What do you use to take food/bottles in when out for a few hours?

[Chelsey333]

After seeing those cute "snack and tote" bags someone posted about, I was wondering what most moms do to travel with food/bottles. I am thinking for when I am going to be out for a few hours and need to bring baby food and bottles. Right now I am nursing, but soon I will be introducing cereal, etc. I suppose I could fit the stuff in one of the pockets of a diaper bag. I might get one of those snack and totes, but I was curious as to what other moms use.

[yellowdogmom]

I just bring along a bottle of pre-measured water and a formula dispenser in the regular diaper bag when we're going to be out and about. I don't worry about bringing food along unless we're planning on being out for a meal. In that case I made my own "snack tote" out of a cosmetics/toiletires bag from Wal-Mart(looks really similar I might add - and I put mine together before I saw the post! LOL!) In the snack tote I keep bibsters, paper towels (a few folded up), some table toppers, an empty bottle, a RTF can of formula, a couple of jars of baby food, a couple of containers of apple sauce,some take and toss spoons, a small container of puffs or cheerios, and a few small quiet toys (for at restaurants).

:) Kristin
Mom to Theo, born 1/12/2004 in Korea ~ home forever 7/6/2004
and Morgan the yellow lab

[CiderLogan]

We BF, so we rarely had to deal with bottles when out and about. Others can help more with that. Now that DD has been on solids for a while, I've found that we almost always feed her solids during times we'd also be eating. So I keep a few snacks in our regular diaper bag, but if we're going to be out for mealtime, I put her food in a little insulated pack (actually the one that we got free at the hospital) and stick it in our restaurant bag. The restaurant bag stays in the car all the time; it's just restocked with food between trips. The bag contains highchair cover (same as shopping cart cover), Tiny Diner (table cover), disposable placemats in case the Tiny Diner doesn't adhere to some surfaces, extra napkins, spoons, etc., a few toys, some nonperishable food (crackers, veggie booty, etc.), and antibacterial wipes. So her food is always in the restaurant bag, never in the regular diaper bag. This way I don't have to use as a big a bag as I would if the food had to fit. Of course, this is coming from a suburban mom who stocks lots of things in the car instead of carrying them around!

Jenny
Mom of Julia, 8/03

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I don't very often take things that need to be kept cold, so I just put the cereal or whatever in the diaper bag pocket.

If I do want to keep something cold, like grapes, I would use the cooler bag that came with the freebie hospital diaper bag, or use a lunch size cooler if I needed more room.

I bought a small softside cooler that had a smaller removeable insert in it and that was just the right size to put a serving of grapes and a few of the freezer blue ice cube sized ice packs.

You can also look for the lunch size coolers that have a zip-off bottom that is the size to hold a sandwich. That will be small enough to toss in the diaper bag.

For longer trips, such as by plane, where I need to take some cow's milk now that she is older, I use the Baby Sherpa diaper bag that has a built in cooler. I pour some milk into an empty water bottle and carry it that way. That's cheaper than buying a single serving carton or bottle of milk.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/superpower.gif http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/borntobebreastfed2.gif

[lmariana]

I just put everything in my diaper bag. You can buy prepackaged rice cereal packets, but it's cheaper to just get one of those formula containers and put the cereal in there. Then you just carry one of those Take N Toss bowls, add the cereal, add liquid (bm, formula, whatever...) and you're good to go! Some cereals even come with the formula already in there, so you can just add water. Then when your start baby foods, just throw in a jar or two, bibs, and spoon(s).

I love the Take N Toss stuff, because it's hardy enough to reuse forever, but you don't feel bad chucking it either. :) They have sippys, straw cups, spoons, tubs, bowls, etc.

For bottles, we formula fed, so I'd just carry a formula dispenser, a Playtex Nurser Bottle & Nipple, extra bottle liners, and a bottle of water. I love the Playtex Nurser system because there aren't any bottles to wash. You just use a liner and throw it away! All you have to do is wash the nipple, which is a breeze.

I wouldn't like a separate snack bag, because it would just be one more thing to carry around/forget/lose. :)

I hope you get some good ideas here!

Mariana
www.heinzandmariana.com
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030814/1/5/0/-5/.png[/img] ([img)

[alkagift]

I put everything in those little ziploc disposable plastic containers you can get at Target or wherever. It's easy to serve out of and easy for DS to reach into if necessary and they come in small and extra small sizes. Milk is in a insulated travel cup (like you would use for your coffee). That works as long as you're only going to be out for two or three hours (say between the am and pm nap, over lunchtime). Everything goes into my medium diaper bag, a Timbuk2. I also have one of those Kiddapotomus placemat thingies the PP mentioned and I take along a disposable bib and spoons.

