WDW with a formula fed infant?

[BadgerGirl84]

DH and I are considering a November or December trip with our daughter to the World. She would be 3-4 months old. (Yes, we realize she won't remember the trip...it would just be fun for us parents!) I had planned on exclusively breastfeeding, with one of the reasons being not needing to mess with measuring formula, packing bottles, etc. Well, alas, I don't produce enough milk to exclusively breastfeed (I have seen lactation consultants and breastfeeding specialist doctor) and I will likely be supplementing for the long haul.

What's the best way to travel with formula for a day at the parks? I did some bottle feeding accessory shopping on Amazon the other day and bought the Munchkin formula storage container (store individually measured amounts of powdered formula), the Dr. Browns mixing pitcher (not helpful for at the park, but we would have a fridge in our off-site room), and we have 5 bottles.

Is it easiest to travel with the pre-mixed ready to go bottles? Pack the powder and bring or buy bottled water to mix it with? What about the bottles--wash as I go or bring enough bottles for the day? I had done tons of breastfeeding research during my pregnancy and I feel pretty clueless on this formula thing! I am aware of the baby centers at each park. My daughter is fine drinking cold or room temp bottles--we do not warm them for her and she drinks them just fine.

 

[momfeez]

When my kids were still on bottles (years ago - playtex with disposable liners), I took bottles full of bottled water and brought powdered formula and mixed them as needed. I always brought 1 more bottle than I thought I would need - I am always over prepared.

If you premix you have to keep them cold and I was always paranoid that I wouldn't be able to keep them cold all day. So, we mixed them when we needed them.

 

[Woodmnky]

I understand where you are coming from as I was in the same position. I just mixed the formula with bottled water when we needed it if we were not at home. Musing never minded drinkings cold / cool / or warm formula so temp wasn't an issue.

 

[jennynwdw]

We used the playtex bottles with the disposable liners. We brought one bottle part (part that the liner goes in) and enough nipple parts (part with the nipple and cover) and liners for the time we were out. So it was like a fresh clean bottle every time without having to lug them all around. We also took a big bottle of water. And pre measured powder.

 

[j2k2guth]

We took our DD at 3 months. For the hotel we brought the powder and mixed with bottled water. For the park I spent the extra money and bought the formula already mixed in the bottles. These were the same ones we used in the hospital. It was super easy and then just threw the bottle out when she was done.

 

[HHMcG]

On our last trip our youngest got one bottle of formula a day. I discovered these individually packets of formula and they were awesome. Lighter, less bulky and disposable.

They make a 4oz bottle, which should be an ok size for a 3-4 month old. They don't have variety so if you need special formula it won't help.


I would carry a bottle with 4oz of water in it and add the formula when needed and just shook it up. You could add the water when you are ready (make it lighter to carry) but we usually had cold water available and DS preferred his bottles room temp.


I only brought a few bottles and rinsed with hot water and then steam cleaned with these.

A microwave is needed. We were in a family suite, so we had a microwave. Not sure if microwaves are available in other rooms or rentable?

 

[kellyjeanie]

I understand where you are coming from as I was in the same position. I just mixed the formula with bottled water when we needed it if we were not at home. Musing never minded drinkings cold / cool / or warm formula so temp wasn't an issue.

This was what we did when we traveled with formula as well. We used a similar formula container to the one you purchased and traveled with 16-ounce bottles of water at room temp. If you're planning an entire day in the park you might need 2 of those containers - maybe one with all 4-ounce pre-measured and one with all 2-ounce pre-measured. I'd pack a small bottle of dish soap and a bottle rack for the room.

If you're comfortable with it I'd just bring bring 2-3 bottles for your day in the park and rinse out each one in hot water when you're done, or even pack your little bottle of dish soap and wash real quick when you're done. Disposable liners would also be really easy if you use that system.

 

[CourtneyL]

we took DD to disney at 4 months, and she was formula fed as well. We pre-measured the powdered formula into the 3-section munchkin container and kept it in a ziploc bag. She used NUK bottles, so we just filled the bottles with bottled water in the room and added her Mylicon drops to each bottle. When it came time to feed her, we just added the powder and shook the bottle. The NUK bottles came with a little disk to seal off the bottle from the nipple so it was really easy to shake the bottles. After she was done I would just rinse out the bottle in the sink. Every night in the room we would wash bottles and formula dispensers.

If you can get your child to take room temperature formula, it will make your life A LOT easier.

Also, If you will be using a different bottle (like the playtex drop ins) while on vacation, make sure you try it out at home first. I had planned to use the drop ins, but my DD absolutely hated the bottles and would not use them. Im glad I had figured that out before we were on vacation.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Thank you all for your suggestions!

