That travelling with a formula fed baby is really hard?

[Bells3032]

Unless you go self catering somewhere in the UK.

Travelling with all the formula, bottles and something to sterilise the bottles with. Someway to heat and store water. Let's not include the buggy, the cot and all the extra stuff needed for baby. And a room big enough to accommodate everything.

We thought about going on a cruise out of Southampton so we could go somewhere warmer and have access to baby clubs etc without the stress of flying. But they all have showers and not baths unless you book the most expensive cabins which are a fortune.

Just don't know where we can go that's suitable and doesn't cost the earth

I always just bought the same brand in the local chemist. Was never a problem. I had a sort of steriliser bag thing for the microwave too.

Otherwise you just pack a couple of boxes of powder in your case.

Oh and nappies as well as milk can be ordered to boots if you have enough notice. Think it was a week about 4 years ago so that saves on packing space then just buy more when you’re there.

I took dd on an 11 hours flight to California when she was 9 months old. It’s was more difficult but I wouldn’t say stressful.
I took cartons pre made baby formula for the plane she drank it happily at room temperate. A couple of Tins of baby milk in the suitcases, a travel kettle and some Milton tablets. I sterilised the bottles in the sink overnight in the Milton.
I took 2 flasks one for boiling water and one for cooled boiled water. I made bottles up as we needed them during the day, poured the formula in the bottle add an ounce of boiling water and topped up with cool boiled water.
We took to using one large rucksack for all our stuff for our day trips meaning we had hands free for baby and stroller.
It’s doable you just need to plan ahead and be organised

Mam self sterilisation bottle if you have a microwave in your room. Otherwise bottle sized tupperware and Milton tablets. You can get tiny inflatable baby baths for your suitcase if shower only. You can also get tiny pop up baby cot/tent things for travel. I took a 4 month old to Australia(to see family) and did mini breaks when there too.

You could take a blow up paddling pool to use as a bath

I am going back 30 +years and was able to buy disposable bottles . You had a plastic holder and these sterile bags fitted . We were able to either make up formula easily as always hot water available, or used pre made. It was a little bit more expensive but saved a lot of hassle.

I am sure things must have improved since then . Travelling is also a lot more easier as well.

We’ve travelled a lot with our almost three year old, (well as much as the pandemic allowed!!) and it’s totally worth it but it does take organisation when they’re little. We did cold water sterilising in a Tupperware box and you can pack stuff inside it in your case so it doesn’t really take up any room. We also bought minimal amounts of wipes/nappies/formula with us (enough for 24-48 hours) and then bought what we needed in resort. Best thing we had when DD was little was an inflatable bath, I got ours off marketplace but I think it was from Amazon originally. I would either go self catering so you have space and facilities to sort everything yourself or a really family friendly resort/hotel where they will provide everything you need.

Took my combi fed baby to a lot of places pre-covid ... over a dozen European destinations before he was 2. We nearly always self catered . Holidaying with small kids isn't relaxing, you're just moving the chaos somewhere else. Once you accept that it's a lot more fun. 😀

I travelled loads with dd when she was on bottles it was something like:

2 thermal flasks one hot one cold pre boiled water.
Travel formula container with pre measured feeds
Sterilisation bags that you pop in the Microwave.
Pre made bottles for emergency but it does taste different to normal
A Tommy tippee hot water container for heating cold bottles/ pre made. I didn't use this much though.
Wash baby in shower, she loved the sensation , or sink if needs be
Invest in a good travel buggy we bought a folding silvercross
Hire the cot

We travelled so much and had such an adventure, really hope you do and enjoy it.

Went all over the place with DS when he was tiny and used medicated formula only.

I'd took a plastic lidded bucket type thing and Milton sterilising tablets. You just pack round the bucket in your suitcase.

We used to stay in hotels and make up the formula in advance. The room kettle and then the main kitchen fridge to store them correctly. The staff couldn't have been more helpful. I'm talking really far flung places. As long as you do a good job of sterilising and the water was the right temp it's fine.

Mind you, this was 2013 - I'm sure all the rules have changed since then and I'd be in all sorts of trouble now. The vast majority of hotels can provide a cot, you put them in the bath / shower / sink with you.

