Travelling with 17 wk old

[AussieMum28]

Evening all,

In a couple of weeks, my then 17 week old, my husband and I will be flying to Australia to visit my family. My son is exclusively bottle fed. Any advice about how to manage making his bottles?

I’ve got 2 small flasks I can have cool, sterilised water in and I plan to get hot water from the airline staff to sterilise the powder (my idea is to do a similar process to how the Tommee Tippee Prep Machine works).

I am worried about how I’m going to sterilise the bottles as I don’t really want to take up to 8 bottles on the plane (considering we only own 4!) Would it be ok to not sterilise them for one day? 🤨

Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated xx

• Unfortunately, he can’t have pre-made formula as he is on comfort formula.

At 4 months i think it's fine not to have sterilised the bottles for a flight, some babies are eating solids at this age.

Disposable bottles and ready made formula?

I’ve got 2 small flasks I can have cool, sterilised water in and I plan to get hot water from the airline staff to sterilise the powder (my idea is to do a similar process to how the Tommee Tippee Prep Machine works)

Where are you planning to get this booked, cooled water from - you're not going to be able to take it through security? You might have to get entirely hot water and either ask them to cool it under the tap or give it longer to cool.

I think you should contact the airline and ask how much help they can give you - it might be more than you think in terms of making bottles, cleaning them, etc., or it might be naff all, but it's worth asking.

*boiled cool, not booked cool!

So are you planning to use a bottle and then rinse it/wash it on the plane and then re-use?

I'd just buy four more bottles and take them all sterilised tbh.

I think it's fine for them not to be sterilised if they were properly washed at home, but I wouldn't fancy washing them on an aeroplane. I just wouldn't trust the facilities!

As stated above, he can't have ready made formula.

I've thought about using cold water sterilising tablets?

We've researched about the water and they should allow us to take it through as we have a baby and have the formula there. Well fingers crossed anyway!! If not, I guess we will need to cool a whole lot of newly boiled water!

You can take the water through security. I would reuse the bottles so the first one twice, then the next twice etc. Give them a shake with boiling water from the plane if you feel the need. I used to have disposable bottles but you have to buy the plastic bags that fit inside specific bottles so you’d have to buy new and to be honest they were a bit of a faff.

You could order pre-made bottles of formula and do a click and collect in the airport shops.

Personally I wouldn't risk not sterilising the bottles especially with being in a public environment, health visitors will tell you to sterilise everything if baby is under 6 months.

You could buy some disposable bottles for the flight

Thanks for the advice. I think it will buy the sterilising tablets and do it in the plane. Any other pieces of advice for us?

Nappies and wipes etc in a small separate bag u can grab and take to the toilet. No space for big nappy bags in loos. At least 2 spare changes of clothes, both in sets in separate bags to grab and go. Have a fab trip, he should sleep lots on the plane at that age cross fingers!

You could take empty bottles through security and get them filled at onevif the coffee shops beyond the gate - I saw a lady have to empty babies bottles of water last time I flew and they told her Starbucks would refill. Check that ready made isn't available to order, sometimes you can get special orders from the pharmacy. I flew with mine younger than this but knowing I had to do incentivise breastfeeding, and this was before the liquids ban.

Take some Calpol or neurofen with you in case his ears hurt/he is otherwise deeply unhappy about the whole plane situation.

I found a dummy really handy to stop little ears popping on takeoff and landing. If he's going on your lap maybe get the window seat and bring a pillow to get yourself more comfortable.
Also make sure you look after yourself as it's so easy to focus on baby - I ended up passing out under mine just as she got to sleep (heat, dehydration, hunger and early pregnancy oops).
Have an amazing time.

Can you make up all the bottles and keep them in a cool bag? They only have to scan the formula at the airport to be able to security test it so they would stay sterile. Then maybe warm the bottles with water inthe air?

Take four cool boiled water bottles with you, add formula and wash then scald with boiling water from the airline staff. Then refill with cool boiled water in your flasks? I remember using comfort formula too and being in a tizzy as it's such a faff. Would you trial a couple of bottles with ready made formula before you go? Apparently it's easier to digest than powder version or is baby unsettled on any other formula? You can buy glycerine and aniseed sucking syrup to dip his soother in for take off / landing in the pharmacy.

When we travel we use a travel steriliser, you put a quarter of a Milton tablet in with cold water and add the bottle disassembled, leave for 15 minutes and then it's ready to use. Will reduce the amount of bottles you need to carry in hand luggage.

I'd suggest asking the airline if they can provide boiled water.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I've bought the tablets and a travel steriliser! I till take a big bottle of cooled sterilised water in a clear container and just ask for boiling water on the plane and in the airport. Fingers crossed it should all go ok!

When I flew long haul with my DS at 10 weeks, I used a bottle that had sort of plastic inserts that you threw out after each use. Sorry I can't remember the name but I got them from Amazon. So they're like a normal plastic bottle, but with no bottom to them. Then you buy packs of plastic socks, if you like, that fit inside the bottle. So only the teat needs to be washed/sterilised between feeds, not the bottle itself. I loaded each plastic insert with the correct amount of formula before the flight, so less bulky as I just had one bottle, a few teats and several plastic things. I remember getting water from a Starbucks before boarding and then on the flight.