Government advice about making formula wrong?

[xsadiex]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...uby7Bw&usg=AFQjCNFbyhW7eCpKp8zGbI86ZkxlR-d7NA

 

[skunkpixie]

Hey. I believe that this document is from Australia where making formula with cool boiled water, rather than hot boiled water is normal and advised practice.
I think its just down to personal preference how you make your formula. I dont think that babies are at risk from drinking formula made with hot water and not getting the right nutrients and I also dont think that babies are at risk from drinking formula made with room temperature water from the very, very small chance it could be contaminated. After all I think we are one of the only countries that practices and advises the 70c rule. Even here I see mothers on a regular basis mixing formula with room temp water. Just do what you think is best and you wont be wrong xxxxx

 

[xsadiex]

This made me feel so bad, because sometimes I use water that's just been boiled so way hotter than 70 degrees and got worried I've been starving him of nutrients. I think I will use cool boiled water from now on! xxxx

 

[Lady_Bee]

I almost always use water that's just boiled, mix the powder and then top off with cooled water to bring the temp down :/ Worried now.

 

[dizz]

Don't overthink it. It's parenting and the internet - google long enough and you can find advice to contradict any other advice out there.

 

[Lady_Bee]

Well I have just sent an email to Aptamil asking about it. I'll report back when they reply. You'd think if it was bad to use just boiled water they would state this on the packaging instructions as something like vitamins being destroyed is quite a big deal... but no they just say to let it cool due to "risk of scalding". Hmmm.

 

[xsadiex]

Oh brill, can't wait to know what they say. So true, they'd have to say it on the packet really wouldn't they?

 

[Courtcourt]

I dont, never have and never will use boiling water. Having worked with animal nutrition for so long I KNOW it's true of their foods that cooking at high temps destroys nutrients and is harder on their bodies. To me, and my thinking, I would rather have taken that tiny risk than a guarantee of less nutritional value. Even if slight.

And personally, knowing tons of moms with babies my age in person (and I mean lots, I am a part of at least 6-7 baby groups and do things regularly) I have never seen another mom use boiling water.

I am totally ok with it. There are also SIDS risks, and other risks that parents pick and choose to take. Formula is no different.

 

[Lady_Bee]

No answer from Aptamil but just read this on Wikipedia

Recent observations suggest that the impact of temperature and cooking on vitamin C may have been overestimated:
Since it is water soluble, vitamin C will strongly leach into the cooking water while cooking most vegetables — but this doesn't necessarily mean the vitamin is destroyed — it's still there, but it's in the cooking water. (This may also suggest how the apparent misconception about the extent to which boiling temperatures destroy vitamin C might have been the result of flawed research: If the vitamin C content of vegetables (and not of the water) was measured subsequent to cooking them, then that content would have been much lower, though the vitamin has not actually been destroyed.)
Not only the temperature, but also the exposure time is significant. Contrary to what was previously and is still commonly assumed, it can take much longer than two or three minutes to destroy vitamin C at boiling point.

which makes me feel much more confident that boiling water is just FINE. Vitamin C seems to be the only nutrient that is heat-sensitive but from my reading is seems you have to boil it for more than 8 minutes to destroy it. Obviously that is not the case with adding just-boiled water to a bottle, dumping some formula in and then rapidly cooling.

 

[Courtcourt]

No answer from Aptamil but just read this on Wikipedia

Recent observations suggest that the impact of temperature and cooking on vitamin C may have been overestimated:
Since it is water soluble, vitamin C will strongly leach into the cooking water while cooking most vegetables — but this doesn't necessarily mean the vitamin is destroyed — it's still there, but it's in the cooking water. (This may also suggest how the apparent misconception about the extent to which boiling temperatures destroy vitamin C might have been the result of flawed research: If the vitamin C content of vegetables (and not of the water) was measured subsequent to cooking them, then that content would have been much lower, though the vitamin has not actually been destroyed.)
Not only the temperature, but also the exposure time is significant. Contrary to what was previously and is still commonly assumed, it can take much longer than two or three minutes to destroy vitamin C at boiling point.

which makes me feel much more confident that boiling water is just FINE. Vitamin C seems to be the only nutrient that is heat-sensitive but from my reading is seems you have to boil it for more than 8 minutes to destroy it. Obviously that is not the case with adding just-boiled water to a bottle, dumping some formula in and then rapidly cooling.