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[heidi_timms]

We live in a small town, so we often have to take trips to get to the "real" shopping. The nearest mall is 1 1/2 hours away! I pack a sippy and snacks in a small bottle cooler bag. My DD eats table food so I don't need too much food. I put the cooler bag inside my diaper bag. My favorite cooler bag was the hospital freebie bag. I do have another one, but it's a little bit bigger and harder to fit in the diaper bag.

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey
4/03

[MamaKath]

I guess it depends a lot on the age of your child/ren. I now have 2 kids ages 5 and 2. When they were small, the little insulated bottle bags from the hospital were perfect. Fit small snacks and drinks. We nursed, so I really only needed water for me and the babe, maybe some Cheerios and a jar of food for the baby. We deal with food allergies, so if we are out for any period of time, I do need to have snacks and meal choices available. I also find it ends up being much cheaper that way if we'll be out for awhile (3 kids meals at 3$ or so a piece adds up quickly). Realize too, as a PP said we live in a rural area with the mall 1.5 + hour away so trips like that are often all day.

As they have gotten bigger we use try one of a couple things. I usually either pack a cooler or use a softsided lunchbox (or 2 or 3 ;-)). We'll pack snacks and drinks in one lunchbox, actual meal food (sandwiches typically) in another. Lately I have just been keeping a cooler ready and putting inside the lunchbox with snacks (fruit, fruit snacks, granola bars, sippy cups that can be filled with water when the kids finish what is in them) so I can grab it and bring into the mall, bread, peanut butter, jelly, applesauce, water bottles, granola bars, paper plates, utensils, napkins, and anything else I think I might need stay in the car in the big cooler and we picnic out there for meals. None of it is stuff that has to be cold (if I bring milk or soy/rice milk I purchase the juice box sizes that don't have to be kept on ice), so if I put it in while it is chilly it stays nice and cool.


Some good snack tips- http://home.earthlink.net/~natashab/NMlunchbox.html

Fun packed lunch tips-
http://wvwv.essortment.com/sacklunchidea_rzex.htm

Some snack packs-
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00018XCL0/103-8764537-6635008?v=glance&s=baby&me=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000067QYZ/qid=1094186199/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8764537-6635008?v=glance&s=baby

http://www.landsend.com/cd/index/fp/0,,45377,00.html?sid=0929058954631132140

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/search?startRec=1&numWanted=20&loggedIn=0&page_type=&hotBG=0&searchTerms=lunch+box

HTH~

[Ami]

I use my Baby Sherpa, it has a built in cooler so I can load it up with lots of stuff. If I need to keep things cool I freeze a bottle of water and use that as the freezer pack plus I have fresh water when I need it. The Sherpa has 2 external pockets-1 insulated and a mesh water bottle pocket so it works great. My daughter knows there are always snacks in the Sherpa bag.

Ami

[twofallbabies]

Oh, I saw those at Walmart, thought they reminded me a bit of the Escape Pod! I would have gotten it if they'd had anything other than plain black. :) GMTA!


Jessica, mama in MD to
Dillon 9/98 & Lucas 10/02

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif
21+ months...

Mia Bella's Gourmet Soy Candles:
http://www.bettersoycandles.com

[twofallbabies]

DS was totally BFd till around 8/10 months, and totally skipped the baby food. But now I like to bring along water bottles, string cheese, yogurt, and things that need the cooling when we're going to be out for a while. I just bought a $8 insulated lunch bag at Walmart. It has a clip and I can hook it to the clips on my LT, and it fits inside my LE DIA also.

I'm the one who posted about the snack tote and stroller bag, and am still curious about them! I just looked back at the snack n go tote, and it doesn't have any kind of insulation, or if it does they don't talk about it in the description.

I've seen lots of insulated totes at Walmart and Target, and you can also find baby ones at BBB and BRU, or in the baby sections at Target and Walmart.

Jessica, mama in MD to
Dillon 9/98 & Lucas 10/02

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif
21+ months...

Mia Bella's Gourmet Soy Candles:
http://www.bettersoycandles.com

[Chelsey333]

Thanks so much for posting all those links! So many to choose from. Thanks to everyone else who also gave great tips. It is great to hear how other moms stay organized.

[Chelsey333]

Thanks for checking that out, I forgot all about needing an area for an icepack. I guess snack n go tote is out.