Babies are vulnerable, especially new borns, especially their stomach. Inappropriate diet is very likely to lead to various health issues, for example, weakening their immune system, digestive issues, developmental delays and more severe problems. As we know, milk is the most important diet for new-born babies, whether breast milk, or milk powder, we need to take healthy method to feed them.
Speaking of milk feeding, the most common way is bottle feeding. Warming bottle is not as easy as you might think. For example, appropriate temperature of the milk can reserve the necessary nutrients, too hot or not warm enough can lead to difficulties in nutrient absorption and more. So “how to warm bottle or how to warm baby bottle” is the topic of this article.
Warming a baby bottle can be done using various methods. Firstly, as parent, I share you some ways which I had tried or seen. Here are some common ways to warm a baby bottle:
Warm Water Bath
Fill a bowl with warm water. Then place the baby bottle in the warm water, you need to ensure that the water level is below the bottle's cap to prevent water from entering the bottle.
After that, let the bottle sit in the water for a few minutes until it reaches the desired temperature.
The pro of this method is its convenience. As long as you are at home, warm water is not difficult to get. However, the con is that the temperature can hardly be controlled, watch out the overheat situation.
Running Water
There is another super easy way of using running water. You can hold the baby bottle under warm running tap water; Rotate the bottle to ensure even warming. Eventually, you continue until the milk or formula reaches the desired temperature.
Microwave Warming (with caution)
Microwave warming is still an alternative nowadays. If you use a microwave, only use bottles labeled as microwave-safe. Please do remember to remove the cap and nipple to ensure even warming and avoid melting.
Microwave in short intervals, checking and swirling the contents to avoid hot spots.
Using a Baby Bottle Warmers
After the above traditional methods of warming bottle, let’s talk about the most common method, using a baby bottle warmer. Using a bottle warmer is specifically designed for warming baby bottles. You can just follow the bottle warmer's instructions for the specific bottle warmer you are using.
For a normal baby bottle warmer, it commonly has the below features.
Fast Heating - It ensures the fast warm for the baby bottle to the desired temperature, providing convenience for parents and a faster response to a hungry baby. Among many choices, there is one common point that the fastest bottle warmer can achieve the desire temperature within 1-2 minutes, like the Warmer Lab Ultra-Fast Bottle Warmer.
Temperature Control - This feature is of great help, which allows parents to set the desired temperature to meet the specific needs of the babies. It ensures safe and precise warming, which is extremely crucial. For a healthy and recommended temperature for milk feeding, I advice that:
- 99F - This is the breast milk's ideal temperature that can lock the max nutrients in the breast milk
- 104F - This temperature is fit for most of the liquids besides breast milk
- 113F - This is perfect for formula milk
- 122F - This temperature is made for higher temp liquid
Great adaptability - Many baby bottle warmers can be fit for different bottle sizes, for example, glass-made bottles, plastic-made bottles, and silicone bottles, as well as milk storage bags.
Versatility - Some bottle warmers have multiple functions, for example, they can be used for thawing frozen breast milk, heating baby food jars, and even sterilizing bottles and pacifiers, acting as the bottle warmer sterilizer.
Timer display - This feature provides the option to set a timer for automatic shut-off/ count-down, which effectively prevents overheating situation and also can ensure safety.
Ease of use - This feature is important as well. It is user-friendly, not so many buttons, and buttons and indication are clear, which makes it easy for parents to operate, especially during the sudden nighttime feedings.
BPA-Free Materials - Safety is the most vital part when selecting your bottle warmer. I advise that parent should ensure that the materials used in the warmer are free from harmful substances like bisphenol A (BPA).
Visual Indicators - Some models have LED lights or display screens to indicate the heating status and temperature.
Portable Bottle Warmers
Portable bottle warmer is so called on the go bottle warmer which often have various types, for example, some are using a heating element or warm packs, and others are serving specifically as car bottle warmer; while some are battery-powered which you can warm your baby bottle anywhere anytime, like Warmer Lab Portable Bottle Warmer 2.0.
Whether you use traditional bottle warming methods or using portable/ non-portable baby bottle warmers, keeping milk/ breast milk/ formula/ baby food in appropriate temperature gives our babies healthy stomach and nutrient absorption.