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Home » Bottle Feeding Breast Milk » How to Warm a Baby Bottle on the Go

How to Warm a Baby Bottle on the Go

By Amanda Glenn, CLC. Last Updated November 12, 2021. Originally Posted June 30, 2020.

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Today’s first question is about warming bottles on the go, when you don’t have access to your bottle warmer at home.

How to Warm Breast Milk on the Go

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How Can I Warm Bottles on the Go?

I’m exclusively pumping, and I’m going on vacation next week. My baby will only drink warmed bottles of breast milk. I’m worried about how I’m going to warm up bottles when we are out and about at restaurants, at parks, at museums, at the beach, etc.It’s supposed to be pretty hot out (over 80 degrees) so leaving bottles at room temperature all day seems like a bad idea. But if I keep them in a cooler with an ice pack, how do I warm a bottle of breastmilk on the go?

I agree that leaving breast milk bottles at room temperature all day at that temperature is probably not a good idea, so I think your instinct to keep them in a breastmilk cooler (here are some great options) is right. Here are some options for warming bottles in public in some of the places that you mentioned.

1. Ask for Hot Water

In a restaurant or convenience store, ask for a cup of hot water (like you’d use for tea).

You want a cup that’s large enough that your baby’s bottle will fit into it, and you want it about half full (so you can either ask for it to be half full or dump some out after you get it). Then you put the bottle you’re warming into the cup, watching carefully to make sure it doesn’t overflow or spill, so that you don’t get burned. Depending on how hot the water is, the bottle should be warm in a minute or two.

Note: This method is much quicker and more effective than running a bottle containing cold milk under hot water in the sink, but that will also work if you don’t have access to a cup.

2. Use a Portable Bottle Warmer

Baby's Brew breast pump on a black desk, warming about 3 oz of breast milk. The timer is on showing how much longer the milk has to warm.Baby’s Brew makes a portable bottle warmer that you can use to warm breast milk on the go.

Before you use it, you just charge it and throw it in your diaper bag. When it’s time to warm the milk, you screw the bottle onto the warmer (make sure your bottle is compatible, either on its own or with an adaptor), and then push the button on the bottom to heat it up.

Breast milk will heat up in about 10-15 minutes. You may want to pack Medela Quick-Clean wipes to clean the warmer in between uses.

3. Use a Thermos

When getting hot water from a restaurant isn’t an option (such as when you’re at the beach), another option is to bring a Thermos of hot water with you.

Warm the water up at home or in your hotel, put it in a Thermos (or whatever hot liquid storage container you want), and close it up tight. Then, when you’re ready to warm the bottle, you’d do the same thing as with the hot water in a cup – just put the bottle in the Thermos for a minute or two until it’s warm enough for your baby.

Note: The water needs to be really hot, but there doesn’t need to be a lot of it. The Thermos I used in the below photo only needed to be half full, for example. I’d recommend doing a trial run at home first, to make sure the water is getting hot enough before you put it in the container.

Thermos and Baby Bottle for Warming Breast Milk

(If you’re in a hotel and are not able to warm up the water, you could combine the two methods – bring a Thermos and stop at Starbucks or McDonald’s on your way to the beach to fill up the Thermos for later.)

4. Let it Come to Room Temperature

If you have breast milk in a cooler, you can take it out of the cooler before you think you will need to use it.

Over the course of an hour or two, depending on the ambient temperature, how much milk is in the bottle, etc., the breastmilk will come to room temperature.

Breast milk should be used within two hours of coming to room temperature.

Finally – if you’re going to be pumping during the day, feeding fresh milk to your baby might also be an option versus packing bottles for all of the feedings. (Here are some tips on pumping in public.)

References
  1. Bonyata, Kelly, IBCLC. “Human Milk Storage – Quick Reference Card.”https://kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/milkstorage01.pdf
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Filed Under: Bottle Feeding Breast Milk

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Comments

  1. Pam says

    April 26, 2022 at 6:06 pm

    I found that the “Tommee Tippee Closer To Nature Travel Bottle & Food Warmer” fits the Avent wide bottles!

    Reply
    • Amanda Glenn, CLC says

      April 26, 2022 at 7:37 pm

      Thanks Pam!

  2. DB says

    January 22, 2022 at 8:35 am

    5 stars
    4am in the morning right before my trip I am panicking on how to heat my bottle. Plan was to feed the baby cold bottle but my mom insisted it should be hot and it kinda gotta me freaked out on how I will feed my baby cold milk.
    And this article comes to rescue! Are you awesome or what Amanda!😊

    Reply
    • Amanda Glenn, CLC says

      January 25, 2022 at 9:13 am

      Thank you so much!

  3. Natalie says

    June 27, 2021 at 12:28 pm

    If you leave the breast milk in milk storage bags and warm in up that way then pour into bottle you won’t have an issue with size you could even get a smaller thermos if anything

    Reply
  4. Kelly Mileski says

    August 12, 2019 at 12:47 pm

    So I bought the wide mouth thermos and it does not fit the wide Phillips avent bottles. Super bummed! I will keep searching for something!

    Reply
  5. Kelly Mileski says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:01 pm

    Hi! Any idea if the thermos will fit Phillips Avent wide bottles for re-warming breastmilk? I’ve been looking for something to easily reheat breastmilk on the go

    Reply
    • Amanda Glenn says

      August 11, 2019 at 1:31 pm

      Hi Kelly! I’m so sorry, but I don’t have any wide bottles to test it in. Maybe get it and if it doesn’t fit return it? LEt me know if you find out either way – I’d love to update the post!

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Amanda

Hi! I’m Amanda. I'm a Certified Lactation Counselor® and an experienced exclusive pumper. My goal is to help make exclusively pumping as easy as possible for you, so that you can enjoy your baby! This website is for educational purposes and should not be considered medical advice. Read More

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