Formula Fed 11-Month Old

[Disney Panda]

We'd like to take our son to Disney World in December. He'll be 11 months old then. He is formula fed. Has anyone made powdered formula on a trip to Disney without staying in a room with a kitchen?

(I had posted 10-months but my math was a bit off.)

 

[campingcorgi]

We did it with a 7 month old. Easy as pie! We took a couple of gallons of the Nursery water from WalMart (purified water with flouride) and just put the water in the clean bottles each morning. When she got hungry we added the powder and shook well. We always discarded any leftovers and just washed the bottles in a small dishpan in the sink in the evenings.

She learned to eat puffy cheetos that trip and drank some watered down powerade, too.

 

[prplcrzy]

Powder is so much easier! We filled up the bottles with water and made the bottles when we needed them throughout the day. It was soooo easy. Plus, we had a formula container that had 3 sections to it so you could measure it out and then just shake it into the bottle.

I know they have the containers at Babies R Us and Walmart.

Nancy

 

[bigbabyblues]

Another vote for the divided formula container! It was only about $3 at Walmart, and definitely worth it!

 

[BevS97]

we also did this - and even easier you can buy some powdered formula in pre-measured sachets so you don't even have to measure the powder.

You will probably find by December that he's not havig that much formula anyway, my 10 month old has a bottle in the morning, and one at bedtime, and very occassionally one other one during the day.
If I was going to WDW this week, then I would probably carry one bottle with my during the day (bottle of water, sachet of powder), but I wouldn't expect to use it every day.

Bev

 

[BevS97]

just thought - what else will he be eating by then? Molly eats a lot of 'grown up' food, but she also has jarred food quite often -we are planning on staying offsite so we can have a microwave when we go, as I think we will need to be able to heat up her food when we are in the room.
You can probably heat a jar up in the coffee maker (I've heated up bottles like that before, put it in the coffee jug and let hot water drip over it), it's not the greatest solution but it would work.

Bev

 

[Disney Panda]

OK. Thanks for the tips. What about baby food jars without a fridge. Did you just throw away the stuff you didn't use? Did you rent a fridge?

 

[BevS97]

My daughter doesn't leave much but I would just toss anything that she hadn't eaten (and that goes for at home too - I always heat the whole jar and toss any not eaten)

When we had my dd at 3.5 we didn't rent a fridge as she just had one bottle at bedtime and otherwise ate normal meals.
last year, dd2 was 4 months and we opted to stay in an apartment for convenience, and next trip when she is 13 months we are staying in a suite hotel for 1 week and at port orleans for week 2 - I have booked a fridge at Port Orleans, but I think we could probably manage without it. I would really like a microwave at PO, but that isn't an option, so we will just be creative - fortunatly dd2 will eat most anything and doesn't mind if it's cold

Bev

 

[Sandy Feet]

Powdered formula is the way to go. This was so convenient when my kids were small.

Make sure to take whatever cup or bottle he can drink easily out of, to make sure he takes in enough water throughout the day.

 

[megan&joeysmommy]

We visited WDW last fall when DD was 10 mo and it wasn't too bad. What I thought was easiest for the bottle was to use the disposable bag type. That way you only have to wash the nipple out. The brand I used is Avent. It's so nice to be able to have the option of switching between bottle types w/o nipple confusion.

The 3-way divided container is also nice, but only if you make extra sure to get the lid all the way tight so that formula doesn't shift. Also, it's pretty tough to get enough for an 8 oz bottle in it. What I found to be easier was the ziploc snack bags. You can measure out however many bottles you will need in whatever sizes you need and just mark the size on the outside. Then when the bottle is made, just throw it away.

For water, we had a Brita bottle along and I just squeezed out what I needed for water and kept refilling. I never used nursery water myself at home and didn't see the point on vacation, but this would be the one thing I would get your doctor's opinion on if you're not comfortable with just using tap water.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[stacy6552]

enfamil used to make these great single serving packets of powdered formula. At WDW, they were fantastic. I would fill the bottles with water before leaving the room in the morning. Then just added the formula as needed.

 

[Barb D]

Baby food doesn't HAVE to be heated. If you get him used to eating it at room temperature you won't have to worry about a microwave.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Originally posted by Barb D
Baby food doesn't HAVE to be heated. If you get him used to eating it at room temperature you won't have to worry about a microwave.

THat's so true. I was so glad my babies never got heated milk or baby food. It made life on the go so much easier. My friend's dd is 5 years and they are still heating up a night-time milk for her to take to bed. What does that do for her teeth?!

 

[PrincessA]

We never heated bottles for our son. We just left it at room temp and he was fine. By ten months, your child should be okay using bottled water. I highly recommend using ziplock to separate formula into servings. It is so much more inexpensive than buying the packets from the store. I loved doing this. Plus you can throw the ziplock bag away when you are finished with it. One tip, mark the bag or only fill them with one size serving because once the powder is in the bag, it is hard to tell how much there is.
As far as baby food, my son would also eat that room temp. You could as put a few drops of room temp water to loosen it up. Have fun!

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We took our DD to WDW in Dec when she was 6 months old...no problem. I shipped down a can of formula (we had sent a box down with DS's diapers, wipes etc...special needs child can't buy diapers in supermarkets.) I just made up 3 bottles every morning with the powder and put it into the bottles with disposable bags. I brought along a bottle of h2o to the parks and when it was time to make the bottle I just poured the water ( we brought bottled h2o as Dr recommended we NOT use tap water in Florida as it has a lot more sulfer in it than we are used to..he said it was more the taste that she would not like more than for safety) in and shook it up. We never heated up DD's formulas though even when she was an infant she had it at room temp. We stayed at the Dolphin and when we were in the room DH went down to Tubbys and microwaved her food. Maybe the food court at POR will have a micro for you. By 8 months she was eating her jarred food at room temp. Another hint be sure to bring along some of the dish soap wipes. We brought some down so I could wash the bottles and nipples in the hotel room when we returned each evening. It was really easy and that way I only had to being along 3 bottles and nipples and plenty of bottle bags. Don't forget the baby changing stations are WONDERFUL in the parks if you need any supplies or if you need something heated up.

 

[NotUrsula]

It's entirely possible that your ped. will have given you the go-ahead for whole milk by 10 months. If so, think about it carefully; you may want to delay introducing it until after the trip. Once a child gets whole milk, they generally do not want to drink formula anymore, as milk tastes so much better. However, formula is much easier to deal with than milk when travelling, unless you have a child who is willing to drink Parmalat shelf-stable milk. (My milk monster won't touch Parmalat w/ a 10-ft. pole.)

Regular milk is rather expensive at WDW; if you depend entirely on buying it in restaurants/food courts, the cost will add up quickly. We used to keep a styrofoam cooler full of ice in our room in order to keep a 1/2 gallon cold for drinking there.

 

[kimwim8]

On our last trip ds was 8 months old. I had rarely given him powdered formula, and knew from dd that it may cause gassiness. What I did was brough ready to feed & gave him his first bottle in the morning & last bottle of the night with the ready to feed formula. Then he only got 2 or 3 bottles during the day of the powdered formula.

Also, with the heat, I made sure he had some other "cool" drink to keep him hydrated. I gave him 90% water with 10% white grape juice in a sippy cup.

Also, by then he had started on cheerios & baby cookies, which were nice to keep him occupied while we ate.

Have a great time!