Madela bottle warmer question

[Strawbs]

I almost purchased one of these in mothercare on the weekend thinking it would be super helpful, I am planning on breastfeeding and expressing.. It says it is used for breastmilk which is great but then I thought what if the breastfeeding doesnt work out or I want to integrate a single formula feed in there somewhere down the line etc etc..

Can I still use the bottle warmer for formula or is it exclusively for breastmilk and I would then have to buy a new one with new bottles?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

x

[candj]

Any bottle warmer can be used for either bm or formula. It just depends if the medela one has a specific shape to fit a medela bottle. I used an advent bottle warmer that fit every size of bottles even the little medela ones (that fit directly onto the breast pump) they just floated to the top a bit, but worked otherwise. Just look to see if the bottle warmer is big enough to fit bigger (fatter) bottles. Hope this makes sense!

[Strawbs]

It does thank you.. If the bottle warmer does either bm or formula then that's perfect as I have all madela bottles so thank you I will go ahead and order one.. xx

[Yak]

Call me the worst mother in the world, but I never warm yaklet's EMB - at the start I was a bit worried about him preferring the bottle over the boob and/or suffering nipple confusion so I tried to keep the two types of milk feeds as distinct as possible. And in the longer term it meant that my husband can feed him on the go from a bottle without worrying about what temp the milk is. Having said that, I know other babies have refused bottles unless the milk is nice and warm.....

Just my experience if you want to count the pennies!

[Pickle]

Hmmm, Yak that doesn't make you a bad mother. Bunging it in the microwave probably does... I used a bottle warmer for no.1 for a short time, and quickly decided that 3 minutes or so waiting for the milk to warm while listening to a screaming baby wasn't worth it. I have sinned :-S

(baby is now 4.5 and doesn't seem to be suffering ill effects from microwaved milk...)

[candj]

I've sinned too with the microwave milk .... I neglected to say the advent bottle warmer was used with baby 1, baby 2 got microwaved bm in a bottle and agree it was worth placating the screaming, baby 3 opted out of bottles altogether so didn't use a warmer or microwave.

[StraferJack]

Another planned-to-use-a-bottle-warmer-but-couldn't-be-doing-with-it family here

I was surprised at how willing to take cool milk they were at first. And once they get older and have things other than bottles heated up, the microwave is invaluable

[Strawbs]

so do you all think its overkill to have a warmer? here is what Im (potentially naively) picturing in my mind.. last feed, we all go to sleep, bottle is in bottle warmer keeping it warm, wake up, bottle is warm already, feeds straight away thus avoiding the screaming by having to wait for micro or water etc - is that not how it works? *waits for all the experienced mums to burst out laughing at me hahaha*

x

[Pickle]

Nope, sorry to burst your bubble Strawbs :) You can't keep it warm for ages, needs to be cold, then warmed just as you need it.

But I'm not laughing, as remember having similar thoughts when I was pregnant with #1. I don't think a bottle warmer is necessary when a microwave will do the job in a few seconds (you just need to be careful to give it a shake afterwards to make sure there aren't any hot spots).

P x

[jollybaby]

And remember that the shops will still be there after bub arrives- all you really need for the first few days are baby grows and nappies (and of course lanisoh cream and maternity pads for you) I went crazy and bought loads of things I didn't ever use. Best of luck

[Yak]

Strawbs, I am still very much a new mama (only 4 months in) but I've found that there's any number of gadgets and gizmos that you can buy (new or on the forum / ebay), rent or borrow to help with babylife. I suspect much depends on your attitude to gadgets in general in your life; some people like having a lot of kit, some people like getting by with the bare minimum, and the vast majority of people, I suspect, fall somewhere between the two. So don't feel pressurised into getting "stuff" if you are not a "stuff" person; equally if you want to get things to help you and your partner feel more prepared to cope with the arrival of your little one, then go for it!

[srisky]

If you don`t fancy using a microwave, you can put the bottle of milk in a jug of boiling water and it will be ready for bubs within a couple of minutes (literally).

[hellosailor]

I think someone was selling one on the forum in the last few weeks Strawbs, an avent one (the one we have, fits all bottles I think), do a search and see if you can find it. I find it very useful but agree you could do without it.

[mrs f]

We use a tomiee tippee travel warmer which is essentially a thermos flask & a bottle holder & mr f boils the water before bed & puts it in the flask so when he gets up for the feed the water is ready to go... Although for this feed we wake baby f (dream feed) so milk is ready before he is up...

We haven't ever given baby f an unplanned bottle feed, boobs are far easier for these feeds!

[Strawbs]

thanks everyone so much for your views, it really helps as to be honest as a first time mum to be I think I need absolutely everything!

Ive decided not to get a bottle warmer so you have all just saved me ?50! thanks again x