How to make bottles when out and about

[El91]

Maybe a stupid question but I’ve just had my baby girl early at 35 weeks, I had planned on breastfeeding but had so little support from midwives that it didn’t work out for us.
So I have had to bottle feed, we were totally unprepared for this and I’m a bit clueless!
We have the tommee tippee prep machine which works well for us but what do I do when we are out? And is there anyway easier way to do night feeds without having to go downstairs to the prep machine every time baby needs fed?

i had looked at the nuby rapid cool but I read that this only makes one feed, so would it not be suitable if we were out for the day and baby needed more than one bottle?

Premixed cartons? Handy if you can get a baby to take formula at room temperature.

I always used ready made when going out.

I used to make one up out of the kettle with boiling water, let it cool slightly and keep it in a bottle warmer.

Or pop the formula in the bottle and take a flask of hot water with you.

Ready to pour cartons all the way

I use the ready made uht bottles as well (hipp organic or aptamil do them) but Ds likes his milk quite warm so if we are outdoors it's a problem. At friends' houses or in an eatery I just ask for boiling water but you can't do that on a walk. If you are going out for less than 2h you could use your perfect prep to make it at the right temperature and then use an insulating bottle bag to keep it warm.or make it using hit water exclusively and then by the time you use it will have cooled down. For more than two hours I'm stumped as well though.

If your baby doesn't mind having room temperature milk then definitely the ready made bottles are the easiest option.

I emulate the prep machine for bottles on the go.
I have a flask of boiled water (one with temp on top so I know it's above 70 degrees) and fill another bottle with boiled water which will cool as I'm out and about. I also have a Mam formula pot which I add measured out formula in to.
When out I add formula to a clean bottle, do a 'hot shot' from the flask and mix (that sterilises the formula). Then top up to right amount with cooled boiled water from bottle.
Makes a perfect temp bottle every time. Just need to work out ratio of hot water to cooled based on how many ounces. I make 6oz bottles using 2 oz hot water (hot shot) then add 4oz of cooled water.

I use this flask

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Hi op,

I never did nothing fancy I just bought a small insulation flask and poured boiling water into it. When baby was about 45 minutes away from a fed I would make the bottle and it will have cooled down within the 45 minutes.

However Amazon seem to have these cool flasks that have the temp on the top which are cheap so I would perhaps buy one of those.

With my first baby I used ready made Aptamil which was so easy but my second is on lactose free which doesn't come in ready made so I usually make up the bottles in advance, cool in the fridge for at least an hour then take one out in a little insulated lunch box with an ice pack in and use within 4 hours. When ready to feed I pop it in a jug/large cup of boiling water to take the chill off - I ask at a cafe, there's always somewhere even in country parks etc. If I don't have time to make up in advance I take a thermos of hot water, a sterilised bottle and measured out formula in a little powder dispenser I bought from asda. Make up as you would at home then cool by standing in a jug/cup of cold water with some ice if available. It sounds complicated but honestly I'm so used to it now. A lot of people emulate perfect prep by mixing hot and cooled water when out but my concern with that is I don't know how much hot water is needed to ensure bugs in the formula are killed, which is why we make it with hot water in the first place.

Mostly pre-made cartons when out and about.

But if we were out for the whole day then I would pre make, cool and put in the fridge. Then I'd pack in this cool bag

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Koo-Di-KD401-01-Koo-di-Cooler/dp/B07B8MJ28D/ref=ascdff_B07B8MJ28D/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310838774817&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15216500324912241142&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044972&hvtargid=pla-658425724751&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Really is fridge cold and was great when we were in holiday so didn't race through the cartons. I still use it now for pack lunches for DC. You could also use it for overnight maybe??

Would stand the bottles in hot water to take the chill off but neither of mine were very fussy about temperature

Ready made cartons and a tommee tippee flask to warm OR a milk powder dispenser pot and flask of hot and flask of cool boiled to replicate the perfect prep process

I got my child used to cold bottles so didn't need to worry about keeping anything warm. Just put boiled water in bottle and formula in a separate tub and mixed them when needed.

My babies also were fine with room temperature bottles. So I just took small stacked tubs of formula out and made them up when needed. Very easy! Formula doesn't need to go into warm water.

The formula powder needs to go into hot water to kill any bacteria in it

I used the ready made bottles (Hipp) when out and about. Then overnight, I took up a flask of hot water, a flask of cooled boiled water and formula measured out in a dispenser. Mixed the powder with a few oz of the hot water, shook, then added the cold water to make up the correct volume. Worked well for us 😊

I take my perfect prep to the bedroom on a tray. When going out I make a bottle with the kettle timing it to be cool by the time his next feed is due

Ok. I was abroad and the midwife and health visitor equivalent and the subsequent lactation consultants (I had problems breastfeeding from the beginning) all said it's not necessary with the formula there. Thought UK had similar types.

Possibly worrying it doesn't so if there's an issue with possible bacteria, def use boiling water!

I kept the perfect prep by my bed from the early days when we spent a lot of time, it’s stayed there. Just take up clean bottles/water etc as needed. Ready made all the way for out and about. My flask ended up leaking all over my changing back recently, I was not impressed!

Im not sure about other countries it may be different but I know here (U.K.) the rules about formula prep are strict due to some v nasty bacteria you can get in formula powder so it has to be hot water to sterilise the powder

I used the cartons if they needed a feed after two hours. Otherwise I made one up and kept on the bottle warmer. The cartons are easiest though!
With the prep machine other than getting another or taking it up and downstairs each night not really unless you again use the cartons.
I'm thinking of getting an additional
Machine for upstairs for when DC2 comes along. We had a flat first time which was much easier!

My steriliser cleaned six bottles at a time, so I'd then make up a batch of six, with hot water and powder, then chill and put in the fridge. When we went to bed, I'd take one from the fridge and just leave it on the bedside table. Once that one was used, I'd go get another one from the fridge so it was less chilly by the next feed.

For trips out I'd take the bottles from the fridge and store in a cooler bag. Just serve as needed.

I never warmed bottles up. They were always served at room temp or on the cooler side.

Make up a couple of bottles using powder and boiling water as instructed on the box, then cool them down, keep cold, and warm up when you are out

I never warmed bottles either. I must admit I was quite lazy though. I used cartons in the night and out and about.

I use the prep machine at home or the nuby rapid cool. When out, either the rapid cool with flask of hot water or premadr carton

Just a note for the rapid cool - I got the pack of 2 so that is good for two feeds when out and about. However I have seen people get around the need to sterilise between feeds by not adding the formula to the rapid cool - so adding 2oz of hot water to your bottle, adding the formula then putting the rest of the hot water in the rapid cool to cool then adding to the bottle. As no formula has been added to the rapid cool, you can use it many times this way (after the 3 hour reset)