Warming up Expressed Milk When "On the Go"

I travelled a lot with my daughter and there is always a coffee place of some kind in the airport and everywhere else. You ask for their largest cup to be filled with their hot water for tea but no tea bag. It heats up the milk really fast. It took about 20 seconds.

If at all possible would you have access to any type of stove or microwave?... You can boil water and place the bottle/or bag in the hot water

I have the Munchkin brand car bottle warmer and it works, but it is really slooooow!!! Not too fub when the lil guy is hungry and the patience has run out.

If you asked at a restaurant for a cup of hot/boiling water...and
put the bottle in the cup / or container (that you have that
fits your bottle) in it to warm it up.

Dear H.,
I don't have any tips on warming up a bottle while on the go.
Before you take off on your trip, try giving your baby a bottle of milk that hasn't been warmed up and see how he does with it. Try it now.
My husband was so worried that the milk would spoil, he started putting ice cubes in the bottles. Before we knew it, our son wouldn't have his bottles any other way.
Sounds strange, I know, but it turns out our baby preferred it that way. He wouldn't take a bottle if there WASN'T ice in it. Water, juice, milk, sippy....if the baby shook it and couldn't hear the ice, he wanted nothing to do with it.
Anyway, now is the time to figure out if your baby will tolerate anything that is less than warm.
Best of luck and have a wonderful trip.

Hi H.,

For shorter trips, I've brought a small thermos of hot water and an insulated travel cup to pour the water and place the bottle into. That does the trick very nicely! If you run out of hot water, most places are very nice about filling up the thermos for you when they know what it's for.

Also I just saw a Munckin brand travel bottle warmer that can be plugged into your car charger at Target. I haven't tried it, but their other stuff is usually pretty good. It might be worth a try.

Good luck!

K.

When you go to a restaurant, ask for a glass or cup of hot water and put the bag in it to warm it up. If you're at a hotel, use the microwave to heat up a cup of water. Does that help?
(I've taken plenty of trips with my children. All 3 were/are breastfed, but I would usually not use the bottle much because it was much easier to breastfeed).

I never warmed it, he always got used to it cold or room temp. Maybe you could try that in a pinch.

Each time you feed your baby a bottle make it less and less warm and after awhile it can be cold. That's how I weened my son off warm bottles and it worked great. Your baby may relapse once or twice and want warm bottles again, but just do the process again. My son hasn't wanted a warm bottle in months.

Hi H.,

You have soooooo many responses that I hope I don't repeat someone else's response :o)

Target has/had a small plug in cooler & warmer for your car. I use it FAITHFULLY!!! It is pretty compact.

It is always plugged in to my lighter area, then "off" until I need something in it. I can switch it on COOL, then when I need to get something warm I can switch it to WARM. I have done his many times for picnis lunches, etc...

It's in the Automotive Area at Target, and well worth the price of $40. Plus, you can use it in future travels. My kids are now 5 & 11 and it is still used daily. I leave it off and it still keeps fruit drinks cools inside.

Good Luck and have fun traveling!!

:o) N.

I did just that for 12 months with my twins and for 13 months with my singelton! I was always out and about and had to warm up the milk I had previously pumped. What I would do is either go into a coffee shop, or even a gas station store, or even a drive thru like Burger King and ask for a cup of hot water to warm a bottle. I never got turned down. I also used the car heater believe it or not.

try warming it before you go and then putting it in a thermos. that should maintain the temp for a long time. then just transfer it to a bottle when you need it. i would use a stainless steel thermos rather than plastic. good luck!

I have a 1 month old & for latching & breast infection reasons I have moved to pumping also.
I don't warm it at all & the baby takes it just like the few times we did warm it....try that. I serve it from the breast or cold from the fridge & she takes it the same either time.
If the baby is hungry they will eat it however it's served & this takes 1 less thing off your plate. :)

The thing I have found to work the best is the breastmilk storage bags that you can use to store/freeze the milk. Pour the milk into the bags and just run it under hot water until the milk is warm. It's much easier than trying to warm the milk through a bottle. =)

bring a thermos of hot water with you or a battery operated bottle warmer .

On long car trips, I try to take the bottle out of the cooler in advance of when I think my daughter will want it. If it's still too cold, and I don't have any other means (ok, this is a little embarrassing, but whatever), I'll stick it in my armpit or waistband and let my body heat warm it up. It actually works quite well.

you could try to find one of those electric tea pots, then submerge the milk for the appropriate amount of time. Some times you can find ones with car adapters or even cordless. you might try to find a container that you can fit both the bottle and hot wter in, like a soup therm. or something equivalent. Also, I bought my husband a console that will cool or warm, for when he went tailgating while we were dating. I use it for the kids snacks and drinks on long car rides far more than he ever used it. This is it: http://www.battery-rechargeable-charger.com/vector-12-vol... I google searched it for you. Im sure you can find other vendors if you are interested, but hey, its a start. I LOVE IT!!!!

