Infants and babies require optimum nutrition. But parents and caregivers also need to pay attention to the safety parameters when feeding them. Most parents feed their babies formula or a combination of breast milk and formula for their nutrition. Formula contains all the right nutrition for your baby. But you are likely to reduce its potency by not using the right kind of water to prepare it. For this reason, it is important to use distilled water for formula preparation.

About Distilled Water

Distillation is a way to purify water. The process involves boiling water and then condensing the steam into liquid form. It helps to remove impurities and minerals from water.

Distilled water doesn’t contain any minerals. It also tastes different than other types of purified water that might still contain minerals. If you already get sufficient minerals from your food; it is completely safe to drink distilled water. Your body won’t need any more minerals from the water.

About Infant Formula

Infant formula is designed by considering a growing baby’s needs. It is closely formulated with the nutrients in breast milk in mind. Formulas contain the right amount of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, and other nutrients.

Calcium, zinc, and iron are some minerals that are added in formulas. Calcium is needed for strong bones. Zinc aids a baby’s growth. Iron is needed to make myoglobin and hemoglobin that helps transport oxygen to muscles and cells. But minerals are required by the body in limited quantities. Excess of minerals in the body can cause toxicity. Excess of fluoride can also harm the babies.

Using Distilled Water for Formula

Normal tap water or spring water contains lots of minerals. Depending on your location, it can also contain contaminants like chemicals. If you use tap water to make formula, you are most likely to increase its mineral content. If you boil tap water, you will kill the germs in it. But the boiling process doesn’t remove minerals or chemicals from the water. Only distilled water offers the safest option for babies.

There are different types of formulas available in the market. You can buy a ready-to-use formula that doesn’t require water. But such products are very expensive. The most economical option is to buy the powdered formula. You can also use concentrated liquid formulas. But both these types of formula require mixing them with water. It is best to use only distilled water for formula.

Other benefits –

The use of distilled water also frees you from constantly sterilizing glass bottles.  You can also use it to prepare rice cereal for your baby. You can enjoy peace of mind that your baby is completely safe.

Using distilled water bottles also frees you from one more task that you need to do during the day. With the amount of formula a baby needs, you will need to store a lot of purified water at home ready to use. Instead, you can use bottled distilled water and feed your baby conveniently without worrying about the purity of the water. If you buy single-serve bottles, you can take them with you while traveling or when on the move.

Buying distilled water for formula –

Check if the distilled water you are buying is free from fluoride and phosphates.

Read the distilled water company’s information on their website. Learn what kind of quality parameters they employ to ensure the water is really pure and unadulterated. Ideally, the water must be softened and filtered even before the distillation process begins.

The distilled water should be stored in temperature-controlled silos before it is readied for packaging. Before packaging, ozone treatment is also necessary. The company must also monitor ozone levels on an hourly basis.

Even the bottles need to be sanitized before they are filled with distilled water. The decontamination of the bottles is as important as the purity of the distilled water. Before you buy just any distilled water, it is important that you find all the information about the processes from the company website. Once you are satisfied by the quality of the packaging and the water; only then order your stock.

By using distilled water for formula, you can ensure that your baby consumes only the good and nothing bad.