Travelling with a young baby can feel daunting but with a lot of preparation and some tried and tested parenting hacks you’ll be wondering why you didn’t hit the road sooner! The key to feeding baby on-the-go is all in the preparation and knowing your options when it comes to preparing food and sterilising any feeding equipment when away from home. Here we’ll go through everything you need to know.
How to feed baby on-the-go
Whether your baby is exclusively breastfed, is combi-fed, formula-fed or is weaning we’ve got the tips you’ll need for stress-free feeding while travelling.
Formula feeding baby while travelling tips:
- If you’re flying with baby with you, you can bring formula (ready to feed and powder) as well as sterilised water in your hand luggage. You can also bring formula in your checked-in luggage. There is no legal limit on how much you can pack but we suggest checking with the airport if it’s an unusually large amount.
- When travelling you always want to bring extra formula with you for delays, cancellations and unplanned stops. Calculate how much formula you’ll need for your travels/ trip and pack extra. If you’re staying within the UK for your trip you can find us in a local supermarket using our stockist finder here.
- If you’re using our follow-on ready to feed milk, then this plus your sterilised baby bottles are all you need to prepare a feed when travelling.
- If you’re using our follow-on powder milk, then here’s how to easily prep a feed when travelling: pack a vacuum flask of sterilised hot water (you can also ask for boiled tap water at a cafe if you need a top-up), pack a formula container pot with pre-measured scoops of formula and you’ll also need your sterilised baby bottles. When ready to make a feed, pour the hot water into the bottle, add your formula and shake. It may still need to cool to body temperature before you serve to baby, always check on the back of your wrist before giving to baby.
Well-travelled mum of two Ally, shares her tips for formula feeding while travelling. Check out her video here for more hacks and tips, or head over to our YouTube series all about travelling with baby here.
Baby weaning on-the-go:
- Bring babies preferred weaning breakfast and snacks with you. Coping with travel-induced fussiness is already tricky, but if you’re offering strange foods baby isn’t familiar with on top, it can make things worse. To save on any tantrums we recommend bringing baby’s preferred baby porridge. Our Kendamil porridges offer a quick and easy baby meal for travel and can be made super quickly with only boiled water needed. Take them out of the box and pack the foil bag to save on space. Bring some food sealing clips to keep the bag airtight between meals. Other weaning snacks that don’t perish with temperature changes or that don’t require refrigeration are also great to bring with you.
- If flying with baby you can bring baby food with you in your hand luggage, as well as pack in any luggage you intend to check-in. If baby has a preferred brand of baby food pouches, these could be a life-saver for moments when you cannot find suitable or safe weaning foods for your little one.
- Baby essentials for travel: Make sure to pack a bowl, a couple of baby spoons and a couple of wipeable bibs.
- When it comes to offering baby foods in cafes and restaurants just keep an eye on salt, sugar and saturated fat contents. If travelling in countries where water is not a safe source, be careful of uncooked fruits and vegetables that may have been washed with local tap water. Aim to give baby foods that have been cooked to high temperatures and then cooled.
Tips for breastfeeding while travelling:
- When flying, breast milk can be packed into your hand luggage in containers of up to 2L and your baby doesn’t need to be present with you. All containers will need to be screened at security. There is no legal limit on how much you can bring, but you may also want to check with your airport beforehand if you intend to bring an unusually large amount. To keep the breast milk cool you can bring cooling gel packs in your hand luggage. You cannot carry frozen breast milk with you in your hand luggage. If packing breast milk in your checked-in luggage you can pack both liquid breast milk and frozen breastmilk.
- A lot of UK airports now have a dedicated ‘feeding area or room’ for breastfeeding mothers to use when breastfeeding their babies. We found this super handy blog article, that outlines the breastfeeding facilities provided by British and Irish airports.
- Breastfeeding in public etiquette: Breastfeeding in public in the UK is protected by The Equality Act 2010 which states it is against the law to treat a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding. This means you are free to breastfeed anywhere in the UK.
- Breastfeeding is actually a great way to comfort your baby when travelling. No need to reserve breastfeeding for mealtimes, consider breastfeeding your baby to help soothe them through unsettling moments such as a flight departure or landing, noisy travel sounds and jerky movements.
How to sterilise your bottles when travelling?
Sterlising baby bottles while travelling is one of the things parents worry about the most, especially when it comes to packing bulky sterilising units that take up vital luggage space. There are a couple of realistic ways to sterilise bottles, without compromising on luggage space. So let’s get into your options:
Cold water method:
Using the cold water method can save you on space. Milton sterilising tablets work with water, all you need is a container to add the solution and bottles to - for £11 you can get the Milton Solo Travel Steriliser, which works the same as a sterilising unit except it’s lots smaller, you can sterilise and fit one bottle at a time. If using the solo travel steriliser, you’ll only need ¼ of a Milton tablet with 1.25L of cold, clean water, let the tablet activate in the water, then put your washed and rinsed bottle into the solution for a minimum of 15 minutes to sterlise - you’ll have to sterlise one bottle at a time but no need to throw the solution out each time, once made the solution will work for 24hrs so after each bottle has had 15 minutes in the solution take it out and put the next one in. A bit of a faff but will save you some luggage space.
UV sterilising:
For those happy to spend over £100 on a portable steriliser you could consider the Nuby Portable UV Steriliser. Requires having access to a plug in order to charge the battery of the steriliser but it is pretty compact and travel friendly. You can charge the steriliser before you head out and should get about 17 sterilising cycles out of a full battery - note the steriliser only fits one bottle at a time. It takes only 3 minutes to sterilise your pre-washed bottle. It also comes with a nifty bottle storage section at the bottom, which should fit about 3 bottles in.
Microwave sterilising bags:
If you do have access to a microwave when you’re traveling or perhaps in your accommodation you could consider using microwave sterilising bags. Boots sell their own pack of 5 microwave sterlising bags for less than £7 that can be used up to 20 times per bag. Simply add a little water to the bag along with your pre-washed bottle components and put into the microwave for 3 minutes. They take up no room in your luggage and are a super quick method to sterilise a bottle on-the-go.
Your baby 6 months+ travel essentials check-list
Hand luggage:
- Ready to feed formula bottles such as Kendamil Classic stage 2 for journey + extra for delays
- Sterilised baby bottles enough to cover the number of feeds needed on your journey
- Container with pre-measured follow-on formula (back-up feeds)
- Vacuum flask of hot water (again back-up)
- Bib or muslin cloth
- Wipes
- Plastic bag or freezer bags for rubbish, dirty spoon or soiled bib
- Sealed baby food pouches and spoon
- Small container of pre-measured baby porridge (back-up meal)
- Non-perishable baby weaning snacks
Larger luggage/ checked luggage:
- Cans of follow-on formula (calculate the number of feeds you will make from your accommodation to work out how many cans you need to pack, always bring more than you need in case the length of your trip changes)
- Ready to feed follow-on formula (calculate the number of feeds you will want to give baby when out and about during your travel/ trip, bring extra for delays etc). We sell a pack of 18 x250ml bottles on Kendamil.com.
- Sterilising equipment (depending on chosen method)
- Bottles
- Small washing liquid and baby bottle brush
- Breakfast baby porridge, our Kendamil porridges contain 7 servings per box.
- Baby food pouches (savoury and fruity) that don’t require refrigeration
- Non-perishable baby weaning snacks
- Baby bowl, spoons and bibs
