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?

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 yes, do that and check the sodium and sulphate levels of the mineral water you buy as outlined in the guidance.

I would go with a and use bottled boiled water. Best to have some pre made small bottles for travel in case of delay or when out and about.

You can get those steriliser bags as well. Have a nice trip.

We're recently back from Spain with our 6.5 month old - we took 1 tub of aptamil in our suitcase, and 6 pre measured amounts of powder in 2 dispensers in our hand luggage along with an empty flask (got it filled with boiling water once through security). Bottled water was easily available, most of them we saw in shops had a baby's face on it to show its suitable. We came home with some formula left over, but we started weaning DS early due to reflux so he was able to eat quite a lot of food from the hotel along side and was maybe only having 3 or 4 bottles a day plus bottled water to drink.

We didnt boil the bottled water he drank and he was absolutely fine.

I'd take 1 tub of powdered formula and a few pre made for when you're out and about.

I don’t know if this has been mentioned but we’ve recently come back from holiday and took premade bottles.

We flew from Manchester airport and took 70 of the little SMA ones. We took 30 of them through hand luggage (because of weight) the airport staff made us take out every single bottle and lie them flat on trays. Only three bottles per tray, it took forever! The people behind us were mighty pissed off at the end.

We’d kept them in the boxes of 6 cartons, all sealed but apparently they have to scan each carton individually.

On the way home - they didn’t even look at them and they weren’t in sealed boxes anymore

We didnt boil the bottled water he drank and he was absolutely fine

Bottled water which is low in sodium and sulphates (and UK tap water) is fine to drink for babies over 6 months old, however for babies that are under 6 months old the water needs to be boiled and then cooled down before giving it to the baby.

For formula feeds. Bottled water low in sodium and sulphates (along with UK tap water) needs to be boiled to at least 70oc to kill the bacteria in the formula milk, as the formula milk isn’t sterile.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/drinks-and-cups-children/

Hi

There are a lot of misconceptions on this thread. And believe it or not some HV are always up to standard with giving advice regarding travelling and formula feeding babies.

First: the reason for boiling water is not to get rid of the bacteria in the water it is to sterilise the formula. (Which is how the perfect prep works)
Second; the UK has one of the strictest standards
Third: is baby on solids yet? By six months they are exposed to a multitude of bacteria and germs

I’ve been travelling with my little one since he was 5 months old. I have taken a mix of premade (easier when out and about) and formula powder (for when indoors and night time) - and like you estimated how much I would need based on bottles per day that he had.

Bottled water will be fine - just check the sodium content.
Some places do also sell purified water.
You will need to boil the water to sterilise the formula - but if you take the perfect prep you can just put the bottled water into that.

All the best for the holiday!

For formula feeds. Bottled water low in sodium and sulphates (along with UK tap water) needs to be boiled to at least 70oc to kill the bacteria in the formula milk, as the formula milk isn’t sterile

I understand this, however we use anti reflux milk, and the instructions on that are to use cooler water than with normal formula. About 40° instead of 70°. The powder clumps with boiling water and it also kills whatever extra stuff is in it that makes the feed thicker. At home I just put all the water in to the bottle from the perfect prep, then add the powder. On holiday I just put cold bottled water in the bottle and topped up to the right temp with boiled bottled water.

Thank you everybody. There's loads of helpful advice on here.

@LifeInPlasticIsFantastic Oh my gosh! That sounds painful. We are flying from Manchester, too, but plan to do click and collect from Boots so that it's already passed through security before we even pick it up. Three bottles per tray sounds painful 🙈 Though it's good to know they let you through. A girl I spoke to at baby sensory this week had telephoned Manchester airport to ask how many she could take through and they said five in hand luggage!

@Rkay2 Thank you, that's really helpful. We'd definitely boil it to make up the feeds if we don't take the PP with us.

I'll have gone to the bother of researching the best ways to do all of this, and then I bet DP says bugger to the hassle and orders all pre-made He's a man who likes simplicity 🙄

I can't remember who asked to tag them, but DS will just be 6 months when we travel. We've started to give him tastes of foods now (5 months next week) so he may well fill himself on actual food and take less milk than anticipated, like you've mentioned yours did.

Thank you for all of the well wishes for the holiday. I really can't wait!

Hi
I went abroad for 8 weeks. I bought formula powder for each week. I would order airside. It does not get counted in luggage as you will just be boarding from there. Also, I used Nestle water and boiled. I took milton tablets and used a container to soak bottles in - has a lid. And took milton wipes. I also filled the thermos from the plane and carried powder tubs on plane and made fresh feed which the air hostess' kindly cooled down for me by putting in ice water. Its doable and honestly not stressful at all. Hope u have a lovely holiday xx

Yes to taking a thermos with boiled hot water, wet wipes for hand cleaning, powder premeasured in dispenser and empty clean bottles/tears/caps in hand luggage, as well as a container for washing up bottles + stuff to clean them with including a bottle brush. It means you just put the thermos through the X-ray as everything else is dry. I also had cooled boiled water in a separate bottle, so that was my other liquid. All of DS2 stuff was in my small backpack + nappy change wallet clicked on; everything else was with DH + DS1. That way, if we ever got separated, I was self-sufficient with DS2 at all times.

