Bottle washing for babies?

[mudpuppysmom]

I feel pretty dumb for even asking this but I'm going to anyway.

How do you parents out there with babies "sterilize" your bottles while at WDW? We're going in Dec and I'm going to have an infant with me (never had one before!) and I'm a bit worried about getting our newest's bottles clean and sanitized while we are there! I know I can wash them in the sink in the room, but I'm a little concerned about germs and bacteria growth.

[Mickey'sGirl]

We went to the world when our youngest DS was 6 months old. We had a failsafe system!

I brought a small electric kettle and Gerber sells a portable bottle sterilizer.

I washed and then sterilized the bottles at night (using the Gerber thing), then filled them with boiled water from the kettle. When we went to the parks the next day, we kept the bottles at room temperature, and took some individual ziploc baggies with pre-measured formula powder. This way, when he needed a bottle, all we had to do was add the powder to the drinking temperature bottle and shake shake shake. No worries about storing the bottles, and no worries about heating the formula to room temperature. It was all taken care of!

Let me know if you have any questions. It was a really easy trip! :thumbsup:

[wendy*darling]

It's been a long time since by kids were babies- but we used the Playtex liner bottles. I believe they are still available.
They made traveling- whether it was to WDW or just away for the weekend- so much easier.

Another idea might be to clean them with detergents and bottle brushes you bring from home and then rinse them with hot water from the coffee carafe?

Just 2 ideas from an "old mom." ;)

Edited to add: I like the bottle sterilizer idea much better than the coffee carafe!

[mudpuppysmom]

Thanks guys.....but to further complicate things we have Dr. Brown's bottles with the "stopper" in the top and the vent tubes, so it'll require a bit more washing on my part, but I never thought of getting a sterilizer and taking it with us!

[thumperbug]

You can also try to find and bring a small electric Hot-pot. I had one in my dorm room in college in another life-time and used it to make soup, noodles....you should be able to find one for under $15 that could boil water. You can also check with the Child Care centers in the parks to see what services they offer. I had to stop in to get some cold medicine and I had to say I was impressed with the set up. They have places to sit and feed your baby, high chairs, a play room, changing room. They also had a full stock of baby food, bottles, bibs, diapers etc just in case you forget, lost or need something. I would check with them to see if they have a set up for sterilizing bottles. The baby care locations at MK are at First Aid which is next to Crystal Palace and at Epcot, there is a building just before the Mexican pavillion that has First aid and baby care. Good luck

[teambricker04]

I would get the portable sterilizer if you don't use the playtex bottles. Let me tell you... we switched to the playtex for our last trip to WDW and it was the BEST decision we could have made!!! I highly recommend them for traveling!

[Taja]

We had a very young infant (14 weeks) last visit, but he was still on formula so we just took the prefilled bottles. They are heavy, though!

[diz_girl]

I agree that a bottle sterilizer would be the best thing for you. If you were at one of the DVC villas or the FW cabins, then you could have a kitchen set-up there.

I normally take bottles pre-filled at room temperature and then add formula later. Mickey's girl mentioned ziploc baggies. I used to use them too, but it was tough getting the formula into the bottle without making a mess. Now I use the powdered formula dispensers (which can also double as cereal dispensers). The dispensers are sectioned and have a lid that has an opening to cleanly dispense the powder. I think mine are made by Especially for Baby, and I got them at Babies 'r Us. I think that Sassy and Avent make them too. I just cover the entire bottle mouth with the dispenser (with the spout inside the mouth) and jiggle the dispenser from side-to-side so nothing spills.

[chicklittlemom]

I have to agree with everyone else on the portable bottle sterilizer. We used one with our kids.

Hopefully another helpful hint....Do you have a kids "resell" store in your area? We have several "second chance" stores here and I always see bottle sterilizers there. That way you may save a few $$'s, since it sounds like you will only be using it for your trip.

Also, it been awhile since I cleaned baby bottles :blush: but we did use some with the stoppers and tubes (forget the name???). The way the sterilizer I had was set up, it was separated into 6 sections. I would wash the tubes with a brush and then put them in a cup in one of the sections instead of a bottle. That way, they were also sterilized.
Maybe give it a trial run at home, so you don't have any problems once you get there....
Enjoy your trip!

[Love of Disney]

We travel a lot with our daughter and last year we spent 3.5 weeks in Portugal and our life saver was the Playtex bottle liner bottles. They are excellent for traveling. Before buying those we used to bring a small electric kettle with us and a washing basin. Good luck with everything! Whatever you decide, once you get into the routine, it will all work out! :cool:

[kakn7294]

We never sterilized our DD's bottles after the intial time before the first use. We used Playtex with the disposable liners for our oldest and Avent standard bottles to start and eventually switching to disposables for the youngest. Everything was just washed in hot soapy water. Our pediatrician stressed that bottles don't need to be sterilized after that initial time unless your child has health issues, including a cold or virus. My kids are totally healthy and are almost never sick except for the occasional ear infection and colds - and even those they get over easily.

[CleveRocks]

EXACTLY.

