travel and bottlefeeding help?

hello everybody,
looking for advice on travelling with my son who will be 4 months old (and bottlefed) when we set off on a two month holiday to visit family. We will sometimes be staying in hotels and flying around in planes with long waiting times.
Has anyone used disposable bottle bags like the Avent ones?
Do people mix up formula before they travel and take in cooler bags or mix up formula whilst out and about?
I haven't had to travel far from home at all so far and feel a bit overwhelmed as to what the easiest way is feed "on the road".
Any advice from those in the know would be great!
Emma & baby Thomas

Hi Emma,
I've seen bottle warmers that can be plugged into car cigarette lighters, so you might want to look into getting one if you are travelling by car. Also I would suggest mixing up formula as you need it. Otherwise you will need to keep mixed up formula in a cooler and then you can't guarantee if it will be kept cold enough so as not to make baby sick.

This is just my opinion as I've never travelled with bubs and she is breastfed. I'm sure there are other mums out there who are more experienced than me on this subject.

Hi Emma. We travelled to New Zealand for 2 weeks when our baby was 4 months old and let me tell you we really relied on the dummy alot more because he is sleeping in strange places and was very cuious about his surroundings. It took ages for him to get to sleep. When flying on the plane it is extremely important you sit on aisle seat. We didnt going there but coming back we did and it was much better. Dummy was a big help once more. Your routine will be thrown out a bit especially if you are on the road alot. Just need to plan the day ahead and stick to some sort of itinery where baby feeds and sleeps are accounted for. Cant help with the disposable Avent bottles, they are an ingenious idea though. I just used my NUKbottles. If staying in a hotel with no microwave which was a hassle, I used Milton to sterilise Bottles and this was really good because I could prepare 6 of bottles in advance. I hope this helps!

Hi emma1973

When we travelled with my daughter we would fill her bottles up with boiling water and put them in a bottle bag to keep them warm (not disposable) and carry her tin of formula and a thermos of boiling water and make her bottles when we need them - it isnt good to leave made up formula sitting and it is sometimes hard to keep it cold. If we knew we would need the bottle within the next hour or 2 we would make it up before we left and take it.

most cafes and places will have a microwave to heat up the water before adding the formula so you dont get lumps.

Just make sure you take enough formula as where your going may not sell the same one!!!

Emma

I always mixed my bottles in the morning & put them in the fridge & if I went out put them in a bottle cooler bag (the advent one) I then carried a thermos specially for baby bottles (brand canon) with hot water in so I could heat one out
Hope I've helped

Bec

Hello. We found the best thing for us was the Event formula container which we got at the chemists but I have seen them in baby shops. They have 3 compartments where you put the pre measured formula into. When you want to make a bottle up you just twist the lid to the next compartment and tip it straight into the bottle with water in it and then shake. If you were going for the day I would buy 2 of them and fill them up every night when bubs was asleep and then pack them with your things. This saves having to cart the formula tin and of course trying to measure it when you are out. We use to preheat the water and store the bottles in the bottle warmer and found this worked. If I was going to be out for a while I would use near boiling water and take cold boiled water in a separate bottle to add if needed. You could also use a flask to store the warm water in.
I hope you have a great time on your holiday.

Hi Emma,

I thought that maybe I could give you some advice about plane travel as I am a flight attendant with Qantas and have helped quite a few mum's with their little ones whilst flying.
Definately mix your formula as you go. Just take your sterilised bottles, there is boiling water on the plane-crew will fill bottle for you. You can put the formula in yourself at your seat and give it to the crew to heat for you. (Don't worry about asking for help with bubs, most flight attendants are mum's too and don't mind at all).
Also if you take tins of solid food with you crew can help you with heating and bowls/spoons etc. Qantas also carries a small variety of baby food cans on board incase you run out.
Hope I have helped. Have fun

thanks everybody for the great ideas, I'm sure we'll have a much better trip thanks to your shared experiences, keep up the good advice!!

Hi, we just got back from a 4 week trip to Canada with our now 5-month old daughter. For the flights there and back, we filled all our bottles (10 x 240ml) with pre-boiled water. Initially, we made up enough bottles for 2 feeds. We had some small bottles that we bought at a camping store (to use for shampoo etc) that we'd sterilised at home and then measured enough formula for one feed per bottle (not sure if this makes sense). We then just tipped one bottle of formula into the water and that was one feed. We found that we over-estimated what we needed, but better to be safe than out of food! To heat up, we just asked the flight attendants, who were more than helpful. At the airport, we just used a hot tap or asked at a restaurant/cafe. Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

take the formula in those formulka dispensers the usually hold enough 4 3 feeds in separate cpmartments take hot water then add the powder to it in the bottle and shake and u r set

I have just purchased a Tommee Tippee bag (from Baby mode) that allows you to carry up to 3 bottles and has a cold pack/hot pack which keeps bottles warm or cold for up to 7 hours and the bottom of the bag has a compartment with two plastic containers for you to fill with formula if you wanted to keep bottles warm, all you do is open the top little lid and straight into the bottle and is very easy so you dont have to worry about finding a place to warm up your bottle.

I have just bought Cherub Baby glass baby bottles to suit you and your baby. They are all 100% BPA free so they are the safest choice for your baby’s health on the market. That is perfect for feeding baby from newborn until they move on to cups.
All of our baby bottles come with newborn teats, so they are ready to be used from day one. You can use our medium and fast flow teats as your baby starts to grow and are perfect to help baby easily move on from bottles.
http://www.cherubbaby.com.au/baby_bottles