Like I said, my daughter will take room temp bottles so that helps. I think we would pre-portion out the formula, bring in bottled water, and try out the platex bottles with the liners. We use dr browns bottles now, but I picked up a free platex nurser bottle with liner today at my mom baby group to try out.

 

[set1208]

My kids all had such a hard time with the name brand formulas. They'd get so terribly constipated so I never got to use the premade or travel packs of formula. After so much trial and error, I found that the Target brand of formula was the easiest on them. Switching formulas was rough on them too.

I would recommend that you stick with one brand in case your baby has a reaction to a new formula. Our doctor also said that the ready to fead formula is heaviest on their belly, condensed liquid is a little easier with powder being the gentlest. He said when switching anything up, whether the brand or the consistency, to give it a couple days in between each new one.

I would always pour the powder into the bottle first and carry a room temp water bottle and mix it as needed.

 

[Hayliesmom]

I never went to Disney World with my daughter as am infant but we were on the go a lot. I used the munchkin container you are talking about with the pre measured slots and I brought bottles of water. When it was time to make a bottle I just had to pour the formula in, then the water, then shake

 

[laughinplace199]

We took 2 trips to WDW when DS was on formula. He was on ready to feed Nutramigen, which wasn't easy to find and almost impossible to find in single serving powder packets or ready to feed single serving bottles.

So I called Enfamil before we left and ordered 6 oz ready to feed bottles to be delivered to my resort. Then I faxed the resort to let them know when the formula was arriving. When we checked in, they had the boxes of formula ready and waiting to bring up to our room.

They were expensive but we splurged for vacation because it was so convenient to not have to mix, measure, or keep cold.

 

[RachaelA]

We did what most of the other posters said, pre measured the formula in a dispenser and then we just took bottles already measured with water. We're DVC members so we had a dishwasher so I just brought our Dr. Brown's bottle parts baskets, but if we didn't have one, I just would have washed everything by hand in the sink and then sterlized it in the microwave in those little baggies.

 

[sweetdana]

Thank you all for your suggestions!

Like I said, my daughter will take room temp bottles so that helps. I think we would pre-portion out the formula, bring in bottled water, and try out the platex bottles with the liners. We use dr browns bottles now, but I picked up a free platex nurser bottle with liner today at my mom baby group to try out.

Try them before you leave. My DD would not/could not drink out of any after Dr. Browns. The shape of the playtex, and some other one I forgot what kind, she could not figure out what to do. (This happened well past 6 months. To not she was slightly premature, and needed premie nipples for like 4-5 months. She was not norm, but be aware of the possible problem with switching for convience. )

 

[mommy2mygirls]

We used the playtex bottles with the disposable liners. We brought one bottle part (part that the liner goes in) and enough nipple parts (part with the nipple and cover) and liners for the time we were out. So it was like a fresh clean bottle every time without having to lug them all around. We also took a big bottle of water. And pre measured powder.

I did the same thing with the Playtex bottles and it worked great! We didn't bring premeasured formula though. We just brought one of those small sized containers that you get for free in the mail from the formula manufacturers. That size fit in the backpack well and we didn't have to worry about odd feedings. Those Enfamil packets of formula that someone else posted looked like a good option though - but I don't know that they existed when I was needing them.

 

[aliyasmomma2003]

When we went with our 8 month old in 2009, we took ready made individual bottles of Similac. I cracked the cap of the little bottle, screwed on the nipple and ring, and away we went. When he was done, I just pitched the bottle and put the ring and nipple in a baggie to wash at the next sink or when we got back to the room. It worked great for us. We have also used the powdered formula containers too. I just had a hard time getting the powder to mix with cold water and my son was picky. Bottles had to be room temperature or warmer.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

I used these when we were on long outings or vacations with my son.

http://www.toysrus.com/buy/baby-car...la-ready-to-feed-24-pk-8-fl-oz-599526-3332237

Pop a disposable nipple on, feed, then toss. They're pricier and not particularly environmentally friendly but they are so stinkin convenient for vacations!

ETA: You could probably get them shipped right to your hotel.

 

[cel_disney]

it's great that you gave BFing a try - and i am sorry it didnt work out since you wanted it to, but dont let it ruin your life or your trip! Your baby will be great and you will find there are plenty of conveniences of formula feeding to balance out the ones you were planning on with BFing!

We have had our share of this with 4 park trips with formula...