Unless there's some other underlying health issue or strict rules from your pediatrician, sterilization of baby's bottles and nipples is unnecessary.

My wife is a board-certified pediatrician. She was a doctor for 5 years before our first child was born. We boiled stuff new out of the package, and then never again. She knew it to be totally unnecessary.

If it makes you feel better to do it, go for it! But medically speaking, it's totally unnecessary. Dr. Mom has 2 beautiful and healthy elementary school-aged kids now. They never drank from sterlized bottles. My wife never makes recommendations that she herself wouldn't follow with her own precious children.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Unless there's some other underlying health issue or strict rules from your pediatrician, sterilization of baby's bottles and nipples is unnecessary.
Where were you with this information 4 years ago???? :D What is her opinion about the water to use for babies -- either for formula or for drinking.....?

[kakn7294]

Where were you with this information 4 years ago???? :D What is her opinion about the water to use for babies -- either for formula or for drinking.....?I don't know what CleveRocks' wife will have to say, but my pediatrician also believes that babies should have regular tap water as long as it hasn't been shown to have any problems. In fact, we had to suppliment the water with flouride drops and vitamins that they knew were not in the water supply based on a chart they had in the office - it showed which communities had what in the public water.

[mudpuppysmom]

I don't plan on sterilizing everything all the time with number 2, as I did not with DS.....I usually washed the bottles in the dishwasher, that was sterilization enough for me.

The only reason I thought about the washing issue was the big difference in the water in Florida vs here in PA.

I do plan on buying water by the gallon once we get there to fill them up and them dump the formula into the bottle before I feed, but I highly doubt I'll be using the tap water there since I don't even drink it myself (I would not expect my infant to drink something I don't drink), just because of the high sulfur content and it smells "bad" to me.

We will be staying at AKL so no DVC for us this trip. I'm even thinking of upgrading to club level for most of the trip so we can do the sunrise safari (for DS and my nieces) and extending the club stay until DH can experience the safari too, but I'm still in the thinking about it stage on that one......it's a big jump since we got a 40% off PIN code to use (it's about 225 difference per night!).

Anyway, the biggest problem with the bottle washing I can forsee is those darn stoppers in the Dr. Browns bottles the go over the vent tubes -- you really gotta get them clean, so that is really my biggest worry....I do not forsee though being able to use the Playtex liners though if this child is anything like his brother......the Dr. Browns really saved my life with all the projectile :ack: that DS experienced.....it was like a light switch had been turned on the first time I used them with him! But we'll see how this one comes out and go from there.

[BostonChic]

Just an idea :idea: maybe you can buy a playtex type bottle and just bring a bunch of liners,that way you can just throw it away and add a new one :confused: Hopefully my DS#2(1 then) will be on whole milk by the time we go in May :confused: :mickey:

[DisneyDog]

My DS is now 5, but we took many trips to WDW when he was a bottle-feeding baby. I had quite a system. I used the Playtex liners, which were wonderful. I went to the craft store and bought these little plastic containers to carry the formula. They looked very similar to the plastic containers that 35mm rolls of film come in, only the might have been a bit bigger (they might have been meant for paint??). They held exactly 2 scoops of powdered formula. So, I knew exactly how much I was using. I prefilled a whole bunch of these every day before we left for the park. I would keep one bottle filled with water, and then immediately clean the bottle after DS ate and refilled again with a clean liner and tap water. Made things seamless and very easy!

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

Avent also makes a great travel/disposable bottle line.

We never used bottles with formula, just breast milk, but I would imagine that using the little travel containers they have for pre-measuring the formula and using a travel system (Avent, Playtex, others I am sure) would be very simple. You could get very creative with what to use for containers for the formula, but someone mentioned the travel container with the separate compartments. We used them for cereal and raisins, but I bet formula would work nicely as well.

Good luck!

[KAT1811]

We never sterilized our DD's bottles after the intial time before the first use.

:ditto: I would just bring a bottle brush to help you with the stoppers you particular brand of bottle has.

DD#1 was also a projectile :ack: but DD#2 & DD#3 had no problems at all. I used the playtex bottles with the drop in liners (actually DD#3, 1 y.o., still uses a bottle) Love those drop ins, no cleaning just toss and replace but I understand you aprehension about switching away from what you are familiar with.

. . . but my pediatrician also believes that babies should have regular tap water as long as it hasn't been shown to have any problems. . .

As a mother of three I use the tap water at home (we have wonderful tap water) but on vacation in WDW I use bottled water (the water tastes awfully chlorinated to me). You could either bring it with you, buy it there, or have a grocery delivery service (Garden Grocer) deliver it to you (there are order minimums).

The powder formula is heaven sent! Just fill a formula container (Playtex and Advent make a good one), pack a bottle of water, an empty bottle and off you go. No heating or worries about keeping it cold.

One more piece of advice, I have taken each of the girls as babies, 3 1/2 months and twice at 10 months. I've learned along the way that it is always best to bring it frm home, it can get very expensive buying much needed baby items in WDW. You're stuck and they know it. On our last trip I packed a cardboard box with all of our baby items:

diapers
swim diapers
wipes
formula
bottle liners
bottles
snacks
baby food

And other items of the like. Most of what I packed was used up on our trip and I did not need to find any extra room on the way home. Just to be on the safe side I packed an extra foldable bag. I also brought sheets from home (we use the chamois sheets from Pottery Barn Kids which are extra soft and comfy) and of course their special blankets and "Teddy".

