Heating Bottles

[idoteech]

We are travelling with our baby (who will be 8 mo. old) in December (15-19) of this year. We are staying at the POP. Question: Is there any EASY way to heat bottles in the room, b/c I know they don't have a microwave?
Does anyone know if it is more feesible to purchase a plug in cooler and bring or rent a fridge?

Also, in the past, has it been too cold to swim during this time? I know weather is unpredictable, but just based on your past experiences.???

Any advice on taking a 3 1/2 year old and 8 month old would be appreciated. This will be our first trip to Disney as a family.

Thanks!

 

[SouthFLMommy]

As for heating bottles, what I used to do is use the coffeepot. Run hot water through it like you were making coffee, and then set the bottle in the coffeepot with the hot water. It takes a little while, but it works.

It's not too cold to swim, you should be fine. Most of the pools are heated anyway.

 

[cwnhokie]

I don't know if you are using formula or not, but when I was traveling with my little ones, I always used powdered formula and made them when I needed them with warm water. That way I didn't need to keep them cool or warm them up.

 

[KerriMc]

I did the same with my first child as cwnhokie did. I used to boil water so that it was sterilized and then fill the bottle with the cooled off water (not cold, but room temp) and I'd carry the amount of powder needed in a ziploc baggie or a little container and then add it and shake it up. It worked well. The second child was bf, so meal time was much more portable !!!

There are baby stations in the parks and they do have microwaves (I think!). A Baby's Best Friend rents microwaves (I think!) if you need one in your room. I also used a bottle warmer that you just plug in and put a tad of water in and then sit the bottle inside and in minutes it was ready. It is a plug in one. I just had the basic Gerber (I think) and it cost me about 15 dollars (Canadian). I used Avent bottles and they are a bit fatter, so be sure it fits. It may be a cheap way to do this in your room.

I'm thinking your little one hasn't arrive yet !?! Are you close to having the baby? (Dec. is more than 8mos away ... I'm counting here on my fingers )

Anyways ... our first visit to WDW as a family was last February and we travelled with an almost 3 yr old and a 7 mos old. Our youngest got really sick while we were there (she had a nasty cold and had been using some puffers before we left). It developed into RSV while we were there. It was not fun for her. Once she had a vapour treatment at the hospital it really cleared her out and she was feeling much better on the way home . My parents were with us, so it really helped us with the kids as we were up often at night with Olivia. Our oldest, Julia, had an absolute ball. We did the dinner with Cinderella at the GF and Julia was infatuated. It was wonderful and all magical to her. She also really liked the pool at our resort (Orange lake) and that is all she really wanted to do everyday, even when a bit cool for swimming. We rented an exersaucer and crib rail and bouncy seat from A Baby's Best Friend (www.abbf.com). They are great and everything is really clean. They have tons of stuff to choose from and I found out about them on these boards as they are highly recommended. When we went to the park we decided that we would stay until the big parade at 3pm and then the girls would have had enough. I don't know how we will do it this year as I don't think Olivia will nap in her stroller now like she did then.

Well ... I have my two sick kids here that are very whiny and cranky. Lets hope they are healthy by the time we leave. It has been a tough couple of days (for me )!!

Have fun!
Kerri

 

[all4fun]

Great tips on heating bottles so far. You could also buy a bottle warmer which would be about $15, or you could try getting your little one to start taking bottles at room temp and see how s/he does with it. Mine adapted fairly quickly to my pumped milk straight from the fridge. I have heard many babies will adapt to fresh formula that's made with lukewarm water fairly quickly. You could give that a try and it might just make your life a little bit easier. Just a thought.

As far as appliances go, I don't know about the value and moderate resorts, but when we stayed at AKL we requested a fridge and they brought one to our room (subject to availability). You may want to contact the resort and see if that's a possibility.

hth

 

[EG528]

I don't want to start a debate, but I've never warmed a bottle for my DS. Of course I had to formula-feed him so he has always had his bottles at room temperature. I mean, at the hospital the little nursing-size bottles they give you are not warmed up. I figured I didn't have to either (neither did my sister, cousins, etc.).

I just pre-fill my bottles with room-temperature bottled water and then use the powdered formula when it is time for a feeding. Those formula dispensers are great b/c you can pre-fill the powdered formula in them as well. So, for a feeding, say between rides at MK, I just unscrew the bottle cap, open the formula dispenser, pour it into the bottle and shake. Voila!

