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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

How long do I need to boil drinking water (dd 7.5 mths)?

20 replies

pinkydinky2 · 09/09/2010 17:56

DD is 7.5 mths and I'm just wondering how long do people keep boiling drinking water before just giving ordinary tap water?

Also does anyone still sterilise sippy cups at this age?

OP posts:

sowhatis · 09/09/2010 17:57

i didn't.

but you will get the rule followers on here who did!!

RhinestoneCowgirl · 09/09/2010 17:59

Have always offered normal tap water in a clean (but not steralised) cup from 6 months.

Ineedsomesleep · 09/09/2010 19:55

Never did. Both DC started off drinking tap water when weaning started. And no, never sterilised a cup either.

colditz · 09/09/2010 19:55

You don't.

And sterilising was done to bottles only, always.

ButterpieBride · 09/09/2010 19:59

Sterilising is a bit daft once a baby is eating solids/chewing on toys/sucking teddies/all the other stuff that babies do.

Tillyscoutsmum · 09/09/2010 19:59

I didn't. I figured once they were rolling/crawling around putting non sterilised fluff in their mouths, there was no point in sterilising stuff or boiling water (assuming you're in the UK of course ?)

Seona1973 · 09/09/2010 21:54

tap water is fine as a drink from 6 months

Stokey · 09/09/2010 21:55

I filter, but have never boiled

lal123 · 09/09/2010 21:57

I've nver boiled water for my DDs.

moajab · 09/09/2010 23:15

I think I boiled water until 6 months with DS1 and not at all for DS2 or 3!

Clary · 09/09/2010 23:25

Never boiled drinking water.

Never sterilised anything for DS2 (breast fed till 13 mo but still...) he is the healthiest of my DC, never had eczema etc.

Original poster

pinkydinky2 · 10/09/2010 04:11

Thanks for that. No I don't live in the UK and even we don't drink tap water but I'm wondering if it's ok to give her water direct from the filter. I suppose that's probably the same (or even better) than UK tap water.

We don't have hot water in the tap (which is why I'm still sterilising the cups as I figure they might not be clean just washed in cold water)

I'm a bit paranoid about amoebas etc but there again she drank half of her bath water tonight which hadn't been treated at all so maybe I'm wasting my time.

Think I'm being a bit over cautious :) Will try to relax a bit now.

OP posts:

BaggedandTagged · 10/09/2010 04:30

Pinkydinky- it depends on why you dont drink the tap water - whether the problem is bacteria in the water or more an issue of dissolved particles from the pipes. The latter would be removed by many filters, the former wouldn't be (unless you've got a specialist filter for exactly that purpose- i.e not just a Brita filter).

I'm not sure what the thinking is on mineral/ distilled water for babies over 6 months. I live in Asia and we were told at ante-natal class NOT to use distilled water for babies' bottles and only to use mineral water if desperate because of the mineral content.

If it helps, we were told to make the bottles up using boiled cooled water- i.e. just boil it in the kettle as for a cup of tea. However, our tap water is "safe" to drink- the only reason most people filter is because it picks up a weird iron taste from the pipes.

Original poster

pinkydinky2 · 10/09/2010 15:31

Thanks B&T
We have a British Berkefeld filter which I think removes most things. Our tap water is probably heavily contaminated by bacteria and all sorts of chemicals. Up to now I've been electric kettle boiling the filtered water. Logically the filtered water should be safe for a baby to drink... what do you think?

I don't really have any one here to ask these things so if I hadn't come on mumsnet I would probably still have been boiling and sterilising til she was 6 :) I think I'm being a little over cautious and will probably stop sterilising immediately.

OP posts:

mrsjuan · 10/09/2010 15:36

I am pretty relaxed about such things but I think if your water is contaminated and you don't have hot water you should probably sterilise for a bit longer.
The filtered water should be fine though.

StarlightMcKenzie · 10/09/2010 15:38

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StarlightMcKenzie · 10/09/2010 15:40

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mathanxiety · 10/09/2010 15:43

If you have well water you should boil it. A filter removes chemicals and minerals but not bacteria afaik. If your pipes are lead, then filtering will be needed.

You need to find out where the water is coming from and in what sort of pipes. Is there a local authority that can give you a water report?

I think you should keep on sterilising especially if you don't have hot tap water.

getabloodygrip · 10/09/2010 15:46

I Put bottles and beakers in dishwasher from around 6-8 months. was soooo bored of sterilising.

Didn't boil water (other than for formula) for drinking after this time either.

BaggedandTagged · 11/09/2010 07:30

*"If it helps, we were told to make the bottles up using boiled cooled water- i.e. just boil it in the kettle as for a cup of tea

No way! Now THAT is dangerous!"*

Why- that's what SMA tell you to do- "Boil a kettle filled with fresh tap water and allow to cool for between 25-30 minutes before measuring the required amount of water"

As I said, where I live, the water is safe to drink. If it had bacterial contaminates in it then I wouldn't recommend doing that, so I gave that advice before the OP said that actually, they do have contamination issues.

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