Who uses/used microwave to warm bottles (and who didn't?)

[CountessDracula]

Prompted by another thread - I remember feeling v paranoid about this when dd was first born until an Aussie midwife said that they all do it over there, even in the hospitals!

From that day on I used the microwave, and tbh everyone I know does the same despite the "hot spot" warnings. I do feel if you shake the bottle thoroughly and then leave it for at least a minute there is no issue.

So who did it and who used bottle warmers/warm water, and why?

Always used the microwave for heating cows milk IYKWIM. Just used a mixture of boiling and cold water for formula ( and I didn't use previously boiled after DS1).

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hi all, was my thread that prompted this one-- thanx countess, much more info here.

i do use a microwave for food. i still b/f so dont use for milk. I did the same with ds1.

my question about a warmer was for that early morn food feed. i dont have micro in my bedroom

have you ever heard of anyone who has encountered a hot spot! dont get it in coffee....

I haven't started doing this warming thing yet (still exclusively bfeeding) but I did read on an aussie website that microwaving does something to the proteins in breast milk and/or destroys some of the goodies. I'd LOVE to hear that isn't true...anyone know anything about this?

Once DS would drink from a bottle at all (which wasn't til he was over 8 months) he was happy with it straight from the fridge!!! (and that got me plenty of 'bad mother' anti-brownie points).

i still heat dd's milk in the microwave before bed but never in the bottle, use a glass measuring jug and then transfer. Something about heating plastic?? I'm sure I heard that you 'shouldn't ' heat in the plastic bottles

Squirmymom.... what about NOT heating the bottle at all???? ROom temp is the easiest!

sory squirmyWORM

I used the microwave first time round with ds (never in front of a HV though! ) but with dd I've always just stored the pre-filled water bottles on the counter-top then added the formula when needed and given the feed at room temp. I read somewhere that heating/not heating bottles is a cultural thing ie cool climate = bottle heated, hot climate = bottle chilled . I don't know how accurate this is but it was a good enough excuse for me to suspend all bottle heating activities immediately.

As for hot-spots, I have encountered them in jars of microwave heated baby food - though I suspect that sticking my manky finger in to check for them is probably as hazardous for dd's health as her actually encountering one. Mmmm, just read all this back and now feeling like a very shoddy mother indeed...

Coddy only on Michael Barrymore quiz shows

didnt microwave bottle but did for food (and still do)

With first child, ds, 6.5 years ago I was that woman using a bottle warmer. I can't believe it now but we used to have to listen to the screaming as we waited up to 5 minutes for the damn thing to heat. Have used a microwave for dd from day 1 and can't believe that hotspots can possibly be a problem unless you're stupid enough not to give it a good shake.

I thought oh no, never a mike with dd1 (anyway we didn't have one). Then her new childminder - a woman of tremendous experience - said firmly she'd warm bottles in the microwave thank you very MUCH.

dd2 is b/f but expressed milk gets warmed/defrosted in the microwave we now possess. Possibly it does affect the proteins, but I wouldn't say she's suffering

ditto mI I think we can allt hink too much about things at the time

Yes, another microwave user here

I nuke then shake.

i did that too wobblyknicks. dd2 like 6oz of cooled water made with 2oz of boiling water. was easier to get cafes to top up to the 8oz mark then add the formula as some places wont microwave and i dont like jugs of water with dd1 about, just not safe.
if i did have bottles amde up in the fridge at all then i used the microwave.

When DD was first born we used hot water and a jug, I must've been a paranoid mummy ! Now we use the microwave, we've done it that way since DD was around 8 months old. I agree that so long as you don't go silly with the nuke duration the bottle should be perfect after a good shake.

For dd, once she went onto formula we heated them up in the microwave.
This time around I hope to breastfeed for longer than I managed with dd. Do have a question about the formula though...is it safe to make up the bottle and then leave it sitting at room temperature until it's needed? It's not likely to make them ill or anything is it?
I was thinking the other night about how that would be a good option for if we were out and about or in a big hurry, don't need to wait on bottle heating up. Thinking about it now I remember that the bottle fed babies in the hospital when I had dd were given little bottles at room temperature, they didn't heat them up.

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I think it's because the hot areas carry on heating up other areas, so even when you've shaken, you've got heat reactions still going on. When you drink something, you throw it straight down your throat, so it would be more likely to burn than a dish of babyfood, which is rolled around the mouth before being swallowed.

I didn't heat up in this way because I used the cold water-then add-boiling-when ready method. Ds2's childminder used the m/wave, I think, but he didn't like the milk because it tasts different. A bit like your hot milk in coffee - when boiled, it tastes different to just heated. (longer than intended, as usual)

I've never met anyone else who didn't m/wave either, but I think if people understood the physics, they wouldn't do it. It's a bit like the importance of having properly fitted car seats - people just assume they have to be fairly secure, but actually, they have to be very secure, with no movement or slackness at all, or the results can be disastrous. Until you see things like this spelled out graphically, you just assume it doesn't matter.

Linnett - SMA, and probably other companies, also produce individual 4oz sachets which are handy for using when you are on the move - you just stick a couple of them into the bottle of cooled, boiled water and shake. But like the little individual cartons they're expensive (relative to the big tubs) so it's really worthwhile getting the little pot which Twiglet describes. It's also really handy for mixing feeds on the spot at home.

I wouldn't leave mixed up formula sitting about for ages - I reckon about 2 hours but I could be completely wrong. I think the pre-mixed hospital bottles are a slightly different case - you could keep them unopened for weeks but once the seal was broken they had to be used within four hours.

Sorry, Twiglett.