Now that I am formula feeding, and using a formula that has to be refrigerated until the baby is ready to drink it, I have found that even a simple trip to the park took a lot of preparation and work. I have been trying to figure out a solution to travel with baby bottles, keep them cold, and heat them easily. I think I finally found the solution.
I started by buying what I thought made the most sense. A bottle warmer for the car. However, after trying two different models, I found it very frustrating. Since my particular kind of formula is pre-mixed and has to be cold, the bottle needed to be heated up from a colder temperature than if you are using just room temperature water. So, after 20 minutes of heating in the car it still was not ready. Also, I found it kind of inconvenient for just short trips to the park. The car had to be on for the warmer to work, and so I had to be in the car waiting for it. At one park, I left my keys in it and tried to stay close, but did not feel entirely comfortable doing that. I think the only scenario in which a car bottle warmer would work would be for long road trips where you had lots of time in the car to heat it up. I tried the Munchkin brand, and felt that it really didn’t fit my needs very well.
The next idea I had was to use a heat pack type warmer like this one. I figured this would be good for hikes and other trips where you were not close to a car. However, I ran into the same problem. The bottle did not heat up in a decent amount of time from cold to warm enough for the baby.
Last, I tried what seemed like a very simple solution. It was the Closer to Nature Travel Bottle and Food Warmer. This was such a simple idea, but ended up working perfectly for my needs. So, my first trip to the zoo with my kids, I took this with me. I put really hot water in the thermos. It comes with a large cover that you can take off, turn over and pour the water into. Then, you conveniently put the bottle down into the cover. It heated the cold bottle within 5 minutes and I dumped the remaining water. This was perfect! Plus, I had plenty of hot water left in the thermos for another bottle if necessary. Another pro of this type of system is that the water stays very hot! Even the next day when I went to finally empty the thermos the water was still luke warm almost 24 hours later! I was impressed. This container would be perfect for flights too. Since large amounts of liquid are not allowed, you could simply wait until you get through the security gates and then ask at a restaurant in the terminal for some hot water and pour it into your thermos to keep warm until you need it. Last, you can conveniently use it for warming baby food too!
Sometimes, you don’t need to buy the fanciest baby gadget for something to fit your needs. I have found that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ones!