Formula Feeding On Holiday - How???

[tigerbear]

Please could you share your tips for formula feeding and expressing on holiday? DD is 11 weeks old and DH has just booked time off work so we can go on holiday at the end of this month. She is mix fed both formula and breast milk, but has much more formula than expressed milk.

We really want to go overseas - probably Italy or Croatia but I'm concerned about the whole milk storage / sterilising / taking formula on flights issue and storage and making up bottles in a hotel room. Has anyone done it?
I'm looking at package deals at the moment and mainly hotels are coming up in the best deals, but I'm not sure if this would be more difficult than staying in an apartment (where there will be kettle, pans, fridge, etc)

TIA

We took loads of those small cartons of ready-made milk. Pricey, but easy. We also took some good old-fashioned Milton tablets to sterilise the bottles.

I take the cartons of ready made stuff. Loads in the suitcase and you can normally take a couple on the plane - they sometimes make you open and taste them which is pointless of course so I always take 2 pre-sterilised bottles to decant them into as well in case and so can feed on plane. (ds3 refuses to bf in public little git!). Was much easier with other dc who were ebf I have to say. Then, when I get there, I normally find somewhere to clean and sterilise the 2 bottles - normally go to family friendly places that have sterilisers but take microwave sterilising bags at a push as you can normally find a microwave somewhere. Older babies can usually get away with boiling water from hotel room kettle and friends have taken milton sterilising tablets. You can also get ready-sterilised disposable bottles.

x posts - ££ but makes life easier!

Thanks. I'm just imagining our suitcases full to the brim with cartons of milk and no clothes for us! :)

I bought a great little travel steriliser from Mothercare when my DS was little (we didn't have the option of ready made stuff as we're not in the UK) - it was brilliant - took two bottles etc and doesn't take up much space in the suitcase.

As far as travelling with formula/expressed milk - it's never been an issue for me (and I fly a lot!!) but don't take too much on the flight with you - usually you get a lovely security person who doesn't make you taste every single one, but you never know so stash some in your luggage (or the bottom of the pushchair if you're not gatechecking it - they don't weigh the pushchair! ;-))

Milk storage could be a little more difficult. I'd say that if you needed to bring some frozen milk with you, it would likely stay frozen in the hold of the plane as these are usually pretty cold. the problem might be when you get there. If I were you, I'd take a small amount in the hold for immediately after you get there and then use as you express if that's possible? definitely take some of those disposable bags for breast milk rather than having loads of bottles.

I travelled with my DS a lot when he was little and it really isn't very hard - the problems you imagine, usually have a solution but I wouldn't worry about it too much until you have everything planned, then you can work out your plan for how you're going to do it.

Ooooh yes the secret airport security black hole that is the bottom of the pushchair- they never check in there, it's bizarre, you could have anything in there! I use it as an overflow suitcase.

And yes I did once have to taste a bottle of my own frozen breast milk, the guy insisted but it was still frozen so I had to lick it like a lolly! Was very strange. Similarly, once the baby gets to weaning age and you are taking pouches of ellas kitchen or similar, take the fruit ones, strawberry or banana, not the savoury ones, are they are the least unpleasant to taste!

Welcom to the joys of travelling with small children! Remember you suitcase will also be full of nappies! I normally have to wear my swimming costume on the plane!!

This is why we went to Cornwall 3 years in a row lol!

I'm just back from holiday in Ibiza, in June with a then four month old formula fed baby. I brought formula in the normal tins with me, brought a travel kettle with me, although kettle was supplied and made up bottles as usual. To sterilise the bottles, I used microwave steriliser bags, (Lindham make them, £5 for three, you can reuse them, Tescos, Boots, Mothercare do them) You can use the Milton cold water steriliser bags as well.

I also brought some ready made cartons, if the UK airport you are flying from has a Boots airside, you can order ready made formula and pick it up airside thereby bypassing the security issue. Although I had 3 premade bottles with me, Boots wasn't open when we were flying!, I just had to taste them.

Oh, we never brought lots of nappies with us, bought them whenever we were there but swim nappies are really dear, so we brought them. I've been away with all 3 of mine from when they were babies it's really good fun, enjoy.

This tells you what formula brands you can buy in various countries: www.babyworld.co.uk/features/summertime/sum_essentials.asp

If you go to Italy and are hiring a car, you can go to one of the big hypermarkets like Carrefour and buy formula and ready made milk. I know Aptamil (sometimes called Milupa) is readily available on the continent, not sure about other brands. They also sell a lot of baby food/nappies in pharmacies.

(I did quite a bit of research on the internet before we went abroad - looked at where the big supermarkets were near where we were staying, and checked out their products. It gave me some piece of mind that if I did run out of anything, I had an back up plan )

I used Boots cold water sterlising tablets - they left a bit of a chlorine smell but were very easy to use, didn't take up much room in the suitcase and didn't require a microwave.

Don't forget if you're flying that your infant doesn't have their own luggage allowance, so unless you buy more, you'll find that you don't have a lot of room for everything you might want to take.