Although I plan to BF I can't imagine creating a stash that will sustain my child through the first year plus at some point other people will care and feed my child.
This Keurig-like formula dispensing machine has some great blog reviews. Anyone with real life experience using it? Do you think it's worth it if only used for 6-9 months? If we use this at home and send our child to daycare- how does daycare provide a quality formula filled bottle?
eggplant / 11824 posts
I exclusively formula fed and IMO, that is a total waste of money. Dr. Browns makes a great pitcher that mixes up formula quickly and effectively for less than $20. The pitcher mixer doesn’t add bubbles like shaking bottles does either (my LO was very susceptible to gas if we shook up the bottles to mix the formula). You can also just use a whisk and a bowl or large measuring cup (like a 4-cup one), which again gives you nicely mixed formula with no bubbles at very little cost.
For daycare, we premixed bottles the night before, filled them and took them in. Took maybe 10 minutes top each night.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
E was formula fed and it was really freaking easy. Dump formula in, add water, shake. Done. She took room temperature bottles so it's not like it had to be heated. This probably dispenses a perfectly warm bottle, and even then..it's only good for, what, an hour? Meh. And our daycare lady would mix our bottles for us. We just sent a canister of powdered formula and she'd make a bottle with tap water when E needed it.
There is nothing like the ease of your child taking a room temperature bottle, though, trust me.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
I formula feed/EP and for me, it's easier to use the liquid concentrate ... No bubbles and super easy to mix.
cherry / 188 posts
I gotta tell you, I love ours. Do you need it? Definitely not. Does it make things easier? Yeah, kinda. We inherited it from my brother and SIL and before we had it, my husband and I were like, "oh, that's so dumb! It'll just take up space on the counter." Then we got it, tried it out and we were like - oh. Yeah, this is really easy.
We use Costco's store brand formula, which is great except it gets really bubbly if you shake it up in the bottle. So we solved that problem with a Dr. Brown's pitcher, but then you have to sit there measuring like, 16 scoops of formula and the whole thing goes in the fridge, so then with each bottle we'd have to warm it to room temp by filling up another cup with hot tap water and letting it sit for a minute, while the baby was fussing... I mean, it's not the end of the world. But it's pretty nice to push one button and have a nice, warm bottle in ten seconds.
You absolutely don't need it. But it's nice to have.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@KatieBklyn: what about your childcare provider? Do you prep bottles with the machine and then daycare warms them up later?
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@Charm54: I haven't paid too much attention to the formula options on the market, but I had no idea besides the premade bottles liquid formula existed. For some reason we received three large sample boxes while TTC. I've been meaning to check out their expiration date and run them to a women & kids shelter if need be.
cherry / 167 posts
I'm in the minority here but having owned and used it from the beginning (DS is 7 months), we really love it. We exclusively FF so if you are only planning to supplement it's probably not worth buying. It's been super convenient for us. Our son was colicky and has reflux and it was nice to be able to push a button in the middle of the night when we were still half asleep 
. It pours the water and powder in together so it mixes that way and doesn't require shaking. We just swirled it a little bit and no bubbles! There are a couple plastic parts to wash every day and then you are supposed to clean the water reservoir and powder container monthly. Hope this helps! No experience with daycare as I SAH but it's been worth it to us.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: not many people are aware that liquid concentrate exists...I love it because it's smooth like the ready to feed (no bubbles!) but not nearly as expensive (though it is a bit more $$ than powder)
cherry / 188 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: My husband is home with him during the week; I'm home on the weekends. If we are going out, we usually bring Mixie bottles or the Enfamil on the go packets.
pomelo / 5660 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: For daycare you will need to pack bottles that are labeled, most daycares will not mix a bottle for you. I'm not sure how it would work if you are making a warm bottle and then put it in the fridge. Our daycare had bottle warmer.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@KatieBklyn: very cool. my husband is looking forward to his 6 weeks pat leave.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I agree with @BandDmommy: Talk to your DCP but most will not mix on a daily basis. So you will have to send pre-made bottles with the label. They will store in a fridge and most heat in a crock pot as needed through the day.
pear / 1737 posts
I worked in an infant program and parents brought in their formula, powder or liquid and we made the bottles for the kids. There were only a few parents who brought in either pumped milk or premixed bottles. Depends on your provider!
pomelo / 5298 posts
I second the mention of get the Dr Brown's picture for $20. Best $20 spent on formula feeding LO2. We are required to take prepared and labeled bottles to daycare. They will not mix. Our prior daycare (4 years ago) would mix.
Even now that LO won't take a bottle at daycare but still gets formula in a sippy. I take her formula in a sealable labeled container for them to transfer to a sippy for her during the day.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
How much is it? I am too lazy too look, lol. I would probably buy it. I never made formula more than one bottle at a time, it was too much too heat it from fridge cold and my son wouldn't take it without it being warmed.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@looch: $160 regular price, but with a Bed, Bath, Beyond coupon 20% off
kiwi / 556 posts
Am I the only crazy one who gives my daughter cold formula? 
