Posted by
MumBee
17 yrs ago
My baby usually drinks Wild Alp baby water, but I am thinking she needs to drink something with fluoride. Water straight from the tap can be iffy (IMHO), so was hoping for some suggestions.
We have a Japanese water filter on the kitchen tap - should we boil the water after we get it from the sink for the baby? Or is there another water we should try?
Thanks.
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The only thing to remember is that the water should not have a lot of dissolved salts. Perrier, for example, is not a good idea for everyday use.
Volvic or Evian is just fine, as is Watson's with Minerals.
WildAlp, while undoubtedly very pure, always seemed a bit hyped and overpriced to me. As I see it Volvic is just as pure and healthy.
As for fluoride, there should really be no need to think about that.
After your Japanese filter is through with it, the tap water should be fine. No need to boil it as it is already bacteriologically clean. The reason we don't give tap water to our kids is because of dissolved metals (for example lead), which boiling won't touch anyway. But your filter should get that stuff it if is any good.
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why not watsons delivered one? anything wrong with it?
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We just used filtered tap water which is boiled and cooled. We're also using Japanese filter. IMO too much hype on bottled water. Has anyone ever been to a water bottling plant before? Neither have I, but I can just imagine . . .
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"Has anyone ever been to a water bottling plant before? Neither have I, but I can just imagine . . ."
Well, are water purification plants for tap water any better?
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"Well, are water purification plants for tap water any better?"
At least the gov't will have to answer to the country's population. With corporations however, who knows? How much QC/QA do they actually do? Look at what happened to the tainted milk in China. This all started with a Chinese co. that was largely owned by an MNC. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Was bottled water even available when our parents were growing up (circa 1930-1950's)?
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We use Watson's Water with Minerals (delivered) for our baby. Cool boiled of course.
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"We use Watson's Water with Minerals (delivered) for our baby. Cool boiled of course."
I can understand boiling it if it comes from a jug. However boiling bottled water is a waste of time and effort.
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Why?
In Australia we boiled tap water for baby no.1. Obviously the tap water in Aust is safe to drink. I wouldn't use the tap water at all here, but I still feel more comfortable boiling the bottled water. I feel like I have done everything as safely as possible.
Having said that, I am nowhere near as stringent with my second as I was with the first. It's just not worth having an ill baby when it could be avoided.
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"but I still feel more comfortable boiling the bottled water. I feel like I have done everything as safely as possible."
Well, the water is probably cleaner coming from the bottle than after you boiled it. There can be residue in the boiling container (not germs after boiling obviously).
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I don't boil with a kettle, I boil the water in a saucepan. Either way, even if it's a false sense of security, I do feel better doing it.
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Wow, I never thought to boil the bottled water, maybe that is something to consider doing?
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"Wow, I never thought to boil the bottled water, maybe that is something to consider doing?"
No. The water is perfectly bacteriologically clean in the bottle. If there were any bacteria/algae in it, it would eventually go bad. Boiling it go get rid of bacteria and such (that's what boiling does) is redundant. In fact, any extra handling actually increases contamination risk. Not that this is really a problem. I'm just saying.
On a wider note, I'm all for keeping stuff clean for babies and toddlers, but "too clean" isn't good. They must be exposed to pathogens in order to build up their immune system.
We have this exact same discussion about so-called "sterilization" of baby bottles, another pointless procedure in my opinion. Hand washing is just fine.
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axptguy38,
what do you do for your kids in terms of water?
and do you think hand washing is fine even if the water doesnt get very hot?
thanks. :)
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There is no risk of my baby being too clean, he has a hyperactive 5 year old shoving things at him all the time.
The other day I walked in on my baby licking my 5 year old's face. She thought it was hilarious. I thought it was cute but messy and not that clean considering she had just been in the pool, was sweaty and probably even had residual sunscreen on her!
I sterlised for a good 12 months with my first, but I can't see if happening for anywhere near the same time with this one. It's just not worth it with another child in the house. However, at this early stage, it may just be psychological, but that's okay.
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"axptguy38,
what do you do for your kids in terms of water?
and do you think hand washing is fine even if the water doesnt get very hot?"
Our kids do/did Volvic for their formula and porridge. For food preparation (pasta for example), it's Watson's with minerals. In the US we used filtered tap water for food preparation but in HK we don't trust it.
Hand washing is just fine. Just be thorough and make sure you rinse very carefully. Even without really hot water the stuff will be clean. After all, you wouldn't have an issue with adults using hand washed dishes. Kids' immune systems aren't as weak as all that.
Don't get me wrong. "Home sterilization" will certainly make the stuff clean. However "home sterilization" should not be mistaken for actual sterilization as done in hospitals with autoclaves. As soon as you put your non-gloved hands on the bottle, it is no longer sterile. Same if the bottle is sitting in a cupboard or on the counter for five minutes. And of course the kitchen is not a surgical theater where everyone uses sterile procedure. In our family, we always found "home sterilization" to be a bit of a waste of time. Also, several pediatric nurses and doctors told us it wasn't necessary.
"Home sterilization" came about a long time ago when your average person had only vague ideas about hygiene. It was an easy way to teach cleaning and significantly decreased baby mortality and disease. Nowadays, people in industrialized societies are brought up with hygiene awareness from childhood, so there are alternatives to blanket boiling.
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Boiled filtered Hong Kong tap water is adequate and contains fluoride that most dental professionals recommend.
Matilda International Hospital
Well Baby Clinic 2849 1500
http://www.matilda.org
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