How Do You Warm Bottles When You Are Around Town?

I fixed this problem with both of my kids by packing a hot water bottle -- thermos! I just made the hot water before I went anywhere and it was good all day. So when I had to make a bottle, I would mix 4 oz cold water with 2 oz hot. Now if I needed to warm something up, I would mix the water as well and *slowly* reheat my pumped bags too. The thermos saved my going out time to a minimum.

Maybe I am a bad mom, but even when I pumped and bottle fed my milk, I fed it to my babies cold and didn't heat it up. Neither one of them had a problem drinking it and they did not have upset stomachs or reflux after feedings. I would be more concerned about keeping the milk fresh and germ-free (just my 2 cents!).

If you are still breastfeeding have you thought about just pumping into a bottle and feeding that way? That is what I used to do for the same problem you are having. I have a small hand pump that I kept in the diaper bag. Sorry I don't have any other solutions.

I read that using warm or hot water from the tap can contaminate the water, and that babies should never get warm water this way. It was horrible to read about, and now I never use it.
At home we have a bottle warmer. On the go, he gets cold milk, as it has to be kept cold. We also have a car bottle warmer, but I've never used it.
I was heating the bottles in the warmer for months, but when I found out husband gave baby the breast milk from the fridge, well...:) The baby didn't mind.
I have a 2 and 3-year-old so we really have to do what's easiest for the 4-month-old, too.

Heat it up before you go. Put it in a thermos and place in bottle when needed :)

When you are out and about you might stay in the car for a few minutes with some books or something for your toddlers and nurse your infant before you go do whatever you are doing. I have also seen at malls that they ahve a family restroom...again take some books for the other two and nurse baby in the family restroom.

You can make your trips short and get back home to feed. You can go to baby rus or bubuy babay and there is a bottle warmer for a car you can use. Or take a thermos of boiling water with you.

I am having the same issue with my daughter, she'll only drink pumped milk from a bottle. Before we go out, I heat a bottle of milk in extremely hot water (I run water through my Bunn coffee maker). I then put the bottle in a small insulated bottle bag and stick it in the diaperbag. We're usually not away from home for more then 4 hours so this method has been working for us.

Ask for a cup of boiling (really hot) water (filled halfway) for tea that restaurants & gas stations have, and let the bottle float in that for a couple of minutes. I've never had to pay for this -- these places have always given it to me, just let them know what you need it for.

You can buy an adapter for your car (inverter?) to plug in a small warmer. Have you tried to see if he/she will take it cold? My baby will take cold breast milk if she's hungry. The hot water bottle is a great idea-you can keep them seperate till use. Even a bottle warmer takes time. What I have done on rare occasion ( I exclusively breastfeed) when having dinner with family at a restaurant is buy premade bottles of formula. You can put a regular sized nipple and ring on them and feed baby. Of course this all depends on baby. The adapter sounds like your best bet. You should see if they sell them with the adapters in the first place (I'm not sure if they do).

Good luck and let us know if you found a good solution.

A pumped bottle is good at room temp for up to four hours. I never reheated with in this time if out and about with munchkins. If the bottle was pumped previously and chilled, you could warm it before going and it would also be good up to four hours at room temp.

For my third I bought a bottle warmer that you use in the car. I also breastfeed exclusively so I warm the breast milk with it. When it gets close to his next feeding and I'm driving, I plug it in, warm the bottle and then take it in with me. If you are going to a store, for instance, heat the bottle on the way to the store while you are driving and then just put it room temperature in the diaper bag. As long as you use it within 4 hours of heating it, you are fine. Also, I read in my breastfeeding literature, you can leave room temperature (newly pumped breast milk) out for 10 hours before putting it in the refrigerator. I will pump in the morning and take that bottle with me (room temperature) to the store while I run errands. Then it's the perfect temperature and healthy for him. He's five months old, we've been doing this since he was born (even in the summer months) and he's doing great.

I hope those tips helps. Congratulations on your new addition and Merry Christmas.

I used to warm water and put in one of those bags to keep temp, it usually lasted a few hours...I tried ready made room temp but my baby never liked it, he liked it being warm...it is hard when you have 3....maybe try what I mentioned. Good luck!

I'm breastfeeding for the 3rd time. Although I generally just nurse when I'm out with the baby, I'll tell you what my mom does when she's got my son. She's found it's easier to take one of the frozen bags of milk (I use the Lansinoh bags) instead of a bottle. It defrosts in just a couple of minutes under warm water. If you massage the bag as it's defrosting, it heats evenly. Really takes only about 2 minutes, then pour it in a bottle and you're ready to go.

You can put Boiling water in a coffee thermos and then use it to warm the bottle while you are out. If you are at the mall or restaraunt you can usually get plain hat water for no charge. They do sell bottle warmers that plug into your car outlets. My SIL has one and Loves it!
You are doing the best thing by giving your baby Breast milk!!
Blessings, K.

I am going to avoid telling you HOW to nurse your munchkin in public since you have said in your post that baby does "better" on a bottle...

My 3rd munchkin ended up in the hospital at 4 months for a few days to figure out why he wasn't gaining weight... Turns out he was a lazy nurser and would have been happy to take 2 hours to nurse... But as a mom with a 5 yr old and 2 yr old who both nursed for the "usual" 20 - 30 minutes on a slow day I did not know he wasn't getting enough.(he was never fussy and slept thru the night just like his older siblings) So we started pumping and supplementing. After going thru that with him I am def. more nursing centered and will be taking it so much slower with #4 who is currently tying my intestines in knots with her toes...

If I had to go out, I would schedule it so that I could heat a bottle at home and give it to him in the car. But he was older and had the ability to hold it himself. We did have a bottle warmer for in the car... But used it all of 2 times. I was not impressed by it at all... I don't even know what brand it was since it was a hand me down from a friend.

I like the idea of heating water and using an insulated bag to keep it warm. Maybe heat the water and put it in a glass jar or baby bottle with a lid and just drop a bottle of breast milk beside it in the bag. After a while you then also have some warmish water to clean up any sticky kids. :-)

What would the babys reaction be if you latched him/her on to soothe the belly until the bottle is warm enough?

Carrying a regular bottle warmer along with you may also be a good idea. Even if in a store you can find an outlet and be on your way in 5 min or less. :-) If in a restaurant you could ask the waitress to heat it for you... Make sure to tell them it CAN NOT be microwaved.

It will get easier as babys feeding times grow farther apart...Also, use your hubby... I ended up doing most of my grocery shopping at 8pm so that hubby could get the 2 older in bed while I nursed baby then I would go do what I had to do while hubby kept the baby. THen I would feed him again when I got home.

That cut down a lot on the amount of running I had to do with the kids...

I used to stop and ask for hot water at a restaurant (if we stopped for lunch/dinner) or at Starbucks (you usually had to buy something else too). Since it was just how I warmed my breast milk at home, it worked well. Good luck!