Author: B. Jody Segrave-Daly, RN, IBCLC

Do Parents Need To Boil Water For Powdered Infant Formula Preparation in the United States?

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Written by Jody Segrave-Daly, MS, RN, IBCLC

Boiling water for powdered infant formula preparation is one of the most conflicting and confusing topics for parents. Our governing bodies such as the CDC, WHO, WIC, AAP, and FDA, all have varying recommendations for preparing formula. 

Seventy-five percent of infants in the US will receive some infant formula by 6 months of age. Safe infant formula preparation education is very important to ensure babies are fed safely for optimal growth and health outcomes.  Parents have shared some of the educational materials they received for formula preparation, and there were vast differences ranging from a one-page handout to a complete step-by-step instruction booklet. Most parents said they were not told to boil water.

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The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is The Worst Thing I Have Experienced in my 20 Years as a NICU Nurse

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Dear Parents,

It’s taken me years to find the courage to contact the Fed is Best Foundation with my experiences of working in a baby-friendly hospital.  “Baby-Friendly” is the worst thing I have experienced in my 20 years as a NICU nurse. My colleagues and I have tried many times to express our concerns with the number of NICU admissions we receive. Eighty percent of our admissions are because of baby un-friendly protocols for hyperbilirubinemia, hypoglycemia, excessive weight loss, and dehydration in our hospital from insufficient breastfeeding. We are a small unit, and we have had around 150 plus admissions last year from insufficient feeding. Sadly, we’ve had bad outcomes.

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The Process of Healing from Infant Feeding Trauma, Guilt, and Shame: When You Wanted to Breastfeed, but Couldn’t

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My name is Sarah Edge, and I am a counsellor psychotherapist and mum of two. After my experience with breastfeeding trauma, guilt, and shame, and the associated decline in my mental health after the birth of my son, I was motivated to start my own practice specialising in postnatal mental health. 

I suspect that most of you reading this are doing so because you have your own experience of infant feeding guilt or trauma, where breastfeeding didn’t work out how you had planned. My personal story is a tale as old as time. My son was born late preterm, healthy but sleepy and unable to latch. He developed significant jaundice and low blood sugars, resulting in us returning to the hospital, and him being admitted onto the children’s ward at five days old.

I tried everything to breastfeed: nipple shields, continuous pumping, cup feeding expressed breast milk, triple feeding, lactation consultants, and infant feeding professionals. I had alarms set every 90 minutes to feed my son, and I kept this up for almost two weeks without any results. His feeding consultant then prescribed him formula milk, and he began to thrive. He was happy and healthy, and we returned home to start our lives as a family of three, this time formula feeding him. 

My baby was finally thriving but I was not. I was left with so much sadness, jealousy, disappointment, and animosity towards breastfeeding. World Breastfeeding Week was unbearable, as the social media pages were flooded with beautiful photos of babies at breast, and seeing other women breastfeeding sparked this intense and animalistic jealousy I had never felt before. 

So why was I left with all this sadness?

 

Sadness is an emotion that is associated with feelings of loss, sorrow, depression, grief, guilt, disappointment, shame, despair, helplessness, fear, and disadvantage.  It can be difficult to shake and needs to be processed.

 

I was personally experiencing grief. I had suffered a loss. Breastfeeding was important to me, and my feelings were—and are—absolutely valid. 

No matter the reasons you could not breastfeed—and there are countless—you are allowed to mourn the loss of breastfeeding. Just because your baby is thriving without breastmilk doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to grieve or ask for support or comfort, especially if healing has been difficult. 

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What Kind Of Water Is Safe For Mixing Formula Powder For My Baby?

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Written By: Jody Segrave-Daly, MS, RN, IBCLC

Great question! Educational resources that parents have access to often give them mixed messages about safe formula preparation.  To answer the many questions we receive, we developed an up-to-date evidence-based resource guide for parents about safe formula feeding. We start with water sources available to parents in the United States, specifically. 

Public Water

The United States has one of the safest public drinking water facilities in the world, and it is strictly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency known as the EPA. Your community’s public water system is routinely tested for safe consumption. The EPA sets legal limits on over 90 contaminants in drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline is  1-800-426-4791.

Private Well Water

It is estimated that more than 13 million households rely on private wells for drinking water in the United States. According to the EPA, private well owners are responsible for the safety of their water. This website educates well owners on wells, groundwater, and information on protecting their health.   Continue reading →

Dear Chrissy Teigen, You Are Right; We Need To Destigmatize Formula Feeding Our Babies

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Dear Chrissy Teigen,

Thank you for your Twitter post raising the very important topic of stress, guilt, and sadness when a breastfeeding mother experiences low milk production.  

I could feel the deep despair you expressed through your words because I have supported thousands of mothers, just like you, who felt tremendous guilt and stress when they tried their best to make enough milk.

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