Vitamin C is not the only thing destroyed at high temperatures though. It's well known that foods lose nutritional value at high temperatures, although I am more concerned with whole foods- less so formula because it's already been exposed to temperatures anyway. CAPSLOCK.

 

[Lady_Bee]

Courtcourt, to an extent yes (although weirdly from the sources I have read today it seems some nutrients are actually made more available to our bodies with heat) but the time a food is exposed to a high temperature is important, it's not the temperature alone that damages nutrients. Nobody is boiling the formula for 20 minutes, now that might do some damage. But just putting formula in very hot water for a matter of seconds or minutes is really unlikely to do any harm as long as the temperature is brought down quickly.

ETA: also when we're talking about cooking, there's high temps and high temps - 100 degrees C is actually not considered a "high temperature". There are processes in food preparation that go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond the temperature of boiling water. Also if heat sensitive vitamins can survive the canning process then they can definitely survive immersion in water less than 100 degrees for a minute. :]

 

[Courtcourt]

Courtcourt, to an extent yes (although weirdly from the sources I have read today it seems some nutrients are actually made more available to our bodies with heat) but the time a food is exposed to a high temperature is important, it's not the temperature alone that damages nutrients. Nobody is boiling the formula for 20 minutes, now that might do some damage. But just putting formula in very hot water for a matter of seconds or minutes is really unlikely to do any harm as long as the temperature is brought down quickly.

ETA: also when we're talking about cooking, there's high temps and high temps - 100 degrees C is actually not considered a "high temperature". There are processes in food preparation that go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond the temperature of boiling water. Also if heat sensitive vitamins can survive the canning process then they can definitely survive immersion in water less than 100 degrees for a minute. :]

I do know a bit about the changes to food once it's cooked, and very much so about the difference in a food cooked at 190f and one cooked at 600f from my work with pet food manufacturers. It's why I dont do any extra heating! We actually do cold bottles, lol. To each his own, but it's rather annoying when a certain poster (not you) keeps pointing out that we do out bottles incorrectly over here. So I can't help but be a bit defensive.

 

[Lady_Bee]

Ok. :] I just didn't want anyone to freak out unnecessarily over this thinking that their LO is going to be malnourished or something.

 

[DukesAngel]

I dont, never have and never will use boiling water. Having worked with animal nutrition for so long I KNOW it's true of their foods that cooking at high temps destroys nutrients and is harder on their bodies. To me, and my thinking, I would rather have taken that tiny risk than a guarantee of less nutritional value. Even if slight.

And personally, knowing tons of moms with babies my age in person (and I mean lots, I am a part of at least 6-7 baby groups and do things regularly) I have never seen another mom use boiling water.

I am totally ok with it. There are also SIDS risks, and other risks that parents pick and choose to take. Formula is no different.

I have never used boiling water. I just turn on the tap, make sure the water won't burn her, add formula, mix up, and feed.

I also reheat in the microwave.

I also just throw bottles in the dishwasher instead of special sterilizers.

My baby should have been dead months ago!

 

[HRHol]

Love your response DukesAngel!

I had my daughter 7 years ago and formula fed her. My normal routine for preparing feeds was wash and sterilise all 6 bottles, boil a kettle, pour water into bottles, let it cool, then added the milk powder and stored in the fridge for upto 24hours and I used the microwave to heat the feeds up.

My daughter grew up very healthy, was never malnourished or under weight. She has also never had an ear, chest, throat infection or any other kind of infection ever.

I find it tiresome to read all the differing opinions on 'what is right for your baby'. As a mum you know what is no good for your own child, no 1 person is the same.
I'll be using my own knowledge again this time round.

