Everything you should know about heating and using baby bottles
Today's parents live impressive on-the-go lifestyles, and that often leads to a stock of frozen or refrigerated breast milk and baby formula. Having this stash is great for late nights where expressing milk just doesn't seem plausible, but it can also put a long timer between your baby and her next meal.
When you're getting ready to feed your baby, warming up frozen or refrigerated milk is a critical step in the process. How can we do it safely? And how can we do it quickly enough to satisfy a crying baby?
Is it really necessary to warm up milk or formula?
There aren't any scientific or nutritional benefits to warming up milk or formula. In fact, it completely comes down to a matter of personal preference. However, babies who are used to breastfeeding may balk at cold or room-temperature milk.
Generally, if you're going to heat your milk or formula, you should aim to land around body temperature—which, when it comes down to it, really isn't that warm at all. In general, hot drinks like tea and coffee are served around 160˚F—way too hot for a baby's sensitive skin! During nursing, breastmilk stays around the same temperature as the human body, around 98.6˚F. Babies making the switch from breastfeeding to bottle feeding tend to prefer this temperature.
What happens if the milk gets too hot?
If milk gets too hot, it starts to lose many of its essential nutrients, particularly the ones that boost your baby's immune system. Heating milk too much can also cause it to separate or get chunky, which makes it less palatable for your baby. Extensive heat can also cause chemical leaching, where the material of the bottle or container gets too hot, and starts to leak chemicals into the milk.
How should you warm up milk or formula?
There are a few easy ways to warm up milk for your baby. If it's frozen, start by defrosting overnight in the fridge. Then, when it's getting close to mealtime, set the milk out on the counter to reach room temperature. This should take about thirty minutes.
For warmer meals, you can warm up milk or formula with the following tricks:
- Let it soak in a mug with warm tap water. This is best for bottles that only need to jump a few degrees, like room-temperature milk that's been defrosting for a while. Fill a mug or bowl with warm tap water (but not too hot), and let it soak for about 15 minutes.
- Run it under the tap. If you're in a hurry, you can use the tap water method for quicker heating. This is also a good method for defrosting frozen milk quickly, if you don't have time to let it defrost on its own. At medium-high heat, run the bottle under the tap, making sure to roll it often so every angle gets heated evenly. After about five minutes, the milk should be warm enough to drink.
- Let it sit in a pot of boiled water. You can boost your heating by boiling a pot of water, then letting the bottle sit in the water once the pot's been taken off the heat. Just be sure not to boil the bottle in the water, since that can result in uneven cooking.
- Invest in a bottle warmer. There are many convenient products on the market designed for exactly this situation. Bottle and bag warmers defrost and heat milk or formula in a fraction of the time. Follow the manufacturer instructions for perfectly warmed dinner!
Why shouldn't I use the microwave or stove?
It's important to mention that you should never microwave or boil baby bottles to warm them up. Both cooking methods can cause the milk to heat unevenly, resulting in spots with wildly different temperatures. This is problematic because when you test the temperature, you might find a cooler spot. But when Baby takes their first drink, the temperature might be much higher—even hot enough to burn!
Besides, many bottles and storage containers are not designed to be microwave-safe. Extreme temperatures (or specific cooking methods) could cause the chemicals in the container to leach into the milk. And we definitely don't want that!
As your baby grows, you'll fall into a routine of storing, preparing, and using the milk or formula your baby prefers up until they're ready to give up their bottle for a sippy cup. As time goes on, you'll find the products, practices, and how-to's that work best for your family. Remember, there's no wrong way or right way to be a parent—the best way is what's best for YOUR family!
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