Nappies were the complicated bit. Especially if baby is bigger. Poor DS had a couple of days in some Indonesian nappies that were really far too small.

They have babies abroad too, there's usually someone who can advise if you get stuck, in fact in a lot of places you can't move for help

Have a lovely holiday.

I should add that I then packed the formula etc in the bags....the flasks and so on we're for the actual journeys.

How old is baby? We stopped sterilising after 6 months. Didn't see the point when everything went into their mouth anyway! Buy the ready made bottles of formula.

I had an inflatable baby bath, was brilliant, or use the sink. A cruise is easy - look at Disney got ultimate in family friendly

We are looking to go when she is either 5 or 8 months old. She's currently a 4 week old premie and had 70ml per feed which is the same as those ready made bottles so they won't be big enough when she's that big.

Took mine all over the place as babies - including long flights
Washing up bowl (fit in suitcase with clothes in to save space when packing) made a great make shift bath!
Used a combination of cartons of ready made milk and normal formula.
Boiled kettle and when it cooled filled bottles 2/3 full (so water was sterilised) When needed them topped up with hot boiled water (either in flask or straight from kettle) to make it the right temperature and then added the powder.

Sterilised bottles with Milton tablets in most hotels but took steriliser when in own cottage or if had a microwave (some hotel rooms in USA have little kitchen areas)

@Bells3032

What pouches is everyone talking about. I can see bottles but unless you use them all in one go they need refridgerating. And they're obv heavy if you want to fly

I've literally just done U.K. to Singapore to Brunei with a 4month old. I had one medium hold all, with x4 pre sterilised bottles with some sterilised water in each bottle and a flask with hot water to top up the bottles when making to take off the cold edge. I had stacker pots with a spout with baby powder portions pre measured in. Soon as I used a bottle I gave it to the hostess to sterilise. They soak them in super hot water. My bottles came back clean and not greasy.

The hold-all for me was handier then a baby bag with sections as it was very light and flexible and I could just fling things in as and when.

Pre booking the carry cot helps massively so you can have a break from holding baby. Those seats also have loads of leg room so I would do a sneaky nappy change when it wasn't a stinky one. I would also clip the bibs and muslin to the cot frame to dry out or to be accessible. I had a baby sling for when going through security etc. Baby only cried once when descending due to ear pain I imagine. However a baby on a smaller cramped airbus plane is a different story. Long haul was much easier!

@LittleMousewithcloggson

Took mine all over the place as babies - including long flights Washing up bowl (fit in suitcase with clothes in to save space when packing) made a great make shift bath! Used a combination of cartons of ready made milk and normal formula. Boiled kettle and when it cooled filled bottles 2/3 full (so water was sterilised) When needed them topped up with hot boiled water (either in flask or straight from kettle) to make it the right temperature and then added the powder. Sterilised bottles with Milton tablets in most hotels but took steriliser when in own cottage or if had a microwave (some hotel rooms in USA have little kitchen areas)

I think I was typing at the same time as you 🤣 like I've played used your post ! Sorry

I found it easy - although considerably easier in Europe than in the UK. I only ever fed my baby ready-made formula so never had to mess around with heating water. Would this be a possibility for your baby?

I never heated the ready-made milk forumla, so the baby was used to having it at room temperature. Yes, the back of the pack says to refrigerate as soon as you've opened it but, unless you're talking a flight to the other side of the world, a couple of hours in a bottle on an aeroplane will be fine. On a flight, you can take a certain amount of baby milk through security, and there is often some you can buy in Boots or somewhere like that once you're through security. (Rules change, so check what they are right now, but I used to carry about 4 bottles of ready made formula for a 2 hour flight. 1 for the flight, 1 for a potential snack before the flight and 2 in case there was a delay.)

In terms of your worry about some accommodation only having showers, I found this annoying too. I bought a blow up baby bath for under £20 from Amazon to use in the shower.

Hotels will have a baby cot and high chair available.

If you have a big baby / toddler and need larger size nappies, you may find it easier to just bring a packet with you, as they can be hard to find in some places.

