Is A Bottle Warmer Necessary?

The truth is you can warm your baby’s milk in a number of ways other than using a bottle warmer. You can place the bottle in a bowl of hot water, heat the bottles in a microwave, or run them under warm tap water. So, is a bottle warmer necessary? My short answer is Yes. You definitely need one for the reasons we shall discuss in this article.

Table of Contents

• What is a bottle warmer?
• Reasons why a bottle warmer is necessary
  • Right temperature 
  • Time-saving
  • Consistent heating
  • Convenient

What is a bottle warmer?

In simple terms, a bottle warmer can be defined as an electric device that is used to warm babies milk in bottles.

It has a reservoir where water is put and the milk bottle is put either directly or using a small basket that comes with some bottle warmers. Once the warmer is switched on, the water starts to boil and circulates around the milk bottle, which warms the milk. For some bottle warmers, the heated water produces steam which heats the milk bottles.

If you are looking to purchase a good bottle warmer, see our complete bottle warmer buying guide here

Reasons why a bottle warmer is necessary

Right temperature

If your plan is to exclusively breastfeed your baby, then a bottle warmer is an absolute necessity. This is because you will often pump milk and freeze it, especially when you go back to work.

Warming frozen breastmilk by running under tap water or placing in a bowl with warm water can take forever.

In addition, it is not recommended to warm breast milk in a microwave since overheating may destroy the nutrients.

Bottle warmers come with a temperature control button. So you are sure that the milk warms at the right temperature without the risk of overheating. Some bottle warmers like the Kiinde Kozii are specially designed for warming breast milk. It uses a low temperature, which protects the nutrients in the milk.

Time-saving

Heating milk in a bottle warmer is quicker than boiling water in a kettle and then placing the bottle in until the milk gets warm. Sometimes the milk may overheat and you may have to wait for a few minutes for it cool down.

Furthermore, since a bottle warmer warms milk at a constant temperature, the milk does not overheat.  Therefore, you save you time that can be used to attend to other house chores.

Consistent heating

Bottles warmers do not only heat milk at the right temperature but also at a consistent temperature. Since you set the appropriate temperature yourself, there is no risk of the temperature increasing and causing the milk to overheat.

The temperature you set at the beginning remains consistent throughout the heating process until the milk is warmed evenly. Moreover, the automatic shutoff feature ensures that the heating stops within the set time.

Convenient

A bottle warmer is very convenient. This is because you can warm your baby’s milk anytime including in the middle of the night. If your baby feeds a lot at night, there are a number of bottle warmers designed for night time feeding. For instance, the First Years Night Cravings bottle warmer comes with a cooler where you can store milk bottles from the freezer and warm them quickly in your room to feed the baby at night.

Lynn

Lynn is a freelance writer, a wife, and a mother of two beautiful kids. Lynn started Infant Empire with the aim of making parenting easier for fellow mums and dads. She believes the parenting tips provided here will be of great help to all parents.