We used first year one shot bags and would make little packets of formula each morning based in what we needed...similar to the munchkin container but a smaller profile and less environmentally friendly...not sure if they still make them though! And both my kids used playtex bottles with liners so they were super easy on vacation...I would bring 2 bases, a bunch of liners and 4 nipples/rings and we were good to go! I would bring one of those soap pads cut up into pieces and a nipple brush to wash them daily and then toss them into the microwave steam sterilizers periodically....When we stayed at moderates they always had a microwave in the food court we could use, shades of green had microwaves in the laundry rooms, and now DVC means we have them in our room...

DS was easy - he used regular similac formula so those travel packets were easy to find/carry...we didn't use them exclusively when on vacation but definitely some of the time and I always used them as my emergency diaper bag formula because of their forgiving expiration dates. But I hated the waste as he usually had a 6 oz bottle and each packet makes 4oz....

Typically, We would open up powdered formula and put it in a large ziploc Baggie with its scoop for travel - much easier to pack/store...we kept it in our room though - I did not want to worry about the park temperature and keeping it below that recommended temp.

DD was harder...she was on ready to feed formula at home and the powdered version needed toy have the water heated in order to make the powder melt...oh my...definitely harder than DS! I would but a liquid container for our room - much easier to follow our routine for bedtime,mornings, evenings....sometimes we could even take it with us in this form either in a cooler bag or ready to be warmed up when we got to the park (all a timing game). I would also have a container of the powder for when liquid wasn't an option - we would fill a mixer bottle (this was a cheapo gerber bottle with a lid instead of a nipple) with water and gas drops (like mylicon - they take the bubbles out of the formula) and then heat it up at a a baby care center,mix and then pour into a playtex bottle/liner....this was so complicated because her formula (similar for spit up) would not melt well and would get clumped up in the nipple unlike regular formula!

One other helpful thing was that when we needed to - we also ran hot water thru the coffee pot and used that to heat up cold formula/water when needed...I think you said room temp works, but just incase you get stuck - this works if you have one in your room (we did at SOG).

 

[cel_disney]

I used these when we were on long outings or vacations with my son.

http://www.toysrus.com/buy/baby-care-essentials/food-formula/formula/nursers/similac-advance-formula-ready-to-feed-24-pk-8-fl-oz-599526-3332237

Pop a disposable nipple on, feed, then toss. They're pricier and not particularly environmentally friendly but they are so stinkin convenient for vacations!

ETA: You could probably get them shipped right to your hotel.

I am pretty sure that if my kid could have used this formula type I would have used these for being in the park as well purely for e convenience Maybe not every bottle on vacation because of the cost, but certainly when needed on the go!!! You will likely be tossing a fair amount of it out though as most 3-4 month olds don't drink the full 8 oz at a time....they would be great for plane travel too...

(Ps...don't worry much about plane travel - TSA allows anything you need for a baby to be brought thru! Sometimes they would question why I had water in the bottles (vs buying it thru security) and I would say it is already pre-mixed with medicine (gas drops) with no issues...basically - whatever works for you when you go to the mall or disney will work at TSA as long as you declare it!

 

[Angel Ariel]

Is it easiest to travel with the pre-mixed ready to go bottles? Pack the powder and bring or buy bottled water to mix it with? What about the bottles--wash as I go or bring enough bottles for the day? I had done tons of breastfeeding research during my pregnancy and I feel pretty clueless on this formula thing! I am aware of the baby centers at each park. My daughter is fine drinking cold or room temp bottles--we do not warm them for her and she drinks them just fine.

We did not formula feed, but I was EPing and I did carry some ready to go formula around with me in case we did not have BM available for DD when she was hungry. I don't have experience with powdered formula, but if DD had been primarily FF, I imagine we would have used the ready to go bottles for the trip. They are more expensive, but the convenience would have been worth it to us for the sake of just the trip.

WRT bottles - we just brought enough bottles to get us through our park day. It would have been a pain to be washing bottles in the bathroom at various points. We planned for this, though, in the backpack we brought into the parks. We bought a hiking backpack from REI - so LOTS of storage, but more narrow than say a Jansport backpack. It was very deep and easily fit DD's clothes (2 changes for the day, plus a jacket/hoodie in case it got cold, and PJs to change her in at night), the Ameda PY pump, the pump and save bags, all the bottles and nipples we needed for the day, and my DSLR w/an 18-55mm lens attached. It wasn't overly heavy, and we had no issues carrying it throughout the day.

We put her diapers in a skip hop pronto changer and threw that (and left it) under the stroller so it would be easy to access without having to dig through the backpack.

This way we just had to deal with washing bottles at the hotel, where it was much easier to deal with.