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Sitting down to feed your baby -- cradling her soft head in the crook of your arm as you gaze into each other’s eyes, then watching her nod off, full-bellied and blissed out on milk or formula -- can be one of the sweetest parts of motherhood. (And it’s also your best excuse to sit still for a chunk of time during your busy day.) Unfortunately, with bottle-feeding you also have to do a lot of prep work and cleanup work -- not exactly the precious moments you’ll look back on wistfully one day.
But just because they’re not memories to cherish doesn’t mean they have to be a slog. To help you get through those less-than-awesome tasks, here are eight tips to streamline your bottle-feeding routine so you can spend more time enjoying the best parts of having a baby.
1. Many parents swear by bottle warmers, but another line of thinking recommends getting your kid used to room-temperature bottles (or even bottles straight from the fridge!). Being able to skip the step of warming up the milk or formula can both save you time at home and offer more convenience when you’re on the go.
2. For parents (or babies) who prefer warm bottles, bottle warmers really do take the guesswork out of the process. They’ve also come a long way in the last few years, and not only can they heat both liquid and pureed baby food, but they also come in some pretty cool designs.
3. For warm bottles of formula when you’re out and about, a double-walled insulating mug can keep your water the right temperature until it’s time to pour it into a bottle holding premeasured formula powder. Get a mug with a tight-closing lid and toss it in your diaper bag for warm water all day long.
4. A formula dispenser that holds single servings of powder makes it easy to prep bottles in a snap, especially if you’re trying to do it in the middle of the night with your eyes half open and your brain half working.
5. This ingenious powdered formula dispenser works with the matching bottle, which you can pre-fill with water so you’ll be ready to mix up a serving whenever and wherever you need it.
6. If, while prepping your millionth bottle of formula for the day, you think to yourself, “There’s got to be a better way,” you’re right, there is! Use a formula pitcher to mix several bottles’ worth of formula at once. The special blending wheel breaks up clumps, and the spout makes filling bottles a snap.
7. Take premixing your formula to the next level with this formula dispenser made to hold up to 9 oz. of liquid formula.
8. Some moms cut to the chase and skip all the measuring and mixing in favor of ready-to-eat liquid formula. Take your pick of several major brands, and find the right version for your baby. What could be easier?
What time-saving tricks are part of your bottle-feeding routine?
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