Labeling Bottles for Daycare

[sms3]

My daughter starts daycare in two weeks and I need to label her bottles of formula each day. Do you have any suggestions on what is the best way to label the bottles? The daycare center reheats the formula in hot water for 5 minutes, so it has to be something that will not come off during the reheating process. I would prefer not to use a Sharpie marker to permanently label the plasic bottle itself, as the daycare center requires that it be labeled with the child's first and last name and I would like to reuse the bottles for our next child if at all possible.

Has anyone tried the labels for plastics from www.babylabels.com? Will they hold up to repeated washings, but still allow me to peel them off at a future date if/when we have baby #2?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
Suzanne

[lilycat88]

I didn't want to use Sharpie markers either because of the whole "permanent" thing. But one day a couple of her bottles came home with her name written in Sharpie. (Her daycare is a little "lax" on the bottle labeling thing because there were only 3-4 babies and they all used different bottles. They would just grab a clean one out of her diaper bag.) What we found was that even the "permanent" sharpie markers weren't so permanent. We've written on Dr. Brown's bottles, Avent bottles, The 1st Years storage bottles, Take and Toss containers and now Gerber straw cups. The writing usually lasts through several hand washings at daycare and rewashings at home before they start to come off. If I've actually wanted to get the writing off, I've been able to with minimal effort.

Jamelin

DD Susanna 6/29/04

[tobycat]

I am using the waterproof label tape for a Dymo label maker. THe label maker was around $15 at Walmart. They also sell the replacement tape there. I used these labels for DD name on the bottles and her initials on her pacifier.

These bottles have been going through the dishwasher everyday for the last three months. Some of them are just starting to peel now.

Her bottles also need to have the date. For this (on a doctor brown's bottle) I use a grease pencil (art supply store). You can write on the plastic and wipe it off for the next usage. It does not come off in hot water, but wipes off with a cloth or even your finger.

Candice

[ribbit1019]

We used a grease pencil too! Very handy, though we didn't have to write DD's name on every bottle, each bottle of EBM needed to be dated/numbered.

Christy
Maddy says "Hi baby!" Such a little parrot!

http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
Surprise!
http://lilypie.com/days/060221/0/21/0/-5/.png[/img][/url]

[elliput]

Just an FYI - a bit of rubbing alcohol removes permanent marker. I have tested this on DD's Avent bottles and it works great. The rubbing alcohol also removes most label residue. I have found that it doesn't work as well with the removable label sticky as it does with permanent label sticky.

I remembered this trick recently thinking back on how my sister removed blue marker from her keyboard. Ah, toddlerhood... the things to look forward too!

HTH

ETA- I need to get some grease pencils!

[murpheyblue]

We use the ones from Stuck on You. http://www.stuckonyou.biz/ I think one of the mamas here sells them but I can't recall who.

[lindauer72101]

We have to prepare and lable our daughter's bottles etc. daily. We just use masking tape and a sharpie. Sometimes the marker runs a bit but it isn't a big deal. I prefer being the one to make her bottles and clean them. That way I know they are clean.

Also, we lable both the bottle and cap. It is just easier that way. We never tried any other tape etc.

[cara1]

I second the Sharpie marker. I have to rewrite it every few washings. Make sure you label the bottle AND the cap, or else you may come home with the wrong cap (why DH thought it matched I'll never know).

DD is our second child in daycare. Even though DS has moved on, they all know him. So when the occasional bowl or desitin tube shows up there with his name on it, they may chuckle, but they know to whom it belongs. Some bowls have both kids names on it so I don't have to think twice about which kid's lunchbag it is going in.

[indigo]

We used the labels from Stuck on You as well - a little pricier, but I liked the colors and designs. They don't peel off in the dishwasher which gets up to 140 degrees I think. I've labeled both the lid and bottle, as otherwise we'd be losing a lot of tops. If we have child # 2 I would just stick the new label on top of the old one I think, or right next to the old one if I couldn't peel it off. Plenty of room on the bottle!

As for dating the bottles, I bought some "Label-Once" labels from the Container Store and write on them with a Sharpie - it seems to last longer than if you write directly on the bottle. From time to time the labels peel off, but it takes months - I've only had to relabel one or two and DD has been in daycare for 8 months now.

HTH!

indigo
DD 7/04
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo..._garnet_6m.gif
twelve months and counting!

[Uxor]

I've been writing his name on freezer tape and putting the tape on the bottles.