Bottle feeding questions. Clueless!

[Weebeastiebaby]

I have an 8 week old ds. We are attending a party next week which is approx 100 miles away and travelling with a friend's family in their car the day before. Ds is breastfed but happily takes bottles of formula once a week or so from my MIL. since birth he has cluster fed for 2-3.5hours EVERY evening from 7pm until 9.30pm when he will settle for the night (usually 4 hours or more)
When at the party I was hoping to give a couple of bottles of formula in the evening to allow me to be a bit more sociable and ds to be more settled (ie. I won't have to sit with my boob out in front of 100 strangers for 3 hours) but am clueless as to how to travel with bottles/formula!
If i take ready made cartons and I sterilise and seal bottles on the Friday evening before we leave I assume they won't still be sterile by Saturday evening? Even if not opened?
Other option is I still have the starter pack of little ready made bottles and teats from the hospital which I could take but they only come in 3oz bottles. Ds can take up to 8oz in one sitting! And at £7 for 6 x 3oz bottles I don't think I can justify it.

So.., any suggestions? Probably easiest just to go with it and spend the party breastfeeding in a corner to avoid a screaming fussy baby :(

[FattyNinjaOwl]

You could take the ready made cartons and use these ?

[slightlyconfused85]

I can't see why your bottles wouldn't be sterile still? Do you have a microwave steriliser? If so might you have access to a microwave and do a quick re-sterilise if you are worried?

[Hackersschmakers]

As a one off and so you have a better time at the party I'd just get the starter pack. Or you could take Milton and a Tupperware container - that keeps te bottles sterile for 24 hours.

[Weebeastiebaby]

Will have access to a kettle but no microwave. I'm not too concerned re-sterilising since I've been told it's really the milk that carries the bugs. I reckon if sealed when sterile they should be good for a day or so. Thought I'd better check tho in case anyone else knew something very different!
Those sterile bottles look genius! Bit late to order anything now tho. Do you think a large boots store would carry them?

[FattyNinjaOwl]

Boits is where I first spotted them, that was just the first link I came across.

[hullabaloo234]

depending on what size teats he's used go, you could buy some chillipeeps teats that go directly onto the bottles of ready made formula, that way you won't need a bottle at all? they only come in faster flow though so may not be ok.

As for sterilised bottles, once they've been sterilised just assemble them with lids on and they will be absolutely fine

Have a good time!

[hullabaloo234]

Chillipeeps Multi-Purpose Teat www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006L3CG0W/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Rne6vbS9WZJGP?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[hullabaloo234]

Those bottles are great fatty but again only come in fast flow so will depend on whether hr can manage them. I have some for my DD in my change bag

[FattyNinjaOwl]

Ah, see I didn't know that, Im never away from home long enough to have to think about these things.

[hullabaloo234]

Well, I'm pretty sure they only come in fast flow, I've never seen any others!

[Wisteria1979]

I just sterilised bottles, then made sure they dried properly before putting them together and then lid on. Like you said it's the milk that will carry the bugs and once they are clean and sterilised that's fine in my view. I remember another thread a while ago on a similar theme and someone said yes the bottles will come in contact with air. It's air. The baby is already exposed to it. That made me smile and fret a little less about it :)

[Weebeastiebaby]

Haha about the air. That's a good point! I figure breastfed babies are less susceptible to infections and my dh is so lax with "dummy hygiene" (ie. Sets it down teat-down on just about any surface sigh) the poor mite has probably been in contact with every bug going by now anyway.

Think I'm going to sterilise 2 or 3 bottles and take a few ready made cartons plus the starter pack. Thanks for all the advice I'm defonetly going to invest in some of those disposable bottles for future trips. Now wish me luck fitting it all in the car!!

[BertieBotts]

If you're going to immediately before feeding put milk in bottles then it doesn't matter if they are not 100% sterile, only that they are clean. The sterilisation minimises bacteria present in the bottle, correct preparation (or using ready made) minimises bacteria present in the milk itself, and feeding immediately prevents bacteria having time to grow and multiply if anything is present. We're extra cautious because milk is a very friendly environment for the nasty types of bacteria to grow, rather than because babies are totally allergic to any kind of bacteria :) So don't worry about it. Making the bottle up hours in advance and keeping it warm and not making it up with hot water and using a dirty bottle would be a recipe for disaster but what you are planning sounds absolutely fine.

[hullabaloo234]

Good plan OP As for the dummy, I feel your pain my DP is the same!!

those chillipeeps are great, will fit on formula, water etc and they do a spout for 6 months plus, well worth getting! they are reusable too so well worth the money.