Moms?Dads?-No kitchenette? How to clean bottles?

[EC0323]

Hi
My 14 month old dd is still using bottles. We have tried to switch her to sippie cups but she loves her bottles. Anyhoo, we are staying at Asmu in Sept. They do not have a kitchen. Any ideas how to clean her bottles? We normally boil them for 5 minutes. I am totally clueless about this. It never entered my mind before last nite. Last year we stayed in a condo and had a kitchen. Help!

 

[EC0323]

Moderator please delete. some how I posted 2 times. Sorry

 

[allyphoe]

IIRC, current recommendations don't require sterilizing bottles for low-risk kids. (So you might sterilize for a preemie, or an immunocompromised kid.) FWIW, I think I only boiled bottles 2-3 times in DD's life. Washing with detergent in hot tap water with and air-drying should be sufficient.

Alternatively, you could use disposable nipples / drop-in liners, or get a microwave steam sterilizer and try using it with the food court microwave.

I personally wouldn't make vacation (which is already a major change for a 14mo) the time to declare the end of the bottles. I mention because I think you're likely to get a "just 'forget' the bottles at home, and she'll have to use a sippy!" suggestion.

 

[nessz79]

If you don't have to sterilize for medical reasons, I would just bring a small size dish soap and wash in the bathroom sink. That's what I did when I took my DS when he was 1.5

 

[mericletwins]

We were at CBR when our twins were 9 mos. We just used the water out of the tap as hot as it would go and I brought along a sample size thing of dish liquid. Unless your child has a specific condition that requires sterilization there is really no need to boil. Our twins were preemie and we did not need to boil. I think I did for the first two weeks and just used the dishwasher after that. Have fun on your vacation!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

They sell steam sterilizers that you plug into the wall. Or, if you don't feel the need to sterilize, but don't want to use the bathroom sink - how about buying one of those empty plastic basins at the dollar store that some people use in sinks at home - it probably wouldn't fit the sink in your room, but you could fill it with hot water and set it on a counter top. It would fit into a suitcase and you could pack stuff in and around it.

 

[SnowWhite12]

Just take enough bottles for as many days as you will be there, and rinse it throughout that day thoroughly. That is what we did with sippy cups, and I don't see why it would have to be different with bottles.

 

[dis-happy]

Other DISers have posted about being able to buy disposable dishcloths that have dish soap inbedded in them. You could use them to hand wash the bottles in the sink at night. Another option is to stop by the babycare centers during the day and clean the bottles out then and there---they won't be so gross and difficult to clean at the end of the day. FWIW, I've washed and rinsed and dried many a baby bottle in hotel sinks...it's very do-able, just takes a bit of extra time. I always keep one small towel or washcloth out that's used just for draining and drying the bottles; do it the night before and they're ready to go the next day.

One more thing: have you tried cups with straws? My bottle loving child wouldn't touch a sippy cup but he thought anything that came in a cup with a straw was worth drinking. Give it a try.

 

[lclark0621]

We would bring a small bottle of dish soap & a bottle brush. I would wash them out every evening.

I can't imagine brining enough bottles or sippy cups for an entire week's stay. That would take up so much room in the suitcase.

 

[Nanu57v]

I think the disposable liners would be a great idea! DD never really took to bottles, so she was on sippy's pretty early. But even those couldn't come clean just washing in the room as the water couldn't get very hot. The hottest water was on the bathtub faucet, not the sink. We tried to bring enough for one per day, but what really works is we would rinse them at the food court cup wash.

Also, you could check with your dr. about the sterilizing...at 14 months your DD is probably sticking her hands in her mouth after playing on the floor and being exposed to all sorts of germs. Sterilizing her bottles probably isn't necessary. Our dr. told us it was pointless after she started crawling.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We had bottles for my son's first visit (6 months) and sippy cups for my daughter's first visit (turning 1). I took dish soap and washed them each night in the sink and laid them out to dry.

As for sterilizing, I never sterilized one bottle, nipple, paci or anything else with either of them. I did sterilize way back when my dd was born - she's 23 now and they recommended it back then - but even then it was only until she was about a year old. I think you would be fine not sterilizing the bottles unless your child has some sort of health issue that requires it.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I took a bottle of dish soap and washed them out with hot water and the soap. I didn't sterilize bottles either, no problems for the kids at all.

 

[EC0323]

Wow! I never realized I did not have to boil the bottles have a certain age. My ped said boil so I did. I never asked to what age. This is a huge relief. We camp and it was always a pain in the butt to boil her bottles. I will bring dish soap!! That is too easy. Thank you guys!!!!!!!!!!! I can not believe how easy that is going to be!!

 

[inloveindisney]

I've never boiled any bottle/nipple for my baby. I read a lot about it and found that it was just not necessary. Why add another step to my already hectic day? I quit heating milk for the same reason.
I will be taking my regular daily bottle supply and washing them out in my room. I do, however, like the idea of washing them in the child care centers. I might try that one day and see how it works. Sounds like it might be a little easier since they have more room there.

 

[1rockinmamato2]

On our last two trips we did disposable sippy cups for DS and we used the 6 oz. ready-to-use bottles and disposable nipples from Enfamil for DD.

The bottles are so convenient! I just pop the top off, pull the back off the nipple package and twist it on. When she's done the whole thing gets tossed. I know it's wasteful but it saves us valuable time during vacation and most importantly, I know it's sanitary.

If you're interested, PM me and I'll send you the link to purchase them.

Hopefully when we got to WDW in a few months DD will be off the bottle (but, I'm not counting on it, DS didn't give up the bottle until he was 18 months) and we can use the disposable sippy cups.

 

[Schmeck]

To the OP: While you're at WDW, you could probably find some cool sippy cups or fancy cup/straw systems at the resort or park that might get your toddler weaned off of bottles.