To find this unhygienic?

[TeenyTinyToria]

Recently, I've seen a number of mothers go into public toilets, fill up a baby's bottle with hot water from the sink, add milk powder, and feed the baby. AIB totally U to find this disgusting and unhygienic, and think there must surely be a better alternative?

I used to make the formula up with freshly boiled water in a sterilised jug, then decant into sterilised bottles, then cool rapidly in a sink of cold water, then refridgerate. My HV told me to do it that way as the near boiling water would kill off anything in the formula. This was six years ago, though

Chellesgirl - I don't think most domestic tanks would have water that was seriously dangerous as we've all had bath water in our mouths as children and we lived to tell the tale - but I did have cause to look in mine the other week and it was covered in a thick moudly scummy crust , and a plumber once told me that he often finds dead birds and vermin in them, but I think that probably tends to be in commerical premises or very run-down old places, where the lid of the tank has broken and not been re-fixed.

Do you spend a lot of time in public toilets?

YUCK! I wouldn't drink the water so def would not give it to a baby.

If you are really stuck when you are out, and don't have boiled water on you either buy cartons or use bottled water (need to take care its a low sodium one like evian) - although I agree for a baby under 6 months would want to err on side or caution and only use freshly boiled water.

i think that is disgusting! i have a 12 week old baby,i've always cooled the water to correct temp and store in a small thermos from asda which i fill up and use when i need to make feeds,it's also a good size that i can take with me when i'm out so i have a feed freshly made-up when she needs it.there are many changing guidelines that parents get confused,but public toilets..yuck!!

Tiggy's right - a domestic tank wouldn't normally have dead birds or rats in it, but even if the tank is new, the water sits still in the tank and that's what makes it not good for consumption. And scum does build up. It's not that it's going to poison you, it's just not a great idea to drink it iyswim. I wouldn't even use it for the kettle. Running water from the cold tap is much cleaner.

I can drink hot water in my house, however, because I don't have a tank, my water is heated instantly by gas. I drank bath water when I was a child (by sucking the sponge and the loofah!) and I'm still here and am rarely ill...

How come you cannot boil kettle, leave to cool for 20 mins, make up formula, shake, plunge into cold water to cool completely and refrigerate? I used to make up 4 at a time as thats how many my micro steriliser held in exactly this way.

I observed someone in a cafe a short while ago who filled a bottle with water from a Thermos, added formula from one of those dispensing things, then shook. Formula hardly dissolved and was clumpy and sticking to the sides. She still fed baby it though.

Also, has anyone answered the day nursery/childminder setting question posed earlier yet? Do the nursery nurses/childminders have to make up bottles as and when?

Apologies if its been answered and I missed it.

Is that why when my mum washes the dishes she does them all in hot water then rinses them one by one in cold water? I always thought it was to get the bubbles off, now i know it is to get the minging mouldy water off... vom

I think that some of you are missing the point:

eg morloth

"Depends on how old the baby is that the bottle is being made up for. After 6 months I can't imagine that it matters. DS was licking the dog, eating whatever he could find on the ground and generally being feral by that point."

eg fernie3

From some of the foul things I have pulled out of her mouth the last few months I think this is probably one of the things least likley to make her ill!.

Yes of course the risks of a baby becoming ill are much higher the younger they are - this is due to the underdeveloped immune system.

It is also recognised now that in order to support the healthy functioning of the immune system it is generally better to be using soap and water for most cleaning and not using too much antibacterial spray.

However the bacteria which your DCs pick up from the floor/dog etc are much lower in number and not necessarily the nasty ones which may be in the formula powder.

What you are doing with formula powder is taking an unsterile product and then turning it into a liquid at room temperature - milk - which is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Thus you have the risk of essentially a serious food poisioning.

sapphire87 - I totally agree - it is much easier and safer to use ready to feed when out an about. This is what I did.

I am sorry but I really don't understand why people are not managing to engage with this issue.

Presumably you wouldn't give your young DCs uncooked egg or non-pastuerised cheese/milk due to the risk of food poisioning?!

