Warm Formula Stored in a Thermos?

Hi J.,
I'm going to go against the popular answers on this one. I have 4 girls and we make 5-6 hour trips frequently. With every one of my children, I have mixed up a couple of bottles of warm formula for the trip and used them all during the trips. When I get to our destination, I toss anything that is still in the bottles and start over. As we all know, recommendations for all types of things err way on the side of caution because no company wants to get sued. But I can tell you from years of experience, there is nothing wrong with going several hours with warm formula. I have never, not one time, had any problems with this. We also go to church and are gone for 3 hours sometimes. I do the same for those times and have never had any trouble. Nobody has ever gotten sick or poisoned or had any abdominal pain or diarrhea or vomiting or anything at all. I encourage you to do what makes you comfortable, of course, but I just wanted to share my experience with you. God bless.
-J.

2 moms found this helpful

Hi J.,
It's been a while since I was at this stage, but what I used to do was just put warm water in a thermos and then I had one of those little containers (I think Avent and others make them, with 3 or 4 little sections and a lid where you could just pour out the contents of one section). Then whenever you're ready to make the bottle, just pour the powder and water together in the bottle. I've never used the ready to drink kind of formula, but I'm wondering why you couldn't just take the formula in a bottle? Seems like less of a hassle than a thermos. Although I think once you make the formula (or open the container of ready-to-drink), you either have to refrigerate it or use it within a few hours. Happy travels!

1 mom found this helpful

I hope I am understanding your question right, but what I did is used the thermo for storing the warm steralized water. When it was time for feeding I put the powder formula in the bottle and took the warm water from the thermo. perfect fresh bottle. That is the only way I left the house. Hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

It's safe to do only if you want to give your baby food poisoning. They advise not to leave formula out for more than an hour so I would simply use warm water in the thermos and then keep the powdered formula separate...shake and mix

1 mom found this helpful

Once formula has been opened, it needs to be stored cold. Things grow quickly in warm or room temperature formula. My daughter is adopted. When she was with her foster family, they would warm up milk and keep it insulated. She developed a severe case of salmonella that took 8 months to cure. Food poisoning in babies can be fatal, so I would not take any chances. Store dry formula separate from the heated water and mix when you are ready to feed your baby. Throw away any undrunk formula when the baby is done; don't store in a thermos. Best wishes.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi J.,
I agree with most of the other moms. Do you really want to take the chance that your baby will become very ill? Especially since your baby is SO young. (she is considered newborn if she was born almost a month early) I'm not sure what your reluctance to powdered formula is. It is cheaper (about $0.25 an ounce less), considered safer due to less amounts of PBA, better for the environment as far as landfill, and you waste less. ANY warmed formula needs to be thrown away after 1 hour to be safe as bacteria starts to grow. Same goes for ready-to-use formula that has been opened. I would keep a few unopened bottles of water in the car when we were out and had the powdered formula pre-measured in a formula dispenser. It was easy and I didn't have to worry about potential illness. I don't know about you, but I do EVERYTHING I can to insure my daughter's safety. I don't even take a chance on doing something that could may cause her harm. I am lucky enough to have married into a VERY medical family and go to them for advice all the time. Every one of them has said the same thing about formula storage and safety. If you are still unsure, call your doctor for his/hers expert opinion or buy the single servings in the ready to use formula for travelling.
Sincerely,
L.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi, We also use the liquid, ready-to-feed formula for my twin girls. For trips, we do make the bottles ahead of time, but definitely keep them in a thermal bottle bag on ice until it is time to feed.

Rather than risking warm formula, I suggest just carrying hot water in the thermos and then sticking the bottles in the hot water to warm them a bit before feeding.

Hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

J.,
The thermos wass for HOT water to heat the bottles you have been keeping cool on ice. Do not keep formula in a thermos warm. That is a dangerous practice.
Babies can an do drink formula at room temperature. Have you tried to use powdered formula? You can mix the powdered formula with warm water to get warm formula. After being mixed, formula is good for 4 at room temperature. You can contact the formula company for additional information about storage and handling using email.
A. A

What I always did for traveling is put the measured amount of powdered formula in the bottom of the bottle and then add the correct amount of room temperature water. My daughter never got use to warm milk and liked it at room temperature just fine. All you have to carry with you is powder and bottles. You can always buy bottled water anywhere.

Formula can only be stored mixed for about 1 hour. I recomend storing the hot water in a thermos and the formula mix powdered in a bottle ready to mix when needed. if you are using the liquid formula already made maybe try to find a powder for traveling purposes.

Not 100% about storing warm milk, but if you are using powder you could just warm the water and mix later. That's what my daughter does with hers.
Enjoy your little one,
N.
grandmother of 3

When I used formula with all 3 of my kids I never premade it I always just made it when it was time for them to eat. With my 1st she was on the one that sold individual packets for on the go I used them all the time for when we were out. With my other 2 I had this great divided container that I got at Babies R us that you could premeasure your formula and I used that for the Diaper bag. So if they were drinking 4 oz. I could but in 2 scoops of powder in each section and have 3 bottles at my disposal without carrying a big can with me. Then I would just carry the Bottles with water and mix when it was time. I used tap water with my 1st 2 and Bottled water with my 3rd due to now being on well water. They all did great. I used the premade formula you can buy in the cans a couple times when we traveled on planes and thought water would be hard to deal with. I would not store premade formula in a thermos. Good luck

Hi Jen,

When my older son (now 19 yrs old)when he a baby, I use to boil water put 3 ounces in the bottles then refrigerate. Then I boil another set of water then put it in the thermos. when my baby is ready I take the bottle out of the fridge and then I put the other 3ounce from the thermos and put powder milk, shake and you've got milk.

Hope this this helps. It was not as popular to breastfeed then.I had 2 more kids 5 and 3 yrs old and I breastfed both for 15 mo. each child.

Good luck,
M.

When I used formula it was powered (not ready made liquid). It was so easy to make when traveling. The stores have sticks of power so you do not have to measure it (it think the stick is 2 oz and you need to add 4 oz of water). It is more expensive so I would use the sticks when I was out and about away from the house and I would use the larger cans of power at home. When you think about it the power allows you to know the quality of water mixed with the formula.
-S.