Mums who formula feed come under enough stick as it is. Go with what works for you and your gut instinct,if it doesnt feel right or doesnt work out try something else.

 

[Courtcourt]

Ok. :] I just didn't want anyone to freak out unnecessarily over this thinking that their LO is going to be malnourished or something.

This I felt being told my baby was going to get deathly ill since I wasn't doing it "right!"

 

[megangrohl]

We use Nestle Good Start. On our can it says:

Pour desired amount of cooled, but previously boiled water into a sterilized bottle. Warm formula and feed immediately. Formula should be at body temperature before feeding.

Warming above 40C (100F) will comprimise the B. Lactis (probiotic)

 

[Solena]

I find it tiresome to read all the differing opinions on 'what is right for your baby'. As a mum you know what is no good for your own child, no 1 person is the same.

I agree with this. As long as the formula is cool enough that your baby isn't going to have burns, you're doing fine.

DH and I personally chose to boil the water and then put it in a jug on the bench to get to room temperature (it's one of those sealed plastic ones and has been sterilised regularly since we started using it). It was actually our health nurse's suggestion, and it worked well for us. We chose to re-heat water, measured into the bottle, using the microwave and then add the formula to increase the chances of nutrients surviving. We stick to the 1hr rule in summer and with heated bottles, but are more relaxed about room-temp bottles made on cool days. Not by much, generally if DD hasn't finished it within an hour, she's not planning on finishing it.

And that stuff works for us. We no longer give her warm bottles, she has room-temp water (except in summer). She's healthy, she's grown well, she's definitely not undernourished.

 

[dizz]

I think a lot of the misunderstanding on here is because of the different recommendations between the UK and the US (I'm sure I read once that the formulas are made differently so the powder needs the hotter temperature to dissolve in the UK with how our recommendations are).

Sometimes I wonder if this forum should have a main general FF bit for stuff like guilt, routines, quantities, teats and the like and then subforums for making bottles within the UK guidelines and within the US guidelines to cut down on the confusion? Or people put where in the world they are in their thread titles for this kind of stuff since it differs so massively?

For what it's worth our very high-tech system is when I boil the kettle to make a cuppa I bung the excess water in a thermos flask, so when I go to make bottles it's cooled off boiling point but is still over the 70 degrees recommended here for nasty-killing. Tragically this requires me to have a constant stream of cuppas over the course of the day, with associated biscuit to wash it down - the hardships I endure eh?

Then I add the powder to half the quantity of the flask hot water, and add cooled boiled water to drop the temperature to where it's ready to drink to make up the remainder of the feed (and I account for the fact the quantity of liquid rises when I add the powder in the amount of water I put in before anyone worries about that). Works for us and is about as close to the guidance as I can get while remaining (relatively) sane.

 

[bubbles123]

I think a lot of the misunderstanding on here is because of the different recommendations between the UK and the US (I'm sure I read once that the formulas are made differently so the powder needs the hotter temperature to dissolve in the UK with how our recommendations are).

Sometimes I wonder if this forum should have a main general FF bit for stuff like guilt, routines, quantities, teats and the like and then subforums for making bottles within the UK guidelines and within the US guidelines to cut down on the confusion? Or people put where in the world they are in their thread titles for this kind of stuff since it differs so massively?

For what it's worth our very high-tech system is when I boil the kettle to make a cuppa I bung the excess water in a thermos flask, so when I go to make bottles it's cooled off boiling point but is still over the 70 degrees recommended here for nasty-killing. Tragically this requires me to have a constant stream of cuppas over the course of the day, with associated biscuit to wash it down - the hardships I endure eh?

Then I add the powder to half the quantity of the flask hot water, and add cooled boiled water to drop the temperature to where it's ready to drink to make up the remainder of the feed (and I account for the fact the quantity of liquid rises when I add the powder in the amount of water I put in before anyone worries about that). Works for us and is about as close to the guidance as I can get while remaining (relatively) sane.

Ha, I make feeds with hot water just as it says on the tin and my tea consumption has gone through the roof. Seems a shame to waste the left over water!