Traveling - Rural UK with 14 month old, no mini fridges

[Anonymous]

Hello All - I've been attempting to book hotels for the week before Christmas in the UK as we travel around visiting my husband's family before we settle in an AirBNB for the bulk of our visit. It's our first time bringing DD across the pond and I'm stumped regarding hotel accommodation. It seems no-one between Oxford and Sheffield provide an in room mini fridge and when I ask for crib I am getting "you mean a cot?" in reply. Am I asking for too much? She'll be 14.5 months and will still be drinking milk - I'm also concerned because she's dairy intolerant so she'll most likely be drinking almond or soy. What's the solution to keeping milk cold when traveling if no one will provide a fridge? Especially since we'll be starting this journey after a long haul flight? Any advice would be great. We took her to the Carribean at 7 months but had no issues because resort provided crib and fridge.

[Anonymous]

"Cot" is British for crib. Surely your British family could tell you that?

Buy UHT milk (although if she's on almond milk, why bother?) Growing up in rural Scotland we had milk delivered daily and it sat outside all day, or we had UHT milk. Mini fridge in the US is a full sized fridge in the U.K. Our house had a fridge but it was teeny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Cot" is British for crib. Surely your British family could tell you that?

Buy UHT milk (although if she's on almond milk, why bother?) Growing up in rural Scotland we had milk delivered daily and it sat outside all day, or we had UHT milk. Mini fridge in the US is a full sized fridge in the U.K. Our house had a fridge but it was teeny.

I hadn't asked the UK Family yet for the reason of getting laughed at for being "so American". I thought I would start here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Cot" is British for crib. Surely your British family could tell you that?

Buy UHT milk (although if she's on almond milk, why bother?) Growing up in rural Scotland we had milk delivered daily and it sat outside all day, or we had UHT milk. Mini fridge in the US is a full sized fridge in the U.K. Our house had a fridge but it was teeny.

But UHT still needs to be refrigerated after opening correct?

[Anonymous]

I think you're overthinking this. Call or email the hotel and just say, "my toddler is allergic to cows milk and will need almond or soy. Is there a grocery store nearby that carries soymilk and do you have a fridge we could store it in?" It's a hotel in the UK, not the wild west. Or bring a case of individually sized cartons of soymilk in your checked baggage since those don't need to be refrigerated: https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Foods-Enriched-Non-Dairy-Beverage/dp/B0012C643C/ref=pd_sbs_325_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0012C643C&pd_rd_r=ZCM8VS3SQ8VW4ZP47P5P&pd_rd_w=iPAgB&pd_rd_wg=pZlp7&refRID=ZCM8VS3SQ8VW4ZP47P5P&th=1

And yes, a cot is a crib. I'm sure they mean a pack n play, just like hotels have in the States.

[Anonymous]

UHT does need to be in the fridge once opened. I reckon you will have fridge access everywhere, certainly every hotel room in the UK I have ever stayed in had one. I don't know about B&Bs but I am sure they will let you use their fridge in their kitchen. At that time of year you could even try keeping the milk outside!

[Anonymous]

We spend one month a year on the Isle of Skye in Scotland and it is as rural as it gets. Yes, a cot is is crib and yes, at 14.5 months, your DD could do with less milk for a couple of weeks. We still had our babies on toddler formula (HIPP) that tastes pretty good and is easy to transport dry and mix with water.

[Anonymous]

Why not get something like this?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Silk-Vanilla-Almondmilk-6-8-fl-oz-Aseptic-Packs/46027359?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227034246640&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=73610888552&wl4=pla-142858723712&wl5=9061284&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=46027359&wl13=&veh=sem

[Anonymous]

Surely wherever you are staying has a fridge you could stick milk in! Even the most rural in the UK isn't under-developed!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surely wherever you are staying has a fridge you could stick milk in! Even the most rural in the UK isn't under-developed!!

I was talking about IN-ROOM. It seems no one offers this.

[Anonymous]

Silk makes 6-8 oz shelf stable milk boxes. You can use as a last resort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silk makes 6-8 oz shelf stable milk boxes. You can use as a last resort.

I meant to say almond milk of course.

[Anonymous]

I think you might be over-thinking this! Many places will have a normal or travel cot (i.e. "crib" or "pack & play"). Some places may have a minibar in the room which you'd be able to put some milk in (I don't generally see mini fridges in most hotels - unless you just mean a minibar?), but smaller hotels/bed and breakfasts probably won't have these. You will be able to buy whatever milk you need - soy, almond, etc at any grocery store and nowhere in England is going to be far from a Tesco or similar. Those milks will be OK if they are not kept refridgerated. It is also December and it will be cold - worst case scenario you can leave the milk outside!!

[Anonymous]

leave the milk on the window sill outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Cot" is British for crib. Surely your British family could tell you that?

Buy UHT milk (although if she's on almond milk, why bother?) Growing up in rural Scotland we had milk delivered daily and it sat outside all day, or we had UHT milk. Mini fridge in the US is a full sized fridge in the U.K. Our house had a fridge but it was teeny.

But UHT still needs to be refrigerated after opening correct?

Yes but you can buy the small individual cartons. The taste is a little different so you should buy some now and start using it occasionally so that she isn't overwhelmed with new sensory experiences AND new food/beverages. At my grocery store the UHT milks are sold in the baked goods aisle but I've also seen the 6-packs of the individual sizes in the beverage/soda/water aisle.