Just thought I'd add my two cents.

 

[Ladybug888]

When my son was that age and we had to travel I always bought the 8 oz ready-to-feed formula cans. I did not have to worry about heating them up, keeping them cold etc. Just pop the top and pour in the bottle. So much easier!!

Good luck!

 

[BevS97]

I just pre-fill my bottles with room-temperature bottled water and then use the powdered formula when it is time for a feeding. Those formula dispensers are great b/c you can pre-fill the powdered formula in them as well. So, for a feeding, say between rides at MK, I just unscrew the bottle cap, open the formula dispenser, pour it into the bottle and shake. Voila!

This is exactly what we did, and when travelling we took it one stage further and bought the premeasured sachets of powder so we didn't even have to measure. DD never minded that the water wasn't hot (it wasn't cold, just room temp) and I could make a bottle up in about 10 seconds.

When we moved to cows milk, I warmed it in the coffee pot quite successfully.

What I always found more difficult was heating jarred baby food, you can sit the jar in the hot water from the coffee pot but it takes a very long time to heat and the middle ends up cold. We ended up buying things that could be eating cold for when we were travelling (to be honest, my dd would have eaten any of them cold, but I felt better giving her things like cereal based ones, or cheese pasta cold, rather than beef and carrots for example) then if we were stuck and couldn't easily heat it up she could have it cold, but if we were able to heat it then obviously we would. A little boiling water mixed in warms it through quite quickly if you have access to some boiling water.

Bev

 

[tmatthews]

Pop has a microwave in the food court for your use as well. Not convient but it is good to know it is there.

 

[3gr8kids]

I've done the same as EG528 (room temperature bottled water and powdered formula) and LadyBug888 (room temperature 8 oz. ready to feed cans). DS is going to be 9 months on the 15th and we leave on the 19th. We always stop at Target or Walmart on the way from the airport to the hotel so I will pick all the formula, diapers, wipes, baby food, cheerios, etc. up then so I don't have to pack/lug them. (Also a good time to pick up breakfast items, snack items, fruit, and bottled water for rest of the family).

 

[idoteech]

The only reason I had to heat DD(3) bottles when she was born was b/c she had silent reflux and was on medication. The doc said she could take the formula better if it was heated.

I am praying that this one does not have the same problem, but I'm one to plan ahead.

Thanks for all your advice.

 

[Desnik]

For our DD I bought powdered formula and in the room I would mix the bottle with bottled water(room temp) that we brought with us. Before our trip I got my DD use to warm and cool bottles. She adjusted quickly. While in the parks, I had the bottles pre measured with formula then added bottled water(we took with us in the park) it was room temp. This was very easy and worked out well.

For my son, it was very different!!LOL He had severe reflux and was a very sick baby. He was on meds and special formula that only was available ready made in the big containers and very few stores sold it. I also had to add cereal to it for the added calories and to make it like a shake so he could hold it down. So for the parks I had all my bottles made and used a collapsable cooler to keep then cold. This was in Nov and it worked great. He had to have very warm bottles so we used the baby care centers at all the parks to feed him. They had micro, stove, fridge and every baby supply you could think of. High chairs, changing tables, tables and chairs for the little ones. TV with Disney movies on, coloring pages and crayons. They even sold gummies for older kiddies! We really loved these and took advantage of them! For our room we had a studio at the BW so we had a micro and fridge.

FYI: All WDW resorts have a fridge in them, no extra charge. The only ones that do not are the value resorts. So, at $10 per day it might be worth it for you to upgrade to a moderate resort. You could be lucky and might be able to get a code. I've stayed in Nov at a mod for $99 a night. I think it's a great idea for you to bring a bottle warmer for the room. At the POP there is a micro in the food court area.

Good luck!

 

[pyrxtc]

You can also get the baby used to cold bottles. I did this with my 2nd child (third child nursed exclusively) and reccomended it to an Uncle who had a baby last fall. His son loves the cold milk and it is a lot easier for them in the middle of the night to just take it out of the fridge and feed him.

They always reccomended warming when milk was not always pasturiezed (sp?) so it would kill any bacteria but now we use formuula which is made just for our babies so no need to kill anything in it.