Can you use bottled mineral water to make up formula?

[monkey32]

I am currently pregnant with DC3, due at the end of May. When bubba is 3 months old we are going to France on holiday. We have a plot of land where we 'glamp' (glamorous camp) - we generate our own electricity and pump water from our well. It's all wonderfully low-key and eco friendly.

I plan to be bottle feeding by then and wonder if it is possible to use bottled mineral water straight from the bottle to make up formula feeds? Or if I need to boil the water first? I wouldn't trust the water from the well - even after boiling.

Any advice gratefully received! Many thanks.

Although having said that my hospital seems very unFrench in many ways. But I was prepared for the 'oh yes, just use straight from the bottle' spiel!

You get HVs and MWs in the UK who don't seem to have caught up with the hot water guidelines from about 5 years ago though.

Jeez, heidipi..... it was just an innocuous suggestion. Why the touchiness?

Well I am French and I can tell you that I haven't heard of anyone sterilising anything for a long long time.

If you boil mineral water, you will be left with a deposit of calcium and other minerals at the bottom of the pan, taking away sone of the goodness and you can't just stir it all up again.

It's been Evian straight out of the bottle for my 3dds (when needed), and as drinking water too.

I know that the OP may not have problems - her decision to stop is not the point of the thread and none of our business. She was asking about mineral water FFS!

I'm sorry to be bitchy but I can't believe the number of posters who answer threads asking for advice about FF or stopping BF with comments like yours about how they should BF for however long and it's so much easier. People know their own minds and can make their own decisions. If they're struggling with a decision, they'll ask about that specifically, not something completely different!

Sorry to hijack your thread OP.

frak
glad you've got Health Professionals who are up to date

But.....if you google "comment preparer un biberon" (as I just have) you'll find lots of straight from the bottle advice and no mention if boiling.

When I left the maternite, it was written in the baby's carnet de santé to use cold Evian.

[Disclaimer I breastfed for 2 years so never had need for biberon :) ]

point taken, heidi.
I didn't meant to upset you.

Tomatefarcie - formula powder can contain bacteria that can make babies very ill, including salmonella and enterobacter. If the water isn't above 70c you kill any bacteria. I'm not sure babies really need any calcium/minerals from the water - they get goodness from the milk!

Well I had never heard of using cool boiled water until I moved here a few years ago.

I'm off to google France's neonatal infection rates, might learn something new today!

Greythorne - I think France and Belgium (and maybe some other countries) didn't adopt the WHO guidelines. Though they do have much higher rates of infections as a result.

Rita Morgan, you can heat up water without it actually boiling you know.

OK, so heat it to 70c instead then!

you can, but you really need to have a thermometer.
Plus, if you boil it, it'll take a while to get back down to the magic 70c, whereas, if you heat it to the temp needed ,you'll have to keep it at that temp while you make up the formula.
You'd need a pan and a thermometer, and a constant source of heat.

It may partly be here - they're quite hot in food hygiene, listeria etc as we're in the tropics - but in general seem quite aware of WHO guidelines. 4 hourly VEs rather than hourly in labour for example. they're also going for the amis des bébés mark thing so are v pro-BF as well

But it does demonstrate that the establishment is changing, although a lot of people aren't taking it on board. If you google bottle preparation you find a lot of English language websites giving advice saying cooled boiled water is safe still, despite the revised guidance having been around a long time.

And you can buy hideously overpriced machines to make your bottles for you

Sorry your having a crap time, heidipi. (Still don't think I deserved that response though..... it was just a suggestion - OP is free to think I'm a demented obsessed old bat if she wants to!!!)

All I am saying is that if you boil mineral water, you get manky crusty stuff at the bottom of the pan.

You don't get that if you just warm it up.

Recommendations in France and England are extremely different, including during pregnancy (in fact they are worlds apart!), so I just took some and left some, using common sense.

Have a great trip OP, sounds very Eco- friendly and relaxing!

Astonished at someone being concerned at losing water's 'goodness' through boiling!

Bamboostalk, no need to emphase one bit of my post that wasn't the point as such. Ffs. "being concerned"?? Hahahahahahahahahaha

you are right about the manky crusty stuff.
Maybe filter it first?
or, I 'm sure if you boil water with something like muslin in the pan, it stops it going funny.
But, if you're going to boil it, you'd be okay with tap water, anyway, wouldn't you?
But tap water or mineral water will taste different in france than it does at home (if she's not used mineral water before, obviously)

OP - you might be better getting ready-made formula, anyway.

"emphasise", that should have read.

Might be easier to just use ready made ?? and disposable bottles too

Regards breastfeeding pain if it's horrendous nipple chafing my healthvisitor gave me this fab stuff in a tube, it had the consistency of honey and sorted the problem within hours. I had been crying in agony during each feed before that

Lansinoh Apocalypse? It's magic as lip balm too

I ave no idea but it was marvellous

I only needed to use it once, passed it round some friends who had stingier HV's for a mass nipple healing session too

Back on proper pc (not iPhone) so can provide lonks. I ggogled "comment preparer un biberon" and I clicked randomly on a link on the first page of reults.

This is what i got:

Pour préparer les biberons :

• Lavez-vous les mains et installez-vous sur un plan de travail nettoyé.
• Prenez le biberon bien stérile.
• Remplissez-le à la quantité voulue soit d?eau minérale ou d?eau de source,

faiblement minéralisée (pas de bouteille ouverte depuis plus de 24 H), soit d?eau du robinet bouillie. Ne pas utiliser d?eau ayant subi une filtration ou un adoucissement.

• Verser la quantité de poudre nécessaire et fermer le biberon.
• Remuer fortement en roulant le biberon entre vos mains.
• Réchauffer le biberon, remuer encore et vérifier la température sur le dos de la main

avant de le proposer à bébé.

Pour voyager, l?idéal est de préparer vos biberons stérilisés avec la quantité d?eau nécessaire, éventuellement gardée au chaud dans un thermos. Mais il vaudra mieux, (pour des raisons de propreté) rajouter la poudre de lait juste avant la tétée.

My HV also said Evian was OK, others are too salty. Surely it is what comes out of the taps in Evian itself? (but then I suppose the others are what come out of the taps in other places). Anyway, it worked fine when the security folk at LeedsBradford airport made me throw away the sterilised water I'd brought for DS.

But top of the list on google for 'prepare baby bottle' is this!

It takes time for change but it is getting there.

Either way mineral waters which are marked suitable for babies are fine but you should still make bottles hot (above 70C) to ensure the bacteria in the milk powder are killed.