Is Using Tap Water to Make Baby Formula a Good Idea?
Is using tap water to make baby formula a good idea? Certainly not! Unless, that is you want your newborn to drink lots of chlorine, microorganism cysts, and trace amounts of everything from prescription drugs to pesticides.
Of course, I'm kidding, because no one in their right mind would want their child to drink such contaminants.
I'm kidding...
but no exaggerating! When I say that I'm not exaggerating, I want you to understand that there really are all these chemicals in your tap water...
and more.
Let me prove it to you.
There have been a number of studies done recently about the quality of our drinking water.
One such study, done by Ralph Nader's group, found traces of over 2,000 known toxins and carcinogens in the U.
S.
water systems they studied.
Another study of 29 American cities found traces of pesticides in the drinking waters of all 29 cities! One city had traces of three pesticides! Not only that, but there are microorganisms routinely found in our water that are small enough to make it through the treatment plant's sediment beds, and are hardy enough to withstand chlorination.
(These things exist in cyst form outside the human body--examples are giardia and cryptosporidium.
) When you think about using tap water to make baby formula, what's scary is that no one really knows the long term effects of ingesting these prescription drugs and pesticides, among other things, on the bodies of full-grown adults, much less on the body of a baby! So, what can you do? Don't worry there's an easy, and not so expensive, solution.
You need to invest in a water filter! There are a number of good ones on the market, everything from distillers to carbon/ceramic filters.
With the right filtering technology, you can use your tap water for you baby formula, knowing that it's going to be as safe for your child as anything, other than mother's milk.
You can buy a good quality water filtering pitcher for less than $20.
If I were you, and if you can afford it, I would probably invest in at least a single faucet filter.
It's been a few years for me, but if I remember correctly babies can drink a lot of formula, and the last thing you want to do is to run out! Single faucet filters run around $100.
Carbon/ceramic filters are probably a better bet than distillers.
They're much cheaper, and distillers are notoriously slow.
So, using tap water to make baby formula is fine...
as long as your water is properly filtered!
Of course, I'm kidding, because no one in their right mind would want their child to drink such contaminants.
I'm kidding...
but no exaggerating! When I say that I'm not exaggerating, I want you to understand that there really are all these chemicals in your tap water...
and more.
Let me prove it to you.
There have been a number of studies done recently about the quality of our drinking water.
One such study, done by Ralph Nader's group, found traces of over 2,000 known toxins and carcinogens in the U.
S.
water systems they studied.
Another study of 29 American cities found traces of pesticides in the drinking waters of all 29 cities! One city had traces of three pesticides! Not only that, but there are microorganisms routinely found in our water that are small enough to make it through the treatment plant's sediment beds, and are hardy enough to withstand chlorination.
(These things exist in cyst form outside the human body--examples are giardia and cryptosporidium.
) When you think about using tap water to make baby formula, what's scary is that no one really knows the long term effects of ingesting these prescription drugs and pesticides, among other things, on the bodies of full-grown adults, much less on the body of a baby! So, what can you do? Don't worry there's an easy, and not so expensive, solution.
You need to invest in a water filter! There are a number of good ones on the market, everything from distillers to carbon/ceramic filters.
With the right filtering technology, you can use your tap water for you baby formula, knowing that it's going to be as safe for your child as anything, other than mother's milk.
You can buy a good quality water filtering pitcher for less than $20.
If I were you, and if you can afford it, I would probably invest in at least a single faucet filter.
It's been a few years for me, but if I remember correctly babies can drink a lot of formula, and the last thing you want to do is to run out! Single faucet filters run around $100.
Carbon/ceramic filters are probably a better bet than distillers.
They're much cheaper, and distillers are notoriously slow.
So, using tap water to make baby formula is fine...
as long as your water is properly filtered!