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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Very surprised by this - but perhaps lots of mums do it.....

28 replies

welshmum · 10/10/2005 20:00

A mum came to our house today with her 2 children. She seemed pretty strict on the food front for her ds - bringing organic juice, very healthy snacks and fruit but then when making up the bottle for her dd(6 months) she used water straight from our tap..... Does she know something I don't? Is it ok to do this? Anyone fill me in?

OP posts:
muppet73 · 10/10/2005 20:03

not an expert but I thought it had to be cooled boiled water

aloha · 10/10/2005 20:04

I would if I was formula feeding. I give tap water straight to my dd.

spookyserenity · 10/10/2005 20:05

No, from 6 months I would use water straight from the tap. I started giving DD a drink of water with her meals and never worried about boiling it first. We have exceptionally good tap water in this country imo.

startingtobehalloweenylover · 10/10/2005 20:05

i think you can use tap water from 6 months.

i wouldn't... but that's only because our tap water is pretty skanky

stitch · 10/10/2005 20:05

she was probly going by the assumption that since they get their hands grubby and then put them in their mouths, it is probly ok.
personally i always boiled water for making formula. even though i wasnt sterilising anything. its just that milk is an excellent growth medium for bacteria

stitch · 10/10/2005 20:06

a drink of tap water is fine. no doubt. but to use it to make milk with isnt a brilliant idea.

Gomez · 10/10/2005 20:07

I would have as I gave tap water to drink, but we have got lovely, soft water up here - due to the huge amounts of rain!

WigWamBam · 10/10/2005 20:08

From what I remember my HV advised using cooled, boiled water for babies less than six months, and ordinary tap water after that. It's been a long time though and my memory might be a bit foggy!

hoxtonchick · 10/10/2005 20:08

i did this with ds from 6 months (i breastfed until then).

Eaney · 10/10/2005 20:09

I worry about lead pipes ever since a plumber told me that most old houses have them.

Witchycat · 10/10/2005 20:11

I would use cold water for a drink but boil the kettle to make milk because hot water from the tap has been hanging around in a tank and I'm not sure if formula would mix properly if you used cold & then heated it. Never tried it though so maybe it's ok.

Witchycat · 10/10/2005 20:12

We have lead pipes. I don't think boiling it gets rid of any lead traces so it wouldn't make any difference if it's lead you're worried about.

Eaney · 10/10/2005 20:15

I use a britta filter and the plumber said you should run your tap for a little while so that you get the water which was not sitting around in your lead pipes. All the lead pipes in outside our homes have ben replaced.

Witchycat · 10/10/2005 20:16

Does the filter help cut down the lead then Eaney? If so I'll get one tomorrow!

startingtobehalloweenylover · 10/10/2005 20:20

most formula can be made with cold water now.

i always use boiled. and I still sterilise my bottles too!

gingernut · 10/10/2005 20:22

I suppose if she was making it up fresh and using it straight away it would be OK because there would be no time for any bugs to multiply. But I'm with starlover, I always use boiled water and still sterilise.

Eaney · 10/10/2005 20:25

I think it removes some but not all. Running the tap is a good solution as well. Do you think you have lead pipes? I think your home would need to be about 100 years old but I'm not sure.

startingtobehalloweenylover · 10/10/2005 20:26

gingernut... that's what dp and i just decided! actually we still wouldn't use our tap water as it's skanky...
but we make them all up in advance so they're sat there all day... so i think need sterilising etc

KiwiKate · 11/10/2005 09:09

In New Zealand it is recommended that you boil the water when making formula until baby is 3 months old. After that boiling is not required (neither is sterilising bottles etc). Apparently continuing to sterilise too long means that baby's immune system is not sufficiently stimulated and it may not learn to react appropriately. I figure that they are going to put enough unsterilised things in their mouths anyway, so their immune systems will get plenty of stimulation!

bobbybob · 11/10/2005 09:32

Wouldn't boiling water with lead in it just concentrate the lead more?

spidermama · 11/10/2005 09:37

My baby was crawling or at least rolling all over the place with his hands on the floor grabbing at stuff.
I've never sterilised anything or boiled water for any of my four. I don't see the point.
That said I do use filtered water because our tap water tastes a bit chemically.

Catilla · 11/10/2005 09:56

If you are making the milk and feeding it straight away, tap water should be OK. The reason for continuing to boil when they're older is if you're going to store the bottle for a while - there is time for the nasties to grow. It's not so much about chemicals as the bacteria which are there but not growing until given time (and some milk to eat). Keeping bottles with just water in rather than milk is better, and keeping them in the fridge rather than out - but all helped by having boiled the water first.

anorak · 11/10/2005 09:59

If a house has lead pipes they must be old, and you can bet your boots they'll be furred up with calcium deposits so it's highly unlikely the water would ever come in contact with the actual lead.

GillL · 11/10/2005 10:39

I don't sterilise for 6 month dd anymore as she probably picks us loads of germs off the floor, cat etc but I still boil the kettle for her bottles. I make up enough in advance for the next day and make sure I take more than I need when I go out. I also make sure I carry spare ready-made cartons just in case.

LucyJones · 11/10/2005 10:41

if she was using tap water to make the formula did she heat the bottle up afterwards? Because if she ran the tap until it was cold poor thing wouldn't have had nice bottle of milk would they? Or did she use the hot tap?