a flask or insulated bag (now it isn't advised, they say formula should be mixed with cool water then heated) but it should be ok to do on the odd occasion for the older baby if you need to.

They say the problems come from having the formula made up and warm for a length of time before the baby drinks it, as this can allow bacteria to breed. But if you use sterilised clean items, never re-heat it once its made, and allow the baby to drink it freshly made you should be ok.

Temperature wise theres no need to get it to any certain degree but before giving it to your baby ALWAYS spill a little on your wrist to check its not too hot (it should be body temperature which means you shouldn't be able to feel heat or cold from it on your wrist) (its ok to wait a while for it to cool, or place the bottle base under a cold running tap to cool it)

I wouldn't give him a pre-made bottle that has been taken out of the fridge at 2pm at 5pm. The chances are he would be fine with it, but you are not supposed to and theres reasons for that so i wouldn't risk it. I would take water alone out and mix it with the formula at 5pm when you need it. But it's your baby and up to you, you wouldn't be the first Mum to do it.

If you make the bottle up before you go out and store it in the fridge, then it lasts for 2 hours unopened out the fridge, 1 hour after it being opened.

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If you store just the sterile water in the sealed bottle without the formula, it will last for 24 hours. Just get the water warmed and add the milk when its time to feed. Just don't mix it untill you need it. Thats what I do anyway, even in the house, I don't mix untill I warm the bottle up for the feed.

Just use bottled water. That's what I did and it's so much easier. My son was never really picky and would drink the bottle at room temperature. I would try and just fix the bottle when it's time for him to eat. Just put the powder in the bottle, take your bottle of water and mix it up!

Hi

I was just as confused as you are before I had my baby.

Yes boiled water can be kept at room temp (or whatever temp) for up to 24hrs.

I make my bottles up in batch. I have 10 bottles which I clean, sterilise then fill up with boiling water. I then leave them with their lids on, on my kitchen worktop.

When baby needs a feed I simply add the powder in, then warm the bottle up. Simple.

If i'm out and about I do exactly the same, I just take the bottles of water with me and add the powder as and when needed.

Or I add boiling water to the bottles just before I leave and keep the bottles of water in thermal bags. It keeps the water warm for a good 3hrs. That way I dont necessarilary need to go into a cafe to get a jug of hot water or use their microwave to warm the bottles up when needed.

If you want to add the powder in advance then the bottles must be kept in a fridge for up to 24hrs. if taken out of the fridge they need to be used within 2hrs.

So therefore it is much easier to add the powder in as and when required, because water can be kept for ages at any temperature.

I use a powder dispenser which has 3 seperate compartments with the exact number of scoops measured out into each section.

Here is a link to the thermal bag and powder dispenser I use......

http://www.babies-born.co.uk/images/graphics/mambl...

http://www.twoleftfeet.co.uk/v8-av016.jpg

http://www.kiddicare.com/wcsstore/ConsumerDirect/i...

Hope this helps!

Take a ready made bottle out of the fridge - and either beg a jug of boiling water and drop bottle into it for a few minutes, or just feed to baby. They get used to cold bottles very quickly (but not icy cold)

You're actually not supposed to use water any less than 70 degrees because the powdered milk isn't sterile, and water 70 degrees or over will kill off any little bugs. Also, cooler water isn't as good at getting the powder to mix up properly, so it can get a bit congealed. So if you do it this way, you'd have to heat the water up somehow when you're out. I didn't realise this til about two months ago.

I buy a stock of the pre-made cartons for when I'm out and about. You can keep them in your cupboard and my son doesn't mind his milk at room temp.

***Edit***

Thumbs down?! OK then, ignore WHO guidelines, I guess you know best and that cool water CAN kill off bacteria. Meh.

that is what i do. i dont like to premix the formula before my little one wants it because i think it smells awful after an hour and i wouldnt want to drink it so therefore i dont want my son to. it is fine to put the water in the bottle before you go out and just add the formula when you need it.