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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Do you need to boil bottled water?

15 replies

wearehipsandmakers · 26/06/2008 08:40

I'm in an area where they have announced the water supply is contaminated (pesky anglian water). I am ff a 3 month old and while they're saying boiling the water makes it fine I just feel more comfortable not using the tap water for her. I have a supply of cartons but it's going to be expensive to feed her on those for the weeks they reckon it's going to be before the all clear. If I use bottled water does it need boiling before using to make up feeds?

OP posts:
jelliebelly · 26/06/2008 08:43

I always thought that bottled water shouldn't be used for babies due to the level of minerals etc in it but maybe somebody more knowledgeable will come along.

EyeballsintheSky · 26/06/2008 08:48

I wondered this. I bought a little bottle of water in Boots last week. It was in the baby food aisle so presumably suitable for babies. Does that need to be boiled?

I think it's widely accepted that Evian is suitable for babies but not any of the others. Please don't quote me. I hope someone can confirm the brand.

cmotdibbler · 26/06/2008 08:50

According to NHS Direct, no. Theres advice here on using it, and which type to look for

GentleOtter · 26/06/2008 09:01

Due to our polluted private water supply, we have had to rely on bottled water for our baby since day one. This included bathing him in it as we too had cryptosporidium, e coli etc in the water.
(It would appear that Scottish landowners are excempt from prosecution )

The cheapest water we could find was from Tesco but they only allow you to buy 10 bottles at a time. It is 17p for two litres.

Our baby is now one and has been reared exclusively on bottled water although we now use boiled and cooled tap water to bath him.

The most recent water test here gives an unacceptably high level of acidity so it seems we are stuck with bottled water for a long time to come.

GentleOtter · 26/06/2008 09:02

(I wrote without thinking - bottled water to drink plus bf)

Parofleurmapu · 26/06/2008 09:05

hi living here in Spain Have a 1 month old. You cant drink any tap water here ever. Here we have two types of bottled water that dont have the added minerals and you dont have to boil them first. I just make up the formula and heat it up, doing this on advice of pediatrician.

Original poster
wearehipsandmakers · 26/06/2008 09:21

Thanks for your help- I shall go check the bottled water I have (of course people were buying bottled water yesterday like they were preparing for a drought so I may not be able to buy much anyway!)

OP posts:
tiktok · 26/06/2008 09:27

Yes, of course the bottled water needs to be boiled....all formula has to be made up with water that has been boiled and cooled to no more than 70 deg C. This is to kill the bugs in the formula powder. In addition, you don't know how long the water has been in the processing/bottling stage - the reason for boiling is to ensure the water is clean enough for a newborn to ingest. Bottled water may have minerals and other stuff in it, but it not necessarily any cleaner than tap. Not an issue for older babies and toddlers and adults, of course, but a young baby is more vulnerable.

Your health visitor should confirm all this.

FAQ · 26/06/2008 09:30

hello OP - I'm just down the road from you in Wellingborough

Poohbah · 26/06/2008 12:01

Yes you do and some bottled water has quite a high sodium content (salt)so look at the labels and choose the one with the lowest salt content.

Tiktok - You are very good at telling people how they should and shouldn't say things so I hope you won't mind me commenting that by putting "of course" in bold kinda insinuates that you feel that the OP is asking a silly question and should know that bottled water should be boiled when actually it is a very valid and important question and maybe her Health visitor is on visits and hasn't got back to her yet.

Original poster
wearehipsandmakers · 26/06/2008 14:11

FAQ- waving right back at you! are you having to boil your water too?
Poohbah- thank you, I did feel a little bit patronised; particularly as the NHS link from cmotdibbler says you should boil it (I think) but that you don't have to, if in a disaster situation you may not be able to. not that it's quite that disastrous here!
But thank you all for your help.

OP posts:
tiktok · 26/06/2008 14:38

Sorry - the bolding of of course was not really meant for the OP, but for the chorus of people who came after her, merrily and spectacularly missing the point

Not really meant for anyone personally!

FAQ · 26/06/2008 15:41

No thankfully apparently your water comes from Pitsford, whereas ours comes from Rutland.

EyeballsintheSky · 26/06/2008 21:07

OK, I know it's a bit of a hijack, my comment wasn't particularly clear and as I was one of the chorus of people who came after the OP, does the baby-friendly bottled water need to be boiled when you're just feeding them water, not for milk? As I said, it was next to the juices etc in the baby aisle, leading me to believe it could be drunk straight from the bottle.

And my HVs are crap. They told me off yesterday for not having weaned my 5.5mo yet.

BabiesEverywhere · 30/06/2008 17:23

I know this is an older thread but I remembered reading it and I came across this NHS leaflet, which does a step by step guide to bottle feeding, including avoid using bottle water and if you do have to boil it first etc.

Just thought lurkers might find it useful

This link is to a PDF download of the leaflet

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