Walmart has a car warmer that fits any bottle. It plugs into the car lighter. It's kinda slow as it doesn't get very hot but it works.

H., we've started doing this with my 4 month old and he won't take the bottle if it's even a bit cold! I've seen at Longs Drugs that they have a Munchkin car bottle warmer. It plugs into the cigarette lighter. I haven't tried it, but it sure looked cool! What I have done when we have taken trips is take the milk out of the fridge (if it's in there) and let it come to room temperature as soon as I can and then I've actually put the bottle up on the dashboard in the window of the car and had the sun beat on it. It took quite a while, but it took the "cold edge" off and my son took the bottle well. But I would look into a car bottle warmer for sure if you are taking a long trip! Have fun!

See if your baby likes to drink it cold - mine didn't mind it & it makes things a lot easier in situations like this.

I never could get my girls to take a bottle so this is purely secondhand info - I've heard moms in restaurants will ask for a cup of warm water (like for tea) and using that as a bottle warmer.

If it is a car trip, try one of these:
http://www.nextag.com/baby-bottle-car-warmer/search-html

There are various bottle warmers out there but none seem to work. The best thing is to boil water and put it in a thermos and take it along with a mug. You can pour some water in the mug and warm up the milk in that.

My kids were formula boys but when I was out typically if the bottles were at room temperature already (not refrigerated) I'd just give them their formula that way. I would try to have what i could be room temp (or body temp if you pump the milk while traveling).

Also if you have access to it, are in a restaurant or what not, you could ask for a cup of hot water. Sit the bottom of the bottle in the hot water for like ten min or so. It usually warms it up pretty nicely.

I used to do the same thing with both of my kids. When in a pinch (if not near a house or hotel) you can stop somewhere and order hot water for tea and get an extra cup (or carry a large cup around with you for this purpose). Pour some of the water in the extra cup and drop the bottle in.....just becareful not to let the baby see it because it takes a little while to heat up! Good luck!

You could either try buying a bottle warmer that you plug into a cigarette lighter. We had one but just never really used it. Since we knew what time our son had to eat, we'd leave the milk out so then it would reach room temperature. Sometimes we'd even just ask for some hot water and warmed it up that way but we had to bring our own cup. Then there were times we'd bring our own thermos of hot water and heat it up that way. Hope this all helps.

ok so i was in the same boat as you... i was traveling with a baby and needed to feed the baby. what I did so that u dont curtle the milk is.. keep it frozen till u needed it. then pull of to a gas station or a McD's (or something like that) get a cup of boiling hot water and bounce the milk in it till its the desired temp. cause if you put your milk in the mic vs. formula ours curtles faster...

Hi there, I warm the milk up in a bottle warmer and then put it in a thermos, then when baby is ready, i pour just the amount i think she will drink into the bottle (that way there is no waste if she doesn't drink it all). the thermos I have, keeps the milk warm for about 6 hours.

Hope that helps :)

If you bring a container that has room for a bottle and some water surrounding it, you can get hot water for tea at any coffee place, 7/11, or gas station store and dump it into the container and put the bottle in the water until the milk warms up. You could also bring a portable pump (if you don't have one, you could always buy a relatively cheap hand pump) and pump the milk when you need it. They do sell warmers that plug into the car's cig lighter, but electric warmers can apparently create hot spots. I always surrounded the bottle w/ hot water. It takes a few minutes, so be sure to get the water before your baby is too hungry! Hope some of this helps.
K.

hi H.
to add to the below, similar idea is to get a to-go coffee cup (thermos style like from coffee shop) and keep it with you at all times. when its feeding time, get some hot water from a cafe or any restaurant and fill half-way, then let the bottle sit in it for 10 minutes to get warm. might be easier to carry around and heat up in places where you might not have a car charger. good luck!

I ran hot water over the bottles when I was out and about.

I have to say personally that I give Amelia cold, warm and lukewarm milk all the time. I am not sure it is necessary to warm it. Unless there are some health reasons I am not aware of.

H.,

I always just set mine out for 30-40 min (I will sometimes hold it between my legs so my body temp will warm it). until it gets to room temp. If your baby likes it warmer then that, a friend of mine had a bottle warmer that plugged into the car lighter. I'm not sure what kind it was or where she got it. But you could try Babies-R-Us or online.

Stick it in your pocket, your body heat will warm it perfectly.

Hi H.! You can run it under hot water or fill up a cup or something that's a little larger than the bottle with hot water and just let it sit in the cup for a few minutes. Works great anywhere anytime!

E.

I had a travel bottle warmer that plugged into the lighter in my car. I got it at Babies r Us. It worked well on the go. Have you tried giving your baby the milk cold, my youngest seemed to like it cold too.