Have a great trip.

[Buttercup]

I have a book from the health department up here in Canada... they give them out every time you have a baby here. Anyway, with my first kid, I sterilized everything the whole time. But this time, I actually read the book the health department gave me and it says that a.) you really only have to sterilize stuff for the first 6 weeks, although it definitely doesn't hurt to do it longer, and b.) as long as you're using municipal water as opposed to rural well-water to mix the formula and wash it, it should be fine.

We took our DS to Disney World when he was 7 months old and we just washed the bottles in soapy water (I brought dish soap) while we were there. I plan on doing that in May when we bring along our DD who will be 4 months old.

[KAT1811]

I would check with your pediatrician if that would make you feel better. He/she may be able to lead you in a direction you may be more comfortable with.

In my experience the parenting of more than one child tends to look something like this:

1st baby:
Sterilize everything all the time, wash everything in Dreft before wearing and after each use, anything that hits the ground is off limits until it can be resterilized.

2nd baby:
Sterilize periodically, wash some clothes in Dreft before the baby wears them, if it hits the ground run it under hot tap water before giving it back to baby.

3rd baby:
Sterilize before first use and never again, the dishwasher can handle it after that, buy one bottle of Dreft and wash babies clothes after wearing so that no one talks, never replenish baby detergent Tide does just fine, if it hits the floor baby gets it back, if it has anything suspicious on it a quick rinse in whatever liquid is on hand will do. We call it immunity building in our family.

[SAHDad]

With our kids, we just took a bottle brush and the formula sticks (the premeasured 4oz kind, sort of like a pixie sticks version of formula), plus a can of formula (for morning and evening bottles). To be honest, we never sterilized anything beyond before the first use, and, unless the clothes are poopy/spit-up/wet, they get washed in the same detergent as our stuff.

We also just went ahead and bought diapers, Cheerios, etc down there, rather than pack them or ship them. I thought about it, but I have a limit to how many bags I can carry while chasing a preschooler and pushing a stroller. :D

[mudpuppysmom]

1st baby:
Sterilize everything all the time, wash everything in Dreft before wearing and after each use, anything that hits the ground is off limits until it can be resterilized.

2nd baby:
Sterilize periodically, wash some clothes in Dreft before the baby wears them, if it hits the ground run it under hot tap water before giving it back to baby.

3rd baby:
Sterilize before first use and never again, the dishwasher can handle it after that, buy one bottle of Dreft and wash babies clothes after wearing so that no one talks, never replenish baby detergent Tide does just fine, if it hits the floor baby gets it back, if it has anything suspicious on it a quick rinse in whatever liquid is on hand will do. We call it immunity building in our family.


I did everything you did with #1 and plan to skip to your #3 with our #2.......everything will be washed in Dreft since it's been in storage for a few years and I will wash the bottles in the dishwasher before we use them, that's it.

As for everyones suggestions -- THANK YOU!! I am thinking that if I just take dish detergent with me and my cleaning supplies that I'll use normally here at home I'll be fine. IF this next kid has to use the Dr. Brown's there is a system that goes inside the bottles that HAS to be cleaned -- there is a vent tube and a stopper that goes on top of that (this is the part that really has to be scrubbed out each time). This system that goes under the nipple is to prevent air getting back into their system and I'm familiar with it and like it -- I'm not a big fan of the Playtex drop in system -- I tried it with DS #1 and he didn't like it either (and I tried for a week). SO, I'm thinking that what we have already here is what we're going to deal with.....I have started to look on an auction site and thought about buying a bunch of extra bottles there to make up for what I'll have to wash each day, but it's a big circle anyway......I'd rather just wash each night and get them ready for the next day.

One other thing with the Dr. Browns......you can't just dump the formula in the bottle and shake it up......that creates bubbles and clogs the vent tube which means the kid gets nothing so you have to wait for the bubbles to dissapate -- which we all know a crying baby waits for nothing!

[CleveRocks]

What is her opinion about the water to use for babies -- either for formula or for drinking.....?
We were very big users of powdered formula when leaving home. We just used whatever tap water was available. We never took or bought bottled water for that purpose.

Back then and to this day, the only time we use bottled water is when having it in a sealed bottle is convenient, such as when the kids need a disposable brown-bag lunch, or if we're somewhere where water might not be convenient to get to.

That being said, forgive me for not checking to see who wrote it first, but we also agree with the idea that we won't expect our babies or kids to drink water that we ourselves find nasty.

At WDW, we drank bottled water only when it made sense to do so. In our room, we didn't waste bottled water ... we drank tap water with ice.

[LoriR]

I brought those Palmolive dish wipes and used those with hot water. You can still find them on ebay, though they don't sell them any longer. You can also buy a different brand on amazon-- I just took them with me on our trip last week to wash sippy cups! (Does it never end?)