bottle warming question

kimarino13

Sorry if this is dumb...

So we are planning to mix up a pitcher of formula and keep it in the fridge for bottles.  My question is about the late night bottles.  I was thinking about putting a mini fridge upstairs by the nursery to keep the night bottles in it so it's easier, but do they need to be warmed up?  If so, how did you warm the late night bottles? 

pea-kay

we had a mini fridge in the boys' room for a while, and we warmed bottles by filling an ice cube bin with hot water from the bathroom sink and letting them sit in there long enough to take the chill off. worked well for us.

we used drop ins, though, and i think those are easier to warm that way. with other types of bottles, you might want to try a bottle warmer.

nolachick11

I learned this from the nicu...they just took a clear container and filled it w hot water and stick the bottles in it.  I use a glass or a glass measuring cup...then I just test the bottle on my wrist for the right temp. 

kimarino13

Smart!  Thank you!

omalley

We used Dr Brown's bottles and brought them upstairs in a cooler bag for our night feedings.  To warm our bottles I had 2 mini crockpots filled with water, one upstairs and one downstairs.  They were $10 each at Walmart.  The down stairs one was on warm all day and at night I would shut that off and turn on the upstairs one.

At feeding times, I would drop the bottles in the crock pot for 2 to 3 minutes and the bottles were warm.  It was so easy and it warmed them fast with out burning them.  I learned this method from a twin mom I met at BRU when I was pregnant.

Breenie29

We put a mini fridge in the babies' nursery. Did the same thing mixed a pitcher of formula and used a crock pot to heat the bottles. It worked really well for us. I'd also recommend the pitcher from Pampered Chef for the formula, it is awesome, and works really well for us.

kimarino13

Crock pot's a great idea.  We are using Dr. Brown's (well, if they like them) as well and have a Dr. Brown's formula pitcher.

regenab

WE a

regenab

We also had a mini fridge in the girls room because all our bedrooms are upstairs and I didn't want to have to go downstairs in the middle of the night to get bottles. We would take the bottles upstairs when we went to bed putting in an extra oz. or 2 in case they wanted more to eat with the overnight feedings and also had their first morning bottle up there as well so we could feed them first then get them dressed for the day before coming downstairs in the morning.

I did try to nurse them for the first month so we did warm the formula once we made the switch since I was supplementing any ways. The way we warmed was just to put the bottles under warm running water in the sink in the bathroom upstairs. We ran warm water over each bottle for about 30 sec. turning the bottles under the water so we wouldn't get any hotspots. Every couple of nights I would make the water a little less warm until eventually they were taking it cold right out of the fridge. This worked out fine because the girls were no longer getting breastmilk which is my body temp. When they were 2 months old they got their formula cold and this made it much easier for others watching them and our daycare provider. She was shocked that she didn't have to warm their bottles and quite pleased with this.

 

blossom

After one week of being home, my DH ran out and got a mini-fridge. Going downstairs and warming up 2 bottles in the middle of the night got old really fast. LOL

We already happened to have a mini crock pot (it came with our regular sized one) and we keep it in the bathroom upstairs for warming bottles.

jettagurl

To me, it's much quicker to make on the spot.  I pre-measured formula into the dispensers, and pre-measured the water in the bottles....so add formula and shake while carrying baby to rocking chair.  Very quick...not waiting on anything (especially the hot water that came from the basement water heater!).  

Also, with all 4 kids, I quickly weaned them off of having warm milk.  For the first couple weeks I used warm water, then room temp, and by about 8 weeks was using cold.  I can grab bottles straight from the fridge or straight out of the cooler if we're out.  So easy!

  

mrskimmieD

One day, around when they were 2 weeks old.  I was so sleep deprived that I forgot to warm up the bottles and gave it to them cold and they didn't flinch.  My husband was feeding my son while I fed my daughter and he asked if I had warmed them and then I realized I hadn't.  They both ate their bottles with no problems and I think the cold bottle helped my daughter with her gas because I rarely had any gas issues with her after that.

So my advice is to try and see if giving them a cold bottle works for them because your life will be so much easier, especially during the night feedings.  You can even check with your pediatrician and they will tell you that there is no need to warm up a bottle.  It even says it in What to Expect the First Year.

kimarino13

Honestly, I am hoping they'll take cold bottles.  We don't live in a cold climate.  It's always about 70 degrees here in San Diego, and I have heard that some babies like warm bottles when the weather is cold.  If they'll take a cold bottle, great!  But if not, then we'll try the crock pot trick and hopefully wean them from warm to cold bottles. 

Thank you for all the help!