Using water to make formula bottles abroad

[florasmama]

Me, my SO and DD are visiting my mum in Benidorm in December. My DD is 3 months old and bottle fed. It's occurred to me that we would surely have to use tap water to make up the formula bottles while there. Will tap water be okay to use? It feels like a daft question to ask but I have no experience with this, I'm a first time mum! I know in certain places it isn't recommended to drink the tap water.

From what I've read, bottled water mostly can't be used due to sodium levels etc. Like I said before though, am totally new to this.

Thanks

Boiled tap water ?

Yes you would need to use tap water but make sure you boil it first.

I've a vague recollection that there's somewhere that you can look up the relevant levels of sodium etc that are ok, so you can choose the right bottled water to use... I'll see if I can find it.

You would still need to boil bottled water, so I'd just use tap.

Boiled tap water would be the best.

You shouldn't use bottled water regularly (because of mineral content, which varies considerably), but a few bottles whilst on holiday are very, very unlikely to cause problems.

This link says when using boiled bottled water

• The sodium level (written as Na) is less than 200 milligrams (mg) per litre
• The sulphate level (written as SO or SO4) is less than 250mg per litre

https://derbyshirefamilyhealthservice.nhs.uk/our-services/0-5-years/your-babys-first-year/travel-advice

When my daughter was born in Cyprus I had to use bottled water as tapped water treatment was not the same as UK.

You will likely need to do some research.

This link looks quite comprehensive advice too
https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding

benidorm might be using de-salinated water in the taps. that's not suitable as drinking water.

in that case you need to use bottled water from the shop as drinking water.

You can buy bottled water with low sodium, that is suitable for babies. I think they’re usually a baby on the outwrapper, of the water bottles. I wouldn’t use tap water, even boiled in Spain for such a young baby, could cause stomach upset.

Yes, now you've said that I've remembered that Mum buys massive bottles of water, so that's a fair point!

Thank you for this everyone - I tried doing a bit of research online but was struggling to find anything conclusive so thought who better to ask than the Mums of Mumsnet! ❤️

That's amazing - I didn't know that was a thing but it makes sense! Thank you for this ☺️

My youngest is 12, but I remember my HV telling me that Evian was OK to make botties up with.

When I took mine abroad as babies, I would order a crate (24 bottles?) of the ready made Aptamil bottles for click and collect at boots in the airport. You can just carry it onto the plane then, don't have to worry about packing it as luggage.

Obviously a bit more expensive than using powdered formula, but saved all the worry/ hassle around making bottles abroad.