My in laws are coming to visit in a few weeks with their 4 month old son. They live abroad and asked my wife about the cost of certain things for the baby. One of the things they asked about was the price of water for the baby formula. My wife called babies r’us and inquired and yes, such a thing exists.
My question is whether this is really necessary? Can tap water be used? If not, can they just use distilled water? What is this special water? For the dopers who are parents, did or do you use such things? Any and all information will be appreciated.
When my son was newborn (stopped suckling after one week), I was very cautious and used bottled water. Then when I went to see the doctor, he told me that bottled water was completely unnecessary, and in fact that tap water was preferable because it was fluoridated. So from then on it was just tapwater. I have never heard of anyone using special water for baby formula.
One warning about tap water. If you have well water beware before you add it to baby formula. Potable water from city supplies is tested and must meet EPA standard of >1 coliform/mL. However, if you have well water, there is a chance that it is contaminated, especially if you have your well too close to your septic field.
If in doubt, I believe there is bottled water for babies that has fluoride added.
I have well-water, though safe for adults I don’t trust it for my baby. I purchase distilled water to mix with his powdered formula. It only costs about $0.60 per gallon and gives me peace of mind.
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but IICR from seeing the labels in the drug store, “baby water” is just distilled water with a cute blue and pink label on it…for about twice the cost of the rest of the distilled water.
We have regularily used city-supplied tap water for three kids so far - there’s been no issues. We ocaisionally use bottle water but that’s a convenient travel thing.
I think tap water would be fine from a safety standpoint, but you might want to consider distilled water, since it might be less of a change. Even where the water supply is safe, travelers sometimes have a problem with it, because it’s different from what their system is used to. Wouldn’t want the baby to get a case of “traveler’s tummy.”
second that the little kid is travelling so you don’t want the little guy to contract the runs just because the water has changed. Distilled or bottled water.
also, they may live somewhere where the water is not potable (like China), and hence the question.
Oh, for heavens sakes! They want special water? Tell them where to get special water. Why not put them at ease for the time of their visit? That way you’ll all have a nice visit and you can feel superior.
Ok, thanks everybody, they live in Macedonia, and are coming to the states. I think they’ll probably use distilled water to be on the safe and comfortable side. The reason I asked is they wanted to know what stuff costs to see what they were going to bring with them and what they were going to get here.
I had just never heard of it but since I have little experience with infants except for my little cousins in Brazil, I wanted to know if it was needed for all infants.
When we used formula, we would boil a fresh kettle, then fill all of the sterilised bottles with boiled tapwater and put the lids on, then store them in the fridge, adding the powder just before feeding.
I was surprised that nobody ever actually told us to do this (the standard advice is to make up the bottles and store the made-up formula in the fridge, but that results in at least a little waste).
Repeatedly boiling the water can result in a concentration of minerals/salts in it which the baby’s kidneys might have trouble with, but that sounds unlikely to be a problem under normal circumstances.
The fancy “Baby Water” in the stores with pink or blue labels is probably “Pedialyte.” That is NOT regular water. Pedialyte is water with the correct balance of electrolytes dissolved in it, that you give to babies with vomiting and/or diarrhea. A gastrointestinal upset for a baby can quickly disrupt the electrolyte balance, causing dehydration, seizures, and death.
Bottled distilled water is cheap, and if it gives your guests peace of mind, then by all means, provide it for the baby.
(However, bath water should come from the tap, LOL)
~VOW
No, IIRC, “baby water” is not Pedialyte. It’s bottled water with fluoride added. It may be distilled, too–I don’t remember. My husband’s “well-meaning” aunt gave me a bottle of the stuff and a can of powdered formula when she found out that I was making the “horrible mistake” of breastfeeding my daughter beyond six weeks of age :rolleyes:. I ended up giving all that stuff to a food shelf.
Regular bottled water doesn’t usually have fluoride, so that’s what makes the “baby water” special.
If your in-laws are from Europe, they will probably freak at the thought of even drinking tap water - let alone letting the kid have any of it.
My experiences with water here in Germany has been almost uniformly bad. The exception being where I live now. I drink tap water, and bugs the hell out of my in-laws. Water to drink comes in bottles, and fizzes. Water that comes out of the tap is for washing and flushing. Oddly enough, they do call tap water “trinkwasser” (drinkingwater) even though no one actually drinks it.
I’d suggest you see about getting some distilled water, and keeping bottled water on hand for the in-laws, too.
And some of us have well water that is cleaner than tap water. Our well gets tested regularly and we have less crap in it (literally) than the city of Chicago water.
An additional concern is that wells can be contaminated with industrial chemicals - which is another reason for regular testing.
But our well water doesn’t have flouride in any significant amount, which is why local drug stores sell flouride supplements for children.