There's so much misinformation around how to safely mix formula, and a lot of it is coming from formula education accounts. If you have made an informed decision to feed your baby infant formula, you should be informed on how to safely prepare it.
Unlike ready to feed formula, powdered formula is never sterile. That means even if you're using safe clean water, there is still an increased risk for feeding contaminated formula.
To avoid this, you will need to boil your water, cool to 70 degrees Celsius, mix in the powdered formula and let it cool completely before feeding it to your baby. This ensures that there is no bacteria swimming around in the formula.
Approximately 20% of infants with meningitis or bloodstream infections due to Chronobacter in the United States have died. Worldwide, approximately 40% of infants reported to have Chronobacter meningitis or bloodstream infections have died. (Strysko, 2020).
At the end of the day, it's not about the water. You can be using perfectly clean water but will still have to boil it because the formula is not sterile!
And while we are on the topic of formula...
It is also important to mix the formula per the manufacturers' directions. If you don't mix it per the instructions, your baby might ingest:
- Too little water, resulting in dehydration
- Too much protein or other formula constituents, risking short/long term health issues for the baby
- Too little food, resulting in malnutrition and/or poor weight gain
If you're using formula, please do so safely! Your baby's life depends on it.