Warming Formula on the Go?

My baby was really impatient, so the car adapter type warmers took too long. We brought boiling hot water in a large well insulated thermos. Then, we'd poor some of the water into a giant insulated cup and dunk the bottle into it.

Hi J.! I have seen that the brand Munchkin has an in car bottle warmer. I saw it at Longs Drugs, but I haven't bought it. What I have done, since my 5 1/2 month old son HATES cold formula as well, is bring one of those large Coleman thermoses in the car. My husband has one and it keeps water hot for like 12 hours. Then I just bring a large plastic cup and fill it with water and then soak the bottle in it. It works amazingly well. I've also put the bottle on the dashboard on a hot day, in the window there, trying to warm it up. It worked, but you need to do it WAY in advance. Good luck!

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2401841

You need one of these!! It isn't the greatest but it works in a pinch. One main problem is you have to boil it between uses to get it back to its ready state, so if you are going to need to heat more than one bottle while you are out you will need to buy and bring two of these. It takes a little while (but less than running around looking for a bathroom with hot water) so its best if you anticipate when your baby is getting hungry and start it going.
:)

Congrats! My teeny baby girl is now 18 months old! It goes so fast. May I suggest a thermos of hot water? Pour some hot water in an appropriate container and put the bottle in it. We traveled alot with our sweetie pie.

A thermos works great and the water stays warm for a long time.

I carry a flask of hot water (to make up the formula in the bottle in my case). If you would consider using powder there are some containers where you can premeasure the powder so you can just add it to the water. I put cold water into the bottle before we leave the house, with space to add the hot water, which I do before I add the powder (if that is understandable!)

E.

Currently in the middle of a road trip (SF to SD and back) and while I know this isn't ideal this is what I have done in moments of desperation.

Go to a gas station and use the microwave at the snack counter. An 8 oz. bottle takes about 25-30 seconds if it starts at room temp. A little longer if it's chilled to begin with. Shake it really well to get rid of any hot spots and always check the temp before you give it. Experiment with time and volume until you find what works for you.

Good luck and congratulations on the new baby.

Not sure what formula you are using but, I believe that it doesn't need to be cold until after use, and usually it is good for only an hour after she has put her mouth on the nipple. Carrying hot water in a thermos might be another way or keep trying to get your baby to try drinking at room temp.
my son is still drinking formula what I do is pre pack the formula in the bottle and put the room temp water in the bottle when needed. I know not as convient as the pre packed but I wasnt able to find the nipple for the prepacked formula. good luck and I hope this helps.

keep one-a those big vacuum pump thermos' filled with her formula!!

Depending on where you're staying, you might be able to get some hot water from room service and heat up your bottle that way. Or, bring an airpot or thermos with you next time and ask them to fill it with hot water, then use the sink to heat up the bottle with some of the hot water and tap water mixed together. If there's a coffee maker in the room, you can heat up some water (but without the coffee grounds) like you would to make coffee (1 cup), then add a little cold water so the bottle doesn't heat up too fast. When my husband and I go to a restaurant with our sweetie, we've asked the wait staff if we could have a soda/beer mug filled half way with hot water. Then, we put the bottle in the glass for about a minute or two depending on how cold the bottle was. It works every time. We've gotten lots of compliments from waiters that way. Anyway, I hope this helps!

It's a bit of a splurge - but you could buy the same liquid formula in individual bottles that don't need to be chilled until they've been opened and use them exclusively for going out. Also - we got a little cooler that plugs into a power plug in the back of our SUV that can cool or warm stuff - I still use it for drinks & fruit on long trips. There are bottle warmers that plug into the cigarette outlet that are pretty quick. Once your baby is a bit older she'll have a feeding schedule and you can time your trips around feeding times. We would get in the car with enough time to get to where we were going and warm the bottle on the way so we could eat or shop in peace while His Royal Highness fed. We always got complimented - usually by anxious waiters about how quiet and well behaved he was - bribery! we'd reply.

Go to a fishing/ hunting sports store and ask for the pocket hand warmers. They are pocket sized plastic bags filled with this hard stuff you just bend to crack, and it starts to get warm. it stays very warm to the touch for several hours and as it cools it goes back to its hard state and is reuseable. They sell them to fishermen and hunters to keep thier hands and feet warm on cold mornings out in the woods. We used them when we went camping to warm baby bottles so I wouldnt have to build a fire or start the little bbq early in the mornings. I wrapped the pack and the bottle in a hand towel and it helped warm faster and worked great. I have seen them at the Dollar Store but cant be sure they have them all the time. They arent expensive so getting a couple wont break your budget.

HI J.,

I boil water every morning for 5 minutes and put it in a thermos. Someone told me about this with my first one and now I am doing it with my second. I also, just carry bottled water in my bag and fill the bottle up mostly with that and then pour the hot water to warm it. Hope this helps.

M.

These easiest/cheapest/fastest way I have found is to carry a small thermos of boiling hot water and a cup big enough to place your bottle in.
when you need to heat, pour some of the hot water in the cup and set the bottle in the water. It should heat within a couple of minutes to your desired temp.
take care,

J.

I use to put VERY HOT water in a thermos in the morning before we would go somewhere and six or eight hours later it was still hot.

Then I would just carry the thermos and a styrophome cup or something to put the bottle in to warm it.

Hi J.,
I have a 2 month old son and he too hates cold formual. However, they will love it when they are teething as my first son did who is now 2.5yo. With my second baby I bought a car adaptor warmer from babies r us. It works great. I wish i had this with my first son. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2401845 I might have to try it to reheat my coffee on the go. LOL. i know you are stuck having to be around your car still. If your not near an adaptor I like the idea of keeping hot water in a thermos. I have also gone through a drive thru ans asked for hot water. That water is SUPER hot.

Good luck.

This may seem weird, but it worked. When we were on vacation or just didn't want to go downstairs to heat water we would sleep with a bottle of water. Our body temp. would heat the water perfectly. When the baby woke up in the middle of the night we would add the powder and feed her.

The only suggestion I have is to purchase a can of the powdered version of your liquid formula. You can use a room temp water bottle and it works out fine.

get a thermos and fill it with hot water before you go out.

To get around that I bought the Gerber 3 oz. formula bottles. I had them drop shipped by the case to the house. When we traveled and when she was very small, I just grabbed a few bottles for the diaper bag. They also came in larger sizes, but we didn't stick with the bottles for more than a few months. 7 yr ago it was about $80 for 90 bottles. I'm sure it's more now. I looked at the website again (below), but I couldn't figure out how you order it.

http://www.gerber.com/Products/Good_Start_DHA_ARA_Ready_t...

When I was in the hospital the nurses brought me Similac infant formula ready to serve and it was not cold. I don't think you have to refrigerate it. I also suggest the similac packets are good too and cheaper. You can fill the bottle up with water and then add the formula once you are ready to use. I express my milk for her, but always keep the packets with me in case of an emergency!

The pre-made formula is very convenient. I warm the formula at home and pour it into a stainless steel thermos. I bought a great one at REI for $15 which holds about 10oz. I can also put hot water in the thermos and mix it with powder formula on the go.

J.,
Using a thermos is the easiest idea I can think of. Please do not microwave formula or breast milk. Even with shaking hot spots can occur causing burns on the lips and in the mouth. These injuries cause extremely painful injuries related and hospitalization.

You can keep the formula cool on ice packs and then poor hot water from the thermos into a pitcher/cup where you can imerse the bottle until warm.

Babies are flexible and if you can anticipate when she'll be hungry, you can be ahead of the curve and she won't have to wait so long.

A.