Do I need Bottle Liners?

  

Bottle liners are a nifty invention. They are convenient to use since you just place the liner inside the baby bottle and then place the milk in the liner. The baby bottle doesn’t get wet which means you don’t have to do a lot of scrubbing.

In the Philippines, bottle liners are not commonly used. There are limited stores that sell these products. But, you can find sellers online. Still, bottle liners are not a must have here when you have a baby, at the moment, that is. It’s probably because a lot of mothers are breastfeeding, a lot of parents don’t know or are unfamiliar about bottle liners, and because it’s an additional expense. It’s basically cheaper to just use the baby bottle and then scrub and sterilize it after using.

We encountered bottle liners during our travel abroad. That was the first time we heard of a bottle liner and knew that such a thing existed. This was an answer to the dilemma that we were facing with our upcoming travel back home. We only brought along a few baby bottles and knowing that International flights take several hours, the bottle liner would be a convenient choice. I couldn't imagine washing a used baby bottle inside the plane and then not being able to sterilize it. It would also be difficult to bring along so many bottles and fit them inside our carry-on bag. And so that’s how we met the bottle liner.

Our little babet uses Dr. Brown’s bottles and unfortunately, we were unable to find a bottle liner specifically made for this type of bottle. We ended up using a slim type bottle liner from Tugaboos. Because it’s not specifically made for Dr. Brown’s bottles, it wasn’t a perfect fit. But it had to do since it was able to somehow fit and hold the milk. The issue we had with the liner was that the cap ring of the baby bottle, the one that holds the nipple in place, wouldn’t be sealed tightly because of the bottle liner in between. This resulted in a few leaks especially while shaking the bottle to mix the formula and the water. Although only a few leaks, we just placed a bib or a small towel underneath our little babet’s chin in case it leaked again. Also, although we purchased an 8oz. bottle liner, there is only a small gap from the opening of the liner to the 8oz. mark. This meant that we couldn’t actually prepare an 8oz. milk because it would overflow. But again, the bottom line is that we weren’t able to find a Dr. Brown bottle liner in the first place that’s why we encountered these issues.

We recently checked whether there really is a bottle liner for Dr. Brown’s baby bottles but couldn’t find anything. Perhaps they don’t have any liners at all. Although we found out that they now have wide-neck bottles and these could possibly make use of wide-neck bottle liners made for other brands. If you happen to try them out, let us know.

Now going back to the question of do you need bottle liners? Considering that you’re living in the Philippines, you don’t need to use bottle liners for daily feeding. For short travels by land, sea or air, you can live without one although, it will be convenient to have bottle liners around. For long haul flights, especially if you’re already bottle-feeding, you’ll still get through without them but they sure are great to have around. It’s convenient and disposable. You also don’t have to worry if you’ll run out of clean bottles. If you’re concerned about reusing the nipple, you can always bring along extra nipples that have already been washed and sterilized. Plus, they’re easier to carry than baby bottles.

The answer to the question will really depend on what do you need bottle liners for. The box we bought contained 100 pieces and we’ve only used them during that flight. But here’s something that will help you decide if you need one or not: if you don’t have a means of sterilizing the bottles then bottle liners will be a great help to you. Just make sure that you do a test run and that it’s the right fit for your baby’s bottles. 

Better Tasting Medicine

Children can get sick for a variety of reasons. This includes not eating the right kind of food, no proper hygiene, change in weather, getting infected, and many others. Some of these can be treated without the need for medicines while there are other illnesses that require taking medication.

Over-the-counter medicines for children typically include medicine feeders, droppers or small measuring cups. They also have great tasting flavors, making it easy to take for children. Some parents may have children that just don’t like taking medicines. Perhaps it’s due to the taste or they really just don’t feel well. We didn’t have difficulty with letting our little babet take her medications when she was already over a year old. When she was just a few months old, it was a bit difficult primarily because she was still a little baby and was probably not accustomed to the taste of medicine. However, there are cases where over-the-counter medicines just won’t do and your pediatrician prescribes an antibiotic for your child. If you’ve never had any trouble letting your child take antibiotics then lucky you. But for most parents, I believe, this is when the real struggle begins.