I add water from our fridge dispenser. She's never seemed phased by it.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: My husband would be all over it. I am serious, he almost purchased a machine that made formula from pods. He loves gadgets and why not, you know? We at least needed the bottle warmer and I used an electric kettle, so that was already 2 things on my counter.
pomelo / 5660 posts
@ldh112: I went from EBF to WCM out of the fridge. Didn't phase my LO. So, why bother warming up if they don't care, lol...
apricot / 429 posts
I honestly don't know how I'd survive without ours. It makes an 8 oz bottle in 20 seconds, which is invaluable at 3am.
It's unnecessary, yes, but oh man, am I glad I bought it. We use drop ins, so we aren't able to microwave bottles, nor could we use a bottle warmer as the bubbles would seep into the liner.
Other than this machine, we'd have to constantly have warm water available and have to try to accurately measure water and formula in the middle of the night.
When we leave the house we just put warm water in her bottles and take tiny Tupperware containers full of pre-measured formula.
Easy Peasy.
grapefruit / 4663 posts
@ldh112: we also do room temp or cold bottles of both bm and formula neither kid has ever cared.
grapefruit / 4321 posts
I'm all for buying stuff that makes parenting easier if you can afford it. But this isn't something I would buy until you see how your feeding plan works out. Plenty of people successfully EBF for a year and if that's your goal, try to reach it before assuming you won't be able to and buying this as a back up.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@Truth Bombs: this wouldn't be an immediate purchase. I have a couple running lists of baby products I want to get. Besides there are only two things my husband really, really wants- breastfeed the baby and provide warm bottles. I'll try to comply with both, but I'm holding out on hope my baby will take a cold bottle.
kiwi / 556 posts
@BandDmommy: @jetsa:
I actually just looked it up and I guess preparing it with hot water kills any type of bacteria that could be in the formula since the powder isn't sterile. It's rare but has led to illness I guess. May have to rethink things!
coconut / 8472 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Why does your husband want to provide warm bottles? I did EBF, combo, and EFF, and life is SO much easier if baby will take room temperature or cold.
eggplant / 11824 posts
@ldh112: Wouldn't you have to use really, really water to kill bacteria though? Like, hotter than reheating bottles would provide??
kiwi / 556 posts
@yoursilverlining: This is what I found- Preparing formula with water hotter than 70 ⁰C (this kills the potential bacteria), and then cool it by standing the bottle in cold water.
http://www.lindageddes.com/133/pouring-cold-water-on-baby-formula
(Sorry for the thread jack- nice to have some ff moms to discuss with!)
persimmon / 1328 posts
@ldh112: in the UK all our formula packages say to prepare it with boiling water and then cool, to kill any bacteria. I didn't know that wasn't the case everywhere!
I used to put the powder in the bottle, add a little bit of boiling water, shake and then top up with tap water. That gave a warm bottle and was fine for us as we only ff from 7-12 months. If I was ffing a newborn or a baby that woke lots in the night I'd be well up for a machine though!
pear / 1946 posts
We've used it from almost the beginning with DS and I LOVE it. It makes the midnight feedings so much easier. I think spending $100 on something you'll use several times a day for 6-9 months is totally worth it. The only downsides I see are that you have to make sure you clean the spout daily or it gunks up, and since it always makes them at the "perfect" temperature my son is now picky and doesn't like cold bottles. Other than that I would definitely recommend it to anyone using formula on a regular basis.
grapefruit / 4355 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: When DH first proposed getting one of these, I looked at him like he was crazy. My reply to him was the same as many of the people here. "It isn't hard to make a bottle." "Is it really that difficult to mix water and a couple scoops of powder?"
Then we got one. And I am 100% sold. It honestly might be my favorite baby purchase that we have made. It is so convenient especially when you're half asleep. And my baby still takes room temperature bottles (from when we go out and about running errands and such) so having this machine does not mean that your kids will only want warm bottles.
@looch: Sam's Club sells them for $80.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@ShootingStar: IDK, but my guess is that is what he's been exposed to- his youngest sibling was born when he was a senior in HS and his friends all have kids. Everyone in his world gives warm bottles. When I showed him the list of stuff I picked out for the baby he was really excited to see the bottle warmer.
grapefruit / 4988 posts
My cousin had one of those and raved about it. She said it was so easy to prepare a bottle that she'd let her young kids do it for their baby sister so she wouldn't have to get up. I BFed my first but if I end up formula feeding #2, I will definitely be getting one.
pomegranate / 3565 posts
As a formula feeding mom, I wouldn't get it. Dr. Browns formula pitcher is cheaper and easy. And the best advice I ever got was to get hour baby used to cold formula. Mix a pitcher in the morning and no need to heat up bottles.
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