Travelling Abroad - Infant Formula

[TokenGinger]

DP and I are travelling abroad in December at which point, DS will be 6 months. DS is formula fed and I'm trying to work out what's best to do, and wondered what your experiences have been?

Our three options are:

A) Two tubs of formula for the week, with a handful of pre-made bottles for trips out when we're away from the apartment.

B) One tub of formula (approx 24 feeds) and 30 pre-made bottles.

C) All pre-made bottles (approx 50 needed based on 6-7 bottles a day).

For context, we are staying in our own family apartment so have access to a fridge, kettle and can take our prep machine with us. My worry is finding bottled water with a low enough sodium level to make the feeds.

I'm not sure whether to just suck it up and pay out for all pre-made bottles for him to take away the hassle of preparing enough bottles when going out for a walk etc.

We'll be ordering it all in advance for Boots click and collect to collect airside at the airport so no worries re: weight allowance (we'll take our two hand luggage bags empty to allow for this).

What have others done in this situation?

My worry is finding bottled water with a low enough sodium level to make the feeds.
Why? Just use boiled kettle water, you are over thinking this.

Collecting airside will still count in your weight allowance.

If you have to use bottled water to make up a feed, check the label to make sure the water contains:

less than 200 milligrams (mg) a litre of sodium (also written as Na)
less than 250mg a litre of sulphate (also written as SO4)

Thats quite a high maximum so you'll be likely to find it easy to find bottled water below those levels. I would maybe take a mix of powder and premade

Why? Just use boiled kettle water, you are over thinking this

Its advised to use bottled when abroad

Collecting airside will still count in your weight allowance

If they're collecting after security then it wont

Bottled water, certainly in Europe, has a picture of a baby on the front if its suitable for infants to drink - it's readily available

Where are you going?

No many airlines weigh again before boarding.
Bottled water is not recommended over boiled when abroad.

Why? Just use boiled kettle water, you are over thinking this.

I asked our HV and she said we'd need to use bottled water, not boiled tap water. First child, so I'm just following what I've been told as I'm completely unaware of what to do.

Boiled bottled water is advised it, even on the NHS site which is where I copied the above info from.

Evian has low sodium and in other countries has a picture of a baby on it.

Why can't you use bottled or boiled water? Do they not have babies in the place you're going to?
Pack the bulk of the formula in the suitcase, just carry enough (and a little more allowing for delays) in your hand luggage.

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-health/can-i-use-bottled-water-to-make-up-baby-formula-infant-formula/

Advises bottled water if you're not supposed to drink tap water abroad.

I've never had my hand luggage reweighed after security

Thank you for responses so far.

Re: the weight, we always fly with Ryanair and they have never weighed our hand luggage cases after security. In any case, I mentioned we are taking our two hand luggage cases empty (10kg each) so I'm pretty certain that if we did all pre-made bottles, 50+ wouldn't weigh more than our 20kg allowance.

When I asked the HV what to do, she said boil bottled water rather than tap water and to be careful of sodium levels.

Thank you to the poster who posted the levels allowed - I've screen shot that. That's really helpful

I think we'll take one tub of powder then a bundle of pre-made bottles for trips out, middle of the night feeds etc.

We are going to Lanzarote.

I know I probably sound like a worry wart 🙈 He's our first child so I've never travelled with a baby before and it all just seems like a bit of a minefield with conflicting advice on bottled/boiled tap water and whether it's just easier in general to have pre-made.

Thank you for helping a PITA first-time mum 🙈

Oh, that's helpful too re: the baby on the bottle! I've never spotted that before.

Thank you everybody :)

I think you can check on water quality in various countries these days. Suggest you do that before discounting powdered formula only. Plus enough bottles for journey

We used bottled water in Spain. It's freely available in the supermarket.

The advice when researching is a bit hit and miss. Some sources say it's okay, but lots of other sources say to avoid it even if boiled so I think we'll go for bottled water with low sodium/sulphate content just to be safe

Looks like you can visit lidl and ikea while you're there! I like a wee trip round the supermarkets abroad

We travelled a couple of times to Spain when our baby was under 1 and just took the pre made for ease. You can get some of the tubs of formula there which might help with weight (lugging 30 odd bottles of the pre made stuff around the airport was a bit of pain). Not sure if they are all available but I know Hipp definitely is in some of the supermarkets. Contact the manufacturer and they should be able to give you more info

@dementedpixie Yes! We love the Lidl and we use Lidl nappies at the moment so it's great to know we don't need to lug nappies and wipes with us!

@SlowTango Thank you. I contacted Lidl and they don't stock Aptamil in their store, and further research suggests it's not sold at all in Lanzarote but the Spanish version of the brand is sold in some stores but we're a bit worried about getting a different one in case it doesn't agree with him x

@TokenGinger ah well was worth a check! Just need to weigh yourselves down, it’s worth for some sunshine

The guidance for using bottled water is listed on page 11 of this official guidance.

www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2008/02/start4life_guide_to_bottle_-feeding.pdf

Bottled water
Bottled water is not recommended to make up a feed as it is not sterile and may contain too much salt (sodium) or sulphate.

Water labelled as ‘natural mineral water’ may contain too much salt (sodium) or sulphate. If you have to use natural mineral water to make up a feed, check the label to make sure the sodium (also written as Na) level is less than 200 milligrams (mg) per litre, and the sulphate (also written as SO4) content is not higher than 250 milligrams (mg) per litre.

Like tap water, bottled water is not usually sterile, so if you have to use it you will still need to boil it before you prepare the feed

So, I’d take some ready made formula bottles/cartons for days out and 1 tub for when you’re at the apartment.

You’ll have no problem finding bottled water for baby in Lanzarote. I found it was usually the cheaper brand too. I personally would do a mix of pre-made and powder, if only to save on some plastic, and the weight of having to lug around loads of pre-made bottles.