Bottle feeding or formula feeding your baby? Here are 3 things you didn't know.
Teat flow rates vary across brands.
Slow teats, teat size 1, teats for babies from 0-6 months - you would assume they are all the same. I am here to tell you, they not! Sadly, there is no regulations for bottle teats and how they market their size. This means that a slow flow teat from Brand A will differ to a slow flow teat from Brand B. One study found that the flow rate of teats ranged from 4.2 ml/min to 31.3 ml/min. Conclusion? If your baby is struggling with one bottle, don't feel afraid to try a different brand! If you need help with choosing a bottle, book a consultation with us.
The water needs to be hot to kill bacteria in the POWDER, not to kill bacteria in the water.
This is a common mistake that I see as a Lactation Consultant. Parents use pre-boiled water that has now cooled to add to their formula. Unfortunately this means that your baby is at a higher risk of infection. It is very important for your baby's health to ensure that the water is at least 70 degrees Celsius when added to the powder. This will kill any bad bacteria that may have creeped into the formula powder. The jury is out as to whether baby formula preparation machines are able to heat the water enough. So our advice is to always check before use.
Follow-on formula doesn't exist in some countries.
There is a guidance written by the World Health Organisation called the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. This guidance specifies how formula companies are able to market their products. Some countries have put the whole guidance into law while others (like the UK) have not. In the UK, it is only illegal to advertise first formulas while in other countries, it's illegal to advertise all formulas. Thus, in the UK, formula companies invented follow-on formula so they could advertise their brands and products to the general public. I could go on about this but really the summary is, you don't need follow-on formula... it doesn't even exist in some countries!! If you want to learn more, check out First Steps Nutrition.
Did you know any of these fun facts?
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References
Bell, N. & Harding, C. (2019). An investigation of the flow rates of disposable bottle teats used to feed preterm and medically fragile infants in neonatal units across the UK in comparison with flow rates of commercially available bottle teats. Speech, Language and Hearing, 22(4), pp. 227-235. doi: 10.1080/2050571x.2019.1646463
NHS. (2023). How to make up baby formula. Retrieved from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/making-up-baby-formula/#:~:text=Do%20not%20add%20extra%20water,and%20burn%20your%20baby's%20mouth.
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