Travel with Children - do you wash baby bottles in the airplane bathroom?

going to be on a 16+ hour flight and wondering about cleaning bottles for infant. theres always a sign in the bathroom not to drink the sink water.

so, is this water not clean for washing bottles with? i know on that long of a flight im going to need to wash a few

You could wash them but I would not recommend re-using them until you have had the opportunity to properly clean them at your destination as there remains a chance of contamination, even with the potable water on board.

United States EPA: Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/airlinewater/basic.cfm)
Health Canada: Aircraft Inspection Program FAQ (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/travel-voyage/general/airplane-aeronefs-eng.php)
Health Canada cautions air travellers with compromised immune systems regarding water quality on aircraft (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2006/2006_53-eng.php)
UK: The Microbiological Quality of Water Onboard Aircraft (http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1197382219738)

NO! Yuck.

If I were in your shoes, I'd be spending a little $ to go get the Playtex Drop Ins bottles, some spare nipples, and a small box of the liners.

Then all you have to do is have one or two bottle shells, the liners, and two nipple bags: one for clean and one for dirty.

When it's time to feed, drop the liner in the bottle, fill it, and attach the nipple. When baby is finished, put the used nipple in the dirty bag, throw away the liner, and voila. Repeat.

going to be on a 16+ hour flight and wondering about cleaning bottles for infant. theres always a sign in the bathroom not to drink the sink water.

so, is this water not clean for washing bottles with? i know on that long of a flight im going to need to wash a few

Not for immediate reuse without additional wash elsewhere.
We always buy smaller travel size similac bottles for the road. If your formula doesn't come in small packaging i agree with vicarious_MR'er Playtex Drop Ins suggestion.

actually we just switched to the playtex liner bottles for travel purposes, but the nipples are quite costly, (like $6 for 3) and we use about 10 in 24 hours, so wasn't going to spend the extra $, to buy a pile of nipples, but will now. otherwise will wash nipple with bottled water. thanks all for the advice.

It's well worth the money. Believe me! :) With all the baby stuff you will have to bring on board in addition to the bottles, you'll be so thankful to have the Playtex system and not a lot of other bulky bottle systems

FWIW, I've washed plenty of bottles in airplane lavs. We would bring our own dish soap, and just use bottled water from the galley.

Those airplane bathrooms are really difficult. You have to depress the taps. If you are alone, this will not be an easy task!

For such a long flight, I would switch over to a system with disposable liners. I know Playtex and Avent have them, maybe some others. For such a long trip, it's worth changing bottle systems. You'll also find it easier when you're out and about.

To make your trip easier, fill up the bags ahead of time with the amount of formula you need, roll them up and put them in a ziplock. Then you only have to add the water. This is much easier than jiggling individual packets or those clumsy separator tubs.

I did wash the nipple and ring on the plane. You can ask for some hot water to do a final rinse in a cup. No, there is NOT always a sign in the bathroom saying not to drink the water. On some flights, especially short hops, you might find them but on long-haul international, the water, in theory is drinkable.

I'm living proof that it is lol! In my years as a Flight Attendant, I never had any problems with crews or passengers with the water on board. Maybe my airlines were super-careful? Go with bottled if you prefer and/or talk to your ped.

Make sure your baby takes his/her bottle at room temperature. A warm bottle has no health advantage and is a real pain to do when traveling.

Do NOT depend on the airline to supply you with endless bottled water. You need to anticipate how much you'll need. We barely had enough for the first meal service and then it was the filtered tap on board.

No, there is NOT always a sign in the bathroom saying not to drink the water. On some flights, especially short hops, you might find them but on long-haul international, the water, in theory is drinkable.

A lack of a sign does not mean the water is not contaminated. Planes are filled up with water all over the world and getting bacteria out of the tanks is difficult.

Any contaminants in the water may not impact a healthy adult, but airplane water is not a good choice for those with compromised immune systems or for young children.

As for heating/boiling the water, water boils at a lower temperature at altitude so it does not get hot enough to kill bacteria.

As for filtered tank water, last I knew (which is when the studied were being done) Boeing only offered a filter for taste; there was no filter for bacteria.

There are stories of FA's filling up brand name water bottles from the taps when the brand name stuff runs out.


To be safe use disposables.

On the road, my wife will only wash bottles with water boiled in the hotel room coffee maker. We did a 16+ hour flight LAX-BKK back in December -- just took extra bottles in the bag. I think we used 4 Playtex VentAire in total (basically one every few hours, with a gap since he slept for a long period in the middle of the flight).

A lack of a sign does not mean the water is not contaminated. Planes are filled up with water all over the world and getting bacteria out of the tanks is difficult.

Any contaminants in the water may not impact a healthy adult, but airplane water is not a good choice for those with compromised immune systems or for young children.

This is why I said in theory.

As for heating/boiling the water, water boils at a lower temperature at altitude so it does not get hot enough to kill bacteria.

I swear to you that we noticed that our water wasn't as hot after than infamous McDonald case where the woman won this huge settlement after being burned by her coffee.

It did steam but it was just the minimum temperature for making tea and coffee.

I did put plane water in my son's bottles on long haul flights and he never had any problems. He only started bottles at 4 months old and was weaned at about a year so I realize this is not the same situation as a formula fed infant whose immunities are different.

As for filtered tank water, last I knew (which is when the studied were being done) Boeing only offered a filter for taste; there was no filter for bacteria.

Would welcome any information you have on this subject. Start a separate thread as many parents/passengers would be interested. I can say that the water was restocked in stations with reliable supplies so in theory, if we had had problems on board, the local inhabitants of that community would have too.

Just a reminder to parents who use formula, not all water brands are suitable for babies so find out which are at whatever layover station you pass through and want to restock. Waters with minerals sold as diet aids are especially suspect. I can say that French waters Evian and Vittel are sold worldwide and can be used in baby bottles.

There are stories of FA's filling up brand name water bottles from the taps when the brand name stuff runs out.

That happened on my flights! Hopefully they've cracked down. Not only is this misleading to the passengers but it's also a copyright violation. Some F/A's would pull off the label in an attempt to be more honest about it but I, for one, as a passenger wouldn't notice it. I also figured they started doing it again once I went back to the front of the plane :rolleyes:

Our supervisors came into briefings and read us the riot act on this. Even using the bottle is a copyright violation. Of course, some of you reading will think that the copyright is less important than the health and honestly reasons. It's all valid so if you see this, report it. Say something to the purser on board. Mention the copyright issue to crack any "...just for convenience and our water is fine..." arguments.