Flying with Bottle Fed Baby

Hi everyone, we are going home to Australia at Christmas and my baby will be 6 months old at the time we fly. I am completely freaking out (yes 4 months in advance!) about not having enough bottles.


How many bottles of cool boiled water do I need to take and how many do the airlines allow me to take (I am looking into it with Virgin) and obviously i need to take into account delays, etc.


also what happens if i do run out of bottles, what water do I use? I know i'm probably overreacting, but i am really nervous about this.


I breastfed my daughter for 13 months and never had this problem. I feel like a first time mum all over again!

for a 9 hour flight i think i took 4 bottles with boiled water already inside. however for the next baby i will just take 2 bottles to rotate and use the boiled water that you can get from the air stewardesses. there has been a lot of discussion about the quality of this water and whether it ever reached a rolling boil and that there are particles in it etc etc. there are particles in it but i think it'll be okay for just a few bottles. it's not like they're going to drink that water forever. i think you can also used unboiled evian. people say bottled water should also be boiled but really if it's just a once or twice off, it should be fine. good luck!

Thanks so much. i feel al little easier knowing that in worst case, there is an option. Much appreciated.

In general you needn't worry as much as you are. Babies are pretty resilient. You'll be just fine on the hot tap water provided on the aircraft. Besides being clean to start with, it's hot enough to kill any pathogens.


"How many bottles of cool boiled water do I need to take and how many do the airlines allow me to take (I am looking into it with Virgin) and obviously i need to take into account delays, etc."


Your best option is to buy some Evian or Volvic before you board (after security).


"also what happens if i do run out of bottles, what water do I use? I know i'm probably overreacting, but i am really nervous about this."


They have bottled water on the plane. And tap water. This is nowhere near as big an issue as you seem to think.




"people say bottled water should also be boiled but really if it's just a once or twice off, it should be fine. good luck!"


Those people are mistaken. Bottled water is sterile. Otherwise you'd get algae and other goo in the bottle. Bottled water is as bacteriologically clean as it gets. Boiling it is totally pointless.

Thanks, i realised after i posted this that i could buy some bottled water and have them boil it if need be. but as usual milk brain has addled my brain cells. I know it will be alright, but i'm just used to have my milk "on tap". So this is all a new ballgame for me!


So why are we bothering boiling water to begin with to bottle feed if the bottled water is already sterlised in normal day to day use?