Anxiety over formula

[imaworrier]

So I have severe anxiety, I was recently on Sertraline but had to come off due to stomach issues and now I am three days in on a new type of medication and I'm not sure if these are making my anxiety worse as I believe they can for the first few weeks.

Anyway, I have a six month old who is formula fed and all of the sudden I am extremely paranoid about the bacteria in it. I make bottles with a prep machine but always shake with the hot shot first and ensure it's all dissolved but I've recently become worried about the bits I spill. I'm always washing my hands thinking my baby is going to ingest a flake. Yesterday I gave my baby a pouch of puréed apples and she sucked on the bottom of the pouch (she really wanted to hold it) and it had been kept in the cupboard I keep the formula in, I realised there was some flakes of formula in the bottom of the cupboard and I'm worried she's going to get sick if she's ingested a flake..

This is absolutely your anxiety and not rational risk based on science.. could be a side effect of your medication- perhaps chat with gp? Maybe you could do some research would that help put your mind at risk? What bacteria are you specifically worried about? And why would that bacteria exist specifically in your cupboard.. I doubt your fears are based on anything concrete at all. Good luck xxx

I'm worried about Cronobacter.. they say it's rare but can be deadly in infants. Every time I Google it, it just says how dangerous it is for infants and that it can be in formula. It doesn't say if it can be transmitted from formula to surfaces etc which is what I'm so worried about. I've spilt it before in the past and got it on my hands and not washed it off but now all of the sudden I'm terrified of it..

I think I'd go back to your GP to speak about your medication to see either when it shows kick in or if this is a side effect. Getting the right meds can be really hard work.

So so many children are FF, probably loads in conditions that probably aren't as clean and hygienic as your house, if there were loads of babies getting bugs from formula you'd probably have heard something about it by now. And honestly when she's on the move in a few months time she'll be eating all sorts of disgusting stuff off the floor at any activity or group you go to. Babies are surprisingly hardy.

In France they don’t do the whole hot water to kill the bacteria in the formula thing. Seriously, official advice here is to make up the formula with room temperature bottled water or tap water (as long as the mineral profile is ok in your area). They have different advice on how long keep formula once it’s been mixed, but basically they decided the risk of burns outweighs the risk of bacterial infection on a population level.

Step away from Google!
Follow the instructions on the formula box.
Speak to your GP about increasing your meds dose. This is excessive worrying. Bless you

@Cocowatermelon im in France too! I use Evian bottled water, no boiling as you say! I was under the impression actually that the boiling water is to sterilise the water not the formula. And so in France tap water is avoided completely due to this and that bottled water is a better mineral balance for babies (ones with the baby logos on). I was told here that the risk of bacteria in formula is defunct as the formula is manufactured as sterile. And the official advice now is no need to even sterilise bottles.. i had baby here in January this year and thats the current guidelines here. I still did though as already had a steriliser but my neighbour who is french sterilised nothing! And no disasters 😬 Xo

I have seen French parents boil tap water on the stove top and leave it to cool for formula when they ran out of bottled water once. But they said the water had to be boiled for 10minutes to help the excess minerals sink to the bottom of the pan. This was 5 years ago and in the South West. I think the tap water suitability varies quite a lot between areas. In 2020 I didn’t use formula but I did pump breastmilk and was also told no sterilization of anything was necessary, just thorough cleaning in hot water with a suitable detergent (dishwashing liquid).

It must be worrying to have these thoughts but If it was that dangerous it wouldn't be sold / would have warnings written on the side to advise of these dangers. I think you need to speak to your gp again. Or can someone else take over the preparing of bottles etc until you feel better?

How are you doing OP? You need to get this germophobia under control or you’re potentially going to find things very difficult when your baby starts crawling and putting all the random disgusting things in her mouth. They are seriously inventive.

This is the kind of anxiety I experienced after having my little one. Now he's 3 and I look back and realise how severe my anxiety was, but in the moment every worry and concern felt so real. I promise you don't have anything to worry about and at 5 months your LO is nearing the age where keeping everything sterile won't be necessary anymore! In fact getting some bacteria builds a healthy immune system x