I've travelled with DS2 long and short haul from the age of 6 weeks until 6months. We didn't have premade formula (just not available). By the time we were in a place where it was available, the little monkey had already developed a taste for a specific brand, which I had to make sure I had with me for travel days as he got picky during journeys (probably b/c he got tired and cranky more quickly). It will be fine!!! If you're worried, try going out with the thermos beforehand and make a bottle al fresco. You'll quickly figure out what works for you.

My only concern with collect airside plan - what if something daft happens e.g. they make an error with your order? What's your backup for the trip? But then I worry about random stuff like that and make sure I have 1-2days' worth of baby stuff with me (not even checked in). I've had luggage lost, damaged, errors with online orders. So maybe I'm just scarred forever though! oh and don't forget a change of clothing (even if just tops) for all of you. Little people vomit more frequently when travelling, even when they don't vomit usually.

*teats

Myself and my husband have not long been to Europe with our son (7 months at the time) and I personally found it easiest to pack the ready made formula, packing the smaller cartons in my hand luggage for the travel. This works for us, but each to their own. (FYI, we usually use the powdered formula at home too).

We used boiled tap water when we went abroad to Spain. I read that the reason to use bottled not tap was because the change in mineral make up of the water compared to the UK can cause a stomach upset. I figured that would be the same for bottled and decided to give the tap water a go.

Funnily enough, my DD had suffered unexplained diarrhoea for all her 11 months. She wasn't having solids due to feeding issues so the water was the only change. For the first time ever her poo was normal!

Pressed post too soon. We also sterilised using unboiled tap water and Milton tablets.

In terms of ordering airside, I requested the collection date for my formula as the day before my flight - that meant I travelled to the airport with my confirmation email that it was already there.

I took a flask of boiling water and cold water through security at Gatwick - they just took it for testing. Coming home, the Spanish airport staff just shook the flask and waved it through!

Depending on who you are flying with, they may limit your hand luggage to your standard carry on plus one carrier bag. They have babies abroad you know and whilst sodium is a concern long term, don't overthink things for a holiday. Most countries sell nursery water if you are ultra concerned but I would just boil tap water as you do in the U.K. if there's a microwave take a microwave steriliser.

I must admit this is where breastfeeding comes into its own ... I backpacked with mine, kids are so adaptable

When we went we took 2 x tubs in the suitcases, with 3 x packs of ready made (18 cartons).
We then took 6 ready made in our hand luggage, split between 2 of us.

We kept one of the packs from the suitcase for the flight home, and used a mix of ready made and bottles I made fresh during the day.

I'd take tubs if you can, as ready made can be awkward to transport, luckily in this instance we use SMA and their little ready mades come in a cardboard box, making them quite robust, but I know aptimal and cow and gate are in little plastic bottles, so not as robust.

Also, boiled bottled water is advised, it is fairly easy to find suitable water in shops, we were in the canaries and every bottle was suitable.

Not sure if you have thought about sterilising, but we used Asdas sterilising bags, 5 for £5 and each bag has 20 uses, just pop bottles in with a bit of water and put in microwave, really easy and don't take any space up.

Have a good holiday!

Just seen you are going to Lanzarote, you will be fine, that's were we went.

Water easy to find, Lidl is amazing, for food, nappies and wipes (we also got dodot wipes from Spar....they smelt amazing! everyone loves kids there (couldn't help us enough!), which was lovely!

Thank you everybody for your advice. @WishMyNameWasWittyNotShitty I think your approach is exactly what we'll do. When I've worked out his feeds, two boxes will only last us 6 days, so I'm going to take two boxes and a few packs of ready made cartons. I'll check out those sterilising bags, too. They sound great.

I must admit this is where breastfeeding comes into its own ... I backpacked with mine, kids are so adaptable - If only we all could breastfeed :) Having had two operations on my chest, from which my milk ducts were damaged, unfortunately I was unable to breastfeed. Truly wish I could have done.

I'm still struggling with the fact that you don't want to use local water? We took both dc as young children long haul and never even considered not using local water.

The problem with using the local water is that your DC is accustomed to the UK water. I always had that problem going from the UK to Australia, mild tummy upsets from changing water, and then changing the milk - went for 5 weeks and couldn't pack enough powder for the full 5 weeks.

Then of course you have to go through it again when you return.

In Spain you use boiled and cooled tap water. Mineral water has a very high salt content and could end up dehydrating the baby especially if you’re going when it’s hot.

I'm still struggling with the fact that you don't want to use local water? We took both dc as young children long haul and never even considered not using local water.

Struggling? It's been drummed into everybody I know that you don't use tap water when abroad. That's been what I've known since I've travelled abroad from a young age. It now seems alien to me to now give that water to my son. I understand that water quality abroad has probably changed since I was a child, but I'm still not comfortable doing it. From my research, it says to avoid using the tap water in Lanzarote, boiled or not, because of the way it's stored in underground containers and what that brings with it.

A 5 litre bottle of water costs €2 in the local supermarket. It's no bother to use that for the peace of mind of knowing it won't upset DS's tummy.

Mineral water has a very high salt content and could end up dehydrating the baby especially if you’re going when it’s hot.

Most of the advice on this thread has been about which water to use to avoid this happening. There are bottles labelled with pictures of babies to highlight which ones are have low sodium content, making it safe for babies.

When we went to Spain it was advised to used bottled water. If I wasnt going to drink the tap water then I sure as hell wouldn't give it to a baby. OP has the NHS info about which bottled water is safe to use so her baby will not dehydrate due to its 'very high salt content'.