Why on earth are you not prepared to make up formula using water of at least 70 deg C in order to (hopefully) kill of potentially deadly bacteria?

There are alternatives in order of decreasing risk but

ADDING FORMULA TO WATER WHICH IS LESS THAN 70 DEG C SHOULD NOT BE DONE.

DP has a cast-iron stomach and will eat/drink anything but even he was shitting through the eye of a needle was rather ill when someone gave him a mug of hot water from the tap when he asked for a drink of hot water (rather than tea or coffee)

I used to make FF by adding about 2oz or so of boiling water and mixing it, then adding cold so it was cool enough to drink. Is that not OK?

I don't really buy this "they're putting things in their mouths so why bother sterilising/using boiling water" argument.

A bottle of warm, sugary formula is the ideal breeding ground for any bacteria that might be around, hence it makes sense to be extra careful with it.

I do think that some things are riskier than others though. Making up feeds in advance, while not ideal, is far less risky than using hot tap water.

This is one of the reasons I breastfed. Too lazy for all that faff with forumula!

And to the OP - EWWWWW!!!!!1

Re: hot water tanks. Ours sprung a leak, on Tuesday. The colour and texture of the residual sludge coming out of the bottom of it was pretty vile. Nasty stuff!

I'm looking forward to our shiny new combi boiler for several reasons! (mostly because I'm dying for a decent hot bath!)

tabouleh you are the voice of reason! Never understood why someone wouldn't do it as per the guidelines just because no one they know did it that way and its a pita. Its only for a year so not long at all in the grand scheme of things!

The op is so unbelievable im not sure i believe it

Thing is, the guidance seems to change every 10 minutes, whereas personal/family experience doesn't.

Same as with the "Don't Eat" list for pregnancy, it is quite hard to take any of it seriously anymore.

I don't parent by "guideline" I parent as I was parented and by what seems sensible to me. Will pay attention to actual scientific evidence and still do what I think is the most sensible course of action.

OK Morloth - so you've read this and you disregard it?

The thing is as new scientific evidence is found and risks exposed the guidelines are updated.

Many people in the recent past applied your "logic" to smoking.

i.e. "oh well they never used to say smoking was bad for you, Uncle Tom smoked 60 a day and lived until he was 90 etc etc"

Is your personal/family experience in micro biology? If not then why listen to them rather than reading evidence and guidelines set out by the FSA?

Well my family logic is to breastfeed until around 2ish so yes I do mostly disregard that because by the time any baby of mine is getting formula (i.e. a bottle here and there if I haven't gotten around to expressing and I wish to go out over the time a milk feed might be necessary) I think their bodies are well and truly capable of taking care of anything that might be in the milk.

I listen to them because between us we a cumulative 100+ years of raising healthy children (including my Mum, my MIL and my older sisters) often under physically trying conditions, i.e. outback Australia where there is fuck all water of any description.

You seem very upset that people might have different experiences and choose to follow the evidence of their own eyes rather than follow the "rules".

I only used ready milk for 1st year, just didn't like the idea or stress of making up feeds.

It would be a miracle if they haven't got seriously ill from making up feeds with a hot tap. How can a babies underdeveloped body be able to withstand that level of bacteria?

Oh yuck, I knew it was rather unhygienic, but I didn't realise quite what was in the hot water. That's even worse now I know the facts!

Claw - what a peculiar question! I commute to work every day, so spend a moderate amount of time in toilets, but nothing out of the ordinary.

tabouleh I gave my 6mo baby unpasteurised cheese on a regular basis.

When I read a guideline about childcare, I look it up read the research and make up my own mind about what I'm going to do. In a proportional risk sense we are far far too worried about food poisoning which is really a very minor risk especially for otherwise healthy children. DD (while breastfed) actually escaped the severe food poisoning DP and I got once although she had eaten the same food.

I wouldn't make up formula from bathroom water though. Yuk.

oh this thread is making me even more desperate to be able to BF when my baby comes - I can't face the hassle of FF! You must have to be so organised!