Bottle warmer

[TwoBees]

Can anyone recommend a bottle warmer that can defrost and warm bottles if frozen milk? It would be great if it could handle bags, but I have the option of pumping into and freezing drop-ins liners, so I could pop those into the bottle to defrost if necessary.

[lizzywednesday]

I would actually pump into a bottle & freeze in 2oz portions for speedier defrost.

I know that pumping into a liner saves time & dishes, but if you're not sure how much your baby will eat, you kind of waste extra milk if you have too much in the bottle.

That said, we actually used a small CrockPot (like the "Little Dipper" model, designed for, what else?, dips) with water in it. Set the pot on low, drop the bag into the water, and it warms gently that way. I would add a zip-top baggie if using liners, just in case it bursts.

[truly scrumptious]

We used the Avent bottle warmer for years and loved it. Once we switched to stainless steel bottles those warmed up even faster (seriously 10 seconds under a hot faucet and it wad done.) I pumped into bottles but froze in 2oz portions in bags flat in the freezer (using the gift bag storage trick.)

[TwoBees]

I would actually pump into a bottle & freeze in 2oz portions for speedier defrost.

I know that pumping into a liner saves time & dishes, but if you're not sure how much your baby will eat, you kind of waste extra milk if you have too much in the bottle.

That said, we actually used a small CrockPot (like the "Little Dipper" model, designed for, what else?, dips) with water in it. Set the pot on low, drop the bag into the water, and it warms gently that way. I would add a zip-top baggie if using liners, just in case it bursts.

I'm thinking ahead for daycare, so I would probably be filling bottles with the same amount every day. But you make a good point.

With the crock pot, did you leave it on all the time, or did it warm up quickly enough each time you turned it on?


We used the Avent bottle warmer for years and loved it. Once we switched to stainless steel bottles those warmed up even faster (seriously 10 seconds under a hot faucet and it wad done.) I pumped into bottles but froze in 2oz portions in bags flat in the freezer (using the gift bag storage trick.)

I try to freeze flat as well, but what's the gift bag storage trick?

[lizzywednesday]

I'm thinking ahead for daycare, so I would probably be filling bottles with the same amount every day. But you make a good point.

With the crock pot, did you leave it on all the time, or did it warm up quickly enough each time you turned it on?

...

DH switched it on when I left for work (DD would nurse & I'd be in the car) and would start it on HIGH, but leave it on LOW/WARM through the day. I'd suspect he started with warm water to help speed things up a bit.

[truly scrumptious]

I'm thinking ahead for daycare, so I would probably be filling bottles with the same amount every day. But you make a good point.

With the crock pot, did you leave it on all the time, or did it warm up quickly enough each time you turned it on?



I try to freeze flat as well, but what's the gift bag storage trick?

This is the gift bag storage trick. http://greenlitebites.com/2011/06/02/breast-milk-storage/
Because it stores vertically instead of the freeze flat container I had bought which stored horizontally, it takes up much less space in the freezer.

Also, remember that the amounts baby will eat will change with time, so while a 4oz bottle might work now, you may need 6oz bottles later, so you want to be able to scale amounts easily by storing in small batches. I learned this the hard way with DS, where I was constantly stressing about how not to waste leftover thawed milk.