It's been a long time since I participated in Works For Me Wednesday, but I realized today that this little habit of mine might be of service to other working moms - especially those of you who are trying to juggle little ones, diaper bags, and briefcases on your way out the door to daycare!
If you are bottlefeeding with powder formula, make things a bit more efficient and less stressful by "staging" your bottles ahead of time. What's staging mean? How do you do it? Read on....
"Staging" means getting everything set up and ready to move out in advance. That way you can just grab 'n go, basically, when the time is right. And at no time are things more urgent than when a brand new little one is hungry RIGHT THIS SECOND.
Here's what my hubby and I do to try to make things a bit easier when the pressure's on:
- Get all of your bottles washed in one fell swoop. Line 'em up to dry in an assembly line manner: bottles in one row, nipples, rings, caps, etc. You want to be able to grab, fill, fit, finish.
- When things are dry enough, prefill the bottles with room-temperature filtered water. Note: this is ONLY water, no formula! (We have a Brita filter on the counter that is constantly filled with water for this purpose. You could also buy Nursery brand water jugs or something similar, but we wanted to cut out the cost of the bottled water since we use so much.) Assemble the nipples, rings, etc and cap everything up.
- Put the filled, finished bottles in a cupboard that is near at hand, along with your formula container. If you know you're headed to daycare or a playdate the next day, put the appropriate number of water-filled bottles in your diaper bag(s).
- We do this in the evening and place two bottles on the dresser along with some formula - way easier when you're staggering out of bed at 3 a.m. for a feeding! Now everything is ready for that night and the next day.
Why does this work for me? I learned with my first child that having formula made with room-temperature water was perfectly safe and acceptable for her (she didn't know anything otherwise, so she didn't demand a heated bottle) and it was easier on me (everything was pre-poured except the powder, which I scooped in as needed, and I didn't have to hit the kitchen to heat anything up). Fewer delays meant fewer freak outs over hunger. Just measure, shake, and feed.
If you have a nanny or daycare provider I'm sure she'd find this helpful. After all, it takes some stress out of her day as well! Same reason: less to do, fewer tummy-invoked tantrums, and plain ol' efficiency. Works for Me!
Oh, and here's a little view of what my staged bottles look like (courtesy of the new phone with camera - had to play with my new toy!):
Oh what a GREAT idea!!!!! Thanks for the tip girl!!! That'll work great for when I go back to work too, and bringing Madison with me! ;)
Posted by: Danae | September 27, 2007 12:39 PM | Permalink to Comment