Formula feeding when staying in a hotel-logistics of sterilising bottles etc

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any advice for me? We are going to a wedding this weekend and staying in a hotel with our nearly 7 week old baby. I am mixed feeding and am wondering about the logistics of making up and keeping formula for this amount of time.

We leave home Saturday morning, driving 3-4 hours have the wedding on Saturday and will be home mid afternoon Sunday. We have a cool bag, but presume we'd need an ice pack to put in there? Are we better off making up bottles Saturday morning and taking them in the cool bag or should we get cartons? If we get cartons are we ok taking enough sterile bottles for our stay, stupid question but they won't stop being sterile after a while will they? Once we're at the hotel we obviously won't have any way of sterilising bottles though I guess we will have a kettle in the room so could take sterile bottles and formula-though I guess may not have a fridge so may not be able to cool bottles down once they're made?!

Can you tell I'm a bit confused?! Other than to family this is our first big trip with our baby and am a bit worried about going to the wedding itself so would love to feel that I know what I am doing about the formula whilst there!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Could you get pre-sterilised bottles for the weekend / sterile the bottles and keep them sealed before you go?

Think cartons would be your best bet - one less thing to worry about.

Take the steriliser with you - we did. Pack your bottles, tablets, brush and some washing up liquid in a little bottle and pack it into the empty steriliser.

Or you can buy steriliser bags - I saw them in boots
www.boots.com/en/Boots-Disposable-Steriliser-Bags-7Pack_25755/.

I would also take cartons of milk.

ps - once bottles are sterilised and built up they last up to 24hrs before having to be re-sterilised.

Sterilise the bottles and stick them in a ziplock bag. Use cartons for the weekend and ask the hotel if there is a fridge in the room. Many do, and open infant formula is fine in a carton for a few hours in the fridge (because of how it's made).

I'm a make-up-bottles-in-advance person, but only if they live in the back of the fridge. I wouldn't take bottles on a trip. Not worth it.

I wouldn't use the pre-sterilised bottles as the teats on them are rubbish. I always kept a couple in the car with some cartons for emergenies, but DS would only drink from them if really hungry.

We can't take the steriliser as it's a microwave one!

So is this ok - we will buy cartons and either use one for a feed and bin the rest or put in the fridge if we have access to one, (which I think will be unlikely at the wedding all day) For the bottles we will sterilise them all before we go and put them in individual ziploc bags. Surely they last more than 24 hours, how can they become un-sterile in a ziploc bag?

What do you think?

Thanks for all your help so far!

We got the sterile bottles from Boots as a back-up for the plane coming back home to Oz. DS2 refused to drink from them. Guess he was used to the Tommee Tippee ones.
Cartons of formula work well. Wash and sterlise the bottles before you go and put each one in its own zip lock bag.
Also you can get formula dispensers and add it to the cooled boiled water as and when you need it.
We're off camping next weekend and will be washing, sterlising and filling each bottle with boiled water and taking the formula in the little tubs. We will also heat the bottles up in the billy can. Course DS2 is now 7 months, not 7 weeks and is shoving anything and everything into his mouth so I'm not too worried about sterlising everything.

For sunday, take use milton tablets. (some other brands need rinsing post sterilising which is a faff) Steilise in hotel bathroon sink. easy. On saturday, presume the wedding has catering. Even the sourest of people will generally make up/heat up baby bottles, especially for a newly hatched baby. Hotels are also genrally accomadating about baby milk if you don't have an in room fridge (have often had to ask re expressed milk). Re cooling the bottles, just make up 50/50 with hot and then when mixed, cooled boil water. Frankly though, given the hassle if you're mixed feeding I'd just try and bf for as much as possible of the weekend.

And enjoy your wedding!

Thanks for your help, am still a bit confused can I do it the way I asked in my post at 2am?

Sorry buy is this ok then? - we will buy cartons and either use one for a feed and bin the rest or put in the fridge if we have access to one, (which I think will be unlikely at the wedding all day) For the bottles we will sterilise them all before we go and put them in individual ziploc bags. Surely they last more than 24 hours, how can they become un-sterile in a ziploc bag?

But we will buy some steriliser bags so we have that option too.

What do you think?

Bottles will be fibne if you sterilse them before you go, don't ned to be in individual bags - it s the inside that needs to be sterile not the outside!

Cartons work well, or just take the formula and make them as you need them (I never made bottles in advance)just out cooled ater in bottes and added the formula when needed, not ned for faffling with fridges then.

the bottles will be fine. the most important thing is that they are scrupulously clean. Technically they will lose their sterility as soon as you take them out of the steriliser but so long as they have been washed thoroughly in hot soapy water and there are no traces of milk residue then they will be fine in the zip lock bags as you describe.

have a nice time.

Thankyou both of you. Melrose I thought that about the bottles, but someone on here said I needed to put them in ziploc bags.

Right I think I have it in my head now! Thanks all.

If you put them altogether wth lids on they will be fine until yu open them. Thinking about it cartons of formula are easier, also as they are room temp you may gt away without having to heat them.

I just read again and realised that you are mixed feeding, if you want life to be much easuer you could just do more boob than bottle whilst away!