Why struggle, you ask? It’s simply because antibiotics do not taste good. If medicines for cough, colds, fever, and allergies can be made to taste better, antibiotics just taste like, well, medicine. Some have added flavors but these just don’t mask it enough and still leave a certain taste. Plus, antibiotics have certain textures that add to the problem. And when children really taste medicine, they don’t want to have anything to do with it. It makes giving medications frustrating and you end up forcing it on your child just so they will get better. Which really makes me wonder, why can’t they make better tasting antibiotics?

I’m no pharmacist and perhaps there is a good reason why. Maybe adding flavors could interfere with the medicine’s efficacy. If you’re suggesting trying a tablet/capsule instead, then that’s another struggle since you have to teach the child how to swallow it first (I'm imagining how I'll explain this to a 2-year-old). Crushing the tablet so that it will be in powder form and then mixing it with food or juice seems like a better option. But still, your child may still be able to detect something tastes a bit different. There are those suggesting on mixing liquid medication with fruit juices and the like. So we ask again, doesn’t this affect the medicine’s efficacy?

You know what works for your child and you know what doesn’t. Our little babet, for example, doesn’t seem to like even bubblegum flavored chewable tablets. Then again, what works for them when they are still young may not work anymore when they’re a bit older. Forcing medicines may give them a traumatic experience and no parent would want that. However, they do have to take their medication and when there’s no other way to go about it, parents are left with no choice.

How about using a syringe type feeder and then placing it at the right position in your child’s mouth? Well, this is worth another try and actually looks promising. Let’s just hope and pray that our little babet doesn’t throw up like she did on a previous occasion.

If you have the same dilemma and would like to try some of these methods, make sure that you ask your pediatrician if doing so is okay and will not affect the medicine’s efficacy. Ask them for suggestions on how to best give the medicine, especially when it doesn’t taste good. 

There has to be a better way; one that doesn’t involve forcing or that doesn’t leave a traumatic experience. There has to be a way that won’t make parents feeling frustrated or that cause children to become anxious when it’s time to take their medicine. And so we continue to hope that there will be better tasting antibiotics in the near future. 

If you have the same experience, let us know. We’d love to know how it worked out for you and your little one.

Ice Candy: A Simple Summer Treat

It’s summer time once again! Every child looks forward to this time of the year since school’s out and that means more time for fun and play. It also means time for cool summer treats.

Summer time in the Philippines is definitely hot. This is why a lot of families go to the beach to cool down or spend time in places that have cool weather. Eating Halo-Halo, Mais con Hielo, and other cold treats are also common during this season. People basically prefer activities and foods that make them feel cool and refreshed. It’s a way of beating the summer heat.

If you’re looking for a cool summer treat that is cheap but enjoyable, ice candy would be it. I don’t know about you but ice candy brings back a lot of childhood memories.  Ice candy meant happiness. It’s a sweet treat that you can easily make plus it’s cold and can come in different flavors.

This treat doesn’t need to have a lot of ingredients. We used to make ice candy from a sachet of powdered fruit juice (Tang or Eight o’clock). Just mix the powder with one liter of water and that makes a lot of ice candy. It’s delicious and refreshing. You can also try making ice candy from a chocolate powdered drink such as Milo or Ovaltine. Just add sugar according to your liking. Although the powder is already mixed, it tends to settle to one side. We just turn it to the other side a few times before it becomes completely frozen.

What we love about ice candy is that you can mix and match whatever flavors you like. You can go for a halo-halo ice candy, buko pandan, and all those other flavors or you can just have it like flavored ice. It’s a simple summer treat but it’s guaranteed to be fun. Having the kids help in the preparation also makes it an instant family bonding activity.

So make some ice candy today. You’ll enjoy eating it, make money by selling it, and definitely delight your little ones and the kids at heart.

Do you have any kid-friendly summer treats? We’d love to try it.