If you don't have access to a washing machine while you're away, you either need to pack loads of clothes, or locate laundromats in advance (they're really hard to come by in some countries where people either have their own machines or live in a block with a shared laundry for residents use only).

The nappies and clean clothing were the only issues I had when travelling with my baby.

If you still want to cruise then Cunard do have baby baths on board. I’m due to take my what will be 9 month old in October.

@Bells3032

We are looking to go when she is either 5 or 8 months old. She's currently a 4 week old premie and had 70ml per feed which is the same as those ready made bottles so they won't be big enough when she's that big.

Did you look at the ready made formula that people have been kind enough to link to? The standard size is 200ml but you can get 1L bottles. So plenty for a bottle in a few months time. There’s ways and means around all of what you set out in your OP that lots of people have given great examples of (ready made formula, travel kettle and/or Milton tablets for sterilising, pre sterilised bottles and water for flights, blow up paddling pool if you won’t consider showers over baths for baby), but you have to want to go and accept that travelling anywhere with a small baby will be harder than it was pre baby, and aside from sterilising bottles they apply to everyone with young babies. If you want to get away I hope you find somewhere you enjoy.

We took DS to Mexico when he was 8 months old (pre-Covid) and it wasn't that difficult, even with non-drinkable tap water. We asked for a kettle in the room and used bottled water to make up the formula. At 8 months we'd stopped seriously sterilizing because he was shoving everything in his mouth anyway. DS was mostly on sold food then, so we just loaded up a plate from the buffet and let him run wild.

We got a cot from the hotel, took a million snacks and some ready portioned formula and water in the hand luggage and we were off.

DS LOVED it. We all loved it. We spent the whole week moving from beach to pool to buffet and it was amazing. It was a family-friendly hotel, so the staff were all so lovely and accommodating. DH and I still talk about it misty eyed because it was such a lovely and relaxing time.

We went abroad for one week when DD was 10 months. She had cmpa so unfortunately couldn't take pre-made or order for collection.
We made up bottles using the kettle and sterilised with Milton tablets.

Took the buggy (City Mini GT) which was brilliant, had it until check in and picked it up at baggage reclaim.

You won't need half the things you think you do. We brought so much. I'd travel as light as possible next time. We paid for an upgrade for a larger room as we spent more time there than we would have without DD.

Airport was fine, didn't queue as we had DD and on the flight we fed DD and used ear defenders which meant she slept most of the way there and back.

Worse part was the coach to hotel and return wait in the airport which was pretty small.

Obviously DD wasn't very young, it was fun to see her try the local cuisine and she had a ball. Not the relaxing holiday we were used to but great memories.

Collapsible washing up bowl and Milton cold water steralising tablets (alternatively fill your bottles with boiling hot water for 5 mins after washing).

Travel kettle for boiling water (make sure to take adapter)

Premade formula for the flight

Sleeping bag for baby to sleep in (most hotels will have a travel cot)

If you only have a shower - shower with the baby (usually they only need to be washed once or twice a week and you can top and tail the rest of the time)

200ml cartons ready made formula and disposable bottles
www.boots.com/steribottle-5-pack-10276650?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc--PLAs_HeroCompare--Baby_Accessories--UK_Smart_Shopping_Baby_Accessories&gclid=Cj0KCQiAubmPBhCyARIsAJWNpiO7yJ9L6r6ea4i7vOr57dRY2pAuwFyu90VM1dk0WI3UIMJMWEmEpgIaAgOEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
www.boots.com/sma-pro-follow-on-milk-6-mth-ready-to-feed-multipack-6-x-200ml-10277063?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc--PLAs_HeroCompare--Baby_Feeding--UK_Smart_Shopping_Baby_Feeding&gclid=Cj0KCQiAubmPBhCyARIsAJWNpiMtcOP6gJZBGLfMIX8d277kYYA3vwFAO914UjvF5AASiWxm2Gk37O8aApafEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Ready made bottles, they are usually in the right size for each feed. We did that for first holiday when DD was 4 months, then did powder formula when baby was 8 months and weaning as did all inclusive