Just speaking from a scientific point of view, if you have a clean containter that is closed, and you boil your water and add it to said clean container and close it again (whether a baby bottle or a jug) this water will stay clean unless you add some contaminates to it somehow. Bacteria and fungus do not just crop up from nowhere, they have to be introduced into a container in order to pose a problem there. As long as you are not coughing into the container, spitting into it, leaving it open on the counter, pouring chicken juices in, touching the inside of the container, etc, it should be completely safe to leave the water for bottles in there.

It seems that it is not the water that they are cautioning against, but rather the formula. Maybe letting the mixed formula sit at room temp allows enough time for the spores or bacteria to multiply enough to pose a risk to your baby.

I always use the baby water in water bottles to make Avery's bottles and I only make it right before she eats. When she's done I throw it away right then and don't make another bottle until she's hungry again. I use the powder and will continue to use the powder even though she isn't over 2-3 months old. I bottle-fed dd #1 from the beginning (the same way I am doing dd #2) and I never had any problems at all and I have a happy healthy toddler
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Well I guess I am doing everything all wrong.

This is how I started out doing things with Alex, and I have had 10+ babies in my home over the last 3 years with no problems, but anyhow.....

I make up two days worth of bottles at a time. I have never sterilized a bottle, either. I run the tap water until it is really hot, because I found that the powder mixes better with hot water. I mix up the whole batch in a big mixing bowl, and then fill my bottles which go into the fridge. I have never heard that you shouldn't use powdered formula for young babies.
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I will have to ask my public health nurse about this the next time I take baby R to the weigh in.
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[/quote] I guess my take is... if you're REALLY concerned about the risks of bottle feeding, you're better off trying to breastfeed because that's 10x less complicated and 50% less dangerous than formula feeding. (and yes, the 50% was an actual statistical number in the document as well)[/quote]

Breastfeedind didn't work for me b/c my milk did not come in and when I tried I realized that it wasn't for me...it was a choice I made and a choice that I will do again for my next child. I was just wondering if any of you have heard of this b/c it seemed pretty silly to me. I really don't do half of the things that they say you are "supposed to do" and DD is fine. It was interesting to read what different people do. It seems that we all seem to do something a bit different but yet all of are children are healthy and fine.

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it's not the water that is the problem itself. There are several problems.
1) contaminated and unclean bottles and counter surfaces.
2) improperly storing 'made' bottles (ie: letting them sit all day in a fridge or gasp... unrefrigerated)
3) the fact that the formula itself has the potential for carrying the bacteria and if you don't use boiling water to mix it, the bacteria can 'reconstitute' and multiply.

I think that they are just being cautious. Clearly a sterile environment isn't easy - and making bottles as they explain in the article I posted isn't very easy. Heck, look at the statistics. I don't have any idea how they can prove that the bacteria that are killing these babies is actually from contaminated formula ... or dirty counters. kwim? AND, the rate is VERY low (especially in the USA)
All that said... aren't there many mothers at TBC who will ONLY buy their baby the absolute BEST carseat because there is the slightest fraction of a chance that *if* in an accident, one will save their baby's life over another?? Why wouldn't those concerns and precautions be taken to the food level too? Why is it that the concerns are somehow evaporated?
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I know that there are many parents to whom BFing isn't/wasn't an option. But there are a whole lot more of those bottle feeding parents who simply made a decision based on what seemed like important things to them but in the grand scheme, might not have been more or less important than other things not used as weighing factors in their decision.
(for instance, my sister claimed she wanted to bottle feed because she wanted her DH to be able to 'help' feed the baby
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) And this is NOT supposed to be a Breast vs bottle debate. That is not my intention in the slightest. But gosh almighty. If you are even slightly concerned about the health of your baby - then I'm SURE you are making decisions that reap the most benefits and rewards in that respect. Right????
ie: if you dont' care about how you make your bottles, then perhaps it doesn't matter if you bottle feed over breast feed. But if you're making decisions based on the optimal health risks and success of your baby - I'm sure the conclusion you'll be reaching will be to do your BEST at breastfeeding first. As a first course of action.


And as for the 'my children are healthy and fine'.
Sure... my kids are too. (and yes, I bottle fed them after I went back to work when they were 3 months old)
And they've never been killed in a car accident either. Do I credit the carseats for their health??? No. I credit luck. The car seats have never been 'tested'. ie: I've never been in an accident and especially in an accident that was bad enough that a car seat could/should/would have saved their lives.
I hope my analogy and point was made abundantly clear.